Developing Leaders: Part 5
When you delegate authority to developing leaders, if you’re lucky, they’ll do it 90% of the way you’d do it. Most likely, it will be more like 80%. That means you’ll have what I call a 20% “discomfort factor.”
If I have ten staff members (or ten volunteers) that are hitting 80% of the target, I have a few choices.
1) I can spend all my time correcting their 20% that is “off-target.” And it would take most of my time. (This is what a lot of leaders do.)
2) I can take the responsibility away from them and do it myself. (Obviously, I can’t do the job of ten… So I just lost a lot of ministry productivity.)
3) I can endure the “discomfort” of knowing that a few things are different than I would do them. I’ll correct a few of those things when I can. But if I let these leaders go long enough, I’ll quickly realize that part of their 80% production will be MUCH better than if I had done it. They will be improving, innovating, learning, and growing. Before long, their 80% will soar. (Few leaders allow for this.)
If you can’t tolerate some of the “discomfort factor,” you’ll never grow great leaders and your organization will become flat.
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Wow Craig… so simple, so powerful.
I am trying to learn this in my own leadership. It is hard, but necessary.
This is a great series! Thanks!
Ben
Great post Craig…the discomfort factor “is” very discomforting because as leaders we have a vision of how we see it and delegating takes it out of our hands. This is very hard for a lot of pastors. I know it is for me. But what you write about in this post is so crucial for the development of your leaders as well as the growth of your own organization.
When we delegate to our leaders it is important that we give them the same freedoms to take risks that we take. Otherwise we will stop their development. Really it does all come down to perspective. Who’s way of doing it really is right or the best?
I say delegate and give the freedom to let them take risks and don’t micromanage…their perspective might be a breath of fresh air to your organization.
80-90% sounds pretty good to me too. Anything more than that and you don’t have a developing leader, you’ve got a twin.
Ben, Jason, and Bryan,
Thanks for your comments.
Who has seen the benefits of living with the delegation “discomfort factor?”
Maybe a few things aren’t as you’d like them, but so many other things are tremendously better than if you were doing it all yourself…
Please encourage our blogging friends. This is a very important part of developing leaders and extremely necessary in our ministries.
Hey Craig,
I’ve been reading since the blog started but not entering into the discussion until now. This week’s topic is a real passion for me. One of the greatest joys in my short time of vocational ministry is seeing people grow and develop as leaders. It was also true in my former life in the marketplace.
Today’s topic strikes a chord with me. It seems to me that successful delegation and embracing the “discomfort factor” requires the willingness to allow permission to fail. If I have done my job as a mentor I would hope that those I delegate to will operate within the 80% range but in that remaining 20% I think it is important to give permission to fail. Personally, I probably fail at least 20% of the time and I should expect no less from others.
If what I would have done in that 20% arena was the best way to do it, my experience is that those that I delegated to eventually come around to that method but they think they thought it up. That’s cool with me. If their way was best, we all learn a new way that may have never surfaced if I had controlled the whole thing. That’s even better. If they fail, that experience is a better teacher than I could ever be.
Thanks for the post. I’ll be joining in more often.
Jimmy K.
So true… but hard.
I think it’s important also to think about which part of your 80% they are in line with and which 20% they are leaving out. It may need to be case-by-case — kind of like the “which hill am I going to die on?” thing. If their 20% is in opposition to our values I’m going to be more proactive than I’ll be if their 20% just involves methods, logistics. If we feel we must at some times mess with the “discomfort” (even in things seemingly unrelated to values) we will most successfully remedy the problem by developing people from the standpoint of values.
Thoughts?
Allen,
I think you are right. Values must be the guard rails. People can still fail within values. Failing outside values must be corrected.
Jim,
Welcome to the conversation! It’s about time you jumped in!
allen,
For me, if 1% is in opposition to our values I am concerned. I believe core values and mission are non-negotiables. Delegating within the values of the organization give lots of room for the 20% factor. Letting any part of the 20% run outside the values scares me a lot.
Jimmy K.
This is the simplest thing and yet the hardest thing in the world to do. Don’t underestimate how hard it is and don’t ever stop working toward it.
[...] Craig Groeschel of Life Church fame clearly summarizes one of the most significant lessons I have learned over the past couple of years in his “Developing Leaders: Part 5” post on the LifeChurch.tv Swerve blog. [...]
I remember what my boss (very good boss) once said when one of the teachers was performing badly and students were leaving his group. She said something to this effect: “It’s not that we want him to leave. It’s about our students - we don’t want THEM to leave.” So what she did was she taught him. It was very brave and loving on her part I think, especially that she was dealing with a (perhaps) 40% discomfort factor.
I respected her for it even more.
Thanks for the post Craig. And thank you for your answer to my last question.
Wow! What an insightful post! This has inspired a lot of thought and consideration in me about how I lead… I really do have a hard time sometimes when people do things differently than I would. Honestly, sometimes they even do it a lot better than I would have, and I’m upset that they didn do it MY way!
I’m working on growing in this area, and this post has given me some good things to consider. Thank!
Hey Craig…just wanted to add on again.
It is so much better to have 10 extra people working at the 80% than me working at the 100%. That would equal an extra 800%. Which in my book is about 700% better. I hope.
Hope that wasn’t too much math. Either way it is a lot less wear on me as a leader which is why I live in the “discomfort zone”. I also don’t think it is really lowering our expectations either. Our expectations should be set on developing leaders. If we don’t allow them to take the risk then we aren’t really developing them.
Awesome series!! I have been following and taking notes to heart. Although not a pastor, these thoughts are so applicable to all leaders. As a parent I want to develop my kids as leaders–either in their workplace in the future or as parents themselves. As my kids have grown into teens, they have developed their own styles–different, but just as good…and many times even better than my own. The humbling lesson is to not only accept the “discomfort zone”, but support it and even learn from it ourselves. Who knows…by developing leaders, the ones we lead may be helping to develop our leadership skills even more!!
Thanks for the great blog. I’ve been reading for about a month. Love the spirit of your community.
I’ve found that my leaders especially my younger ones will not just give me the 20% heartburn discomfort, but also a 20% bonus in innovative ideation that I never could have come up with micro managing them.
Most importantly, you have to inspect what you expect to make sure your ministry or organization hasn’t gotten away from the vision.
Some companies do not have good preventative controls in place prevent problems or inspection processes that notify the leader when there has been an exception to their expectations. We find out when it’s too late - or you find out from a customer letter, member of your own church. That’s fun!
That sounds hard. However, I agree with you. If you expect everything to be 100% the way you want it, you’ll never get anywhere, b/c you’ll have to do it all yourself. It is funny that I say that. I know it to be true, but somehow, I find myself have a rel difficult time letting things go. So, I have the know part down, now I just ne to do it.
Can you imagine what Jesus was thinking when he left 11 guys to carry on where He left off? I mean if He wasn’t willing to watch them do things differently than He would if he stayed. Of course He knew they would, but He was sure of the outcome anyway. In fact I think it was part of His plan. Just a thought of mine. I think God can use even bigger failure than 20% and still win! It does my heart good to hear you say such things Craig, even more good to see it practiced and trickle down to all those who lead at Lifechurch.
[...] Man, this was HUGE for me. If you are a church planter, read it now. [...]