Transformative Leadership
By Terance Clark June 14, 2025 8 Minute Read
Week 36
This Weeks Passage: Numbers 8:1 – 12:16
I have worked as an IT professional for over forty years and have had the privilege of working for some of the largest and well-known computer companies in the world and on some of the greatest projects. Recently, while on vacation we went to Kennedy Space Center as I’ve always been a space junkie. I grew up watching the Apollo space missions and wishing I could be an Astronaut. It just so happened while we were there, that they were honoring several Astronauts and also having a conference at the hotel where we were staying. AuDera and I got to mingle among Astronauts and other high-level science and space operatives as they showed pictures and swapped stories. What they didn’t know was that I was an engineer on the Space Shuttle program for most of the years it was active. My department wrote the software that would fly the Space Shuttle if it ever got into an emergency situation. We were called BFS or backup flight systems. We provided the solution for any Space Shuttle emergencies or major flight issues.
I have had the privilege of working with some incredible leaders and since I was early in career it helped me form some important impressions around the kind of leader that I wanted to be and the kind I wanted to serve under. Organizational culture is one of my highest priorities when evaluating companies, it’s not just what you do, but how you do it. One time I took a job with a very large company that boasted of their success and commitment to their employees, but when I started work, I discovered very quickly that they had a real leadership problem. Their upper management may have been fine, but their middle managers were not. I saw signs of abuse and poor leadership and I was in a conundrum because I had given up a lot to take the position and had signed an agreement to stay for a minimum of two years. I was conflicted but determined to make it work. So, where am I going with this?
A Need for Different Leadership Style
I say all this because in this week’s lesson we find that Moses becomes an abusive leader. He has a meltdown and let’s God have it. He tells God, “why are you treating me this way, did I conceive these people? I cannot carry this entire people by myself alone- it’s too much for me! Please just kill me!” What in the world happened that sent Moses down this rant and moved him to the edge of quitting God? Here’s the interesting thing, it was nothing that he hadn’t already seen. The people were complaining again about their food and remembering again how well they had it back in Egypt, and well, Moses had had enough! That was it, he stormed off and let God know just how he really felt. Ever have one of those days? I know you have; we all have.
Technical and Adaptive Leadership
Professor Ronald Heifetz from Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership provides some insight to this story as he has written extensively about what he calls technical and adaptive leadership. Please just stay with me I think you’ll find it interesting. A technical challenge is when there is a problem, and it is solved by someone else. For instance, your car is not running right so you take it in, and the mechanic finds the issue and applies the fix. Problem solved. An adaptive challenge is different in that we are part of the problem. Your car is not running right so you take it in, and the mechanic says yes, the engine needs some work, but it’s because you are not maintaining the vehicle and you’re driving it too hard with excessive speeds, hard stops and numerous accidents. I can fix it, but if you don’t change the way you drive it will not last much longer. The adaptive challenge was that the people needed to change.
“An adaptive challenge is different in that
We are part of the problem”
There is a shift that is taking place in the book of Numbers, at first Israel was slaves in Egypt and God came and did everything for them. Every problem was met with His solution, but now it was time for them to become owners of the land, but the problem was they still had a slave mentality. They wanted God and Moses to do everything for them. Moses now needs to switch from technical leadership to adaptive leadership and that is the hardest kind of leadership because people do not like to change. But this kind of leadership has to inspire others to change. At the end of the day, God determined that this group was not willing or capable of changing and therefore would not be able to establish His kingdom in the new land. There were just too many challenges for them to overcome mentally. He therefore had to let them die in the wilderness and instead raised up their children who were born free in the wilderness and didn’t have the fear of change like their parents. They were the ones he used to build something new in the new land.
As parents are primary method of leadership is technical as we solve problems and clear paths for our kids success, but as they get older we have to learn how to shift into adaptive leadership. We need to help our children see not only where they have to change, but how to do it. If we continue to solve their problems and clear their paths it will hinder them from maturity and adulthood. They will always come to us, but we need to learn when to help and when to push back and trust they are capable of solving their own problems.
“Recognizing the kind of leader you need to be
Is more than half the battle”
As we close this week’s lesson, I hope it has challenged you in a positive way. Change is hard, but for those who resist they may be opposing the very work God is trying to do in their life. If you’re a leader, adaptive change is one of the most difficult areas to lead because you will need to inspire people to go where they are probably hesitant and even resistant to go. Recognizing the kind of leader, you need to be is more than half of the battle, so stay in tune with those you’re leading.
I will never forget the man who trained me in my new role working on the Space Shuttle program. His name was Nick and as I was starting my career he was just about to retire. He wasn’t interested in the new things coming he hated change. I had enthusiasm and excitement about working with computers and he would crush my dreams and trample over my hopes every single day. As I look back over my career and realize I am now close to the age that Nick was back then, I have tried to keep my enthusiasm for new things realizing how easy it is to just become stagnant, dull and resistant to the things that are new and up and coming. I’m not saying I embrace it all, but I choose to still love to learn new things.
The Need to See Ourselves
When I look back at how I have led others over the many years, I realize how many mistakes I made and people I hurt along the way. Not because I had some vendetta, but because I was immature and often self-serving. As leaders we often fail to see what we are really getting out of it, what hidden need is really being met inside of us. Moses had no ulterior motive, no aspirations or desire to be heard or to be out in front. He was called the humblest man on the earth. It wasn’t enough for him to change, he had to help millions of others change as well, that was challenging and frustrating, but that is transformative Leadership.
