Poor Leadership Attracts Worse Follower-ship - 1 Samuel 21-25

1 Samuel 22:6-9 (ESV Strong's)
6 Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. 7 And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, people of Benjamin; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, 8 that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is sorry for me or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day.” 9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, (added - who was the high priest at the time).

Poor Leadership Attracts Worse Follower-Ship

The story of Saul as a leader is a tale of failed leadership.   The nation of Israel asked for a king and God gave them Saul ... be careful what you ask for!   Saul was self-centered and very much the victim and insecure.   Worse, he failed to obey God.  In the above passage we see his self-centered-insecure-poor leadership on full display.   Like most weak leaders he used a tit-for-tat method to win over followers.   He offered the “promise” of riches, privilege and power to anyone who would follow.  He dangled in front of his followers what he “could” do if they would follow him.  Notice the response.  Poor and weak followers will respond to a tit-for-tat ploy.   Doeg, the Edomite, was willing to sell his soul and the life of the priest and his family.  Doeg would know that by giving Saul this information he would sign Ahimelech’s death notice.   That is exactly what happened.   Saul received what he wanted:  A sign of loyalty for him and a victim to kill who he painted as against him.  This would feed Saul’s ego.   Poor leaders will use their power to entice loyalty and follower-ship.   They will often, as a result, surround themselves with weak followers who are titillated by enticements ... even the promise of enticements.   True leaders lead by principle and character.  The rest of the book shows a stark contrast between Saul and David.  David lead by character, Saul lead by coercion.   Weak followers can be coerced.   They are attracted to weak leaders.