LEADERSHIP LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE CREATION STORY

Genesis 1 (New International Version)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Leadership lessons

• Vision: God had the ultimate aim to create man in His own image. To do this, He had a well laid out plan. He had His vision or aim of how the final outcome should be or look. (Gen 1:27-28)
• Surveyor: (Genesis 1:2) He surveyed the earth and noticed that it was without form and void and something had to be done about it. A leader should be able to identify situations in life that need to be attended to. A leader must be a problem solver.
• Planner: God was sequential in the way He created the heavens and the earth. He created the sun to provide energy that the plant would need first and then the animals/fishes that would feed on the plants, and finally human beings who would need the animals and plants for food. Everything was done step by step. First thing first! The leader must therefore have strategies developed to help arrive at the vision and goals.. So the leader should have a mission for his vision. The mission are the series of steps that lead to the vision.
• Evaluation: On the seventh day, God rested having seen that all that He had created was good. A leader should always sit back to evaluate his/her plans and to make modifications where possible. The leader should be ready to give an account to his followers at all times. He should also know that on the judgement day, he/she will stand before the throne of Grace to give a final account to the Lord. 
• Designer: God loves beauty and perfection. He made sure that everything that He created was good and beautiful. Just look around you! Just look at the diversity of creatures in the air, sea and on land. A Christian leader must strive for perfection and excellence in all things.
• Growth and development: God said to man, "Be fruitful and multiply......." This means that God demands that we grow and multiply in all aspects of our lives.  A leader, therefore, must be able to develop the minds of his/her followers and to make them very productive. A leader is therefore a vision setter and a change maker.

May the Lord reveal more about Christian leadership to you as you delve more into His word.