Old Growth Can Lock Away Life

Growing old physically can not be avoided but growing old mentally and spiritually can be avoided. The four classic areas lost, locked away that result in getting old are:

• Playfulness
• Creativity
• Flexibility
• Freedom

When someone is full of life, it is often these qualities we have noticed.

Playfulness
Playfulness is the quality of being light-hearted and full of fun. Children are born to play with others. What does that involve? To play with others takes imagination, expression, fun and bonding. The richness of imagination comes from visualising a different world and taking on roles like heroes. The expression is acting out scenarios, creating and building things. The fun comes from the expression and bonding with others through play.

Creativity
Creativity requires fresh thinking, new ideas and leads to innovation, turning ideas into practical reality. Creativity comes from revelation; paradigm changes where old thinking is turned on its head and new realisations are discovered. It takes a searching, questioning spirit on a life long journey of discovery looking and finding clues for the next part of the journey. The opposite of this is believing you have found answers and arriving at destinations.

Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to bend but not break and an ability to change. Routines can be very useful for creating disciplines that bring order out of chaos and form good habits. They also though can become stale and lose relevance and power to bring about growth. Traditions that once enabled life to be made practical now defence mechanisms to avoid change.

Freedom
Freedom the individual power to speak and act free from being enslaved. In order to give yourself fully to someone or something you first have to be set free from anything that holds onto you restricting and holding you back.

God is full of life, offers life in abundance with freedom in Christ that allows us to have playfulness; creativity and flexibility. Through faith, hope and love we can relate to a God full of life and express it with each other. Religion on the other hand (belief outside of a growing relationship with God) brings only growth that stifles life, locks it away. Seriousness and heavy hearted replaces playfulness. Finding answers and defending them replaces fresh discovery and creativity. Traditions replace flexibility. Freedom is lost.

Achievement Through a Balanced Lifestyle

We are all used to hearing about, reading and being inspired by those who have achieved such high things. We are told that anyone can achieve great things if they wish. It is a matter of being dedicated to a specific purpose, staying focused, determined and making the necessary sacrifices in life. It is that last thing ‘sacrifice’ that has always got me reflecting. What if that sacrifice is your family, friends, ignoring responsibilities, enjoying other thigs in life at the same time?

My reflection went further what if I was dedicated to a range of responsibilities and enjoyments in life, dedicated to having a balanced lifestyle. Is that as much if not more impressive? After all that involves ‘plate spinning’ various activities, handling the logistics, significant diary management and evaluating if relevant progress is being made in the various areas.

Then I look around me and see many many people doing just that especially single parents in life. Balancing responsibilities of looking after kids, making a home, investing in friends, investing in themselves and more. That to me is inspiring and a model for success.

I remember 2-3 times being faced with key choices in life to pursue a high-level career or opt for a balanced lifestyle. One such occasion was being offered a role at the University of Cambridge. I was so honoured to be offered the full-time role rather than my usual consultant partnership work, I loved Cambridge. But then I thought about how settled my family were in Yorkshire; how good it  was to be planted in a church in Bradford; and how I enjoyed my outdoors in the Yorkshire Dales. I turned the offer down and it was a good decision because my family were looked after; I was able to take more of a role in church; enjoy my caving and climbing and still have a satisfying career.

Is it time for you to take a stock take and reflect? Maybe you have got to that stage of life where you wonder if there is anything significant you have achieved?

1. Have you already achieved more than you realise? Bringing up kids; making home; paying bills; looking after someone ill or disabled etc.
2. What are the important things in your life right now? God..family…job…voluntary work…hobby etc.
3. What relationships and responsibilities do you wish to invest in?
4. What other activities do you wish to pursue?
5. What is the right balance to achieve good things in several areas rather than very little in too many areas or making sacrifices you will regret to just excel in one thing?

