Moses is the mediator of the covenant between Israel and Yahweh. This is the first point lost when we try to think of Moses in terms of his management skills. Furthermore, Moses as a covenant head corresponds to Jesus as covenant head of a better covenant. Jesus intimates this sort of thing in Luke 24:27 where, "beginning with Moses" he told the disciples how all of the OT scriptures point to him. The story of Moses is preparing us for Jesus, the One mediator who performs the true exodus (freeing his people from sin and death -- a power-set that is far more sinister than the Pharaoh!). The story of Moses is a part of the larger story of redemption; it is the story of God working out his salvation-will in the world in preparation for Jesus. To think about Moses in terms of management leadership lessons is to do harm to the real story that is taking place -- the freeing of humanity from the death-sin existence initiated by our first covenant head, Adam (by the way, Paul in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 calls Jesus the last Adam!).
Just as Moses took the people through water (the Red sea) and into the desert, so Jesus passes through the water of baptism on his way to be tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Matt 4). Just as Moses and Israel were 40 years in the desert, so Jesus was 40 days in the desert. Where Israel failed in their desert wilderness, Jesus succeeded (he overcame the temptations of the Devil). Jesus is the faithful Israel, and does what Moses and the people of God under the Cloud could not do. Moses himself was not permitted to enter the Promised Land because of his sin, whereas Jesus has entered the very presence of Yahweh because of his life of perfection (one might say that Jesus is the better Moses).
When we talk this way, we get closer to the idea of Moses than a book on "Moses as CEO" or "Moses as Model Leader." The real story of Moses suffers when its retelling is management focused.
I should mention, Moses did things that would discredit any leader of our day. He had Israel destroy the Midanites and take the women captive (see Numbers 31:1-18). Worse, modernly speaking, he had Israel [do away with] all the women captives that the men of Israel slept with. Not only that, he had Israel [do away with] all the male children of these killed women (yikes!) -- see Numbers 31:17. Now, obviously there is something theological going on here that transcends leadership-management models. If Moses is the greatest Manager of all time, then what should we do with managers who order the slaughter of used women and their children?
Obviously when we look at Moses as a management example, we risk skewing what is really happening in ancient Israel. Moses does not fit the model of a moral leader as we would define it (cf. Numbers 31 again), and so this book is a distraction to the real story of the Bible.
If one wants leadership lessons, that's fine, but don't use Moses out of context to do it. If one wants lesson on Moses, that's fine too, but don't use modern management categories as an interpretive grid. Let's leave Moses to the history of redemption and try to understand him on his own terms (standing as he is on the cosmic stage of salvation history). I don't think I am venturing too far when I say that Moses himself would have been perplexed by the modern mind that thinks of him in the small category of "Management."
As you read Baron's book, keep this critique in mind. Take away his good leadership advise, but be careful about taking away his understanding of Moses.
