I beat up on Lead Pastors (especially founding pastors and entrepreneurial types) a bit yesterday. That’s not new for them. There are certain jobs where people think it’s OK to heap abuse and accusations on someone, and Lead Pastors are one (teachers, police officers, and other public servants often fall into this category, as well).
That being said, we talked yesterday about the tendency of some Senior/Lead Pastors to want to call ALL the shots. This might be understandable (even desirable) in the very early stages of a church, but growth will eventually cause even the most highly-skilled and well-intentioned efforts of any single individual to fall short of the mark.
To move things forward, the Senior/Lead Pastor needs to learn to be a leader of leaders, not just a leader of followers (i.e. implementers). Those leaders won’t stick around unless they have something to lead, which means letting go and making some space for their strategic input and decision-making.
I know how hard it is to let go. I am a detail-oriented Type A, and have fairly strong opinions about most things, lol. I’ve had to fight to release and let the leaders on my teams lead. Here are some mindsets that I’ve needed to watch out for in myself:
- Thinking my opinion is the obvious (and only) rational course of action;
- Thinking that only I “get” the big picture;
- Thinking that I’ll be OK for the leaders I lead to make real decisions at some undefined point in the (far) future, when I think they’re “ready;”
- Thinking that potential damage caused by “wrong” decisions will be fatal.
So, what to do? Describe with crystal clarity where you want to get – but don’t prescribe how to get there. Don’t make assumptions – have open, thorough, and ongoing discussions about desired results. Start off by giving authority in one area, and increase as the leader successfully handles a project. Don’t overwhelm, but don’t drag your feet on granting authority, either.
Most of all, let excellence, not preference, be the determining factor. If something is done well and moves the church towards your agreed upon goals, it doesn’t matter that you would have done it differently. Once I got over myself and released, the end results were usually good – often better than I could have done personally. So get over yourself and empower your leaders to lead.
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