Source of Defensive Barriers

In believe the biggest barrier to effective leadership is defensiveness. And the key source of defensiveness is individual insecurity. There are four primary insecurities: –

Fear of being a failure

Fear of being wrong

Fear of being rejected

Fear of being isolated

Fear of being a failure
Is your strongest internal driver for the achievement of a purpose, making a significant difference. Then your positive behaviours could well be the pursuit of excellence; challenging the status quo; being focused and attending to priorities; getting on with it and completing tasks.

Watch out for…..being a ’control freak’
If people who show little passion and like detail; people who talk about feelings and seem to be over sensitive; people who seem to lack focus and can’t make up their minds get you irritated then that could be a trigger for your defensiveness.
Your defensive pattern will be becoming a ‘control freak’. If you have control you know you have the determination, persistence and ideas to make it work. It is a strategy to avoid it failing and you being seen as a failure.

Tip: Look instead of controlling people to control a process of consultation and decision making. To see behind what irritates you are people strengths.

Fear of being wrong
Is your strongest internal driver for ensuring everything is completed right and proper. Then your positive behaviours will be the love of acquiring information; the ability to work autonomously with a high degree of self-management and control.

Watch out for….. ‘self isolation’’
If people who want to dash into action with minimum planning thought and planning; people who seem to focus on feelings and illogical details; people who have little structure or process in their thinking or talking get you irritated then that could be a trigger for your defensiveness.
Your defensive pattern will be becoming ‘self-isolated’. You know that if you put on your ‘safety hat’ bunker down and isolate yourself then you will be less affected by their inputs.

Tip: In order to stay influential, stay engaged. Pick your battles and for the important ones be assertive and ensure items are on the agenda, information is examined with a logical process.

Fear of being rejected
Is your strongest internal driver for ensuring needs are let and people are given adequate help and support. Then your positive behaviours will be providing help and support; your understanding of people’s feelings and needs.

Watch out for….. ‘being a people pleaser (but not!)’’
If people who want to compete on everything and ignore feelings of others; people who are not team players and stubborn; people who are more bothered about the group and projects than individuals get you irritated then that could be a trigger for your defensiveness.

Tip: Keep the list of unresolved issues short, face then, address them with others and realise good feelings only come from right actions. In short stop trying to hard to please people as it only breeds frustration by them for you.

Fear of being isolated
Is your strongest internal driver for team flexibility and adaptability. Then your positive behaviours will be personal flexibility and adaptability; ability to see things from different perspectives; the ability to look at different options.

Watch out for….. ‘overdone flexibility)’’
If people who want to go forward with blinkers; people resist change or won’t be flexible; people not be a team player get you irritated then that could be a trigger for your defensiveness.

Tip: Don’t become even more flexible and over play that strategy. Work with a structure of facilitating purpose-> process –> mutual support->team flexibility to get where you want to be.

Three Legged Stool of Needs

Three-Legged Stool of Needs

I am old enough to remember local farmers having three-legged milking stools. Three legged stools are better than four legged ones as they are much more stable on rough terrain. People too have three primary needs that are to be met for personal stability. The three primary needs are for…Self-worth; Security and Significance

• Self-worth – is being valued for who I am not for what I do or earn or because of my role.
• Security – is about safety from physical, mental and emotional harm and the fulfilment of a basic provision in those areas
• Significance – is about what difference I make in this world.  Not so much as a team member or human resource but more about the unique elements of being me

People are precious vessels that have holes and they leak leading to needs unmet. Life experiences knock holes in our soul and so we need refilling in these areas some more than others.

What can we do for ourselves and each other?

Self-worth
We can educate people that self-worth is something you start the day with rather than expect it to be earnt by what we achieve or people we please. My self-worth is centred around my purpose and strengths. If I start the day with high level of self-worth and personal purpose then I can face the problems each day brings. If I have low level of personal self-worth and purpose the day’s problems have got me beaten before I start.
Valuing people by seeing beyond shifting behaviours to their heart and strengths raises people’s self-worth and positive expectations. Add to this praise for those strengths in action builds it further.

Security
We can for ourselves have clear boundaries, make good decisions and choose investment in relationships wisely. For others we can ensure our yes is yes and no is no, keep agreements and promises. We can protect others from harm by ensuring justice is fair and right. By standing together and supporting each other.

