Word of the Week - Empowerment (Trust in the context of Leadership)
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
The greatest mission of all time from my perspective is the “Great Commission” outlined in the scripture above. Pretty amazing what has transpired over the past 2000 years from Jesus three-year ministry on earth and His empowering 11 of his followers to such a big vision and mission. He didn’t give lots of specific details to the plan or strategy, He simply empowered them with clear vision and equipped them with a few years of hands-on training. Other than the fact that He was God in the flesh, which is a factor we should surely consider in this example, I think there is much to learn from His servant leadership approach and the fact that He trusted generously about a mission with the highest stakes – the eternal destiny of all mankind.
Last week I shared my “WOW” on Trust, see below, and how God is calling us to trust Him with everything by faith and in doing so, learning how to extend trust to others so we can live to our full potential in Christ. Many times, we limit God and ourselves by not being able to trust generously. As I shared last week, this is an area I am often being challenged in. I recently listened to a podcast by Craig Groeschel titled – “The high Cost of not letting go” and found it to be insightful as it relates to trust and leadership. I would highly recommend you take 21 minutes of your time to watch or listen to the podcast by clicking Trust Podcast . I have outlined some of the key points from the podcast in my “WOW” below as it relates to Empowering others.
Empower to give authority or power to someone; to promote the self-actualization or influence of the person being empowered. Empowerment is the mechanism for trusting generously and releasing control.
In life there is a fine line between fully trusting and trying to control, and if we try to hold on too tight because we are just not sure if we can “let go” and trust generously, we limit our opportunity to grow and advance. If we hold on too tight, we may end up going backwards in our journey of growth in whatever we have been given authority or stewardship over. This principle applies to most areas of our lives including marriage/family, business, church, civic organizations etc. Anything where you are in a position of leadership with a goal of growing and developing people and the organization. If the Lord has put us in a place of leadership and authority, He is expecting us to develop and trust others. He has empowered us so we can empower others. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” Luke 12:48
Trouble letting go – Is it possible to care too much? Heck yes! I have 3 daughters who I love and care for deeply. They are thriving adults now producing lots of amazing grandkids, but when they were growing up, I had a really hard time letting go and trusting God and my daughters because I knew the risk were great and the stakes were high. I was blessed by the ministry of JH Ranch when my daughter and I attended an Outback then JH Ranch, and I was equipped with the “Journey of Transition” framework. This gave me a frame by which I could have an understanding for the timing in their maturation process to know how much freedom to entrust to them based on their age and ability to handle responsibilities. This was a game changer for me because it changed my mindset from a protective/defensive posture to a more trusting approach. I realized that if my daughters were walking with Jesus in an abiding relationship and hearing from Him, then I could trust He would lead them to the right place a the right time and would protect them from the dangers I knew existed. If we shared clarity of vision and values, I could trust them. The more I trusted God and my girls, the more they felt empowered and thrived towards the ultimate objective of becoming independent of us and fully dependent upon God, which is where the landed right on time. Thanks be to Jesus!
Our leadership in business is similar in many ways to what I shared above about parenting my daughters. As a Founder of the business I have been leading for 22 years, it is sometimes hard to understand the right timing and factors when it comes to trusting and empowering the team. This is a commonly diagnosed issue called the Founders Syndrome. I am doing my very best to not fall into this paradigm, which is why I continue to work at learning and growing in this area. As leaders we can all benefit from these principles.
In his podcast, Craig lists some of the Leadership Misconceptions that can really hinder the growth of an organization to include:
To grow bigger, we as leaders must do more
To lead better, you must get closer
To lead bigger, you have to know more
These misconceptions are common because they have some truth in them. Especially in the early days of an organization when it pays off to be close to the problems so you can get them fixed. What seems necessary early in the life of an organization will inevitably limit our leadership later. As a leader, there is a time to be hands-on, but there is more room to be hands-off. “What seems necessary early will inevitably limit your leadership later”. Craig Groeschel
If we are too controlling and don’t empower others at the right time, we may:
Limit the growth of our business and developing leaders – If we are too controlling, we miss the opportunity to raise strong leaders. Rember that control and growth can have a adversarial correlation. Too much control will limit growth. We must empower others by delegating authority. “When you delegate task you create followers, when you delegate authority you develop leaders.” Craig Groeschel
Limit the development of strong leaders – If you don’t let the best leaders lead then you will not maximize the organizations potential and you run the risk of losing great leaders. If you are wondering if you truly trust your leaders then you either have not developed them or you have the wrong leaders. Either way it is up to us to solve. “You can never grow big in a healthy way if you don’t trust deep” Craig Groeschel
Limit the impact of your organizational mission – If we don’t let go, we will become the greatest limiting force to our future impact. Trust is not always in agreement. We may have different views on how to achieve the mission but when we empower leaders, we must trust that they will accomplish the mission but may take different approaches and use different styles than we would. We must not get caught up as much in the “how” as long as their methods are in line with the organizational values and mission. “Trust is the currency of organizational progress” Craig Groeschel
We empower others by mentoring, training, equipping, and trusting them. We transfer our power and authority as we gain and build trust. In a similar way, God empowers us in His great mission through our discipleship, His written word, and the presence of the person of the Holy Spirit. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Have a great week.
Duane