26 Feb #265 – Integrity Idea 072: Seek “Moses Managers”
Integrity Ideas are specific actions a leader can consider during the Re-Align step of Integriosity®–actions that will begin to Re-Align the organization with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities. You can find more Integrity Ideas at Integrous | Integrity Ideas (integriosity.com)
INTEGRITY IDEA: Seek “Moses Managers”
“Seek Moses Managers” is about implementing promotion, recruiting, hiring, selection, and training practices for managers that prioritize the qualities Moses used when recruiting chiefs in Exodus 18:21-24. It is about prioritizing Biblical excellence, Biblical diversity, cultural fit, and character.
Integrity Ideas are practical actions toward implementing a bigger WHY for the organization. We believe some are critical (and necessary) steps in the RENEW/RE-ALIGN/RE-IMAGINE/RESTORE process. Others are just ideas to be considered if they feel like a good fit based on what leaders prayerfully discern is best for stewarding the organization toward its WHY.
If an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing has a hierarchy, we believe “Seek Moses Managers” is an important step in ensuring that the organization’s culture reflects and reinforces the Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities that are the foundation of its Re-Imagined Purpose, Values and Culture.
Moses Managers
In Exodus 18, Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, watched as Moses spent the day judging for the people “from morning till evening“. His father-in-law observed that this was not good and offered some advice (emphasis added):
What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! . . .. [L]ook for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. (Exodus 18:17-21)
We learn in verse 24 that “Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.”
We see four key characteristics of “Moses Managers” embedded in the father-in-law’s advice:
• Biblical Excellence: “able men”
• Biblical Diversity: “from all the people”
• Cultural Fit: “who fear God”
• Character: “who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe”
Biblical Excellence. Excellence is most often thought of in terms of performance excellence–the ability to “get the job done”. We believe “performance excellence” is only one small part of the managerial excellence needed in an organization’s pursuit of faithful integrity in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities toward Biblical flourishing.
In post #235 (A “Plumb Line” Alternative to “Pendulum” MEI), we introduced a Biblical alternative to MEI (merit, excellence and intelligence)–the acronym for hiring that was gaining momentum as a reaction to the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) movement.
The key difference between worldly MEI and what we called Biblical MEI is that, rather than looking back at the past achievements of the individual for each letter in “MEI”, Biblical MEI looks to the “plumb lines” God has provided for faithful integrity through business a better way and the ability of the individual to contribute to the organization’s “merit, excellence, and intelligence” in aiming for those “plumb lines”, understanding each of those three words in Biblical terms.
A person’s performance excellence on worldly scales may be helpful in assessing their gifts, but Biblical MEI must look at their ability to contribute more broadly to organizational excellence in the pursuit of God’s plumb lines–plumb lines such as the Creation Mandate in Genesis 1:28, Imago Dei, forgiveness, the great commandment to love your neighbor, the Golden Rule, and the “first things” of Righteousness, Kingdom, Love and Humility embodied in the word Integriosity® and described in great detail in our prior posts..
For an organization, those Biblical plumb lines are translated to the organization’s people through its Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and Re-Imagined Culture. In assessing a potential promotion or new hire, Biblical MEI should value the ability of a person to work in alignment with, and contribute to, the organization’s purpose, values and culture.
We have also written about two facets of excellence–performance excellence and relational excellence–and how healthy organizational cultures require a balancing of the two. In his book Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy, and Understanding at Work, Michael Stallard identifies two common types of unhealthy organizational cultures–Cultures of Control and Culture of Indifference. He notes that a distinguishing feature of these unhealthy cultures is that their sole focus is task excellence, with little focus on relational excellence.
In assessing a potential promotion or new hire, Biblical MEI requires faithful leaders to assess the God-given gifts of a person and their ability to use those gifts to contribute to the organization’s pursuit of both performance and relational excellence.
Relational excellence is also closely tied to what we have called Biblical EQ. In post #185 (Integrity Idea 030: Encourage “Biblical EQ”), we explained how ensuring leaders have Biblical EQ reinforces an organizational culture that reflects and prioritizes Biblical concepts of relationships, community, human dignity and flourishing.
The “excellence” aspect of a “Moses Manager” must go beyond performance excellence to Biblical excellence. It should include an assessment of the manager’s Biblical EQ, as well as their ability to help the organization stay on target toward its Biblical “plumb lines”.
