Do Managers/Leaders Really Know Their Role?
“Lord, if Moses was so great leading your people out of Egypt, why was he punished so hard for hitting the rock in the desert? I mean I would have been severely pissed off… can I use that term? All the Israelite’s complaining in the desert, I can empathize with Moses and why he might have been so angry. Also, didn’t his sister Miriam die right before the Israelites rebelled again so maybe he was suffering from burnout and should not have been punished as hard?”
“You can use whatever words you want Sam. I have heard it all.”
The Lord continued, “Moses was at the end of his rope…on a journey beyond his training and preparation. Moses was great, but every leader needs to know their strength and when their time has come around to pack their bags. When I hired him to lead the people out of Egypt, I didn’t hire him to lead my people into the Promised Land. He undertook his directive and did a great job. However, when the time came and his successor Joshua was prepared for the next task, I let him go. I felt it would be easier for Moses to blame me than to try and explain his true role to the people. You might think I was cruel or maybe that I should have told him that he would not enter the Promised Land from the very beginning, but I felt this was the best approach to maintain his honor, not turn him into an idol, and to reward his wonderful work shepherding my people. Is that really a punishment or was he rewarded for doing a great job by me extending his contract for an extra 40 years?”
Up on the screen popped up a picture of Moses. He was looking at his wrist admiring a gold watch. Around him were all the nation with banners reading retirement party. The Lord looked at me with that mischievous smile…
“That one I photoshopped…. I didn’t even give him a gold sun dial. His reward was coming right up here to be with me….do not pas go, do not collect $200…he went straight to Heaven.”
The Lord continued. “Moses was great with the slaves. I asked him to lead them out of Egypt- which meant to transform them form slaves to free people. I never promised him that he would lead them to the Promised Land. I was going to lead the people to the Promised Land myself until they rebelled with the sin of the spies. The Israelites were obviously not ready, and Moses worked hard to transform them over the next 40 years in the desert. However, when he struck the rock and when the people were still complaining so many years later, I felt it was time for a change. Striking the rock was like how the task masters used to strike the slaves, a reminder of their past slave mentality. The Israelites needed to move beyond that mentality if they were ever going to be free.”
I had never thought about the potential that Moses could have died while leading the Israelites out of Egypt and he would have been a success for taking them out of Egypt. He also was a success in transforming their mental slavery to the mental space of being free. That was a huge task and would have been a lifetime accomplishment for many great leaders over the years such as Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, or Gandhi. I wondered if they knew their roles.
“Sam, many of the greatest leaders who have led their followers to success truly did not know the magnitude of their role. They might have thought they were making a small impact, when in fact they had a phenomenal impact. I think pursuing grand ambitious plans can be counterproductive for most if not all leaders. The average person will be burdened with the magnitude of some of these Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Just think of all the pressure. Having a series of manageable goals that help lead to a much bigger outcome will be a better approach and should be the role that people should take. Joseph did not have a goal of saving the world. He was going to help get himself out of prison, protect Pharaoh, and save the Egyptians. Only in the end did he realize that he was able to save most of the middle east.”
“So having small goals that lead to bigger things will be the better approach and role a manager should undertake?”
The Lord threw his hands into the air and responded: “That works for me.”
So sometimes doing less, have a laser focused goal, and being constrained by circumstances or even the Lord can be a big positive. I thought that would be a great point to share with my readers who often try for more and bigger. Maybe that was not the best approach.
