Leadership Qualities?

To: Jesus, Son of Joseph

Woodcrafter’s Carpenter Shop

Nazareth   25922

From: Jordan Management Consultants

Dear Sir:

Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; we have not only run the results through our computer, but we also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and our vocational aptitude consultant.

The profiles of all tests are included, and you will want to study each of them carefully. As part of our service, we made some general comments for your guidance… This is given as a result of staff consultation, and comes without any additional fee.

It is the staff’s opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.

• Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper.
• Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership.
• The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty.
• Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale.
• We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau.
• James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.

One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right hand man. All of the other profiles are self explanatory.

We wish you every success in your new venture.

Sincerely,

Jordan Management Consultants

In his book, “Eating Problems For Breakfast,” Tim Hansel includes a humorous, fictional letter to Jesus in His search of the twelve disciples. If Jesus had hired a management consultant firm to do the picking and choosing of the Twelve, this letter from the consulting firm tells Jesus who they think would be the best candidate.

When we talk about helping our children develop leadership qualities, this letter gives us something to think about.