Leaders Are Lifetime Learners (Joseph)

In 2020, my wife started the new year teaching second grade at a private Christian school. She had taught for ten years at Linfield and had been a professional educator for over twenty-five years.

There are many skills required to teach second grade, but one that is often overlooked is leadership. She was leading that group of twenty-four children, and some days she felt like it was “herding cats.”

Little did she know that in March of that year, her leadership skills would be tested in new ways. The COVID-19 epidemic hit, and suddenly she was teaching twenty-four children remotely.

She had to learn a number of new leadership skills that I could describe in two sweeping categories.

The first was in the use of video technology, beginning with Google Meet and then moving to Zoom. Google Meets was abandoned when the school realized that when the teachers closed the video session, the students could stay in the “meeting” online.

The school discovered this when a teacher signed back into a “closed” session and found several second-grade boys sharing gross body sounds on video 😊!

This prompted a move to Zoom, where she provided instruction, led reading groups, conducted testing, and even hosted class “social” activities. This required an intense period of learning regarding the use of various technological tools.

The second learning focus was classroom management via Zoom. On one occasion, I heard her explaining to “Johnny” that he needed to move back from the camera. He was so close to the camera that everyone could see up his nostrils.

On another occasion, her reading group was delayed when a girl came online holding her cat. This prompted every other child to run and get their dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, and cats. Some had to make do with stuffed animals.

On other occasions, parents were doing yoga in the “background” or conducting business deals by phone, all picked up by the microphone. 

I was never prouder, as she proved to be an eager learner, not only grasping the technological challenges but collaborating with her peers to create new policies and procedures that served the students well during an exceedingly challenging time.

It would have been easy for her to fall back on the “can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” but instead she showed herself to be a learner.

Being a learner is one of the great qualities of effective leaders. In fact, it is a crucial leadership skill. 

Effective Leaders Are Lifetime Learners

Joseph was one of the great leaders in the Bible, and there are so many lessons to learn from him, one of which is the learning posture that characterized his leadership.

Early in my ministry life, our church participated in a Billy Graham Crusade in Southern California. Each night of the Crusade, our church had counselors and volunteers, and congregation members invited non-Christian friends.

My wife and I attended one night, and I was excited to hear Billy Graham preach. The stadium was packed, and after the great music, Billy Graham rose to preach.

Listening to him preach, I was amazed at the simplicity of his message. I was used to hearing the very well-known preachers in Southern California churches and was shocked to hear his preaching devoid of humor, gripping stories, and tear-jerking illustrations. 

In fact, in my naïve assessment, it was not a great sermon. I leaned over and shared my thoughts with my wife.

Then he gave the famous “invitation” to come just as you are to the grass field in the stadium and surrender to Christ. I was genuinely afraid that no one was going to respond. In my feeble view, it was a “mediocre” message.

To my amazement, a flood of people descended to the field, numbering well over 15,000. I could not believe it, and I watched with awe. I sensed the Spirit of God and realized that Billy Graham had a God-given gift that he was exercising, causing an awesome response to the message of salvation.

It was one of the first times I saw a humble leader’s awareness of their giftedness. It would not be the last.

Learning Giftedness

In Genesis 37- 40, we see Joseph’s emergence as a leader centered around his ability to learn about his own God-given giftedness.

That giftedness centered around dreams. We have touched earlier on the significance of Genesis 38-39 and Joseph’s foundation of personal godliness bound up in the phrase “the LORD was with Him”.

However, bracketing those chapters are two incidents involving dreams and Joseph’s ability to learn about his own giftedness.

Dreams #1 and #2 are outlined in Genesis 37:5-9, where Joseph has his first encounters with dreams.

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” (Genesis 37:5-9)

Without going into the meaning of the dreams, we can note that Joseph recounts the dreams to his brothers without interpretation. The nature of the dreams seems clear to the brothers, and along with dad’s favoritism, leads to their brutal treatment of their brother.

The second incident follows his being sold into slavery by his brothers and subsequent wrongful imprisonment at the hands of Potiphar. Dreams #3 and #4 are found in Genesis 40:1-22.

In this incident, two fellow prisoners have dreams and are troubled as to their possible meaning. Joseph exhibits the fruit of his learning posture by acknowledging that interpretations belong to God (Genesis 40:8).

Joseph has also learned that God had gifted him to interpret dreams. However, this phase of his leadership life was only a preliminary stage that would unfold for Joseph, the lifetime learner.

Learning is Discerning

God blessed me by allowing me to serve in a church with gifted elders who were godly leaders, some of whom helped me start Every Generation Ministries.

One of them was Terry Gundlach. Dr. Gundlach was a dentist who had two wonderful sons, one of whom participated in the children’s ministry. Dr. Gundlach was a dentist by vocation, but his real love was Bible study and teaching.

Dr. Gundlach led a men’s Bible study when I met him. He is still leading a men’s Bible study thirty-five years later. His home study is filled with Bible reference books and commentaries.

Every week of his life includes Bible study and teaching. He has taught me many things over the years, not the least of which is being a leader with a lifetime learning posture. He just turned eighty!

In Genesis 41, we see Joseph’s learning posture bring him to a new season of leadership that could only be considered epic. Dream #5 involves the Pharaoh of Egypt. He, too, has a dream that troubles him, and Joseph is called on from prison to interpret.

Joseph’s learning has brought him to an awareness of his giftedness, and when brought before the Pharaoh, he boldly announces that he cannot interpret the dream “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Genesis 41:16).

Pharaoh also recognizes Joseph's giftedness and the hand of God. Therefore, he appoints Joseph as his Regent, making him second only to Pharaoh.

Joseph’s learning posture regarding his God-given gifts led him to be the “savior” of his own people and a blessing to the nations as God had promised Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3).

At the end of his life, his learning continued as he realized that all that had occurred in his life was part of God’s good plan. At the death of Jacob, his father, the brothers fear retaliation.

In one of the great passages in Genesis, Joseph explains what he has learned in that regard. Even though the brothers’ treatment of Joseph was deplorable, God intended it all in His perfect plan.

Joseph assured the brothers:

“Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50:19-21)

Even nearing the end of his own life, Joseph discerned what God was doing in and through his life as a leader.

Leaders have a lifetime learning posture about their own giftedness and what God is doing in and through them.

Dr. Gundlach served on the Board of Directors for Every Generation Ministries, and early in the ministry development, traveled with me to Hungary.

Rather than traveling on to Romania, where we were doing field research to launch a new ministry, he stayed behind to sit in on a training session I was leading for some of our key staff and local children’s ministry leaders.

Afterward, he shared with me his enthusiasm for the new biblical paradigm for transformational children’s ministry we were teaching. After sharing his thoughts, he told me that we needed to create a Bible teaching curriculum for the teachers.

We had considered that route in the past, but had demurred after counting the financial cost and human resources needed. The issue went to the Board, and under his leadership, we launched a completely new ministry initiative that did indeed involve considerable resources.

Today, EGM develops culturally appropriate Bible teaching curriculum in the sixteen countries where we serve. Many of them have a curriculum in several languages.

Thousands of children are being impacted for Christ through Dr. Gundlach exercising leadership as a lifetime learner. 

Effective leaders are lifetime learners. Next week, we will continue to look at leaders who were lifetime learners.