By Rev CLIFFORD CHISHA
… Helpful lessons from the leadership of King Joash and Chief Priest Jehoiada.
When a leader is doing well, we praise them alone and usually forget that there is someone who is making them tick.
A good leader has the ability to identify and value people who make him tick.
2 Chronicles 24:17-18
vs.17 “Now after the death of Jehoiada [the priest, who had hidden Joash], the officials of Judah came and bowed down to King Joash; then the king listened to them.”
vs.18 “They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so [God’s] wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for their sin and guilt.”
Joash became a king when he was seven years old and reigned for forty years in Jerusalem.
He became king with the help of the priest Jehoiada and his aunt Jehosheba.
Jehosheba hid Joash in the temple when Athaliah tried to kill everyone in the royal family.
Athaliah was Joash’s grandmother who killed a lot of people so that she could claim the throne.
She did this after the death of king Ahaziah, the father to Joash.
Athaliah reigned for six years before she was overthrown.
Chief priest Jehoiada revealed that Joash was alive when he was seven years old and anointed him king.
Athaliah was put to death.
Joash was a good king as long as chief priest Jehoiada was there to help him.
Even when Joash became an adult, he continued working well with the chief priest.
The king flourished as a result of Jehoiada’s help.
Who makes you tick as a leader?
You cannot tick without the help of others.
There will always be someone who is going to be key to your success as a leader.
Identifying individuals who makes you do better or who can make you tick is very vital.
Some individuals who make you tick may not even be your favourite.
Probably, Joash’s greatest achievement was making some much needed repairs to the temple.
King Joash was a good king for some good years.
Things changed when priest Jehoiada died.
As revealed by the portion of scripture under consideration, king Joash embraced ungodly advice and abandoned the house of the LORD.
He disobeyed the living God and his life ended tragically as he was murdered by his own men.
Compared 2 Chronicles 24:25-26.
He was buried in the city of David but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
The downfall of king Joash was caused by bad counsel.
He embraced people who contributed to his tragic end.
What king Joash needed to do was to look for a person or people who could make him tick.
There will always be a person out there who can make a leader tick.
Some people who make certain leaders tick are not even popular.
They are rare, but they exist.
Joash lost Jehoiada through death.
If you are not careful my fellow leaders, you can lose your Jehoiada through careless decisions.
Jealous people can frame people who make you do better and put you in a position where you fire them or simply frustrate them.
Sometimes the people who make us do fine become a threat to us and we get rid of them.
The impact is felt sooner or later when they leave.
Learn to identify and value people who make you grow in wisdom and prosper in what we do.
I am a witness to organisations that shook after a certain person left.
The effects were pretty bad, the organisations stopped doing fine.
The great coach struggled to continue ticking after parting company with a certain medical doctor.
They moved together from one team to the other.
Who would think the departure of a medical doctor would have a negative impact on the football manager?
Moses was a great leader. He had people who made him tick.
He had Joshua, Aaron, Caleb and Hur.
Paul had Barnabas, and Esther had Mordecai.
Some people who make us do well are not even wealthy but brainy.
I know of a very successful business man whose success is attributed to the uneducated but idealist wife.
He himself testified to this.
Most of the things he implemented and worked well for him were a brain child of his wife.
Who makes you do well?
Is there any person you lost and felt the impact?
If it’s not too late, find a way of bringing them back to your team.
Some individuals who make us flourish have certain weaknesses. We can help them and cause them to make us tick.
You get rid of an individual who makes you tick, you get rid of your success story.
Avoid a tragic ending by identifying and valuing individuals who make you tick.
Pride sometimes cause leaders to think they can do well without others.
There are certain individuals God has raised to raise our hands and cause us to be successful.
Do you have the right people in your organisation?
Can the people you have embraced make you do fine?
Those who make others tick will also tick. Joshua, Moses’s assistant is a good example.
Avoid frustrating those who make you tick.
