Jethro & the Principle of Intuition: Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias – Part 2 of 2

Moses’ father-in-law (Jethro) said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. Exodus 18:17-18 Some people are born with great leadership intuition; others have to work hard to develop it. Continuing from yesterday, consider how Jethro handled Moses’ situation. His leadership bias made him a great “reader” of situations, trends, resources, people, and himself. Yesterday’s blog discussed the first of these: 1. situations. Let’s look at the next four now… 2. Trends: A leader sees what is happening in the present and understands where an organization is headed. Jethro could see Moses heading for trouble. He told his son-in-law, “Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.” Maybe Moses settled disputes effectively, maybe not. But even if he were able to get by with doing everything, he could never sustain it. As the population grew, his situation would worsen. Jethro knew that disaster lay ahead if Moses didn’t change. 3. Resources: Leaders know how to resource their vision. They don’t take anything for granted, and they maximize whatever is at hand to achieve their goals. Jethro identifies Israel’s greatest assets: Moses’ heart, God’s favor, and the people. He directed Moses to seek God’s counsel, to teach the people God’s laws, and to empower the people to share the burden. Jethro’s plan utilized everything of value the people possessed. 4. People: Skill with people is perhaps the greatest ability of a leader. Some can understand what it takes to lead; others can actually do it. Jethro understood people and leadership well enough to know how to empower Moses’ leadership, even though he had no personal experience with those who had just escaped Egypt. Jethro knew leadership had to be based on ability, not position, and he instinctively understood that the right people were present to lead thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They just had to be put into place. 5. Himself: A leader reads himself well. He understands his strengths, weaknesses, and his individual calling. Jethro not only read and understood Moses’ leadership problem; he realized he (Jethro) was not the man for the job. So he read and evaluated Moses’ leadership ability and planned accordingly. Look at any leader with sharp intuition, and you will see an ability to read a leadership situation. When Nehemiah looked at the wall in Jerusalem, he knew what to do. When Joseph understood Pharaoh’s dream, he knew how to prepare for the famine. Intuition, whether natural, or developed intentionally, helps a good leader to become a great leader. Fortunately, while we may not all have been born great leaders, we can become great leaders (with greater leadership intuition) by learning and practicing the 22 Principles of Leadership. I’d love to talk to you personally. For more on help I can provide and how you can reach me, check out… http://truthatlife.com/ or email me directly at curtis.songer@gmail.com