Page 38 - The Bible On Leadership

Purpose 25

mon’s was to build a temple, not for his own glory, but for the glory of
a higher power and purpose. And the goal of the prophets was that each
in his own way would keep an entire nation from straying from its
original purpose.
For the modern corporate leader, the ability to formulate a clear,
compelling purpose and stay ‘‘on purpose’’ is often the difference be-
tween success and failure, between an inspired and inspiring work life
and the mere pursuit of profit or a paycheck. All the recent emphasis
on mission and vision is something that the leaders of the Bible would
have resonated with; indeed, they invented the terms, or at least lived
with them daily.
Can you imagine Moses visiting the ten plagues on Pharaoh, fleeing
a hostile country with a few bundles of flat bread, and trying to lead
thousands of people through a parted sea without having a mission to
sustain him and his followers? Steve Jobs of Apple also threw down a
gauntlet of purpose to John Sculley when he convinced him to leave
Pepsi to join a tiny company with few resources and little name recog-
nition. Jobs did not offer Sculley more money (at least to start) or secur-
ity. What he offered him was purpose: a chance to change the world.
Jobs pointed out that all Sculley was doing was manufacturing more
and more ‘‘sugar water’’ at Pepsi, whereas at Apple, he would have the
chance to radically change the way the world communicates, learns,
and exchanges information.
Of course, Moses did not always have an easy time of it, nor did
Sculley or Jobs. Without an ongoing sense of mission and vision, Jobs’s
failures (such as the Lisa) could have been as demoralizing as the near
starvation of the Israelites during forty years in the desert. Jobs was
thrown out of the CEO slot in the company he had so courageously
created because the company had outgrown his leadership style and
business skills. Moses was also denied the honor of leading the Israelites
into the Promised Land. Like Jobs, he was a great leader in times of
calamity and innovation, but he was not the best man to lead a maturing
group to the next stage of its development (and into its new offices).
While wandering in the literal desert (not just the proverbial one)
both Moses and his successor, Joshua, had to hang on to their purpose