Significance
By serving a greater purpose, making ourselves available we find our special abilities. As we serve a greater purpose our personal problems shrink to being smaller problems. If we focus on the differences and rich diversity that people offer they get to see their uniqueness by our feedback. The feedback needs to be focused on what individuals have achieved and raise their expectations for further gains.

People are not Perfect
There is a limit to what people can do for themselves and each other, none of us are perfect. In short people let you down. We must not give up on ourselves or each other but the strength to do that begs the question where does my help come from. It can come from God who is perfect and God never lets people down.

God Provides
God given Self-worth – Father God so loves people, that even when people do not know him or care about him and make a mess of things, he loves us unconditionally. To the extent that his own son pays the price required by right justice for all our wrongs. God loves us whether we agree with it or don’t agree with it; feel it or don’t feel it; whether we thank him or ignore him. He can’t help loving because he is love.

God given Security – If we believe in our hearts that God’s ways are the right ways then we learn from the teacher to set right boundaries, to make good decisions and how to love others. We4 see that God fulfils all his promises and looks after us.

God given Significance – If we align ourselves with the Father’s purpose, follow Christ’s teachings then we can expect to receive God’s input by the Holy Spirit that goes beyond our natural input to see supernatural changes. We get to see God’s kingdom grow first in us and then in the world around us. We get to be a key agent of change.

Missing Elements of Grace, Word and Power

In my previous blog I highlighted the three stages and importance of Grace, Word and Power from repentance to the Father, believing in his Son and receiving of God’s Spirit. In this blog I look at the typical characteristics of when individual Christians or whole churches fail to live out any of them.

Grace Only no Word and Power
Those who start in grace but fail to move well into word and power typically show the following characteristics: –

• Show love and acceptance to those who do not believe but fail to expect them to move on and grow
• Provide a community of social support
• Understand people’s circumstances yet have no real influence to change them
• No power in their own life for victorious living
• Believe we are all sinners and are dependant on God for all things yet fail to partner with God in building his kingdom
  
  

Word Only no Grace and Power
Those who start in grace and then become absorbed by the word of God in scripture leaving behind the grace typically show the following characteristics: –

• They move from loving the world to hating the world
• Scripture becomes the focus of all things
• Believing that if they know scripture and say it then then that changes the world and keeps them holy
• They become disciplined while losing the joy
• Are legalistic and judgemental with others
• A common trait for children living under this regime is that in later life they rebel and go away from God
• Believing is not related to the real internal drivers such as love or anger but related to knowing bible verses – ‘say it and claim it’
• They believe that the Holy Spirit was given at conversion and do not operate in the supernatural gifts such as tongues, word of knowledge, healings etc
• Believe the world is getting more evil, the church is shrinking and not victorious
• Believe they are part of the remnant of true believers
• Hope is in the life after this world

Power Only no Grace and Word
For those living with the demonstration of the power of God while failing to hold onto grace and word typically show the following characteristics: –

• Live for their power encounters in the church meetings
• More excited about prophetic words than scripture
• People are healed, talk in tongues but fail to mature
• Expect powerful prayers to solve all problems rather than taking personal responsibility in Christ. EG Expect prayer to sole financial problems rather than good money stewardship
• Become exclusive in their community
• Show lack of personal disciplines in their lives
• Emphasis on seeing the Spirit move in power, less emphasis on teaching how to develop fruits of the Spirit etc

I will leave you to figure out what will be the characteristics of having two of the three core elements Grace, Word and power…….

Questions – reaching for the fullness of God

1. Grace – Do I still have love for the world just as God so loved the world he sent his only Son. Do I have compassion for people? In God’s eyes do I see myself no better than others just incredibly fortunate that I have been saved by grace?
   
   
2. Word – Do I realise that Jesus Christ is the Word and that I can get to know him by prayer and in the scriptures? Am I growing in Christ to take personal responsibility, self-control and become an active partner building the Father’s kingdom? Am I growing in character and wisdom?
   
