7 Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?”
As a leader, one of the worst things that can happen is to stop listening to your trusted advisors. This kind of leadership isolation is dangerous. We all need a team of people around us who will speak truth. When we are naked and we don’t know it, we need someone to tell us. The best leaders gather people around them who have very different knowledge sets. Leaders need insights from as many different perspectives as possible in order to make the best decisions. We need this variety because God put that variety in us to make us a better team. We work best when we work as a team. The military understands this concept and maximizes this characteristic in its training and in the execution of its mission. It starts very early every morning with Physical Training. There our bodies are pushed beyond capacity in order to strengthen us individually. We also are pushed to rely on each other through team events. We learn in all our training that we work best when we work with each other, utilizing each other’s strengths and compensating for each other’s weaknesses. Pharaoh is losing his objectivity. His advisors are again urging him to listen to Moses, but he is not listening to them. He would rather destroy Egypt than yield to Moses. The disasters that have struck Egypt are destroying it. Everything from their water to their skin has been affected. Their cattle have been killed, and their standing crops have been destroyed. Now Moses is telling them that locusts are coming. They will eat every living plant, thus completely eliminating this year’s food production. This is disastrous, and it can be avoided if Pharaoh would just yield. Do we ever get so stubborn in our opinion that we won’t listen no matter what? Maybe it is time to listen.
The Arnold Journey 