Picking Up the Pieces: Leadership after Empire

Reviewed by:

Connor Salter, Professional Writing alumnus from Taylor University, Upland, IN.

Title:

Picking Up the Pieces: Leadership after Empire

Author:

Kathleen McShane, Elan Babchuk

Publisher:

Fortress Press

http://fortresspress.com

Publication Date:

January 16, 2024

Format:

Paperback

Length:

244 pages

OVERVIEW

We are all used to leadership models that emphasize one person at the top having the power. However, as many leaders have found out, it’s a lonely place at the top. It tends to cultivate distance from the people you want to serve in the first place. And as ministry scandals have shown (especially in the last decade as ChurchToo, MeToo, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought out long-simmering dysfunctions in many ministries), we can get into a lot of trouble when our leadership model gives people at the top so much power they don’t have to be accountable. For United Methodist minister Kathy Kathleen McShane and for Rabbi Elan Babchuk, this has pushed them to ask curious questions about how they lead and whether they had missed the point. Does leadership always need to involve consolidating power at the peak? Are there leadership models that allow for more feedback, for receiving input and sharing some of that power? Can we reject the pyramid for something more charitable and equitable?

Babchuk and McShane pair stories from their ministries and other leaders rethinking administration with a model they believe shows how to do leadership differently. Moses, the leader raised in the shadow of Egypt’s pyramids, learned how to do leadership differently than the Pharoah he grew up with.

Each chapter pairs contemporary leadership stories with a section from Moses’ ministry that explores countercultural leadership values. Values like:

• Being unafraid to give influence and power to trusted people in smaller leadership positions.
• Seeking out people who have a reputation for not being involved to see if they’re just tired of suggesting new ideas to deaf ears.
• Passing on power when the time comes.

The writers do an excellent job of combining their central image (the pyramids) with Moses’ story and connecting both concepts with their takeaways.

Occasionally, their discussions about Moses feel like the points could go deeper. For example, they don’t have a chapter on what Moses learned from his first failure (killing an Egyptian slaver), though Moses’ 40 years of wandering and shepherding would be a great way to talk about how leaders must grieve their plans failing and adjusting their priorities. Some of the points they make in a chapter about Moses’ leadership changing after Mt. Sinai (talking to God face to face in the tabernacle with the community around him, not being a distant leader up on the mountain) feel a little underdeveloped. Or it may be that the latter chapter feels underdeveloped since it doesn’t account for the fact that most people don’t remember Moses’ middle phase (between Sinai and handing power off to Joshua).

Granting a few missed opportunities or rushed details, the writing is excellent and the subject couldn’t be more relevant.

ASSESSMENT

Rating (1 to 5 stars):

4.5 out of 5 stars

Suggested Audience:

Religious leaders (Christian and otherwise) seeking advice and inspiration about rethinking power balances and how influence works.

Christian Impact:

The book nicely balances Jewish and Christian takes on Moses without veering too much into areas where Judaism and Christianity may differ about Moses. There are details about rabbinical teachings that speculate on Moses’ motivations, but Babchuk and McShane treat those teachings as possibilities, not the biblical record. The result is a nicely handled interfaith perspective that doesn’t alienate either group, emphasizing what Christians and Jews (and others) can learn from Moses.

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