Leadership: the Esau Factor: Principles for Achieving a Turnaround

CHAPTER 1

The Opening

Every living being as well as everyone who has ever lived on this planet has a history. While the history of others can be well known, celebrated, and considered to be part of international nature, others have history for which there is nothing worth writing about. While the history of some is very inspiring and motivating to others and also has a positive impact on many, the history of others has a negative impact and serves no meaningful purpose for others. But irrespective of a person’s history, there is always a positive dimension that open-minded people can learn valuable lessons from.

The parents of Esau were Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac was the son of the legendary Abraham, who is a well-known personality both in Christian circles as well as in other religions. The story in the Bible is that Sarah, who was the wife of Abraham, was initially barren. However, when God called Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3; 13:14–17; 17:1–16), the former promised the latter a son born by Sarah, one who would be the heir to Abraham. Isaac, the promised son, married Rebekah when he was of age, and they had twins. The elder was called Esau, and the younger was named Jacob. The twins grew together, and while Esau was a hunter, Jacob was a keeper of the flock.

The man Esau has a history many would consider as not worthy of any positive impact on them or humankind. He is well noted for two specific qualities or traits. Many who know about his story scorn him. No male leader who is worth his salt or who wants to make a name in his leadership career would want to have himself branded with these two qualities. Hence, many find it easy to not ponder over the character of Esau and the positive principles of leadership we could learn from Esau and his history. The case of Esau can be likened to what Nathanael told Philip when the latter told the former that he had found Jesus. Nathanael said to Philip, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? (John 1:46). Many who know the history of Esau will also ask the same question. Can any good thing come from the life of Esau? For the purposes of this book, these two qualities have been tagged as follows:

1. The quality of despising his birthright. This quality references how leaders despise their personal worth or despise the assets of their organizations. They consider themselves inferior or without the capacity to do what’s required of them. They consider themselves as impoverished leaders. This low self-esteem or this incapacity syndrome can be compared to what God told the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 7:17. If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; How can I dispossess them? I sincerely believe many are the leaders who have lost golden opportunities for their own personal growth and for organizational breakthroughs because of this inability syndrome. They look down on their God-given capabilities and talents instead of putting them to work.

2. The quality of chasing after or crying over the impossible or the lost blessings. Esau lost the blessings from his departing father, Isaac, to his junior brother, Jacob. Jacob impersonated his senior brother, Esau, and presented himself before the father, Isaac, who could not see well. Jacob, posing as Esau, deceived the father and succeeded in getting his father to bless him. After Isaac had pronounced his blessings on Jacob, Esau came in. It was a very pitiful drama when Isaac discovered it was not Esau he had blessed but rather Jacob.

What was more painful was that Isaac could not reverse the blessings he had already pronounced on Jacob. When Esau saw he had lost the cherished and much-awaited fatherly blessings, he cried in Genesis 27:34, And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, bless me, even me also, O my father. He wept. He cried, and he implored the father to bless him as well. In the process and at the end Isaac pronounced some words on Esau that were not that pleasant to his ears. In general, it is considered that what Isaac pronounced constituted more of a curse than a blessing. We can read the following in Genesis 27:37–40:

And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy Lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept, and Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above, and by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

Leadership and leaders work and seek the best for their organizations. However, leaders should take a cue here so that they have the discernment not to follow after things that can turn out to be curses for their organizations instead of blessings.

These are two issues that are commonly associated with Esau—selling his birthright by despising it and losing his fatherly blessings. Given this background, on November 6, 2012, when I was asked by a pastor to speak to his congregation in Dakar, Senegal, and I felt led by the Holy Spirit to speak about Esau, I initially hesitated. I asked, What am I to say about Esau? Is there anything about him worthy of sharing? In my reflection I discovered to my utter amazement the Spirit was opening my eyes to see what was contained in the name Esau and what could constitute a message to share with the congregation. I settled down to pen a few thoughts along these lines to share with the congregation. That very night when I went back to my lodging, the Spirit continued to whisper to me and tell me that what I had shared should be explored in detail within a book for a wider population. Consequently this book, Leadership: The Esau Factor—Principles for Achieving a Positive Turnaround, was born on November 6, 2012, in Dakar, the capital of the French-speaking country of Senegal. Thank You, God, for this revelation, insight, and inspiration.

Definition of Leadership

Before examining what I share in the subsequent chapters, it is worthwhile to explore the definition of leadership that best fits the context of this book. There are as many definitions of leadership as there are books written on the subject. We want to look at two of such definitions that I consider fit and appropriate to the context of Esau and this book.

In an article titled The Art of Chaordic Leadership that appeared in the No.15 Winter 2000 of the Leader to Leader, Dee Hock says simply that leadership is accomplishment. It takes leadership to never confuse activity with productivity, and that leadership is to lead oneself, lead one’s superiors, lead one’s peers, and free one’s people to do the same.

From the above definition of Hock, the objective of empowerment, motivation, inspiration, influence, and many other related issues that have been associated with definitions of leadership can be argued to ensuring accomplishment. An organization exists to accomplish something. Once this accomplishment is not achieved, the organization can be said to have failed. Leaders are put in charge to ensure that the organization does not fail to accomplish but rather accomplishes what it sets out to do. In that sense, Hock is right in bringing home the point that leadership is accomplishment. In the absence of accomplishment, there can be no talk of leadership in an organization.

It is commonly stated that there is no condition that is permanent. Leaders from time to time will meet very challenging and difficult situations—situations that can easily cause them to have negative attitudes and subsequently give up what they stand for. MWorld, the membership website of the American Management Association (July 2001), says that the ability for leaders to respond positively to such situations is leadership. It states that leadership is in place where a leader has a positive attitude and is not got bogged down by challenging and difficult situations. Hence, the leader acts in a way that always keeps him or her true to values and beliefs.

Given the fact that Esau, in spite of the early challenges faced in his life, was able to make a turnaround in his life, we can say he was an accomplished person. He became accomplished because he maintained a positive attitude and did leave behind him his early challenges of selling his birthright and losing his fatherly blessings to his younger brother, Jacob. With the turnaround experienced by Esau, we can define leadership as the ability of a leader to develop positive mental attitudes in the midst of challenging and difficult situations. This attitude leads to the accomplishment of organizational goals. When leaders are able to turn the odds against them into accomplishments, we can say with all certainty that leadership is in place. In the light of Esau, who turned his earlier failures in life to future accomplishments, we can say leadership is simply accomplishment, the ability to perform, and the ability to achieve the goals of your organization.

The story of Esau lends itself to many possible definitions that can be applied to his context. For the purposes of brevity, however, I want to confine the definition to simply accomplishment. Leadership as defined for the context of this book is accomplishment. Here leadership is the capacity to positively turn around your destiny or the destiny of your organization.

Main Bible References

In the course of the book, the three main biblical passages that references will be made to are taken from Genesis 27:39-40, Genesis 32:14-20 and Genesis 33:1-11. These passages have been indicated below.

And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above: And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. (Genesis 27:39–40)

Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine; and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him. And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. (Genesis 32:14–20)

And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it. (Genesis 33:1–11)

When Esau sought for blessings from the father, the words spoken by the father contained both words of positive nature as well as of negative nature. Esau captured and focused on the positive words or phrases in the words spoken to him by the father. For example, Esau