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Sometimes we walk past the practical means Jesus used to lead the disciples, particularly in the last few chapters of the gospels and the first chapter of Acts when Jesus charged his disciples with the task of building the church: “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Jesus gently reminded them of his words in John 14 and elsewhere in the gospels when he promised the coming of a helper who speak and work through them, and this is Jesus performing one of the simplest principles of leadership—healthy delegation.
We all probably know that a common strength of a good leader is delegation.
We all probably know that a common strength of a good leader is delegation. As your ministry grows, you will need to scale task accomplishment and leadership by training good people or finding already competent people and then letting them do what they’re good at doing. But this doesn’t mean you just give them a to-do list and call it good. Good leaders will (and must) understand the difference between delegating and dumping.
What is dumping?
A leader who dumps uses their volunteers or staff without concern for their skill level or understanding.
Dumping looks like an intern sitting in front of a lighting console they’ve never used without knowledge of lighting theory, DMX systems, and nothing to go on but an instruction manual and adept googling thumbs. Their director or pastor has given them a task they have no real means of accomplishing, at least not with any kind of efficiency or excellence.
If you’d like to know what good delegating looks like, just read on.
Dumping looks like new production staff sitting in front of ProPresenter with the task of importing the weekend’s song list and media, but no training on how to use ProPresenter or use the operating system of the machine in front of them (some people don’t know how to use a mac, and others are unfamiliar with windows).
Please note that I bolded the word “use.” Dumpy leaders see their people as a means to an end, little more than a cog in the production machine. Their volunteers or staff are just there to make things happen and are seen as nearly disposable..
How does a leader become dumpy, you ask? Well, perhaps that leader was dumped on. We’ve all been dumped on at some point, some of us more than others, and it’s easy to then say “Look, I had to figure it out, so they need to learn how to figure it out, too,” even though we hated not being equipped or taught with the clock ticking on a production deadline set by an all-too-often demanding senior leader. Dumped-on leaders don’t know what delegating looks like because they’ve only been taught dumping. If you can’t think of what good delegating looks like, it’s probably because you were given a bad example by the person who raised you up. If you’d like to know what good delegating looks like, just read on.
“How can I set my team up for a home run?”
Some dumpy leaders are just immature or otherwise selfish. They’re working for the praise of man or their own self-aggrandizement, so they have little or no concern for the people placed in their care, just their own appearance to leadership or the congregation. Perhaps they’re ignorant of this attitude, and we all struggle with this kind of pride from time to time. We need to be wary of our own vainglory.
What is Delegating?
Leaders who delegate well serve well. They take time to understand the skill level of their team members and then assign tasks based on those skill levels or otherwise train and equip those team members whose skills need to grow.
This takes time, care, and intimacy. This means a good leader walks alongside their people and passes on their own strengths. They communicate expectations well, speaking to the task that needs to be finished but with the understanding of the team member’s own abilities, something like, “I know you’re not too familiar with this camera, but I am and I can show you some best practices,” or perhaps, “here, let me show you how I import media and slides into ProPresenter. I’ll go slow so you can ask questions. I’ve also prepared this checksheet for you to help you along when you’re on your own.”
Jesus did this. He spent countless hours training and teaching his disciples what ministry looked like and then even sent them out on a few trial runs so he could give them feedback and experience for their ministry to come
Finally, the key to good delegating is a servant’s heart. We should always ask ourselves, “How can I set my team up for a home run?” It’s care before tasks, Jesus washing feet before he commands his disciples to love one another.
