There are six fundamental leadership traits: vision, honesty, empathy, determination, competence, and motivation. Every successful leader needs to have these traits to be successful. One of the greatest examples of a worthy leader is King David. First, he had a clear vision of what should be achieved and how it should be achieved. Before fighting Goliath, David said, “I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!” (1 Samuel 17:46, New Living Translation). This implies that David had an ultimate goal to show the pagans that there was God, and it could be achieved by defeating Goliath. Second, David was honest with himself and others and admitted all his sins. In 2 Samuel, he realizes his imperfections before everyone by saying, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13, New Living Translation). Third, King David demonstrates empathy for his people. In 2 Samuel 9, David goes to Mephibosheth to fulfill the promise made to Johnathan. David shows compassion to Mephibosheth by offering him to sit at King’s table.
Fourth, King David was always determined to be the weapon of the Lord defeating his enemies. He acknowledged it by saying to the Philistine, “you come to me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Samuel 17:45, New Living Translation). No matter how dangerous the opposition was, David was determined to demonstrate how it can be overwhelmed by the Hands of God. Fifth, David had confidence in his abilities to become the weapon of God. He said, “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:34-36, New Living Translation). This verse demonstrates that King David was sure he could defeat Goliath, as he had confidence from winning the previous battles. Finally, David had a high motivation to get others on board with his vision. Scriptures say, “But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was so successful at leading his troops into battle” (1 Samuel 18:16, New Living Translation). This implies that David could lead hundreds of people even before he ascended to the throne of Israel. Thus, it is clear that King David had all traits needed to become a successful leader in modern reality as well.
In my future career as a curriculum leader, I want to focus on vision, competence, and determination. Vision is important to understand the ultimate goal I want to achieve in my practice. At this point in my life, I understand that I want to provide top-quality education to children based on Christian tradition adopted to meet the needs of modern reality. However, I need to refine my vision statement to check if all of my actions as a curriculum leader lead to achieving the envisioned future. Competence is vital for being confident that my judgment is flawless. I understand that knowledge needs to be reviewed frequently, I should never stop the process of learning. Thus, I need to develop my competence in curriculum leadership to stay confident that I use the best tools and practices to achieve the vision. I also need to stay determined that I can achieve the ultimate goal regardless of the obstacles. In my past, I often gave up on things that were important to me, as I was unable to deal with the associated problems. As a leader, I need to work on improving my determination to build the future. The present assignment demonstrated that I could follow the example of King David as one of the most outstanding leaders in human history.
Reference
New Living Translation Bible. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Web.