Envy vs. Humility: A Killer in Leadership, by GuerrillaLogistician

Reference –  17E

By GuerrillaLogistician

@glogistician on X.com

I am not the moral arbiter; this isn’t religion for the sake of religion, this is religion because of the lessons so many miss.  Joe Dolio says this a lot, but there are stories of spies, warriors, kings, and farmers in the bible.  There is a lesson in all this, and while I am not the pure angel of a guy in the past and probably in the future, I can recognize that there are lessons for everyone in the bible.  If you want to assume the bible is false, fine, I did at one time.  I thought it was a bunch of good moral stories that taught lessons.  If that is the case, then perhaps read it for that reason alone, meet the communities, and I say this plural because some churches and their congregations aren’t like others.  Just like people you meet on the road.  That said, I will use the Bible to discuss both the problems with Envy and the power it has in undermining leadership.

Envy is a destroyer of Trust and a killer of leaders.  The little foxes that kill the vineyard, not out of malicious intent, but out of their nature.  As we read in John 15, Jesus says, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”  So let’s pull away from the fact that we’re actually talking about Jesus here and the connection to people and how that drives people. Although I think it’s a very important topic, I also realize that there’s something else, more subtle, that you can take from this. If Jesus is a leader and his followers are his subordinates, what does this imply for us? This tells us that as you follow the leader, they may remove somebody, just like a branch from the core, to protect their existence. These are the same dead limbs that survivalists love to burn as kindling, and the plant will more than willingly cast off.

That said, if the leader is somehow corrupted, none of those limbs on the whole tree will survive. We could go into a deep philosophical discussion on people corrupting the word of Jesus, but that’s another, more religious topic.  In reality, a good subordinate is very important, and the support of that subordinate, which is part of this whole section where Jesus is talking about, explains that if you do good for me, I will make sure that you are very well taken care of. That subordinate also bears the fruit of their labor on those limbs, so prosperity can spread.   If you don’t take care of me, basically, I’m going to fire you in more ways than one.

For those in battle, sometimes you can’t just fire somebody, but these people always get relegated to different jobs and menial tasks that others don’t wish to do. However, those who are stuck in those positions and are not envious of others but do a diligent job generally don’t spend much time in awful positions. If you are a believer, then you understand that Jesus is promising to take care of you as you support his teachings and follow his rules. So not only is this a command but also a promise.  For the non-believer, doing good for a leader and that leader being a good foundation, like the roots of a tree, supports you, and brings you the things you need to grow stronger.  Sadly, I feel this point is missed by so many leaders; it is a big issue.  Many mean well but will forgo that for various reasons, stripping the branches of what they need to really grow.

So that makes sense when we’re discussing subordinates being a problem, but what happens when a leader is a problem? Well, that takes us to Samuel 18:7-8.

Now we have almost the reverse kind of experience between David and Saul, where David is doing an excellent job, and even though Saul did a good job, envy played a role in their interactions. These men were friends, closely bonded through their shared similarities in spirit and mentality from the outset. You may have a close friend that you know, if you have to call, he will go out and do something like dig a hole for you, wink wink nudge nudge. What destroys that kind of a relationship, though, is one man’s envy. You take that envy of a leader who sees a subordinate receiving more accolades than they do, and then all of a sudden, that leader turns against their subordinates. In the Bible, Saul attempts to kill David, and to learn more about the outcome, you can read further into the story. Suffice it to say that the toxic leadership that comes from people’s jealousy is probably more common than anyone realizes. The role of success becomes mitigated by a personal and altogether ludicrous jealousy of either stature or opinion. I’m sure anyone who has passed the age of 15 already knows these kinds of people and how detrimental it is to work under them.

Now that we’ve addressed the issue at hand, how do we prevent this kind of issue from occurring not only within ourselves but also with subordinates? How do we elevate subordinates and drive them to a better place?  The correction and all this comes from a place of humility, and I think this is understated in many ways because so many of us, including myself, try to white-knuckle too many things in life. Again, I want you to think about this, especially if you don’t believe in the value of how the scripture is written. Even if you don’t want to believe in God or Jesus, the reality is that you can’t go anywhere and do anything strictly alone anymore. Even if you could, your struggles would be almost insurmountable as the leader, though we need to understand that our subordinates are very important to us. I want you to look at the following passage in two formats: that of being the leader and that of being the subordinate. If you’re Christian, it’s easy to understand being subordinate to God, but even you, dear Christian, should think about this from the context of a man. It is not that you can be God, but we all strive to be better, and you want to emulate this concept as best as you can.

