148 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
escapade, he probably would have spoken similar words. In the best
teams, position becomes subordinate to purpose.
DELEGATION
Teams run best when the leader can delegate tasks and authority. One
of the first and best delegators was Moses, who learned the hard way
that one man, no matter how talented, could not lead single-handedly.
Moses was trying to run every aspect of ‘‘Children of Israel, Inc.’’ from
soup to nuts (at their worst, this was about all that the tribes possessed,
but as their fortunes increased, so did their resources and the complexity
of governing them).
It took a ‘‘consultant’’ to point out to Moses the futility of trying
to run everything himself, and the resulting stress and fatigue he was
experiencing. This consultant also happened to be his father-in-law,
Jethro, who felt obligated to ask him:
Why do you sit alone as judge, while all these people stand around you
from morning till evening? 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... select capable men from all
the people... and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds,
fifties and tens... Have them serve as judges... but have them bring
every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves.
(Exod. 18)Once Moses appointed teams and team leaders, the line outside his
tent (which was probably longer than that at any Motor Vehicles Bu-
reau) and his stress level decreased significantly.
Steve Case of AOL had a similar problem when he first started out.
Like many entrepreneurs, he tried to do everything and had trouble
letting go. He even wrote the ads for AOL and the press releases. ‘‘I
was involved in every decision,’’ writes Case. We don’t know whether
Case had as wise an adviser as Moses’ father-in-law or whether he came