   
3. Power – Have I sought for, asked and submitted (lost control) to receive power from God to prophecy, heal and know things supernaturally? Am I willing to empty myself in giving out to see God step in where I finish in the natural to see the supernatural? Am I willing to risk embarrassment, loss for the sake if seeing God move rather than just me?

Grace, Word, Power

Three Stages of Maturity – Grace, Word, Power

Christians progresses through three stages of maturity from Grace to Word and to Power. It is important to learn the lessons of each stage; to move onto the following stage and maintain the lessons gained from each of the stages.

Grace – stage 1 (Sitting with God)

We are saved by the grace of God. It is not by our works but by God’s undeserved favour. We commit ourselves to God the Father as children. The truth is we become children of God. We are well aware that we are fully dependant on God the Father. God is happy to have us dependant upon him. Our prayers are simple and quickly and easily answered. I am not sure what is going on, what the problem is but know that God can sort it. We pray and let God sort things. Father God teaches us key lessons such as:

• About the Father’s heart
• God’s kindness and mercy
• Our need for God
• About the grace for us and others
• And more…

There comes a time though in our child like walk with God that at times he seems a little distant, prayers are not given quick answers but instead we are led to find the answers in his promises and word. God is moving us on to the next stage of our development.

Breaking point – God tests us by pressures to break our inactive dependant relationship. To release us into active agents with all spiritual knowledge and competence.

Word – stage 2 (standing on his word)

During this stage we study the scriptures and learn the promises of God. We learn to believe in them by the renewing of our minds. The word becomes flesh in our thinking and as we pray over situations the words become spirit to bring about change. Just as in the creation of the world as told in Genesis the Father’s kingdom was created by the Word (Son of God) speaking things into existence by the Spirit’s power. Jesus Christ teaches us key lessons such as:

• That all things revolve around Christ head of the administration of God’s kingdom. For through him all things come into being
• The promises of God
• How to believe in many different types of situations
• Knowing the word of God
• Being patient and waiting on God to move
• How to be an active agent for God’s work on earth
• And more….

For quite some time we see God’s word transform situations by prayer. But there comes a time though as we work hard to live by God’s word that we struggle with ‘unanswered prayer’, the opposition seems to mount and hurtful resistance/attacks from those close increase. No longer are we have we the joy of knowing God’s word, turning the key of prayer and seeing God transform.

Breaking point – God tests us by pressures to break our independent relationship. He breaks our own spirit so we come to him as broken vessels ready to receive afresh his love. The spirit of self-discipline, control and effort is broken and replaced with complete submission.

Power – stage 3 (walking in the Spirit)

Jesus when asleep on the boat in the storm, when the disciples came to him, was able to get up and calm the storm. He answered their prayer but after asked why they had got so little faith. Those who are at peace in a ‘storm’ are able to have authority over it. Note how Jesus answers their prayers in the first instance but then gives them feedback to raise them to the next stage of maturity. They already believed Jesus for saving people, healings and even that their own needs would be met. What they were lacking is that if Jesus had ‘sent them’ and said he would ‘meet them on the other side of the water’ then that was enough for them to have faith and assurance to rest in peace in the storm. Knowing that Jesus was with them they could work in partnership with the Spirit to handle the storm. The Spirit of God teaches key lessons such as:

• From self-control and discipline to full submission
• To walk in the Spirit
• To bed by the spirit blowing as the wind not knowing where it comes from or going
• Expecting signs, wonders and miracles to testify to the word in grace
• To be filed with the spirit again and again and then become full of the spirit
• To live life to become empty to be filled again
• Active partnership with God

NOTE: We need the development of each stage and retain the lessons from each stage. In my next blog I will look at what happens when people have the lessons of Word but not of Grace; Lessons of Power and Grace but not the Word etc

Let’s All Lead

Let’s All Develop Leadership

As a leadership coach I am still surprised by the number of organisations I visit where solo leadership is the model. A very common model in the Christian church. We need to move towards developing all as leaders and have leadership teams.

