(ThyBlackMan.com) Many times, we are told that the Holy Bible has answers to most of the questions that plague us. Certainly, this is very true when it comes to leadership principles. An excellent example is to be seen in Exodus 18. Here we get introduced to an outstanding business and leadership model through the story of Moses and his father-in-law Jethro. Moses received sound advice from his father-in-law that all forward thinking managers, administrators and business leaders ought to adopt and take to heart.
From morning time to the evening, Moses would be engaged in judging disputes among the people. Daily, from morning, the people would be standing around as they waited for Moses to hear their cases. Jethro’s counsel to Moses was, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you.”
Obviously Jethro could perceive that this behavior pattern would bring total exhaustion for Moses. This is the aspect which most Bible readers tend to focus on when they come across that passage. However, Jethro also came to realize that the leadership style of Moses would also impact negatively on the people being served. The court stood at the risk of getting backlogged, the nation would likely become frustrated, and eventually a possibility arose that many would give up on the idea of ever obtaining justice.
The Good Intentions of Moses
Essentially Moses was micro-managing things through having all decisions being channeled through him. It’s worth noting that the intentions of Moses were good. He desired that the people understand and appreciate the law. He took his responsibility and influence seriously. He personally judged each case as each mattered to him and more to God.
Single-handedly Moses was dealing with everything that confronted Israel. Jethro saw the possibility of burn out in Moses and advised him on sharing some of the responsibilities with several trusted people. However, Moses would continue representing the nation before God, teaching the people godly principles and showing them what to do and how to live (Exodus 18:13–24).
Application Today
It’s happening even today for leaders (in business and elsewhere). However, there are possibilities of serious consequences if we allow our concept of our calling or sacred duty to turn into some form of micro-management. It should also be noted that 80% of the work in the church is done by 20% of its people. A more dramatic look at business entities of today would yield similar results. It is incumbent upon on the leaders of tomorrow to tap into this professional climate in order to get the most productive output from a reluctant work base with what exist at the present time; not looking down the road at times to come.
Whenever a leader becomes adamant about approving or making every decision, the outcome is an organizational bottleneck. Something interesting is bound to then happen. Leaders start to appreciate that they are only able to accomplish so much. However, instead of delegating the process of decision making, they engineer the existing system to be accommodative of their own limited time.
This could work for some time, but this simply amounts to restructuring the whole organizational around the leader’s limitations. This is exactly opposite of how effective leadership ought to work.
So what lessons can be cultured from the Jethro Model?
As a leader you’ve got to promote a positive outlook and vision. Maybe you’ve already pondered on the “why” aspect. Now what you want is to mobilize a small team of strong people to assist you in figuring out the “how.” Yes, you’ve understood or grasped the enormity of your special calling. However you realize that a single person may not be sufficient in making your vision into a reality.
Now there is where the challenge lies. To lead a good and able team, you first need to nurture and develop your own leadership potential. How then do you get to be a leader who is effective? The advice of Jethro on the need for effective organization and administration in the camp of Moses can be applied to improve any context of leadership, be it in your business, company/organization or even family.
Effective leaders go before God on behalf of the people
It’s important to plan on regular communion with God and to continually pray for direction, wisdom and ideas about your vision. You need to realize that you are in need of another source of strength that goes beyond the self.
Effective leaders understand their own limitations
Progressive leadership is certainly not a 1-man show. The burden of a truly inspiring and compelling vision is too big to be carried alone. When the single leader burns out, everything also burns out.
Effective leaders teach
I am reminded of a dreadful stain on the history of America when the news of the death of one great leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, was just a new and breaking story; Robert Kennedy a present leader handled it flawlessly: What was extraordinary was how frankly, and calmly, Kennedy addressed the anger and hate that underlies irrational acts. Much like the frustration felt by Black males when unscrupulous, police practice brutality in the Urban Centers of America. Kennedy told what had happened, and he went right into calm. He was not angry, or even emotional. The audience followed this lead. RFK was in a position to empathize. In one of the most memorable moments in the speech, he connects to his audience by reminding them that his brother was also killed—“by a white man.” Implicit in this is irrationality—the irrationality of generalizations, whether about race, or religion, or any other pat demographic stat. He urged understanding.
And then he referenced something—some words—that had helped him. Kennedy said:
My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He once wrote, “And even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”
As a leader, you must develop a passion for mentoring, engaging and teaching other leaders. In management, the real leadership test is your ability of reproducing yourself in others. Inspire the team you assemble to buy into your own vision until they become part of it and also want to own it as you do.
The 3 T’s outlined by the Jethro Model for effective management of people:
- Teach—Instruct those entrusted to your care
- Tell—Verbally exemplify by way of illustration
- Train—Give yourself as an example and follow-up
Effective leaders develop and create strong teams
Make a list of qualities you wish to see among your candidates and base your selections on these criteria. With your select and committed team, share your vision which in turn they will teach to others.
Effective leaders’ delegate
Great leaders focus on the larger macro picture and then break it down into smaller chunks that are manageable. These they then assign to trusted team members.
Effective leaders develop an accountability system
This is also a biblical based principle. Jesus Himself demanded from the Disciples an account of what they had taught or done (Mark 6:30).
Effective leaders empower and encourage excellence
Encourage dedication and commitment through assisting your team to become organized even in their family and personal lives. Also take part in stimulating their personal and professional development.
When in doubt…delegate!
