I've tried to learn as much as I can from my mentors,
training opportunities and reading about leadership from those more experienced
than I. Fortunately, I've been able to avoid some mistakes by learning from the
mistakes of others. With the hope that it may be the same for you, let me share
what I believe to be the stupidest mistakes I've made in leadership.
1. Hiring too fast and firing too slow
When a position is open that you know needs to be filled and
the right person isn't available, it's had to wait. The tendency is to fill the
role with the best available person, but sometimes that's not the right person.
Let me confirm that it's a lot easier to tell people they're not a good fit for
the job before you hire them than after you've brought them on the team.
On the flip side, I've made the mistake of waiting too long
to let someone go. I can remember one particular situation when I let a problem
go for months without dealing with it head-on. It was impacting me, my family
and the rest of the team. More importantly, I was getting in the way of God
doing a work in this particular employee's life. I thought I was doing him a
favor by keeping him on the team. The reality was that he needed to move on to
experience all that God had for him.
2. Trying to fix the problem rather than the process
Not to be crass, but I've found it's a lot better to
potty-train my kids than to continue changing messy diapers. Regrettably,
though, there have been too many times in leadership roles when I've found
myself reacting to a problem rather than addressing the process that prevents
the situation from occurring in the first place. It takes a lot of discipline
to rise above the emotion of a difficult situation and try to discern how a
broken system needs to be fixed.
3. Putting projects before people
Others may have the opposite challenge of letting their love
of people get in the way of actually accomplishing the purpose of the
organization. But because I'm not naturally a people person, I tend to be too
task-driven. Good leaders find the perfect balance between getting the job done
and embracing the relational component of doing life as a team.
4. Delegating tasks instead of responsibility
When pushed into a corner, I naturally revert back to my
perfectionist tendencies. I know in my mind the way it should be done. And if I
let myself, I'll fall into the trap of thinking I'm the only one who can get it
done.
First of all, I'm not that good. Someone else can usually do
it better. Second, the failure to empower others with real responsibilities is
a guaranteed recipe for limiting the potential of your ministry. This is the
number-one reason that most churches don't grow beyond a couple hundred people.
In those situations the pastor will delegate tasks. Real leadership development
doesn't happen until an effort is made to build a team and give away ministry
responsibility.
5. Assuming it's always black and white
Maybe it's all those years I spent in local government,
fulfilling my bureaucratic responsibilities. Or maybe it's just because
following prescribed rules is easier than dealing with the mess of following
God's lead and making wise decisions. The reality, of course, is that much of
life isn't black and white. And I've found I'm chasing my tail if I think I'm
going to be able to create policies or guidelines to address or prevent every
situation that could potentially arise.
6. Not following my gut
Or is that the Holy Spirit? One of my spiritual gifts is
discernment. But I've noticed that people's strengths can also lead to their
biggest challenges. For me, discernment can lead to paralysis through analysis.
When that happens, I tend to get in the way of what God is trying to
accomplish. In an effort to make the best decisions possible, I sometimes get
stuck trying to acquire information rather than seeking God's direction and taking
action. Yes, we're called to plan and seek counsel. But that initial reaction
you sense could very well be God's prompting.
7. Dwelling on the worst-case scenario
Again, this is what happens when I let my focus wander from
God to the circumstances around me. It's appropriate to plan and take steps to
prevent those bad situations from occurring. It's sin when this turns into
worry. It's really kind of humorous to see the stupid mistakes we can make when
we begin to think we're in control. I've wasted way too much time worrying
about ministry challenges that never happened.
8. Waiting until there's a problem to provide feedback
I really do hate this about myself, and I'm consciously
trying to improve with God's help. But to be quite truthful, I'm encouragement
challenged. Like I mentioned before, I've always had this strong sense of what
the end product needs to look like. So one of my biggest mistakes as a leader
has been withholding encouragement when the team delivers and only speaking up
when expectations aren't met.
9. Staying busy
I've fallen into this trap too many times. In my mind I tell
myself that if I'm busy, then I'm adding value. The reality is that our
busyness can get in the way of effectiveness. We can be busy about the wrong
things. And if we don't discipline our lives, we'll find ourselves investing a
lot of time with little impact. E-mail is one example of this trap for me. If I
wanted to, I could spend the entire day processing e-mail and not really
accomplishing anything. That's why when I plan my week, I actually plan the
times when I'm going to respond to e-mail messages.
10. Spending too much time on the details rather than the
dreams
This is a natural corollary to the mistake of staying busy.
When life gets busy and I get invested in all the dirty details flowing my way,
I lose sight of the dreams that God has for me. Here's the reality: those
dreams usually come when the pace of my life slows enough to do stuff like
read, pray, rest, experience new places and meet new people. Dealing with the
dailiness of life doesn't allow for that. It needs to be planned and
prioritized. We need to create space to experience God and all that He has for
us.
I hope this list encourages you to consider where God is
growing you in your leadership role. He loves you too much to leave you where
you are today.
Written by Tony Morgan
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