leaders listen...

Just stumbled across something I wrote a while back. I had attended a Rotaract training and we were asked to make a commitment that we would hope to achieve and make a habit from. I picked, 'I'd read a book every month'. The moderator said the only way they'd confirm that I had read, is if I wrote a short summary of the book I read.

The end of the month came and it was just the wrong month because I had not read a new book. Fortunately, I had been attending a few church classes where we were trying to read through The Bible in one year, that evening I read Exodus chapter 18 and this is the summary I shared...


I decided to have a look at an inspirational book…The Bible…Apart from the religious aspect of it, it really is an inspirational book.

In Exodus Chapter 18- Jethro visits Moses.

In my understanding...

Jethro was Moses’s father in law and he came to visit Moses one day. Moses had sent home his wife and two sons after he saw what a great responsibility he had to handle the Israelites. I don’t know if that was a good decision but maybe it was inevitable for him then.

The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father in law saw all that Moses was doing for the people he asked, “what is this you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone and judge, while all these people stand around from morning till evening?”

Moses answered him, “Because all these people come to seek God’s will.Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me and I decide the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws".

This guy had so much responsibility and I would imagine that he had to deal with petty crimes to hard rock kind of cases; sibling rivalry, murder, guys stealing chicken, other stealing lots and lots of gold and silver…there was no cash those days.

Moses’ father in law replied, “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. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them the decrees and laws and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. But select capable men from all the people who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens (delegation). Have them serve as judges for the people at all times but have them bring every difficult case to you, the simple cases, they can decide for themselves. That will make your load lighter…

Now those days Moses used to be the overall say but he chose to listen to his father in law and did as he suggested and he had less strain and leadership roles developed just from delegation…results.

Responsibility – Listening – Action - Results.

Read it again today, I still think it is a lesson you cannot afford to live without.

Leaders Listen!

not shy... anything to avert too much attention

Some people are not shy, though they may appear to be, they just do anything to avert too much attention. They will not say too much unless its necessary or they are cornered, They will not dress strikingly or so absurd which will attract attention, They do not like to go to places where they will meet everyone they know, They will not volunteer for roles with maximum lime light, they are just average in appearance, not much to write home about.

They may appear to be in conflict with Marianne Williamson...
“Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.”

Instead...

They wear clothes a size bigger than they are, they say little or nothing to celebrities and will avoid them as much as possible, they are often embarrassed when given too much praise, they volunteer for seemingly small inconspicuous roles, They rarely share what is in their dreams as they have some fear of disappointment which is worse if 'everyone knew about it'.

Something else they do...

They study people around them, They silently listen to conversations around them,They have different types of conflicting friends as they do not engage in similar activities as their friends do but will sit around to listen in anyway... this often brings conflict with the quote "show me your friends and I'll show you who you are".

The confusing part...

If you are a friend, you probably think they are the most talkative people in the world! They say things in abstract form and most often appear complicated, while this is the safest way for them to express themselves. You probably know they can speak well or lead well but when asked to do it, they'll more often than not refuse and only step up if there is no other capable or willing person. With a comfortable public, they will come forth as 'know it all' as they know a bit of everything from all the people they are often around.

They are extroverted introverts ha!