Here are some more thoughts on lessons I’ve learned in the past ten years of ministry in Africa.
Do what only you can do. Spend your time and energy on that which makes you the strongest asset to your team.
Delegation has always been hard for me. I am a perfectionist, and very detail-oriented… so it’s hard for me to pass things off to others. For a long time, we didn’t have “others” to pass them off to, and I got very comfortable juggling so many things on my own. As our team grew, I learned (slowly) to equip my teammates to help carry the load.
I made a list of the things I want to spend my time doing, and the things that “only I can do” so that when we had the right people, I could start passing things off. Something “only I can do” is be the “face” of the ministry for our partners back in the States (with Niel, of course). Yes, I could have someone else write our newsletters or write email replies to our supporters. But I don’t want to. I want to continue having personal contact with the people who make our ministry possible. So I still personally reply to every email we get from our supporters (not always very speedily, although I sure try!). And while I now have some assistance in this area, I still write the final copy for our newsletters, printed letters, brochures, website, etc. It represents us, so I am heavily involved in what the ministry puts out in writing.
We still don’t have enough staff for me to only do what only I can do. But we’re definitely miles ahead of where we were even just 18 months ago. I probably spend about 40-50% of my time doing what I love and feel specifically called to do. The rest of my time is still spent in other areas. Right now, the 80/20 principle seems impossible, but it is something I am working toward: Spending 80% of my time doing what makes me the strongest asset to our team and ministry, and spending the remaining 20% on the have-to’s that I can’t avoid being involved in.
Give authority with responsibility. Trust your team; they have strengths in areas you don’t.
This is as hard for me as delegation is. I need to constantly remember that just because someone does something differently than I would, it doesn’t make it wrong. I have to work hard at times to keep my attitude in check when I know a “better way”. I need to get more big-picture oriented and get my brain out of the details sometimes. As long as the end result is right, the means of getting there shouldn’t matter.
When it’s painfully obvious that someone is better than me at something, it’s easier to trust them to do the job. It’s when I think I could do it better that I really need to work hard at fully letting go. Trust is something that is a challenge for me, both personally and with ministry responsibilities, but I’ve grown a lot in the area of trusting our team. We are blessed with some high-caliber staff members and interns who continue to blow me away with their giftedness. They’ve been a huge part of me learning to let go and trust others to get the job done.
Is it hard to trust others with tasks you are good at?
you’re so dang wise…..
i don’t have a team, so i can’t really delegate! oh well!!! maybe one day i’ll have a “team”. :)
but, yes, its VERY hard to trust others with tasks that i’m good at - very hard…..
and i spend a LOT of my time doing what i love/want. i have a husband that makes sure i’m able to stay in my gifts and passions. i’m SO thankful for him.
By: mandythompson on March 17, 2008
at 4:35 pm
1)not much
2)yeah
Although in answer to 1 I have been focusing more over the past 9 months. When I was little I read about a guy (who lived a few hundred years ago) who, when he was 30, quit his job and spent … 10? … years pursuing things he’d always wanted to learn. (He was a bit rich, I suspect.) He is then known for what he did in the second half of his life (although that’s all I remember of his story.) That idea always impressed me though. And recently I’ve tried to implement it in small degrees. Thus, ballet. Also - I like to learn. So any opportunity I have to learn something new - I take it. In the process I find I still can learn things very quickly, and so could still expand the capacity of what God has given me a whole lot just in small pieces in my spare time. This ties in a little with the parable of the talents. I think it’s interesting how their term for money is our term for ability. Especially when that is what Jesus was trying to relate, I think. So I’m trying to do what I can with the abilities He’s given me - just because He’s given them to me. So far I’m on baby step 1, but it is nice to feel like I’m finally doing something with myself.
I don’t have much opportunity for delegation. So this one’s hard. It is one I’m conscious of though. (Don’t know if that qualifies.) I tend to have differing ideas about how things could be done in general - and most people aren’t so receptive to them. It seems the vast majority of people think, “The way it’s always been done is good enough for me. There might be a better way, but I don’t care to change.” Actually, people do outright say this to me. So … I do wonder at how I will handle it in the same situation. I hope I’ll be flexible, but I have yet to be tested.
Ok, no maybe that’s not true. Hubby likes doing the laundry and dishes TOTALLY differently than me. Mostly I let him, though. I just shake my head at him. Sometimes it’s frustrating when my clothes come out of the dryer FULL of static. But then that way wouldn’t actually be better, right? :P
By: annie on March 17, 2008
at 5:51 pm
hi alece, thanks for the comment! i’m enjoying browsing your blog! you’re a great writer, thanks for sharing what God is doing through you and your husband in South Africa.
By: jenncollins on March 17, 2008
at 7:24 pm
How good to hear you speak of where you have come from, where you are at now and where you are headed.
How much of your time do you spend doing what you love/want?
I know that the context is finances but I wondered last week if I am supposed to learn, like Paul did, the secret of being content in any and every situation (Phil. 4:12 NIV). Does the 13th verse reveal the secret? Hm… Anyway, I would say that I am about 20/80 = want-to/have-to. The funny thing is that most of my have-tos are a result of specific choices I have made. And the super funny part is that without the have-tos there would be fewer want-tos. … The list idea is fabulous. I am a bit reluctant (don’t want to be overwhelmed) to make one for me… but seeing your success gives me hope.
Is it hard to trust others with tasks you are good at?
It used to be hard. Now I am totally looking for people to take over doing things that I am good at but take time that I would like to be investing in other areas.
Thoughts, Questions?
I wonder if we could apply the idea of delayed gratification here. Our generation was told play now pay later. But some of us went against the flow and decided that we will pay our dues now and be able to relax later after investing the hard work. Or are we just gluttons for punishment, work horses that hold fast to the theory that we can rest when we get to heaven? (wink) I know that there is a time when you have to sow deep by working hard doing what it takes to create the momentum and build. But I am looking forward to the day when I can be doing only what I can do.
So now I am off to the have-tos of diapers changing and grocery shopping so that I can have what I want: a peaceful evening of full bellies and dry tushies. :o)
… that list idea is gonna bug me until I do it…
By: @ngie on March 17, 2008
at 9:36 pm
you know in the past three days i’ve had discussions centering on both of these issues.
1) i’m so dang tired of doing mostly “urgent” and not what is really “important”. although i LOVE my girls, taking care of them is still routine hard work (this is not the ‘urgent’ i’m referring to…urgent as in our time as a whole family). i feel like not many other areas/ strenghts of my life are in operation right now.
and
2) being on the other end of the question - a team member not a team leader - it is very diffucult to get things done without authroity. i understand that it is diffucult to give away…but if you are giving stuff away, there must be some room to make things happen.
on the other hand, when i have been in a leadership position - it is very hard for me to even let other people do what i am good at - yikes.
By: yeller on March 18, 2008
at 12:05 am
I’m so proud of you Kitten…
By: Amy on March 18, 2008
at 3:53 pm
thanks for all your thoughts and input, everyone! i love that we’re all learning together on this journey of ours…
By: alece on March 19, 2008
at 9:45 am