Last week, I blogged about two common hindrances to empowering others: insecure leaders and unhealthy expectations. Great leaders empower others. They practice entrusting responsibility and authority to others, to people Max Depree described as “roving leaders,” who transcend title and make great things happen.
Instead of leading and executing everything, wise and biblically motivated leaders equip others to lead and execute. Here are three small ways to elevate current leaders on your team and let them run.
1) Hand a key initiative to another leader… and sit on the team.
It is one thing to hand a responsibility to someone else and quite another to hand a responsibility to another and still stay engaged and involved. Your engagement and involvement allows you to observe and encourage. You are able to debrief with the leader, share your observations, and offer instruction and encouragement. If you lead every meeting or every initiative you are involved in, you are not developing others.
2) Have others lead major sections of your staff meetings.
Instead of leading your entire staff meeting, assign major sections of the meeting to others to lead. Don’t let the meeting simply be you holding folks accountable in front of everyone else. Let others lead the timelines around significant assignments, facilitate the discussions, and rally others around a direction. Act as a team member in those moments, submitting to the point person in the room.
3) Invite a leader to solve a specific problem.
Jim Collins wisely suggests that leaders “put your best resources on your greatest opportunities and not your greatest problems.” At the same time, an unresolved issue or lingering problem presents a great opportunity for leadership development. Solving a problem requires critical thinking, collaboration with others, and the ability to execute. Consider identifying an important problem and inviting a leader to solve it, not merely to recommend solutions but to lead the team to a solution.
Leaders are responsible for the future leadership of the ministry or the organization. Instead of merely doling out assignments to others, stay engaged and provide feedback and encouragement.