Biblical Diversity. Moses drew “from all the people“. In post #182 (Integrity Idea 027: Embrace “Biblical DEI”), we encouraged faithful leaders to take back the words in “DEI” and embrace their Biblical concepts. The process of selecting “Moses Managers” should address all three concepts–diversity, equity and inclusion from a Biblical perspective.
We believe Biblical diversity in a work context means treating all people with dignity, recognizing that each has been given unique gifts of creativity and productivity, and prayerfully assembling the group of people who can best pursue the purpose of the organization with an excellence and in a collaborative way that will glorify God.
Biblical diversity acknowledges the beauty of God’s creation and the unique contributions each person brings to the world.
Biblical equity in an organization means treating people equitably and fairly in all aspects of the work relationship–from hiring to promotion to compensation to firing. It is exhibiting equity in the treatment of people because that is how God sees them, rather than trying to achieve equity among people.
Biblical inclusion can’t condone exclusion, even if done with good intentions. The great commandment to love your neighbor demands that all neighbors be loved–not just ones who are like you or just ones you like. It is illegal to discriminate, but we think Biblical inclusion goes beyond complying with the law. It is being willing to go the extra mile to hire those who it would be simpler to overlook.
Cultural Fit. We believe “Moses Managers” who “fear God” are those who understand, and would be a fit in, a culture that is aligned with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.
It is a disservice to both the organization and a potential manager if a manager is hired without a clear understanding of the organization’s culture. This is even more important in a culture aligned with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities, because it is “counter-cultural” and may be perceived as an “extreme culture”, particularly if leaders choose to implement policies, practices and procedures closer to the overt end of the Covert-Overt Continuums.
An extreme culture should be disclosed upfront to potential employees to avoid misunderstandings and disappointments. Recognize that people will either love the extreme culture or hate it. Those who “love it” will be loyal and engaged. Those who hate it will be disengaged and should leave (or never start).
The extreme culture must shape the behavior of participants rather than allowing disruptive behavior of participants to distort the extreme culture. A “Moses Manager” must be willing to work in, and behave in a way that aligns with, the organization’s culture.
Because faith practices and beliefs must be “optional”, it is important to distinguish between disclosing “this is how we do things around here” and “this is why we do things the way we do around here.” Generally speaking, it is permissible to require the “how” (i.e., you must adhere to our values) and talk about a faith-based “why” (i.e., explaining the Biblical basis for the values), as long as the organization does not try to require an employee to embrace a faith-based “why”.
Character. We see three key character qualities of a “Moses Manager” embedded in “who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe”: Humility, Trustworthiness and Integrity. There are many insightful quotes about the importance of character. Here are just a few:
Character is the long-lost ingredient of successful capitalism, and biblical values are the underlying values of the character ethic. (Ken Eldred)
People of character do what is right regardless of the situation. (John Maxwell)
We’re interested in reputation, but God is interested in character. Reputation is what everybody thinks you are. Integrity is what you really are. (Rick Warren)
Humility. In post #196 (First Things – Humility) dedicated to the importance of humility, we said that humility is knowing who you are in relation to God’s creation and His plan, knowing who you are in relation to others, and knowing who you are in relation to God. We believe “fears God” is a sign of a manager with humility.
Humility is the key to understanding the “HOW” of the other three “first things”–Righteousness, Kingdom and Love–and it is a key to Wisdom. In fact, we believe leadership without Humility is antithetical to leading an organization with faithful integrity.
Trustworthiness. We devoted post #218 (Integrity Idea 047: Be Trustworthy) to the importance of faithful leaders embodying the character quality of trustworthiness.
Trust is essential for efficient commerce, customer loyalty, healthy relationships, and a cohesive community. The pursuit of a bigger WHY of Humanizing People, Beautifying the World and Glorifying God requires cultivating an organizational culture of integrity that prioritizes dependability, honesty and transparency. Trustworthiness reflects Imago Dei, recognizes that people deserve to be treated with dignity, prioritizes relationships, and embodies the Golden Rule and the command to love your neighbor as God loves you.
Seth Godin observed:
When you hire trustworthy people who are willing to trust you, you have an opportunity to build trust, which enables communication, which allows you to teach, which upgrades everything.
