The David Complex

Often, when we talk about David and Goliath, the first thing most of us remember is the big win. The giant-slaying. The public victory.

Before that spectacle, David spent time in the caves as well. Before he ever wore a crown or sat on a throne, he spent years in the Cave of Adullam, hiding from King Saul and leading a group of 400 men who were "in distress, in debt, and discontented."

I sometimes wonder if he felt like it was a setback (as he was going through it). 🤔But I also imagine that in hindsight, he saw it as a masterclass in what I will call 'Human-Centred Leadership.'

Think about it - David had to be intentional about creating a culture among misfits before he could oversee a kingdom for a nation. He had to learn to manage the friction of 400 broken souls before he could manage the flow of a golden age that followed.

Thoughts on the Design Phase of a Steward’s Journey

In your life, career or your business, you might feel like you are in the "cave" phase. It’s frustrating. It feels small. It feels like the world has forgotten the promises made to you. It feels like regression. It feels embarrassing and belittling.

But I urge you to see this as thethe Design Phase for your transformation. This is the time period where the Audacious Humility of a steward is moulded:

• The Lead-Self Protocol: If you cannot lead yourself in the quiet, you will hardly sustain the noise that comes with the throne.
• The Scale Logic: If you cannot steward a small team of three with excellence, you will crush a team of three hundred with your ego and ownership mindset.
• The Throne as an Amplifier: The throne doesn't create character; it simply reveals it. When the architecture of your character is cracked in the cave, the weight of the crown will shatter it.

So use the design phase to work on the most critical parts of your character when no one is watching.

Mastery in the Dark

The cave is where self-mastery happens. It’s where you learn that The Work is the Worship, even when there is no audience. Don't despise the smallness of your current project, assignment, phase or the obscurity of your current season.

You are building. You are in a season where you can cultivate the habits and begin thinking about the exact culture that will eventually support your kingdom.

One, Perfect Love.

I’d like to connect with you. Tell me:

- What are you working on in the cave today?

- What is one 'inconvenient' lesson the cave is teaching you right now that you know you'll need when you finally reach the throne?

Omosa - We Who Dare to Believe