There is a huge tension between needing to get things done and needing to build a team. It often feels that the straightest path to pulling off the next event or accomplishing the next task is to just do what needs to be done.
Leadership is so much more than just task accomplishment.
Leadership is about influencing people. It’s about raising people up. It’s about giving them an opportunity to participate in a vision or plan that is greater than themselves. In ministry, leadership is about EQUIPPING PEOPLE TO DO MINISTRY.
Ephesians 4:11-16 provides the job description for those giving themselves to point leadership within a local church. Our job is not to DO the ministry, but rather to equip people to fulfill their God-given DESTINY.
CHOICES WE MUST MAKE TO BUILD TEAM
I will either do it myself or I will do it through others. We choose to do it through others.
That means that every initiative that we lead must be done through a team.
I don’t just work - plan my work so that others can join me.
Every initiative has to be divided into a sub-set of tasks. Each of these sub-set of tasks needs a person who will be responsible to accomplish that part of the project. Your job is to meet with them ahead of time. Outline the expectations. Motivate them to see why what you are doing together is important. Then you walk around and manage, celebrate, and coach.
This means that a lot of work has to be done in advance to plan the event/task and recruit the team. But once a team is built, they will begin to function without your constant oversight.
I will fight the urge to revert to old ways of thinking and working.
I will never be able to mobilize a team if I continue to do everything myself.
Imagine that you were incapacitated. You cannot move your arms or legs. You can only speak. Yet you continue to lead your department. How would you get things done if you could not personally do any of it.
- Who would you get to do it with you?
- What would you tell them?
- How would you make sure they are doing it right?
- What would you say to them to communicate your gratitude?
It’s like choosing to work with your arms tied behind your back.