𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝟓 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐘𝐨𝐮!

September 2016! It was my birthday. I had been appointed Zonal Coordinator of the Nigerian Christian Corpers’ Fellowship. The year before, I spent 6 months learning leadership from a renowned mentor. And so that responsibility couldn’t have come at a better time. Overseeing the affairs of the largest zone in that state quickly racked up space on my schedule. I had to draft calendars for weekly meetings. Travel to faraway settlements—euphemism for “village”—to visit the corps member there. Since our membership was dwindling at the time, my team and I spent the first 6 weeks holding meetings lodge after lodge to invite corps members into the fold. Call it a campaign if you like! Working with a helpful matron made things a lot easier. God bless that woman! Stomach infrastructure became part of the incentives for coming to fellowship. It wasn’t the goal, but it spiced things up a bit. Then there were monthly meetings where the secretary and I report our progress to the state President and his team. Nightlong meetings! If these were my only work, I would’ve been luckier. When you factor in my Place of Primary Assignment (PPA), extra weekly lessons I taught in a separate mission school, my role as youth president for the local Living Faith Church and my weekend management lectures—27 kilometres away—you’re staring at a huge pile. Then there was my new role of President of my CDS group. Much later, the pressure would multiply when I started seeking funds for my personal CDS project. But I was prepared! Was I? (Laughs in Pete Edochie 😅) Months into my work, things started to slip. Time became gold for me. Weekends had no consequence. There were simply damage control for spillover work my humanity couldn’t accommodate in the week. I started to long for the days when I was simply a Corps member with only a number to my name. No portfolios. No office. No titles. Just me, reading a nice book under a tree in the settlement I was posted to. As things spiraled out of control, what did I do? You guessed it. I doubled my effort! Workaholic me! 😂 It took me time and bruises to realize that I’m but one man. And I can only be in one place at a time. I had a team but I wasn’t letting them do their work. Hello micromanagers! I hovered over them like a rescue helicopter. Add my perfectionist tendencies to that equation and you get a nagging partner. Without realizing it, I was making myself the central figure in leadership. There’s a sense of control when everything passes through me. But it only revealed my lack of trust in the people I work with. When everything has to pass through the leader, the leader becomes the bottleneck to the flow of things. But I wasn’t alone on this leadership faux pas. I was only mirroring the mistakes of Moses, leader of ancient Israel. Stay with me! That morning, when Moses sat to perform his leadership duties, he was doing so with a sense of accomplishment. With his father-in-law, Jethro, watching, it was the perfect occasion to prove to the old man that, “your daughter is in good hands”. Watch me legislate! I wonder how long it took Jethro to react. But as the elderly do, he probably observed for a few days before blurting out, “𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠?” (Exodus 18:14, Paraphrased) If I was asked this question 4 years ago, I would probably answer like Moses. “Well, you see, Mr. Jethro, I do this because the people come to me with their disputes, to asks for God’s decisions…I am their judge, deciding who is right and who is wrong, and instructing them in God’s way. I apply the laws of God to their particular disputes.” (Exodus 18:15-16, Paraphrased) He impressed the old man. Or so he thought. The smile hadn’t vanished from Moses’ face when Jethro dropped the bombshell. “This thing you’re doing is not right…you’re going to wear yourself out and if you do, what will happen to the people? Moses, this job is too heavy a burden for you to try to handle all by yourself” In other words, “brilliant idea, poor strategy.” Jethro continues… “Now Listen, and let me give you a word of advice, and God will bless you: Be these people’s lawyer—their representative before God. You will…teach them God’s laws, and show them the principles of Godly living… …Find some capable, godly, honest men who hate bribes, and appoint them as judges. One judge for each 1000 people; he will in turn have 10 judges under him, each in charge of 100; and under each of them will be 2 judges. Each of them responsible for the affairs of 50 people; and each of these will have 5 judges beneath him, each counselling 10 persons… …anything that is too important or complicated can be brought to you. But the smaller matters they can take care of themselves. That way, it will be easier for you…” As the story goes, Moses listened to his father-in-law; saving him blood, sweat and time. This sustainable model would become the cornerstone for leadership without tears. From this simple story, I learned early that… 1. As a leader, your ability to effectively delegate responsibilities to the right people will save you lots of trouble. How to delegate effectively is a story for another day. 2. When you exercise authority in an area you lack competence, you frustrate the effort of your team. They will obey you, but at what cost? 3. When you have the means, outsource your weaknesses and focus on your strengths. The purpose of money is to buy you time. 4. Systems thinking (and building) is a no-brainer for anyone who wants to up their productivity in the 21st century. Learn that skill fast! 5. When you outsource effectively, you have more time to focus on your primary goal as a leader. In Moses’ case, “teach them God’s laws, and show them the principles of Godly living.” Although I later learned these lessons by experience, they came at a price. There are so many takeaways from Jethro’s advice. Which hits home for you? Please share in the comments.