What was I thinking? Even as I drove away from my meeting with Don, I knew I had made a mistake. I knew putting my foot down with Don, demanding he follow my instructions, was the right thing to do, but I chickened out.
I let him off easy. I soft-pedaled my correction, hoping he would get the hint.
He didn’t.
Weeks later, as I unraveled the mess Don made, I regretted not having the courage to address his performance problems head-on. Fixing his mistakes and repairing relationships with customers took a lot of time and energy and was more than a little embarrassing for me as the team leader.
And that’s the way it often is when a weak leader fails to lead. The momentary pain of making a hard decision is nothing compared to the pain of correcting your mistake days or weeks later.
As a young manager, I was confident in my own abilities as a salesperson. Unfortunately, I had precious little experience as a leader. That inexperience plus an intense desire to be liked caused me to be a weak leader.
As the years went by, I was confronted with a lot of tough situations. And, I’m sorry to say there were times when I was tempted to let things go and not deal with difficult people, or situations head-on. But then that feeling I had when I left Don would flood back into my memory, stiffening my resolve.
I never want to feel like a weak leader who failed my people again.
It turns out had I had been reading my Bible back then, I might have learned this very important leadership lesson from the life of Eli and what happened with his two sons.
Eli and His Sons
Now, before Israel had a king, the people of Israel had two prominent types of leaders. There was the High Priest who communicated with God and relayed God’s instructions to the people, and there were judges, who, as the name implies, judged between the people in matters regarding issues of the law.
Eli was both the High Priest and a judge! So, Eli was the most important leader of the people of Israel at that time.
When we first meet Eli, it is in connection with Hannah, who had come to the temple to pray (1 Samuel 1-2). Based on Eli’s interaction with Hannah, it is clear as he ministered to her in her time of need that he took his duties as High Priest seriously.
While Eli may have been attentive to his duties as High Priest and judge, he was a weak leader who failed to lead his own two sons.
Hophni & Phinehas’ Failing
Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests, but they certainly did not walk in their father’s footsteps. We learn from the account in 1 Samuel 2 that:
- They were wicked men without regard for God (1 Samuel 2:12).
- They took advantage of people offering sacrifices to God by taking the best meat for themselves. If people objected, Hophni and Phinehas took the meat they wanted by force (1 Samuel 2:13-16).
- They slept with female servants right in front of the temple of God (1 Samuel 2:22).
Any one of these failings is serious enough to reject them as priests and certainly never allow them to rise to the position of High Priest! I wouldn’t trust them as judges either!
Of course, as their father, High Priest, and judge Eli had every right to demand that Hophni and Phinehas straighten up, but he didn’t.
Eli was a weak leader who failed to lead his own sons.
Eli is a Weak Leader Who Failed to Lead
Eli heard about how his sons had been behaving and what they had been doing. Rather than confront them directly and demand they change their behavior; Eli simply said their behavior is “not good” (1 Samuel 2:24).
Eli doesn’t tell his sons to repent and humble themselves before the Lord. He doesn’t tell them to stop stealing food offered in sacrifice to God, and he doesn’t tell them to stop sleeping with female temple servants!
No. He just sits them down and says, “what I am hearing about you is not good.”
Apparently, he warned them several times, but they didn’t listen. Eli never took strong action against his sons.
Really? Talk about a weak leader!
Consequences of a Weak Leader
As I said before, the consequences of being a weak leader are often more difficult to deal with than facing a difficult situation head-on.
God’s judgment began when He allowed the Philistines to engage in a battle against the Israelites. Without God’s support, the Israelites suffered heavy casualties, including Eli’s two sons. When Eli heard his sons had been killed, the battle lost, and the ark of the Lord captured Eli fell off his chair, broke his neck and died.
In the case of Eli, God’s judgment on Eli did not end with Eli and his son’s deaths. Speaking to Samuel regarding the house of Eli, God said,
“For I have told him [Eli] that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. Therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever” (1 Samuel 3:13-14).
In His judgment, God didn’t accuse Eli of being a neglectful High Priest or a bad judge. Rather, God’s judgment fell on the house of Eli as a direct result of Eli’s weak leadership with Hophni and Phinehas. By allowing his sons to continue in their iniquity and by not rebuking them, the house of Eli suffered both worldly and eternal judgment.
See what I mean when I say I wish as a young leader I would have known about and understood the story of Eli and his sons? Had I really understood the consequences of not facing difficult situations head-on, I just might have handled Don differently. At least, I like to think I would have!
More Articles
I have written dozens of articles on a leader’s character. You can find them by typing “character” in the search bar. Meanwhile, here are four of my favorites.
- #373: Do You Deal with Temptations in The Workplace?
- #348: What Kind of Legacy Are You Leaving?
- #240: Here’s Another Nice Mess You’ve Gotten Me Into!
- #181: Pressure, Pleasure, Power, Pride, and Priorities Lead to Failure
Join the Conversation
As always, questions and comments are welcome. Do you know weak leaders who failed to deal with difficult situations head-on? What was the results of their weak leadership?
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Category: Personal Development | Character
