Do you do what needs to be done when it needs to be done?
Effective leaders do the work that needs to be done when it needs to be done even if they don’t like the task at hand. Read Proverbs 20:4.
Every leader has jobs they hate. Over the years I have worked with leaders who disliked the planning process, some that found it extremely hard to discipline a team member, some that didn’t like accountability, and some that continually fought the battle of fiscal responsibility. Some of the leaders found ways to avoid working at these elements of leadership and every time, that flaw damaged their ability to lead effectively.
The Biblical truth of Proverbs 20:4 is if a leader won’t do the hard task in a timely manner they won’t have positive results. Avoid planning and sooner or later chaos rules your team, avoid confrontations or discipline and the team will experience anarchy, avoid accountability or fiscal responsibility and there will be a moral or financial failure.
There is no quick five-point fix to help a leader enjoy elements of their work that a lifetime of experience has proven they do not enjoy and in fact don’t like. I’ve found that I must use a strong element of my leadership to force me through the elements of leadership I don’t like. Some examples:
- I enjoy the planning process but don’t enjoy the confrontation or discipline process. To avoid confrontation or discipline issues I plan an annual review into the schedule to facilitate communication.
- I dislike crisis management so I plan meetings into the schedule far in advance of the needed result to make sure all the team is on track with their part of the process.
Some leaders use self-exhortation to force them to work on the hard thing, some use a priority system to force undesirable tasks to the top of their to-do list, etc. The principle is a leader does not allow the tasks they personally dislike to become a problem that cripples the ability to lead the team effectively.
One other practice that will help Christian leaders complete the elements of work they dislike is to look at the use of their leadership gifts as an offering to God. Which of us wants to bring an offering of less than our best? Use caution if you go down this road to avoid creating some kind of works doctrine in your mind that says you have to work to gain God’s love. There is a fine balance to doing your best to honor God and seeking to do enough to earn God’s love.
