Leadership

During my life I have had the opportunity to be in nearly every position and play nearly every role in the church and in business. Here's a few key things that I have learned:

1 Keep it simple! The more complex you make structures, the less likely people are to be willing to support them. Entwined in this is clear and constant communication.

2 Keep lines of authority and responsibility clear. People need to know the chain of command.

3 Hire well! Hire people for skill, experience, creativity, and potential, not for their education, connections, or who they worked for.

4 Clearly define roles. People need to know the expectations, and limits. In this, provide opportunity to grow. What is their path forward to move up?

5 Provide autonomy. Turn people loose (as much as possible) to accomplish their tasks that fulfill the expectations. Don't micromanage it limits trust.

6 Provide authority. Give people as much authority as their position will allow, even a bit more than you are comfortable with (within reason). If they live up to the trust, give them more, you can always pull back if they aren't ready or able to handle it.

7 Hold them accountable. If someone meets expectation, praise them and encourage them. If they aren't measuring up, let them know, provide opportunity for growth, then cut them loose if they still can't get it done.

8 Inspire creativity. Challenge them to accomplish more than they think they are able. There is a fine line between being challenged and being overburdened so be careful here.

9 Serve the people who serve you! Jesus provided this example over and over, we should do the same. What can you do to show them that they are valuable to you better than serving them? More pay and bonuses are nice in any job, but people want to feel needed and appreciated more than anything else. On that note, pay them better than they expect, and be on the upper end of the scale rather than the lower end. That shows value too.

10 Cast vision and reiterate purpose often. Constantly remind people of the vision and purpose for doing what they do. Keep it in front of them. You must also show them that you are striving to accomplish the vision and fulfill the purpose as well.

I hope that these insights are helpful.