Good Advice

I have been blessed with some good advice and counsel over the years. I think people in positions of leadership have great influence in how they give advice and counsel to others. I’ve been given lots of advice over the years that wasn’t good. I’ve learned to discern between sound advice and someone’s opinion. Most everyone I know has an opinion about nearly everything. They don’t always keep it to themselves either.  I have received unsolicited advice on multiple occasions and I’m learning to search for the nugget of truth or something that might be helpful. There are times, that unsolicited advice needs to be tossed aside and keep moving.

I’m tracking with the people of Israel after their crossing of the Red Sea and escaping from the Egyptians. This was not a small family gathering. The people of Israel has multiplied to nearly 700,000 strong!  Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro came to visit. Evidently, Moses wife and two sons had been with him during the Exodus or shortly after the Red Sea miracle crossing. By all appearances, it seems that Moses had a good relationship with his father-in-law. As Jethro watched Moses day to day schedule as leader, he had some good advice that all leaders can grasp. Check this out….

¹⁹ Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. ²⁰ Teach them his decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. ²¹ But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²² Have them serve as judges for the people at all times but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. ²³ If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” (Exodus 17:19-23 NLT)

I picked up some practical tips for leadership from Jethro’s advice.

1. No one can do everything well – we all need help.
2. Leaders can multiply their influence when they bring up others to work alongside them.
3. Leaders must look for people of character to move up in the leadership line.
4. Leaders are leading but they need to proactively think long term.
5. Leaders need good sound counsel to help them keep proper perspective.
6. Leadership can be exhausting – we need help from peers and support staff.
7. Leadership starts by following God first and then leading others to Him.

In our culture today, there are lots of voices giving direction to leaders. I think leaders have to have a discerning heart to sift through the noise of all sorts of advice and counsel to seek out God’s wisdom and the people through whom the Lord is speaking.  I do my very best to listen to advice from people who have “been there and done that”. I also listen to advice and counsel from people who are older and wiser than me. I’m learning that even people who are younger than me can also be “wise beyond their years”. It takes humility and self-confidence to be able to actually follow the advice and counsel of others.

Pressing On!

Dwayne