King Solomon was king over all Israel, and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king’s friend; Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. – 1 Kings 4:1-6  ESV

As wise as a leader I may think I am or as gifted as I leader I might feel lead to believe I am, nothing of real substance takes place in my life or in those I lead unless I surround myself with key individuals that will speak into those lives.

This is a list of those key people. I wonder at the word “son of.” What a great testimony to the fathers for having discipled their children to the point that they are accepted alongside them in leadership. Those key fathers were Zadok, who served with his son as a priest. Azariah was the son of Nathan – probably the son of King David, as was Zabud. Elihoreph and Ahijah were sons of Shisha and followed their father as their father was a secretary to King David.

I love Benaiah. He served and served and finally he was called upon to lead and he did so as effectively as when he served without a title. He is the example of how David discipled him and then when he was ready (when David passed away), he was given responsibility for which he was discipled to do.

What a great reminder that leaders become great leaders when they are discipled well and they in turn disciple leaders too. No matter how busy I become as I lead, I can chose to not be selfish and give my time and attention to disciple another. My challenge today.