I wait quietly before God,
for my victory comes from him.
² He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will never be shaken.

³ So many enemies against one man—
all of them trying to kill me.

To them I’m just a broken-down wall
or a tottering fence.
⁴ They plan to topple me from my high position.
They delight in telling lies about me.
They praise me to my face
but curse me in their hearts.

⁵ Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken.
⁷ My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
⁸ O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him,
for God is our refuge.

Psalm 62:1-8.

If you read this from a subordinate point of view, you see that you are giving praise to the people who lead you and to your successes. That said, you know that your leader is out there to protect you and take care of your needs as well. While a man may not be your spiritual salvation, they may be your salvation in terms of food, support, and other things you critically need. That said, as a leader, you have a responsibility to protect and be a rock to your men when they are not feeling 100% strong, and that’s what makes the dichotomy of a good leader and good subordinate so important. I think we could have many good leaders who may not be exceptional, but can still change people’s attitudes.

I, for one, am very hard pressed to take a dire work situation and make it positive. That said, the moment you put me under extreme pressure where I have to take care of my men, and I know there’s nothing else I can do, things change for me. I generally do a far better job at rising to the challenge and smiling in the face of adversity, although I am not a perfect leader. For some of you, this might be a difficult struggle you have also faced in the civilian world versus your history in the military. I observe that many good leaders in the military often fail in the civilian world for various reasons.

Sometimes, the flowery language of the Bible, especially in different translations, makes it difficult for the average reader with no faith to truly grasp the concepts being presented. Have you ever met someone who could see things in the woods before you could? It was as if they had a sixth sense or a helper driving them to see things, and you were totally lost. Perhaps as you aged and spent time in the woods, you have become that person who sees all this and has a sixth sense, driven by an outside force that points out every little detail, from predator to prey, and all the subtle traces they leave. Perhaps this was a father figure or a mentor, and if they taught you, they were your guide as you stumbled, but learned the skills that would sustain your life. All of this came from knowledge and wisdom that you acquired from someone else, but I bet many of those people were very humble; they didn’t go around bragging.

If you look online right now, you will see people who are the least likely to brag, and even when they are teaching something, they always credit their sources. Those people drive knowledge and become better, while others may try to teach something that they’ve never done. I for one can think of a man who I still to this day can’t fathom if he is doing an act or has so much ego as to think his nonsense an unarmed self-defense will work. What spawned from him is a multitude of people creating humorous videos in which they attempt his self-defense tactics and then spontaneously appear at the gates of heaven. Perhaps it’s a lack of humility, or perhaps it’s a ploy to garner Internet attention. Very quickly, however, we see that no one will take him seriously because he is either envious of those who perform better or jealous of fame. This strong man could teach and be a leader if he actually knew these things. Meanwhile, others have achieved massive fame and have taught intelligent and practical self-defense, earning more money.  Regardless of which one it is, no one takes this man seriously beyond his entertainment value. His bombastic approach and over-the-top praise of himself are obvious to everyone.

So now we have a basis for humility and realizing that you need to put your praise on other people, not just yourself. Most people in that position will see that you’ve actually done a lot of the work as well, and the humble nature will allow your subordinates to see that you care about them and respect what they have done. Likewise, just having basic humility towards your leaders and saying “hey, thanks for the support” or “Thanks for the guidance you made that way easier” goes a long way.  We don’t do that as often as we should. Last but not least, I will leave you with one more thing to ponder from Psalm 63:1-11

But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
They will go down into the depths of the earth.
¹⁰ They will die by the sword
and become the food of jackals.
¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God.
All who swear to tell the truth will praise him,
while liars will be silenced.

When envy spawns in any relationship, especially those of business and war, things turn sour very fast. What will eventually happen, though, is that all that envy will end up causing them to destroy themselves, either by the actions of others or by their own malice, exposing their lies. As you can see above, at the end of the passage, it says all who swear to tell the truth will praise him while liars will be silenced. Liars tend to get away for a while until they eventually do what comes so naturally to them. They lie continuously and tripped themselves up sometimes to horrible effect, where they may be killed, but most times in our modern society, they’re either fired or relegated to a position that has no power. Not only does this passage talk about the destruction of our enemies in our lives, but it also points out that the truth will be seen eventually. Maybe not now and maybe not in a timely manner, but it always comes out in the end in some format.