Hey! Hey you! Yeah, you, right there! You tapping on your computer or phone or whatever that thing is and feverishly trying to get that task accomplished. Come over here please.
I’ve been watching you. I know it’s a bit creepy, but your future is worth my present creepiness, so get over it, will you?
The thing I’ve been noticing is how much I actually see you doing. And quite frankly, you keep telling people your title and that you are a leader, and yet I keep seeing you doing all these tasks. The other day for instance, I watched as you hacked away on your keyboard drafting spreadsheets and then making phone calls…oh yeah, and writing those mail chimp emails. And my first thought was, if they are such a good leader, then why are they doing all of those tasks?
Then after a while you stood up and left the room, and I thought to myself, “Sweet! They are running to have lunch or coffee with someone and will be able to cast vision so that someone else can take a task or two.” But alas, you came back with 3 bags from Target, 2 bags from Party Plus, and a McDonalds bag complete with a number 1 value meal. Can you say “Cholesterol”? All of this I found out (sorry for the spying again) was for an event that was going to happen that same evening.
Then it hit me - The reason you can’t delegate is because you haven’t planned for anything. You’re doing ministry work just “shooting from the hip” as they say, and hoping that things go well. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. Most of the time you have no clue because you didn’t lead well enough to have any measuring stick so that you would know whether or not things went well.
And so people come. And people go. And you waddle along trying to accomplish tasks like a wild turkey crossing a quaint New England road and in the midst of your tasks you complain to yourself that “no one’s committed to church like they used to be” or “so-and-so better be there for this event” or “I can’t find anyone to help me lead”.
And the reason you can’t find anyone to help you lead is because of you. You’re not asking anyone, so you’ve created for yourself a huge circle of misery that’s sure to burn anyone out faster than a 1970 Chevelle SS 454 on a black top in 100 degree heat. So I’m going to do you a favor, if you’ll let me. I’m going to hook you up with some simple steps to get you started on your next leadership project, ok?
Start with why. I know, it sounds simple, but if it was, everyone would be good at it. Think about why you’re doing something. Really you should think about why you’re doing everything but we’ll start with just the next thing. Why are you doing that lunch (potluck, dinner, baked sale, etc…) If you don’t know why you’re doing something, then why do it in the first place? Figure that out, and then everything else can revolve around that.
Plan, plan, plan. Whether it's a Sunday experience or a small group or a relational event, if it’s worth having people come to it, it’s worth planning like it's the next Apple event. If you’re not good at it, or if you don’t have a passion for it, then delegate the event to someone who does have a passion for this type of event. Then, hold them accountable to the planning in a detailed way that will set them up for success.
Delegate tasks to see who can lead. If you’ve delegated the planning aspect of the event, then this instruction is for them, but if this is your event, then hear me clearly please. Look at all of the tasks you have to get done for this project, and figure out who can do each one. Give yourself a challenge and see if you can delegate everything, but at least give off as many tasks as you can. Then monitor the people who are doing the tasks to see who does them with the excellence and excitement that the vision of the event should have behind it.
And those people, my friend, are your future leaders.
Look, I’m sorry I was spying on you and it seemed creepy or whatever, but the truth is, your organization needs you to lead at a higher level. And you doing everything that needs to be done is not you leading at a higher level. In fact, it’s not you leading at all. So just stop. Stop doing everything. Because leaders don’t have to do everything.
Marty Holman has been a pastor in Central Massachusetts since 1998. He has served as the location pastor of Next Level Worcester since May 2015 and is blessed to serve alongside his wife Carie of 12 years, 5 year old twins, Scarlett & Sawyer, and two other beautiful children who will be legally adopted in November 2017.
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