Sunday Lessons
I’m out of town this week and was not able to attend any of our Cross Point campuses today. I always feel a little lost on the few Sundays a year that I’m gone. Being away from your church for a day, especially a Sunday, teaches you a few things about yourself and your culture.
1) You learn the strength of your team. Good teams don’t rest on the shoulders of one person. You should be able to be away for a day and not worry that the whole thing will implode. How well your team functions without you is a direct indication of the strength of your team and the effectiveness of your leadership.
2) You learn how much of a micro-manager you are. Most good leaders have a tendency to control. Great leaders learn to control their controlling nature. It’s terribly tempting to over-manage the details when you’re away from your team. You must evaluate your tendency to do this and resist it. You’ll only frustrate and exhaust your team and wear yourself out in the process.
I’m grateful for our team that do any amazing job in spite of me, the control freak!
What do you learn about yourself when you’re away from your team?
Thanks Jenni. I think the better we get at leading the more we are willing to let others lead. It’s what build organizations and people. The less details a leader controls the better a team can perform. Control vision but delegate details.
I love that Ron, “control vision but delegate details”. Well said!
I’m learning the lesson of letting someone else take on the “tasks” while I’m even sitting there. They don’t do it the way I would, but if it’s getting the job done… YAY!
Good for you Faye!
Too true! I have learned that if something happens to me, my husband (my only team member) will be able to do more than just keep the kids alive til adulthood. 😉 I confess I still fight the control freak… Just on a new frontier. 😉
We share the disease… that’s why we get along so well 🙂
I have learned these exact things…and am trying to adjust and prepare for the next time I have to be “away”. Part of my struggle is that often my team does not understand when I give myself a less than ‘vital’ role. I get the sense that they feel I am slacking when I am trying to keep from being a crucial piece of the process. I need to be able to be absent. How do you do that while maintaining a team atmosphere?
I have been reading Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry by Ruth Haley Barton for the nonprofit I work for. It has some of these same ideas in it. I highly recommend it.