Imagine this:
You are in charge. You have authority. The buck starts and stops with you.
You are a leader.
Breathe in the fresh air. You’ve arrived.
Leadership is wonderful. Until, of course, when it isn’t.
You can’t get volunteers to show up.
Your best people leave.
You don’t know where you’re going.
Nobody seems to be listening to a word you’re saying.
After a while, the leadership you always dreamed about has become an awful game of crises management.
A Necessary Tension
Something powerful happened in my ministry when I changed my mind. I started to focus on something I knew all along.
I wasn’t just managing volunteers. I was making disciples.
I wasn’t just filling slots. I had a part in changing people’s destinies.
You see, leadership depends on your ability to slow down and really care about people.
You might be asking, “Is it about gettings things done or caring about people?”
Yes, yes it is, my friend. It’s a necessary tension.
How Leaders Get Things Done
Getting things done as a leader is different than getting things done as a doer.
Rather than cranking through the to-do list in your moleskin, you look for people to disciple. Then, you open the moleskin together.
It’s less about a task list and more about empowerment. It’s about defining what the “win” looks like for your team and accomplishing that “win” through other people.
You see, your goal at the end of the day isn’t to say, “I accomplished this, this, and this.” Your goal is to say, “Look at these people who were discipled. Look what we accomplished together.”
You don’t have to know everything.
You don’t have to be an expert in all the areas you lead.
But you must:
- Care for people
- Empower people
- Know where you’re going
What if I Don’t Know Where to Start?
Start right here: Pick one area of your work. Define what “winning” looks like over the next two months. Get crystal clear on this. Then watch how your communication changes.
No only will you know where you’re going, you’ll know how to empower your team to get there.
In the end, “getting things done” isn’t about “getting things done”. It’s about people.
Go and lead. Your team of world changers awaits you.
Question: How are you influencing people and getting things done with your team? What struggles are you facing? You can leave a comment by clicking here. Go ahead, this community needs your input.
[ois skin=”Next Level Optin”]
Soft skills,,,,,,,,,,,, I do NOT have them. That is why I am self employed in business and primarily, though not totally, a SOLO guitarist. I am definitely a doer and not a leader. You have laid out some good advice for someone willing to learn.
Good to hear it from your perspective, Don. Leadership is definitely developed through experience.
Thanks for sharing David.
I like the old saying, “if it wasn’t for the people, this job would be easy”!
Here’s a few of things I’m learning about leadership at the moment:
1. Whatever area you lead in, it’s about relationships first. You simply have to genuinely care for your people
2. You have to develop a thick skin, or you will crumble
3. Know when to let things slide and when to have the confrontation
Cheers,
Great tips, Bren. May I ask, how do you know when to let things slide and when to have confrontation? That may be a blog post in itself 🙂
N.D,
this post=my heart=my ongoing recalibration
well said.
have you thought about participating in the Leaders Collaborative via Serving Leaders? I completed it last year & think you’d really enjoy it. There’s a Happy Hour info session tonight, but they hold them regularly. I’d be happy to share my experience and/or attend the next one w/you. https://www.facebook.com/ServingLeaders
Hey Deana,
I haven’t attended this but it definitely looks interesting. What exactly is it?
This is such a great blog and I’m so thankful I found it. Thank you for all the insight you’ve shared. You’ve brought up such an important point–caring! When we genuinely care about the team we’re leading, its really powerful and opens the door for growth and amazing times of worship.
I’m typically a task-oriented person, so I really appreciate your reminder that caring is much more important than accomplishing the tasks on the worship “to do” list.
Blessings!
Glad to have you here, Maria! Thanks for sharing.
If you’d like a tool for managing your time and projects, you can use this web-application inspired by David Allen’s GTD:
Gtdagenda.com
You can use it to manage and prioritize your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, and a calendar.
Syncs with Evernote and Google Calendar, and also comes with mobile version, and Android and iPhone apps.
Sweet! Do you use this, Dan? What do you think?
I’ve got the information i need.