The advice of Jethro wasn’t about streamlining the court. Neither was it about appointing people to summarize for Moses the information so he could dispense faster verdicts.
Rather the wise counsel of Jethro was to delegate: to mentor and train other upcoming leaders who could assume some aspects of the authority of Moses and be part of taking care of the nation. Moses would then become a leader rather than holding back everybody. He could now handle his portion of the workload and the people wouldn’t get necessarily frustrated. Upcoming leaders would get trained for bigger things and people would get justice administered.
Through following the above principles, you start bearing the burden of your bigger vision with some other like -minded persons. This way, you will be serving alongside dedicated and happy people who will be helping you to avoid burn out, endure the journey, and finally finish well—the great rewards that come with effective leadership.
What the Bible through Jethro and Moses Teach us About Leadership and Delegation
After 400 years of living in slavery, Moses had just begun leading the Israelites out of Egypt. His task was to take the children of God toward Israel, their promised land. As we read in the Book of Exodus Chapter 18, Moses was laboring in the middle of the Sinai desert from dawn to very late into the day and night as he attempted to resolve the countless conflicts that were coming up among the Children of Israel. Effectively, Moses had unintentionally turned into a workaholic.
Jethro, his father-in-law, a Midian priest, saw that the workload Moses was putting upon himself could not be sustained for long and that he was heading for troubled times ahead. Wisely, he pulled Moses aside, and after commending him for his efforts at doing God’s bidding (Exodus 18:9–12), gave him a couple of priceless lessons and counsel regarding the benefits of delegation.
In today’s business terminology, Jethro articulated several management principles which were relevant to the situation of Moses then and which can be applied even today.
Admit to yourself that non-stop working is unsustainable
Jethro didn’t hold anything back and in a matter-of-fact manner told Moses that what he was doing was certainly not good. It was neither good for Moses nor for the people Moses was leading, as both stood at the risk of wearing themselves out. He told Moses that what he was doing was too much for one person to perform by himself.
Effectively, Jethro was telling Moses that eventually he would break down. We all know that you can’t keep working 12-hour days, 6 days in a week, and still expect to come out unscathed. Eventually, something will give: your sanity, your health, your career, your family, or your own promising legacy. Even worse, Moses stood at the risk of wearing out his people. For your own sake—and that of your people, you must appreciate and admit the reality. Your current strategy is simply not working.
Know that yours is a unique calling
Jethro had seen something extremely significant. He saw that while Moses perhaps could do lots of things quite well, he appeared to have a unique calling in which he alone brought more value.
As we see in Chapter 18 verses 19-20 of the Book of Exodus, Jethro exhorted Moses:
“Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do”
Precisely what Jethro, his own father –in-law was telling him was that he needed to offload himself of those things which other people could perform, so that he could give his attention those things that which only he could perform or do, namely going before God and teaching the people what to do.
This is a principle that applies to you as a leader. In whatever you are doing, where exactly is it that you bring the most value—that special thing that you are personally, uniquely qualified and called to do? Then how can you go about delegating the rest?
Select several qualified leaders to help you
Here Jethro gets very practical and gently gives Moses a rebuke and admonition telling him he was not the only person who could get the job done. He needed to get some trusted leaders to help in sharing the load as there was no reason why he should bear it alone. We see in verse 21a Jethro telling Moses:
“Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, [and] hating covetousness…..”
Worth noting here is that Jethro focused is on character. Your chosen people can gain experience and the necessary knowledge, they can master skills and even greatly develop their personal leadership gifts, but the place where you must begin is with a solid foundation of a godly character. With such a character, it becomes much easier for you to delegate effectively and with confidence.
Give your chosen leaders authority and responsibility
Jethro was apparently a very practical man. He clearly understood that a typical leader’s span-of-control is around 10 people. He guided Moses in setting up a simplified organizational hierarchy that had different responsibility levels. He gave a clear outline:
“… and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times” (Ex. 18: 21b).
This is certainly not complex rocket science and neither is it a bureaucratic setup. The various levels of management proposed by Jethro were not designed to hamper or impede the decision-making process but rather to facilitate it and making it more effective. The key lies in giving your chosen leaders real authority. Yes, they are bound to make mistakes, but you must get over that. This is the price that comes with developing leaders.
Only undertake what others can’t
Moses was advised by Jethro to manage by exception:
“And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.” (Ex18:22b)
The Navigators founder Dawson Trotman once observed that a leader should never do anything of great significance that other people in the team can do or will do when so much of important things to be done are there, which others cannot do by themselves or are no going not to do. This is definitely an invaluable piece of advice for every good leader. Identify where you can bring unique added value and let that be your main focus and let everything else go.
How does Jethro conclude his counsel to Moses?
“If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”(Ex 18:23)
It is important to note how Moses is promised two beneficial possible outcomes by the experienced priest Jethro:
1. Moses himself will endure (Strategy Sustainability)
2. People will have peace (Fewer Conflicts).
Conclusion
Management ability is not an inborn characteristic, but is something that is learned. Good leaders are made and not born. Moses was called by God to lead the children of Israel, yet even with many years of education acquired in Egypt plus the practical experience, he still had lots to learn. This ought to be an encouraging thing to those who feel that perhaps administration is really not their forte. We can learn from the case of Moses and Jethro that it’s possible to learn how to become better administrators, better managers, and ultimately better leaders.
Staff Writer; Stanley G. Buford
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