Leader's Update 2-15-08

“Dirty Delegation”
From Hans Finzel’s book, “Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make”, mistake #6 is “Dirty Delegation.”

Dirty delegation, by Hans Finzel’s definition, is refusing to relax and let go. He points out that as leaders:
 Over managing is one of the great cardinal sins of poor leadership
 Nothing frustrates those who work for us more than sloppy delegation with too many strings attached
 Delegation should match each worker’s follow-through ability

So, why do leaders fail to delegate?
 Fear of losing authority
 Fear of work being done poorly
 Fear of work being done better
 Unwillingness to take the necessary time
 Fear of depending on others
 Lack of training and positive experience

D.L. Moody wrote, “I’d rather get ten men to do the job than to do the job of ten men.”

Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “The best executive is the one who has the sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

Here are key ingredients for managing “Clean Delegation”:
 Faith in the one to whom you delegate. It is an issue of trusting in and respecting the person the job is given to.
 Release from the desire to do it better yourself.
 Relaxation from the obsession that it has to be done your way.
 Patience in the desire to do it faster yourself.
 Vision to develop others with your delegation freedom.

Why delegate?

Ephesians 4: 11-13 demands it. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

If the church is to reach its fullest potential we as leaders must learn to train and empower others to help us fulfill the great commission Jesus gave us.

Dan Bickel
Wisconsin Distri