Faith & Family Business
How to choose a successor (1 Samuel 16:7)
Welcome to my third Faith and Family Business series, focusing on the Biblical King David. David’s story explores a full range of emotions and experiences in life, offering insights about ourselves and others in work and family. My hope is that your own faith, family, and understanding of your family business will be enriched by considering David's story.
As we get to know David, we learn that God asked the prophet Samuel to confirm an eventual replacement for King Saul from among Jesse’s eight sons. Samuel, though, wasn’t sure which son God had chosen, and began to look at each of the boys, starting with the oldest:
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7)
Birth order was a big deal in Biblical times, and a person’s appearance is often connected to our ideas about leadership. In looking for Saul’s replacement, Samuel started with the oldest, who must have also looked like a a leader. But God suggests there is more to the evaluation of a leader than “outward appearances” or birth order. The heart, or character, is more important.
Many family businesses struggle with the question of succession. The future leader is sometimes assumed to be the oldest, or the one who has been around the longest, or the one who has the most formal education, or the person with the outgoing personality. Some families assume only a man can lead the company, or that the leader must be a family member. But the assumed leader may not be the right leader for the future of the business.
Have you ever witnessed, or experienced, faulty assumptions about leadership roles in a family business? What “heart” qualities, or character traits, are important for the future leadership of your firm?