-4 Things Leaders Do-

I have learned that you can do a lot of things well, but in an entrepreneurial setting like a new business or church plant, if you do not have leaders then you are going to be hosed!  Here are a few things I've learned during the process.

1. Leaders Delegate
Delegation is about equipping, communicating, and evaluating.  If you delegate without doing those 3 things, then you are just dumping tasks on people, not delegating responsibilities.  Another key success is to make sure the person you are delegating responsibilities to is competent and capable.  If they are not, then your delegation process will be like trying to put a square peg in a round hole; it damages both the peg and the hole.

2.  Leaders Develop
Training someone is simply giving them a task to do.  Developing someone is giving them a responsibility to own.  Training is focused on indoctrination of status quo ideas and methodologies.  Developing is about educating so the end result is growth, innovation, and focusing on the future.  Do you want volunteers/workers/leaders that just punch the time clock and check off the to-do list?  Or do you want people that are constantly thinking about ways to be faster, better, more efficient, and more effective?

3. Leaders Grow
You cannot take people to a place you have never been before.  So leaders have to continue to mature and develop in their own life.  If not, your leadership capacity hits a ceiling and your ability to lead becomes stagnant.  Here is a short, homemade list of leadership levels.
a. Model Leader- A leader that does it all himself.  Growth is limited to one person's ability.
b. Leading Leader- Still does the majority of the tasks, but has delegated some less-important things out.
c. Leading Leaders- Delegates responsibilities by leading people, not projects.
d. Leading through Vision- A leader that surrounds himself with leaders who lead leaders.  Growth is limitless.

4. Leaders Evaluate
There are no sacred cows in leadership/ministry.  If it does not work, then trash it.  Two really good reasons to quit doing something and reevaluate are, 1. If you have always done it that way, and, 2. If it is not being effective.  Sometimes the prior leads to the latter, yet you will never know these things if you do not take time to evaluate everything you do.

Thoughts?