John Stanko

"Nabal answered David’s servants, 'Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take  my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?'" - 1 Samuel 25:10-11.

This biblical couple of Nabal and Abigail exhibited diametrically opposed examples where people skills were concerned. Nabal was boorish and rude, and it almost cost him his life at David's hand. His wife Abigail had good people skills and was able to quickly soothe David's anger after Nabal had mistreated his men as seen in these verses. David was so impressed that he made Abigail his wife after Nabal's death and she went from a businessman's wife to the throne room. People skills in today's workplace are skills can often be a key element in being promoted, for you are in the people business no matter what business you are in. Therefore, your ability to read and manage people is an important skill no matter what trade or profession you are in.

LEADERSHIP STEP: There are some who are more naturally skilled at working with people, able to empathize and relate with more ease than others. Yet these skills can be learned and perfected with effort if the desire to do so is present. Your step today is to follow up on the People Skills Step that was assigned in Week Two, Day Three. Review your style to see how it relates with other people in your team or family. How can you use that insight to improve your people skills?

"His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite" - 1 Samuel 25:3.

Abigail had what is called emotional intelligence which allowed her to know how to work with people. Her husband had terrible people skills and almost brought calamity down on himself and his family if his wife had not intervened. And then Abigail humbled herself before David to prevent him from taking revenge on her husband who had insulted David's men. No matter what entity you are leading, you're leading people. Therefore, people skills are an essential ability you must develop and hone. Those skills start with understanding yourself and your own heart, which gives you the foundation and empathy from which you can begin to understand others.

LEADERSHIP STEP: There are many personality assessment tools available, like Myers Briggs, DISC, and Enneagram, among others. It shouldn't be too hard to find someone who can facilitate one of these for you, or perhaps you can even do it online on your own. The goal is to start amassing information about who you are and how you relate to other personalities and life situations. This will help you more ably deal with the people issues that come your way as a leader.