The challenge of leading in the easy times

When it comes to leadership, is it more difficult to lead during times of crisis or when things are going well? Certainly the public scrutiny of leaders is high when times are tough … think of the focus on State and Federal government leaders during the Covid pandemic with their daily press conferences and rapidly changing health guidelines. Every comment and every decision is reported and analysed and awkward questions are asked. Tough decisions need to be made under real time pressure that won’t please lots of people.

Tough times don’t last forever, thankfully, and eventually easier times will return where there is less attention on leaders. These easier times allow focus on the important rather than the urgent, for leaders to be proactive rather than reactive. But I wonder if it’s actually harder to lead well when people aren’t watching so closely … since complacency can set in and decisions can be made by routine or habit.

King David was a strong and effective leader for tough times. He was a courageous and shrewd soldier. Yet his most glaring failures happened when he was taking some R&R time. While the army is off fighting Israel’s enemies, David is relaxing in Jerusalem. He spots a beautiful lady bathing and in quick succession, he desires her, enquires after her and brings her to the palace where he has sex with her. Was in consensual? We’re not told. More likely, it was a powerful and entitled man taking what he wanted. It gets worse. When the woman, Bathsheba, becomes pregnant, David conspires to have her husband killed in battle and he then takes Bathsheba as his wife.

So David dismally failed the challenge of leading in the easy times. He became distracted by seeking after selfish pleasure and lost his moral compass. His integrity failed when no one was watching. There is a lesson for all of us here. We all have weak spots where we can be tempted. It’s why there is a line in the Lord’s Prayer that says ‘save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil’. May God give us strength to act righteously even when no one is looking – and grace when we do stumble and fall.

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