Monday, July 11, 2016

Delegation - Even Jesus Needed Help Getting Stuff Done

In Luke chapter 16 Jesus is telling the Parable of the Shrewd Manager and in verse ten it says "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much".  In black and white...well actually it is printed in red ink in my Bible since Jesus is speaking...Jesus is telling us how to delegate to others. 

The key is to only give them a little at first.  Once they prove they are good stewards of the small amount then they can be given more.

For example, at work when you have Mr. New Guy join your organization you don't automatically hand him all the credit cards, passwords, and customers and then leave for a month's vacation to a remote island where you can't get any cell phone service.  You clear your calendar and you hang out with the New Guy for a few days or a week until he feels comfortable at work (or at least until he knows where the bathroom is).  Then you give him a customer of his very own and tell him you will be back to check on him.  Then you come back and check on him.  A lot.  Then not so much.  Then just a little.  Then rarely.  Then there comes a point where you only see (no longer the) New Guy if there is a problem and he comes to you for help. 

When New Guy does a great job with one customer you give him more customers.  If he does good with those you might give him a project.  If he does good with that you might give him a committee, then maybe a department, then one day New Guy is hanging out with you at Board Meetings and his name has changed from New Guy to Chief Something.  This whole process took New Guy years...not weeks...years!  He proved you were able to trust him with very little and so now you can trust him with being a driving force in your company.    

When it came to getting stuff done even Jesus needed help.  He recruited his disciples to spread the gospel.  These twelve men were selected to preach the good word.  Jesus spent time with these men.  They ate together, traveled together, and hung out a lot with each other.  Jesus didn't just hire them to do the job then go back to his desk and start reading the latest Tablets or take a vacation to somewhere where he could relax and get away from it all.  No.  Jesus poured into them his teachings and taught them how to handle many diverse and often difficult situations.  These men weren't perfect.  Far from it in some cases.  However Jesus knew the key was to select men and then have the men prove (mainly to each other because he was Jesus after all...he knew how the story would go) who could be trusted before he gave them their greatest challenge of all.  There was a learning curve and there were setbacks.  The disciples had to really buy in to what Jesus was preaching but once they did those who remained were given the greatest jobs of all time.

He said to the eleven that remained in Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation". 

Now that is some real delegation right there.

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