Holy Moses! The Original Hero Project Manager

In his recent article for
     titled  Holy Moses! How to Lead to the Promised Land,

Geoff Loftus wrote about Moses and his great project to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. I had already been thinking about Moses as a part of another project, so it really caught my attention.

First, let's address the title of this blog. Was Moses the first Hero Project Manager? Why wouldn't God get that title?

Well, even with all the wonderful things that God brought forth, such as creating the Heaven and the Earth and all things in between, I wouldn't consider him a project manager. Being omniscient, he had no need for a detailed plan, he KNEW how to complete his undertaking. Being the source of all things, he had no budget and no concerns of resource shortages. Being eternal, he had no time constraint.

How about other project managers before Moses? Noah built The Ark to save two of every creature on earth from the coming flood. Joseph prepared a land of safe haven in Egypt for the Canaanites to escape the famine. Surely they could be candidates for the Hero Project Manager title.

But both Noah and Joseph managed projects with one great difference from Moses' project. They both had hope of enjoying the fruits of their labor. Moses, on the other hand, sacrificed any hope of personally making it to The Promised Land in a heated negotiation with his sponsor, God, over whether the people should all be smitten for their terrible transgressions, such as worshiping at the altar of the Golden Calf.

Even with no hope of reaching the project goal personally, Moses was still faithful to his commitment. He interceded with his sponsor on behalf of the clients and, alternatively, lead his team and stakeholders to understand unpopular conditions of that sponsor. He maintained his integrity throughout a long and arduous project, even when the goal seemed unreachable. While he was firm and resolute in his adherence to the plan, he also was flexible enough to allow his plans to change when new situations arose.

Moses completed his project successfully even though he faced some of the most extreme obstacles. His sponsor didn't just think he knew it all, he DID know it all. His path was blocked by some unimaginably difficult obstacles. His stakeholders often lost all interest in the project. Who would have blamed him for resigning.

He persevered, though, and his people reaped the untold rewards of his dedication.

Moses was truly a Hero Project Manager.