Judge Moses was leading the Israelites to the best of his ability. His constituents “stood around him from morning till evening” (Exodus 18:13). One can imagine the scene. What would be going through your mind if you had an issue requiring Moses’ attention, and yet you were at the back of the line of people waiting to see him?
Notice that Jethro asked Moses a couple of strategic, well-placed questions:
- “What is this you are doing for the people?”
- “Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”
Moses answered with the knowledge he had:
- “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will.”
- “Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.”
Jethro’s response was both wise and timely: “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you.”
Jethro helps Moses see his leadership fault, and in so doing, sets Moses up to receive wise counsel. He helps Moses see that Moses’ job is to do what only he can do as a leader. If someone else can do it, then he should not. Moses needs to release other leaders to help lead, so that he is freed up to do what God has called him, in particular, to do.
One mark of a biblical leader is that he/she understands that leadership is a marathon, not a sprint. One must take the long view, and then think backwards to ask what must be done to go the distance and bring about biblical success.
So, what did Jethro do as a coach? He asked strategic questions. He listened to his coaching client (Moses). He helped Moses see the real and/or potential negative ramifications of his current course of leadership. He helped Moses see potential positive ramifications of a corrected course of leadership. By doing the above, Jethro helped facilitate positive, long lasting leadership change in Moses, which resulted in a healthier constituency as well
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