Rule 2: Replace yourself. I take this one from Andy Stanley and his 7 Practices of Effective Ministry and it's podcast, Practically Speaking. I talk about this one a lot because I see it apply a lot, and it's this: Every leader should be trained to work themselves out of a job.
This might not be new for some of us, but in practice it's rare. Here's why: insecurity. I see it's danger in myself. I'm secure in my position - I love my job. The thought of losing it is scary, so stay away from my turf. Where we often go wrong is that we're not replacing ourselves and losing our positions, we're making way for others. It's like sharing. We've all struggled with it since we were 1 or 2, but refusing to allow others to rise up behind you and take over your responsibilities causes 2 problems: you stop growing in leadership and spiritually due to a lack of increasing challenge, and you impeded the growth of others around you. I've also noticed that the long a leader refuses to replace themselves, the more people are impeded and the more people disappear for "no reason", and the leader is left alone with no followers. That's not leading.
2 examples from this: One is the pastor that has a hard time letting others preach for fear of falling out of the spot light. Thankfully Jim just talked about this Sunday and how he enjoys getting other, even more talented teachers, on our stage. Another example of the failure to abide by this rule is the high school student who goes to college, graduates, and returns home... and stays. Not that there aren't exceptions, of course, but think about it... It's a combination of another leader not moving out of the way and a younger leader seeing no reason to continue movement.
Whether you're a CEO or a high school student, these rules apply.
This might not be new for some of us, but in practice it's rare. Here's why: insecurity. I see it's danger in myself. I'm secure in my position - I love my job. The thought of losing it is scary, so stay away from my turf. Where we often go wrong is that we're not replacing ourselves and losing our positions, we're making way for others. It's like sharing. We've all struggled with it since we were 1 or 2, but refusing to allow others to rise up behind you and take over your responsibilities causes 2 problems: you stop growing in leadership and spiritually due to a lack of increasing challenge, and you impeded the growth of others around you. I've also noticed that the long a leader refuses to replace themselves, the more people are impeded and the more people disappear for "no reason", and the leader is left alone with no followers. That's not leading.
2 examples from this: One is the pastor that has a hard time letting others preach for fear of falling out of the spot light. Thankfully Jim just talked about this Sunday and how he enjoys getting other, even more talented teachers, on our stage. Another example of the failure to abide by this rule is the high school student who goes to college, graduates, and returns home... and stays. Not that there aren't exceptions, of course, but think about it... It's a combination of another leader not moving out of the way and a younger leader seeing no reason to continue movement.
Whether you're a CEO or a high school student, these rules apply.
Post a Comment