The 12 Leadership Mistakes of Pilate in the Easter Story (Part 3)
In light of Easter last weekend, we have been focusing on The 12 Leadership Mistakes Pilate made in the Easter Story
and this week we are concluding that series. Pilate was a world famous leader because of the choices he made. However, the choices that made him famous are choices all of us should seek to avoid.
In this final installment, we look at the last 4 mistakes that Pilate made in his dealings with Jesus. May we become better by studying his shortcomings.
John 19:8 “When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid.”
Leadership Mistake #9: Pilate let fear cloud his judgment.
The moment Pilate realized the crowd was serious about putting Jesus to death, he was stricken with fear, big time. This situation that he hadn’t done his homework on and was making light of, suddenly was becoming something humongous. Of course, there was no way Pilate could have known that 2000 years later we would still be dissecting and discussing his leadership mistakes from this moment. Pilate was gripped with great fear when he realized the severity of the situation, and anytime fear takes the steering wheel of our decision making process, we are in trouble.
A leader who makes decisions based out of fear is dangerous and almost never makes the best decision. Fear is a clouding emotion. It clouds our judgment, our motives and reality. We cannot possibly see the path clearly when fear is involved. Therefore, wise leaders learn to separate themselves from the emotion of fear in the decision making moment which is admittedly not an easy thing to do. Pilate didn’t do that.
John 19:10 “…he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
Leadership Mistake #10: Pilate tried to manipulate with his power.
Motivated by fear, Pilate instantly tried to strong arm Jesus with his power and position. Suddenly, the sensible thing to do went out the window and Pilate resorted to brute force to try and get his way. When Jesus wouldn’t respond to that treatment, that’s when things really got ugly.
So often, when a leader doesn’t get his way, he will resort to brute force and manipulation. What a mistake. Credibility is instantly lost when a leader does this. Leaders who use title and position to push their agenda through have little long-term respect and credibility with the team they lead. Ultimately leading to a team that under-performs and does the minimum for that leader. Good leaders never resort to manipulation and using their position or power to push their agenda through. Instead, they do the hard work of walking with others through the sometimes tedious conversations that are required for everyone involved to feel heard and understood before a decision is made. Wielding power and position is a copout to good leadership.
John 19:12 “From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
Leadership Mistake #11: Pilate made decisions out of guilt.
Once Pilate realized the severity of the situation and the magnitude of his leadership mistakes, he tried to turn the tide, but the damage was already done. But instead of making the extremely hard call now, he still gave in to the pressure and succumbed to the wishes of the crowd. It is interesting to note, that the crowd actually used power, position and manipulation against him by referencing Caesar. The very thing Pilate had tried to do to Jesus, the crowd did to him.
As leaders, we must not allow the pressure of the crowd and the guilt of our past mistakes to keep us from making the best decision in the moment. Several times in my leadership journey, I have had to come to the sobering reality that my wrong decisions had led us to a place that none of us wanted to be. And each time it was excruciating to know that I had to stand up and 100% own the mistakes I had made that led us here and then ask everyone to forgive me. And then, I still had to make the right decision. I wish I would have owned the wrong decision soon. The only consolation was knowing that I owned it when I did, rather than letting it go even further down hill, like Pilate did.
John 19:16 “ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.”
Leadership Mistake #12: Pilate lost control.
The ultimately destination for Pilate was to completely lose control of the situation. In other words, he lost his power and ability to lead because of the mistakes he had made. His leadership mistakes piled up on each other until finally it cost him his leadership influence entirely.
Sadly, many leaders find themselves in the same place. When we make mistake after mistake in our leadership, eventually it will wear down our team and those around us to such a degree that eventually they will give up following us. And a leader without followers is not a leader, they are merely a wanderer. Unfortunately, today, there are a lot of leaders who think they’re leading, but the team around them, although perhaps there in name or title, are not with them in heart and soul. Leadership is a gift and a privilege that we must never take for granted. Each decision we make either builds our leadership credibility or erodes it. Pilate eroded his leadership credibility in one afternoon. May we learn from his mistakes and do differently.
Conversation Questions:
1. Can you think of a time when you have allowed fear to cloud your leadership judgement?
2. Think of a time when you have witnessed a leader use power and position to manipulate someone so they could get their way.
3. Have you ever been tempted to use guilt as a motivator in your decision making?
4. Can you think of a time when a leader has lost control of a team or situation because of a series of unwise decisions they have made?