Lead Like a Boss

A number of years ago, I was encountering some major challenges as a leader. I felt like I was in over my head, making rookie mistakes, and alienating the people I was trying to lead. It was a mess. I was a mess.

In an effort to lift my weary self out of the muck and mire I had unintentionally created, I began reading about different Biblical leaders. One such leader was a man named Moses. God used some of his leadership experiences to give me much needed hope and point me in a better direction.

When I decided to share some of those leadership learnings here on my blog, I revisited the book of Exodus to see if God might have some additional insight I could include. What do you know? He did!

Not only that, He actually amplified my view to encompass leadership lessons from the Boss Himself! So while I began to glean some new nuggets from Moses’s leadership journey, I realized that I was actually learning more about how God led Moses!

This unexpected shift in focus means that instead of spending all of our time on Moses in this post, we will mainly zero in on God. Next week, I’ll write more about leadership lessons I’ve learned from Moses.

To get the most out of this post, I’d highly recommend reading Exodus chapters 3 and 4. You can do so here.

Let’s briefly look at the context before we jump in. After killing a man, and being found out, Moses fled to Midian. While there, he married the daughter of a priest and they had a son. Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock when God called to him from a burning bush.

I can’t help but find it interesting that just like David, Moses was tending a flock when he found out God had chosen him for a really big leadership job. If you haven’t read my post about leadership lessons from David, Lead Like a Shepherd, you can do so here.

Let’s see what the Boss has to teach us as he calls Moses. We’ll pick up the story in Exodus 3:4 and following. Moses is intrigued by a bush that’s on fire and yet does not burn up. I would be intrigued too, wouldn’t you?

When the Lord sees that Moses goes over to look at the bush, God calls him by name, twice.

After Moses says, “Here I am,” God establishes two things: that this is holy ground and He is the Lord. In response to the reality of all that is holy in front of him, Moses hides his face, too fearful of looking at God.

In the following verses, God tells Moses about the plight of his people who are suffering in Egypt. He, in essence, gives Moses context, helping him understand the severity of the situation. God then proceeds to tell Moses that He is going to bring the Israelites up out of that land into a land flowing with milk and honey.

I assume that Moses is listening quite carefully, as he has not said a word.

Then in Exodus 3:10, God tells Moses exactly what He wants Moses to do. The first leadership lesson I learn from God here is: communicate clearly and concisely. 

God clearly and concisely communicates His mission for Moses, “So now go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Can’t you just imagine the shock Moses must have felt at that very moment. I mean, I’m sure he was mentally nodding his head as God was telling him about how His people were suffering. And then, boom! There is a charge to GO to Pharaoh (a very powerful man) and bring His people out of Egypt. What?!?!

I love how the writer of Exodus says, “But Moses said to God…” If Moses had immediately agreed to God’s charge and said, “I will do as you say, my Lord,” then the writer might have said, “And Moses said to God…” We would have seen an “and” instead of a “but.”

Moses asks, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Here we might see some insecurity or even humility on Moses’ part.

The Boss is undeterred by Moses’ response and replies in verse 12, “…I will be with you…” The second leadership lesson I learn from God here is: presence matters. 

The Lord assures Moses that He will be with him. If the Lord is with us, is there anything we can’t face?

I believe that knowing the Lord would be with him gave Moses a little more courage. This reminds me of the passage we looked at while studying Deborah in, Lead Like a Mother, when Barak said he would go but only if Deborah went with him. If you haven’t read that post, you can do so here.

Throughout the remainder of Exodus chapter 3 and even into chapter 4, Moses asks several questions. He’s anticipating problems and wants to know ahead of time what he should say or do.

The Lord listens to Moses’ questions and always gives him an answer and a solution. Now this is kind of an interesting leadership strategy. Why? If you’ve had a direct supervisor while in a position of leadership, your leader probably encouraged questions but may have wanted you to answer them. Doing so would help you learn to figure things out on your own and perhaps even make you a little less dependent on the one who is leading you.

In this case however, I’m guessing that God wanted Moses to depend on Him. Moses wouldn’t be the one doing all of the work on this leadership mission. The elders of Israel and God Himself would also play a significant role.

In Exodus 3:16-17, God gives Moses further instructions with regard to the mission. He says, “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers–the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob–appeared to me and said:  I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites…a land flowing with milk and honey.'”

In verse 18, God tells Moses that the elders of Israel will listen to him. Then God gives Moses the next part of the mission:  “…Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt…”

What’s interesting about God’s instructions for Moses and the elders to go the king of Egypt is that He knows the king won’t let them do what they want him to do, “unless a mighty hand compels him.” So God foresees this potential problem and in verse 20 states how He will solve it.

The third leadership lesson I learn from God here is:  foresee potential problems and have possible solutions ready.

Even though we are not omniscient like God, if we are good at our jobs and in our various leadership roles, we can see potential problems before they happen. I do it all the time with my kids! I foresee that the pancake syrup is going to spill on the placemat while my 3-year-old is eating, so I move the plate closer to him and put a napkin down.

I mentioned earlier that Moses wouldn’t be doing all the work on this leadership mission. We see that when God provides a solution in verse 20 and, in verse 21, when He says that He will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the Israelites.

The fourth leadership lesson I learn from God here is:  leadership means working together to accomplish a task.

Unfortunately there was a time when I was in a positional leadership role, that I made the mistake of trying to do too much by myself. It wasn’t until I had a solid team around me that things really began to change for the better.

In Exodus chapter 4, we see how God begins to empower Moses. Literally. God gives  Moses the power to perform various wonders. It’s all part of God’s strategy to get the Israelites out of Egypt.

Even though Moses will now have the ability to perform these wonders, he tells God that he has never been eloquent. Maybe he’s thinking, “sure, I’ll be able to do wonders, but if I can’t speak, will the plan fall apart? Will I mess it up?”

God tells him to go (that’s at least the third time God has said, “go” to Moses in the last two chapters) and assures him that He will be with him and will help him speak and will teach him what to say (v. 12).

Alas, Moses is not convinced. “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” (v. 13)

Okay, I know the job sounds big here, but God has answered every question, He’s empowered Moses, He’s promised to be with him. What more does Moses need to be convinced that he’s the right guy for the job?

The fifth leadership lesson I learn from God here is:  empowerment doesn’t always equal confidence. 

Regardless of how much someone has invested in us and empowered us with all they think we need to get the job done, we may still feel insecure. We may have doubts and fears. We may think that there is someone far better for the job.

God has been very patient up to this point but now he’s angry (Ex. 4:14). But even in his anger, he provides a solution:  Aaron, Moses’ brother.

The sixth leadership lesson I learn from God here is:  when you know you’ve got the right person for the job, don’t let them talk their way out of it. 

Having said that, you may have to give them more resources to help them feel like they have everything they need to accomplish what you’ve asked them to do.

I wish I had learned some of these lessons a long time ago.

Were any of these leadership lessons helpful to you? If so, I would love for you to comment below.

Thank you for sticking with me and reading through to the end. I will be posting videos again, so stay tuned for those as well. We’ll focus in on Moses next week.

In the meantime, let’s try leading like a Boss this week and in so doing, be a little more radiant.