Question: What qualities are desirable for quality leadership? 

BLUF: Skillful in All Wisdom

Context, Context, Context: The Book of Daniel was written in the 600s B.C. by Daniel. This was the time of the Babylonian exile under wicked Nebuchadnezzar, whose armies had besieged Jerusalem and taken captives back to Babylon (present-day Iraq, approximately 50 miles south of current Baghdad). 

Can you guess what types of young men Nebuchadnezzar aimed to train in his ways and in his culture? They were “youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace” (Dan 1:4).  

Encouragement: Revisit the question: What qualities are desirable for quality leadership? Even the wicked Nebuchadnezzar recognized what was wise to desire in capable people–those skillful in wisdom and learning, and those who were competent. The irony, of course, is that Nebuchadnezzar’s ploys would backfire on him, because God is the sovereign One, not Nebuchadnezzar, as he was soon to learn. But insofar as picking the right people for leadership, in that sense, the king got it right. God was going to use these young men to show God’s wisdom and the utter humiliation of the haughty.