I’m not proud of it, but there were times in my career when I made selfish decisions. Most of my selfish decisions were inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but they were selfish, nonetheless.
In my entire career, I only ran across a couple of executives who regularly made selfish decisions with a significant impact on the organization.
A marketing manager liked to introduce new products. New products made him look good to the higher-ups. Unfortunately, the products he introduced were simple line extensions that had limited potential or actually hurt our overall business. He didn’t care that all these new products cost millions of dollars to launch and countless hours of sales time to execute. He didn’t care because launching new products made him look good.
Another executive managed his entire sales force as though their entire purpose in life was to make him look good. He did it for years and received several promotions, so he kept doing it, making increasingly outrageous demands on the organization. That is until the company discovered what he had done and fired him.
In both cases, their selfish decisions had an excessive cost both in terms of money and personnel.
It seems even the most talented and capable people, when given higher levels of responsibility, go off track in their desire to protect the power and prestige they have attained.
One incredible example of a talented leader selfishly deciding with disastrous results is the story of Jeroboam recorded in 1 Kings 12.
From Leader to King
Jeroboam is described as a valiant warrior and a hard-working young man (1 Kings 11:28). When King Solomon saw how dedicated young Jeroboam was, Solomon promoted him to supervisor of all the construction workers of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Some time later, a prophet of God told Jeroboam he was to become king after Solomon.
The prophet relayed God’s promise:
“If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you” (1 Kings 11:38)
God promised to be with Jeroboam and build him into a dynasty as powerful as the one He gave David. Jeroboam had only to obey God by keeping His statutes and commands!
Jeroboam’s Selfish Decisions
After Solomon died, Jeroboam was anointed king over ten tribes of Israel. The first thing he did was fortify two important cities to protect the northern kingdom. He was off to a good start as the king of the northern tribes of Israel.
Unfortunately, Jeroboam’s next decisions led to disaster for himself and the people of Israel.
- He was concerned people would travel south out of his territory to worship God in Jerusalem. So, Jeroboam established two new centers of worship: one in the north (Dan) and one in the south (Bethel). He set up golden calves and told the people these are your new gods to worship (1 Kings 12:28).
- He built shrines on high places for people to worship false gods (1 Kings 12:31).
- He appointed priests from non-Levites to serve in these shrines (1 Kings 12:31).
- He changed the religious calendar by establishing new festivals (1 Kings 12:32).
- He personally offered sacrifices at the shrine in Bethel (1 Kings 12:33).
Driven by fear and selfishness, Jeroboam not only turned away from the commandments of God, but he ignored them completely.
Jeroboam’s Legacy
The result of those selfish decisions cascaded down through the next several generations of Israel’s kings.
The next fourteen kings of Israel are all described as following in the sins of Jeroboam (2 Kings 10, 15, 16). The sins of some were described as even more despicable as the sins of Jeroboam.
Since Jeroboam and the subsequent kings rejected God and led the people away from God, God rejected them by destroying the entire northern kingdom (1 Kings 14).
So, the selfish decisions of Jeroboam to reject the promises of God set in motion a series of bad kings that ultimately led to the downfall of the entire nation of Israel!
Our Selfish Decisions
Leaders, we need to be especially sensitive to the responsibility we bear to follow God.
The example we set through the decisions we make in our businesses and ministries impact far more than our own lives. Our decisions have the potential to cascade into the lives of generations to come!
Think about that the next time you are tempted to make a selfish decision—even if it seems like a trivial matter!
More Articles
I have written two other articles on making decisions. You can find them by typing “decision making” in the search bar. Meanwhile, here they are.
Join the Conversation
As always, questions and comments are welcome. Do you know, or have you worked for, leaders who made selfish decisions? If so, what was the impact on the organization?
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Category: Skills | Decision Making
I remember one guy I worked with who was selfish. All ego. Which was ashame, because he had other, positive qualities, but they were always overshadowed by his ego and selfishness. Which ended up costing him his job. Generosity trumps selfishness every time.
John, Great insight. I didn’t talk about ego, but I think ego is at the root of many of the selfish behaviors we see.
I always wondered his the wisest msn who ever lived, according to Jesus himself, could have such a rotten kid!
Nancy, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, witnessed Solomon’s leadership up close. Solomon himself struggled having great wisdom and knowledge of God yet lacking in his personal relationship with God. This caused Solomon to violate several of God’s commandments to kings. I think both Jeroboam and Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, saw this dichotomy and it impacted their leadership greatly.