Idealist headmen with great conviction, who espouse and enforce strict principles and rules, can become spiritually dry, implacable, excessively rigid, prone to self-serving bias, overzealous and radical. The magnitude of the resulting damage often increases in proportion to their organizational skills, power and passion. Many such leaders die an early unnatural death — Robespierre, for example, was guillotined at age 36.

Even many well-intentioned helmsmen easily lose sight of the law’s spirit and trust that if they fulfill its letter, they will be fine. Imbued with illusory superiority, they often pride themselves on their imagined righteousness, which seems to contrast with the depravity of others. If they are pushed into a corner, they tend to exaggerate their oftentimes countercultural ideology, becoming extremist and fanatic.

With increasing marginalization, they become more prone to commit desperate acts.

Many make absolute claims when this is not necessary or right, by default regarding everybody who is not with them as their enemy. Hypocrites, who succumb to sin but claim that their track record is spotless, create opposition and taint worthy ideals. Other leaders, despite good intentions, fail to systematically execute their plans. Helmsmen in all walks of life can learn to avoid these dangers by following the shining example of the prophet Moses.

Radiate enlightened charity

Instead of hardening himself and promoting legalism, which is devoid of soul, Moses encouraged his followers above all to cultivate a religion of the heart. As a result, he was able to create a great and enduring legacy, whereas merciless purists and legalists, such as the Pharisees, in all ages quickly lead their followers into spiritual and material ruin.

Moses never tolerated sin, but he showed much compassion for his sinful followers, which did not spring from sentimental feelings but was rooted in his knowing the truth of God’s mercy. Time and again, he interceded with the Almighty on behalf of his people after they had engaged in acts of defiance, even when they directly challenged his leadership and threatened his life.

Instead of treating his people as slaves, he respected their dignity and freedom. Imbued with a great love for his followers, he did not just leave them alone to perish in the darkness, but helped them to fill the space thus created in a meaningful way. He served as moral pedagogue with great charity, instructing the people in righteousness with his example, including his displayed attitudes, words and deeds. He even used the situations that he and his people encountered as dramatic real-life lessons, demonstrating the power of love and importance of forgiveness.

Undoubtedly, the word “love” is rarely heard in boardrooms; it is not a principle that inspires many executives when they deal with employees, customers and other stakeholders. But self-giving love, which differs from ego-centric love driven by selfish needs, always wins in the end.

Because of reciprocity, opting for love and forgiveness is also in the self-interest of all movers and shakers. Those who are quick to condemn others and lack mercy are likely to be treated in the same way. Lopsided leaders, who are principled but lack compassion, in the long term cannot evade the negative consequences of their weakness by using followers with complementary attitudes and skills as human buffers. Because of their toughness and inflexibility, these headmen create many powerful enemies who eventually will sweep their cordon away and remove them, too.

Ask yourself: Are you quick to condemn others and do you look forward to their punishment? Or are you a great “organizational intercessor”? Do you feel compassion for weak employees and lift them up? Does your organization, because of your stern and unforgiving spirit, resemble a battle field where only the fittest survive? How much mercy do you have? Do you allow yourself only to succumb to “holy anger”, which is indignation caused by others violating noble principles? Or are you also upset when you feel you alone have been hurt?

Design and implement empowering organization

Many idealist leaders fail because they cannot execute their plans. Sometimes they are paralyzed because the discrepancy between their lofty aspirations, the meanness of the world and inadequate resources to change it shocks them. In contrast, remarkable torch bearers welcome such a challenge and often pay attention even to minute, but important facets of implementation.

Moses was a great organizer, eventually transforming the capricious Hebrew slaves into a disciplined army with a strong fighting spirit. He demonstrated the effectiveness of several organizational principles, which are still valid today.

By dividing properly equipped and empowered people according to God’s plan, he was able to fully leverage the limited resources of all followers, achieving great results at the aggregate level. This is witnessed by his people’s construction of the Tabernacle. His carefully designed encampment, which centered on the presence of God, with the different tribes grouped around the Tent of Meeting, dazzled even a pagan prophet by its beauty.

Moses led the people through the wilderness in an orderly procession and had a succession plan in place. He also instituted edifying rituals. With great far-sightedness, the prophet even allocated lots in the Promised Land to the different tribes and instituted inheritance laws destined to preserve their integrity.

How about you? Are you dreaming most of the time and thus fail to implement your ideas? Are you afraid of facing the sobering reality? Do you think that all the details of execution should be delegated to others? Are you a free spirit whom people call disorganized? Are you quite happy when your followers fight with each other so that they will eventually appeal to you as final powerful arbiter? Or do you structure the activities of your employees in a way that ensures that everybody works in unison? Do you intentionally avoid grooming a successor to make yourself irreplaceable? Have you put in place rituals that root your espoused values deeply in your followers’ hearts?

In conclusion, the measure of Moses’ greatness is his faith that resulted in his sincere humility and complete obedience to God, inspiring and sustaining all of his other positive attitudes and behavioral patterns. A striking feature is the holistic development of all his faculties and leadership balance. The servant of God suffered his greatest setbacks when his strength turned into weaknesses due to loss of poise. For example, when he failed to bridle his passion, he committed murder.

Moses had the rare gift of being both a programmatic leader and executive who actually helped implement his plans. He excelled in the hard and soft aspects of leadership, focusing on tasks and people, solving problems and inspiring his followers. The prophet combined childlike piety with rock-solid and mature theology. He was neither a destructive zealot nor an ineffective softie. Instead, his holiness and justice were enriched by loving-kindness and forgiveness; he always varied rigor and exhortation with care and encouragement. Instead of dividing his people into competing factions, he integrated them to great effect.

The bottom line: Those few holistic individuals who achieve leadership balance, despite scarce resources and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, truly can transform the world in a positive way and create a lasting legacy!


“Prof. Kai on Strategic Leadership” Column Number 36. Kai-Alexander Schlevogt (D.Phil. Oxford) is a professor of strategy and leadership at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School and author of The Innovation Honeymoon (Pearson Prentice Hall). Email: schlevogt@schlevogt.com; website: www.schlevogt.com.

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