Illustration: Leadership vs Management

Long ago there lived a couple of mountain sheep herders named Mo and Jethro. From all appearances, Mo was not what you would call a particularly charismatic fellow. He was actually quite shy and unsure of himself. However, Mo was able to envision a better future for some of his kinfolk living in poor conditions down in the valley. He was so convinced of the vision that he was able to persuade them to leave the valley and follow him into the desert in the hopes of finding a new and better place to live. Suddenly Mo had about two million followers. Mo indeed became a great leader. 

Mo’s father-in-law Jethro was his partner in the sheep business and the brains behind the operation. However, Jethro did not share Mo’s vision and did not accompany him into the valley, but visited their camp in the desert later. He observed how Mo was having a hard time managing all the responsibilities of leadership and was headed for burn out from working overtime day in and day out. Jethro gave Mo some good organizational advice:   

Jethro saw how Mo sat before the people from morning until evening everyday deciding between their complaints with one another and he asked Mo, “What is this you are doing every day without rest?”

Mo replied, “I am leading these people to a better life and, as their leader, when the people have a difficulty they come to me to decide between them and to instruct them as to what to do.”

“But the people are so many and this thing you are doing will surely wear you and the people out,” Jethro said. “This task is too much for you to do alone. Let me give you some advice. Find other able and knowledgeable men and women to help you lead the people and put them over groups of thousands, and hundreds and fifties and tens. Let them decide the small matters and only bring the big matters for you to decide. In this way you will be able to endure and all your followers will be better off as well.”

Mo followed Jethro’s advice and eventually helped the people realize the vision.[1]

Some of you reading this blog entry will recognize the above story as an adaption of the Biblical story of Moses and Jethro found in the book of Exodus (see Ex 18 in particular).

It has been observed by numerous leaders in the field of leadership studies that leadership involves the factors of and relationship between the leader, the followers, and the situation. The biblical story of Exodus certainly contains all of these elements.  Furthermore, the account of Moses and Jethro illustrates some of the distinctions between leadership and management. Moses may be called a leader and Jethro a manager. How are a leader and a manager different?  How are they alike? 

One of the obvious distinctions between Moses and Jethro is the matter of vision. When Moses turned aside to see the phenomenon of a bush that burned with fire but was not consumed, he was given a vision from God (Ex. 3:1-22). Whether one believes vision comes from God or not, leaders are visionary people; they have the ability to see a preferable future and lead others toward it.

  

Jethro had great organizational skills. He didn’t have the vision of Moses, but he was able to help facilitate the goals toward the dream by lending some order to the workload and encouraging teamwork. While leaders inspire followers toward the vision of a preferable future, the general the purpose of management is to provide order and consistency to organizations. Jethro certainly fulfilled that role for Moses.

---

[1] Story adapted from the Biblical book of Exodus, particularly chapter 18.