Leadership in the Trinity
All persons of the trinity lead. Father God leads Mat 7:21, 1 Cor 11:3. The Son leads Eph 1:2, Col1:18, Col 2:10. Holy Spirit leads, Mat 4:1, Rom 8:14, Gal 5:18. They all get to lead and in this they are equal. Equality though is not the same as order. Clearly Christ Jesus serves the Father’s purpose and plan. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth leading us back to the word (Christ) who serves the Father’s purpose.

Individuals are called to lead
God expects all individuals to be the yeast that leavens the lump, to positively influence those around with love and kingdom principles. This love and influence will result in others becoming followers of Christ.

Team Leadership
We need teams to have all its members looking to positively influence, take initiative and be proactive, all key traits of leading. You can’t have too many leading. Christ’s model of leadership is one of service and so all leaders need to be able to serve one another in the team. In this way you will not get too many cooks spoiling the broth as people are just as happy to follow others initiative as well as lead by their own. The principle of First amongst Equals is also key where the partnership of leaders ultimately default to the First leader (appointed team leader) when necessary.

Leaders Developing Leaders
Leaders ought to be concerned about growth and legacy. Leaders that enable other to complete tasks grow the organisation by addition. Leaders that enable others to lead grow the organisation by multiplication. Leaders should want their developed leaders to operate in spheres bigger than their own and go on to do greater things. Christ said those that believed in him would go to greater things John 14:12. His legacy is to work in partnership with us all as believers and through the Spirit empower us.

Key development questions?

• What is the next step developing your own leadership?
• Do you operate a solo leadership model or team leadership?
• How are you developing people around you to lead?
• Are you able to serve others initiative?
• How would you feel about developing others to achieve greater things?
• What will your legacy of leadership be?
  
  

Managers Add Value by Being the Glue

Manager Holding the Tension – Being the Vital Glue

After reading ‘First Break all the Rules – what the world’s greatest managers do differently’ by Buckingham and Coffman (recommended) it started a train of thought. It was a phrase ‘managers being the glue that hold organisations together’ that got me thinking some more. I realised that in practice ‘being the glue’ involved managers being in tension. The test of a manager is holding the tension and not letting go. On the one hand they are paid to be a manager and are required to hold onto and stay loyal to the organisational purpose. On the other hand they have to work with their staff on a daily basis and are required to understand and meet their needs. Those two fundamental areas of responsibility do not always pull in the same direction. It is great for managers when they do but quite often they can pull against each other. Raising their game and using their own personal leadership can influence them being aligned. That however starts by being determined to hold onto with both hands to organisational purpose and staff needs no matter the cost. I have the greatest respect for managers I meet who do just that. Being a manager for a day or when things go well is one thing but the real test is when organisational purpose and staff needs pull apart.

Value Feed-back from Tension Rather than Pull-back from Tension

When managers feel the tension between holding onto organisational purpose and staff needs then that is feeding back to the manager:

1. They are doing the valuable job of holding onto their management responsibilities
   Manager do not shirk their responsibilities. By holding on even with basic grim determination to both areas of responsibility shows staff and their senior managers what they stand for. This in and of itself can generate respect before doing anything else. Too many managers can pull back from the tension and make their own life easier by letting go of one hand, one area of responsibility. It will remove some of the tension but that person is no longer a manager in my view. True managers may moan about the tension but also thrive on holding it together.
   
   Mistake 1 – Letting go of the Organisational Purpose
   One way to pull back from tension is to let go of the organisational purpose. These managers criticise those above them while pleading ‘they are trying to represent the staff but not being listened to’. It is a strategy that undermines the manager. Staff seeing management discredited, discredit their own line manager because they are one too. Managers who do this also pass on news without personally owning it with phrases such as ‘I was told to tell you this, bear in mind I am just the conduit for this information if it were up to me…’. The staff hear the manager saying they are not listened to and just a conduit of information. Who would want to put their trust in that! These managers attend meeting as ‘the representative of their staff’. This makes for very difficult management meetings especially if others are doing that as well. The meetings are a war of areas/staff agendas. Some of the most powerful change is when managers horizontally work together as a management team for the interests of the company and staff. Managers refusing to work for that and turning up with a strong assertion that I am here to represent my area/staff achieve the opposite as the information flow and co-operation between groups and teams breaks down.

