The Liability of Insecure Leaders
Let’s start with an actual occurrence. Many years ago, Illinois state representative Ellis Levin mailed a fund-raising letter that claimed he had won “special recognition” from Chicago Magazine. Indeed, he had. The magazine called him one of the state’s “Ten Worst Legislators.” This confirms Phil Calloway's statement, “Much of what we see depends on what we are looking for.”
Why did Ellis Levin write this? There could be many reasons, but I’d say he wrote it mainly because of his insecurity, which turned into a LIE-ability. What was he insecure about? Well, how about the fear of losing control and then losing power? How about being replaced by another candidate or being betrayed by another candidate? What about his fear of being exposed and losing face? Insecurity in a leadership position is a toxic liability that affects everyone in the family, business, government, city, or world. Both good and not-so-good people suffer because of insecure leaders.
We all have things that we are insecure about. When you become insecure, you become unsure. Uncertainty can make you impure if you don’t have an accurate moral compass to navigate the waters and seas of insecurity. Or one can become demure and shrink back into obscurity because they have lost confidence and trust. Lastly, the insecure leader may become over-sure and play their overture of control and maintaining power through lies and manipulation of the news or their public relations image, like our friend in the opening story of this article. Yipes…insecure, unsure, impure, demure, or over-sure. Is there a cure?
How does an insecure leader act? And how do their issues affect everyone else in their sphere of influence?
Let me introduce you to the three stages of insecurity, illustrated by a new Pharaoh in Egypt in Exodus Chapter One who did not know Joseph and how Israel was invited to Egypt. As we go through this accurate account, we all know of others to whom this applies, but make it your priority to think of yourself first and “them” last. Secure leaders are imperative because, without good direction, people lose their way. The character of the king permeates the kingdom. If there’s corruption at the top, there will be more corruption at the bottom. Fools recycle silliness. That’s called losing your way.
The first stage is Seeing Others as a Threat – Deceive. Let’s look at the story. “Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. Now, a new king who did not know Joseph arose over Egypt. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply, and in the event of war, they will join themselves to those who hate us, fight against us, and depart from the land.” Exodus 1:6, 8-10.
So, Joseph and all his generation died. A new generation came along who did not know anything about Joseph. In the past, Joseph saved Egypt from famine and led them to success when the famine was over. He led the nation for Pharaoh. Pharaoh invited Joseph and all of Israel to live in Egypt because Joseph served Egypt. However, the new Pharaoh didn’t know about Joseph, so he just went by his current knowledge of Israel, which was woefully insufficient to make a good decision. The new Pharaoh saw Israel as a threat rather than the blessing it was to Egypt.
His insecurity caused him to deal wisely (shrewdly and deceptively) with Israel. His fear and insecurity led him down the “lions and tigers and bears, oh my” of their more potent; they will war against us and leave. Pharaoh comes up with a plan of attack for his panic attack. He deceives or deals shrewdly with them. He takes away the Israelites' freedom. And he cancels the agreement/covenant/constitution made with Jacob, Joseph’s father, that Israel can live in Egypt. That commitment was in his way, so he just erased and replaced a central governmental pillar that was agreed upon in the past. But crafty strategies lead to even more Lie-abilities.
The second stage for insecure leaders is Moving into Control Mode – Dominate. “So, they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. They also built storage cities, Pithom and Raamses, for the Pharaohs. But the more Pharaoh afflicted them, the more the Israelites multiplied. The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously, and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.” Exodus 1:11-14 parts.
When deception and lies replace truth, slavery replaces freedom. Pharaoh used the people of God to build his kingdom. But God kept multiplying the Israelites even in slavery, which only increased Pharoah’s determination. In modern times, the control mode looks like more rules, more control, more micromanaging, withdrawing encouragement, no decisions being made to improve things, absentee leaders hiding and playing the blame game, etc.
The third stage for insecure leaders is Limiting Others’ Futures – Destroy. “Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them but let the boys live. Because the midwives feared God, God established households for them. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.” Exodus 1:16-22 parts.
The new Pharaoh created the first cancel culture because it offended his current sensibilities. Cancel culture is meant to cancel others’ futures. You know how it works. If you don’t 100% agree with us, you’re out.
All three stages happen to us and even come from us during our lives. Our fear of others, circumstances, or failure directs us rather than God directing us. It happens with me, you, friends, family leaders, church leaders, business leaders, government and political leaders, prominent tech leaders, education leaders, media leaders, and all leaders.
Your takeaway is that insecurity's biggest problem is that it picks up momentum as it goes along. So, how did all this end? God replaced an insecure leader with a secure leader after many toils, trials, and snares. His name was Moses—more next week.
This article is not political. It’s biblical, but it applies to politics and everywhere else. Special thanks to Pastor Steve Green of the Elim Church in Botany, Auckland, New Zealand, for giving me the foundations of this article. Kia Ora!
Ed Delph/November 4, 2024/CCC