Integrity. People who “hate a bribe” reflect what we called faithful integrity in post #243 (Integrity Is Not Enough). It is integrity with a transcendent plumb line of Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities. It should be clear from our most recent post (#264–Dont Take the Bribery Bait) that God hates bribery, and a person who hates bribes has integrity aligned with a Biblical plumbline.
Those who have been reading our posts know that the word integrity in “Integriosity” is meant to capture two “first things”–two key Biblical principles: Righteousness and Kingdom. Rick Warren once described integrity as follows: “Integrity is uncorrupted motivation. It means you do the right thing, and you do it for the right reason.”
The Importance of Seeking Moses Managers
“Seek Moses Managers” recognizes the importance of good managers to employee engagement and flourishing, to the implementation and maintenance of a Re-Imagined Culture that reflects and reinforces a Re-Imagined Purpose and Re-Imagined Values, and to the flow of information and wisdom that permits faithful leaders to make the best decisions in the stewardship of the organization.
It also recognizes that inattention to hiring and promotion can lead to bad managers who can undermine employee engagement and flourishing, create a toxic “Real Culture” that bears little resemblance to the organization’s desired culture, fail to recognize (or even punish) employees for exemplifying the organizations desired culture, fail to identify and correct workers undermining the organization’s desired culture, and build impregnable walls that prevent leaders from hearing the ideas and concerns of employees at all levels.
Most managers are not “Moses Managers”. A Wall Street Journal article titled “The Lies We Tell at Work” cited a survey that found “37% of managers tell a lie once a week or more“.
Back in post #023 (Work As Usual–Unhealthy Relationships), we noted some Gallup conclusions:
• Managers account for 70% of the variance in worker engagement.
• Businesses pick the wrong managers 82% of the time.
• Untalented managers compensate with manipulation and politics.
Randstad’s latest Workmonitor survey found that:
30% of respondents “feel they can’t trust their manager to have their best interests in mind“.
33% of respondents “believe they can’t trust their manager with career progression.”
31% of respondents “have already quit a job because they couldn’t trust their leadership team.”
44% “have quit because of a toxic workplace.”
Gallup also found “companies that increase their number of talented managers and double the rate of engaged employees achieve, on average, 147% higher earnings per share than their competition.”
Managers matter to the ability of an organization to pursue its purpose, live its values and shape its culture. Faithful leaders pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing should “Seek Moses Managers”.
CONTINUUM: Practices
The Integriosity model organizes “heart change” along six Covert-Overt Continuums. There is nothing magic about these categories, but we believe they are helpful in thinking about practical execution of a Re-Imagined Purpose, Re-Imagined Values and a Re-Imagined Culture. The Continuums are Prayer, Proclamation, Policies, Practices, Products, People.
Each Continuum represents an area in which leaders can begin to think about, plan and institute Re-Alignment changes to the heart of the organization.
“Seek Moses Managers” is on the Practices Continuum. Practices reflect, and at the same time help shape and reinforce, an organization’s culture.
COVERT-OVERT RATING: Highly Covert
The Integriosity model breaks the Covert-Overt Continuums into six gradations–from Highly Covert to Highly Overt–that we believe are helpful in beginning to pray and think about what is most appropriate for an organization at a particular moment in time.
Most Integrity Ideas will have one place on the scale. Some can vary depending on how they are implemented. “Seek Moses Managers” is Highly Covert (an action that would be taken by a secular company). The quality of managers impacts the culture and performance of every organization.
“Seek Moses Managers” can move to the overt end of the Continuum if the leaders of the organization choose to explain it in terms of faith and Biblical principles or implement the practice in a way that encourages recognition of Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.
STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees
When we categorize faith-based actions, we also consider the stakeholders principally impacted by the action: Employees, Customers/Clients, Owners, Suppliers/Vendors, Community and Kingdom.
“Seek Moses Managers” principally serves employees by reinforcing an organizational culture that is conducive to employee engagement and Biblical flourishing.
`{`L`}`ook for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe. (Jethro, the priest of Midian)
IMPLEMENTATION
Implementing “Seek Moses Managers” is not as simple as deciding to look for better people when promoting or hiring. It must begin with honest assessments of:
• The organization’s current real culture and whether it is undermining the desired culture.
• Whether current managers are undermining the desired culture or being undermined by a real culture.
• Whether there any wisdom or information walls that need to be taken down in order to do honest assessments.