Mistake 2 – Letting go of Staff Needs
Managerswho value the status of their position but are fed up with the moans and groans of ungrateful staff have let go of the link with those staff needs. They comment on having inherited a bad bunch or given up trying to work with staff. They announce directives in an authoritarian style and limit the number of staff meeting. They set the agenda for meetings themselves and avoid having ‘any other business’ or as in one case I know arrange for it to be at the end of the meeting on Friday afternoon! Turnover can be high which they blame on ‘not being able to find the right staff’.  Issues if discussed are quite often avoided or bulldozed through by phrases such as ‘well leave that with me I will look into it, we now need to move onto..’ or ‘I raised that in the management meeting and it was turned down so can we have other suggestions’. Staff learn that it pays to keep their head down get on and don’t expect to have any involvement and influence in what is going on. To have a cathartic moan and a laugh with one another out of sight of the manager and get their own back in others ways. This reinforces the manager’s view as their resistance seems to follow no logic and is seen even in areas where it is beneficial for the staff to accept.

• Managers need to rise up to lead a way out of the tension
  By refusing to let go of organisational purpose and staff needs and facing up to the tension managers need to facilitate a way up and onwards. It calls for managers to rise up see the larger perspective (see my article on Overseer) and raise peoples sights to the future and to look for how to meet both set of requirements. It requires managers to be a 360° leader (360° leader, John Maxwell). To influence upwards to get more information, provide feedback to those above from staff, to make a case how the company purpose can be met by also meeting staff needs. To influence horizontally to develop management teams to provide consistent direction and management values. To influence downwards by getting staff to look at customer/organisational needs as well as their own. Skills that are not easy but that rely on the basic premise that both organisational and staff needs are important.

In summary I am proud to support managers who are determined to hold onto their responsibilities of fulfilling organisational purpose while looking after their staff needs. It is an honour to provide leadership and managerial development to help them align and manage both areas of responsibility.  We need at the same time to challenge the ‘One arm bandits’, managers that let go of their responsibility to make life easier for themselves in the short term but harder for everyone in the longer term.  Understandable but not right.

Four Stages of Release

When I took my kids to the swimming baths to learn to swim it did not just happen in one session but over the course of several sessions. I want to pull out four stages in this overall process.

1. Walking alongside – they wore armbands and I walked alongside supporting their body as I instructed them how to move their arms and legs. Back and forth we went all the time their confidence growing.
2. One to one’s – I now sat on the edge of the pool or in the water nearby carefully observing. During this stage they often started to doubt their ability and having learnt the easy stuff came up against the steep learning curves knocking their motivation. After they had several goes we would chat. It was very much a two way chat they would tell me how things were going and what was working or not working and talk about their motivation. I would bring out swimming principles form their reflections and also add in my own observations.
3. Questioning – I now was often sitting by the pool sometimes observing what they did and sometimes reading, drinking coffee etc. We would agree times to meet so they got a break and sometimes just came over for a chat. They would say ‘ hey dad I have just managed to do…’ or ‘I seem to getting my dive into the pool wrong can you help me’. My response was always to ask them questions and avoid giving answers because quite often they deep inside knew what was wrong and what to do.
4. Report back – At this stage I might not even go to the swimming pool with them. Instead they report back to me on their return how the session went and what new thigs they had been trying.

