Anger and leadership seem connected somehow.
One football manager was famous for his dressing room ‘hairdryer’ outbursts, and the wrath of the current US President can, according to a recent book, ‘break most hardened men and women into little pieces’. The Bible seems to notice the connection too. There may be some measure of uncertainty regarding Moses’ error when he struck the rock in Numbers 20, but most see anger at its core. There is no such debate concerning Jonah chapter 4, where first the saving of a city and then the withering of a plant both precipitate distinctly angry sulks on the part of the prophet.
What should we make of this apparent connection between leadership and anger? And, since many of us will have positions of leadership, what precautions might we take as a result? Whether we lead a small group of ten or a mega church of thousands, these are questions worth asking.