• Whether there any wisdom or information walls devalue the wisdom or information of managers or create disincentives for managers to reinforce the desired culture.
• The organization’s current managers and whether they would be rehired using a “Moses Manager” standard.
• Whether there are policies and practices in place to provide coaching and mentoring to managers and prospective managers to help them become “Moses Managers”, not only for the benefit of the person being mentored or coached but also for all those under their care and supervision.
• The organization’s policies and practices related to areas such as promoting, recruiting, assessing, hiring and onboarding managers and whether those policies and practices are effective in attracting and identifying “Moses Managers” and filtering out applicants who do not meet a “Moses Manager” standard.
We have addressed many of the necessary steps in prior posts. Here are few for a faithful leader to reread and consider in implementing “Seek Moses Managers”:
#146–Integrity Idea 014: Understand Your “Real Culture”
#198–Integrity Idea 035: Tear Down Those Walls
Once assessments are undertaken and current problems identified, implementation of “Seek Moses Managers” will require developing standards for evaluating current managers and assessing candidates. Again, a number of prior posts referenced above address Biblical standards to be considered prayerfully by faithful leaders. Here are several:
#182–Integrity Idea 027: Embrace “Biblical DEI”
#185–Integrity Idea 030: Encourage “Biblical EQ”
#213–Integrity Idea 043: Create a Cue Card
#218–Integrity Idea 047: Be Trustworthy
Faithful leaders implementing “Seek Moses Managers” should prayerfully consider mentoring/coaching of current managers and employees who show potential to be promoted.
Different jobs take different skills, and too often people are promoted based upon their ability to do their current job well rather than based upon their ability to do the new job well. That is a disservice, particularly if the leaders in the organization do not have practices in place to help the person succeed in the new position.
Part of mentoring/coaching a manager in their position is helping them become mentor/coach for those they shepherd. Ultimately, responsibility flows up to the faithful leader at the top to ensure that the domino effect flows all the way down. We explored this in detail in post #148 (Integrity Idea 016: Pick the Right “Peter Principle”).
If an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing has a hierarchy with a layer of managers, “Seek Moses Managers” is an important step in ensuring that the organization’s culture reflects and reinforces the Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities that are the foundation of its Re-Imagined Purpose, Values and Culture.
PERSONAL NOTE (from PM): There have been many posts in which I have mentioned Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated. In my view, one of the most impressive faith-inspired programs they have is a leadership training program called LEADS. It was developed in-house to train their managers. LEADS stands for Listens, Empathy, Advocates, Develops, Self Reflection. I believe training managers in these skills must be a significant factor in Coca-Cola Bottling’s high employee retention rates.
ESSENCE: Integrity Ideas are specific practical actions a faithful leader can consider in leading faithfully through business a better way.
INTEGRITY IDEA: Seek Moses Managers
“Seek Moses Managers” is about implementing promotion, recruiting, hiring, selection, and training practices for managers that prioritize the qualities Moses used when recruiting chiefs in Exodus 18:21-24. It is about prioritizing Biblical excellence, Biblical diversity, cultural fit, and character. “Seek Moses Managers” recognizes the importance of good managers to employee engagement and flourishing, to the implementation and maintenance of a Re-Imagined Culture that reflects and reinforces a Re-Imagined Purpose and Re-Imagined Values, and to the flow of information and wisdom that permits faithful leaders to make the best decisions in the stewardship of the organization. It also recognizes that inattention to hiring, promotion and training can lead to bad managers who can undermine employee engagement and flourishing, create a toxic “Real Culture” that bears little resemblance to the organization’s desired culture, fail to recognize (or even punish) employees for exemplifying the organizations desired culture, fail to identify and correct workers undermining the organization’s desired culture, and build impregnable walls that prevent leaders from hearing the ideas and concerns of employees at all levels. If an organization pursuing faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing has a hierarchy with a layer of managers, “Seek Moses Managers” is an important step in ensuring that the organization’s culture reflects and reinforces the Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities that are the foundation of its Re-Imagined Purpose, Values and Culture.
COVERT-OVERT CONTINUUM (six Continuums for action): Practices
COVERT-OVERT RATING (several levels from Highly Covert to Highly Overt): Highly Covert
STAKEHOLDERS SERVED: Employees
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Photo credit: Original image by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash (photo cropped)
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