In the same way we need to release people’s abilities by a four-stage process:-

1. Instruction
   Sit alongside the individual and show them how it is done. Break the role down to specific tasks and go through each task in a logical order. Provide context how that tasks fit with the role and service provision. Always show them how to handle the typical, normal things and avoid the exceptions at this stage to build their confidence.
   Jesus teaching and explaining more fully parables to the disciples
   
   
2. Coaching
   This stage tends to be the make or break of the whole four stage process. If it goes successfully it sets people up well for the following stages and vice versa. Requires you to be a good observer; knowing the person as well as the task. It calls you to provide feedback but also to be part counsellor. It requires the chat to get incredibly specific about elements of the task, how they feel and why they feel as they do. You need to face issues, discuss them but bring perspective to ensure confidence is rebuilt.
   Jesus telling Peter where he got the realisation that led to his confession that he was the Christ. Following this strong feedback that the source was different when he tries to persuade Jesus away from the cross.
   
   

Tipping point….the ownership is now moving from the leader to the individual

• Facilitation
  The onus is on the individual to bring their thoughts, reflections and feelings to the chats. The leader seeks to guide the conversations and insights by questions. It is important to guide the person to solve their own problems, find their own solutions. Manager who provide quick answers here gives what the individuals want but not what they need. The reason for this is at this stage a key dependency is broken with the manager. That is not easy for the manager who may find personal security from being the answers to peoples problems. Leaders know this and expect people to self-dependency on God and equal interdependency with others.
  Jesus talking with the pairs after they were sent out to heal and proclaim the kingdom.
  
  
• Delegation
  Three key words are key here Responsibility, Authority and Accountability. Let me use these to show the difference between Job Allocation; Abdication and Delegation. Job allocation is handing over responsibility only e.g. ‘if you go and get everyone drinks’. Abdication is handing over responsibility and authority without any accountability e.g. ‘I will let you feed people however you see fit’ let’s say they spend in one go all the year’s budget whose fault is that! True delegation is handing over responsibility and authority to make decisions to achieve results within agreed boundaries. The accountability rests with the leader. It was their mission and they can not do it alone so hand over portions of the mission to others. They work.

The Centurion was commended for his faith based on his understanding of the nature of authority and delegation. Jesus delegated his mission to the disciples before he left and they became apostles.

Sacrificial Stages in Releasing Others

Stage 1:Talented Individuals –> Team Member
Sacrifice personal success for team success
All people if provided opportunities and support aligned with their strengths can become talented. For some it is key they stay in that place using their own talents. For others there is the opportunity to use that talent as part of a team. Becoming a strong team player often involves sacrifice of the individual drive. No longer can it be just about my success but instead giving opportunities and support to others in the team so together we win.

Stage 2:Team Member to Manager
Sacrifice being one of the team to being a manager
Sometimes people move from being a team member to being a manager. In order to be effective managing the team the individual can no longer be fully part of the team. They need to accept the authority that has been given them and take seriously the role. This inevitably separates the team manager from the team. My advice as a coach is for new managers is to rise to this authority and role, establish that authority and difference then choose to be part of the team when appropriate knowing that you can step out to take tough decisions, discipline members etc. The best managers have their finger on the pulse of the team. They organise things and establish team roles. With good processes and communications they know all that is going on. It is important that they prevent problems escalating and step in to ensure they are solved often by taking control.

Stage 3:Manager to Leader
Sacrifice being a manager to becoming a leader
Over time team managers control less through developing others by instruction > coaching > facilitation and finally delegation. The best leaders encourage and enable self management through individual delegation and by empowering the team to self-manage projects/operations. Leaders have to therefore give up controlling and move towards delegation*. Giving up control and instead feeling vulnerable is a difficult barrier to overcome and harder than previous sacrifices. But leaders who can develop others to manage and let them control gain results and release individual and team talent.
* Note: Delegation means allowing others to have authority and make decisions. Just giving out tasks with no decision making authority is task allocation and only involves giving responsibility.

Stage 4:Leader to Empowering Agent
Sacrifice being thee leader to developing multiple leaders
This is the hardest sacrifice of all. Leaders who can develop others to lead move from additional growth to growth by multiplication. At times this involves allowing others to operate in spheres that are bigger and wider than your own. They may end up leading better than you do and leapfrog you to bigger things. Only the most secure leaders are able to face this challenge. Leaders like this think legacy and generational. Jesus said in John 14:12-14 ‘Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.’