I want to start with a quick, honest question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have you ever jumped in and handled something in ministry because it was just faster?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You knew how to do it. You knew it would get done right. And honestly, it felt easier than trying to walk someone else through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve done that more times than I can count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in the moment, it works. Things get done. Problems get solved. But afterward, there\u2019s this quiet realization: That should not have depended on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not because I don\u2019t care. But because if everything depends on me, we\u2019re not building ministry, we\u2019re limiting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think if we\u2019re honest, this is one of the biggest tensions we all feel as staff. We want things done well. But we\u2019re also called to build people. And sometimes those two things feel like they\u2019re competing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, here\u2019s where this really matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Bible, Ephesians 4:11\u201312, we\u2019re given a clear picture of what our role actually is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not just as pastors, but as leaders.It says, Christ gave leaders to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.<\/em> That means our primary job is not to do all the ministry. It\u2019s to equip people to do the ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So if that\u2019s true, then we have to ask a harder question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does success actually look like for us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because if success is just \u201cthings getting done,\u201d then the easiest way to succeed is to do everything ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that\u2019s not the calling. So here\u2019s the shift we\u2019re making as a staff. We\u2019re redefining how we measure success.Your success is not measured simply by what you do, but by what gets done through the people you develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s a different scoreboard. It means you\u2019re not just responsible for outcomes. And this is exactly why, before we rollout our new leadership pipeline plan we are proactively updating our job description format, to better help you to clearly see and know the areas that you must own yourself and those that you can develop and delegate to others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not to create more structure for the sake of structure, but to help us actually lead as a developer. (See new template for reference.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me highlight a few of aspects you will notice. First, every role now starts with a success statement, because we want clarity on what winning actually looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, we are KEEPING our essential Hedgehog Concept. This, as we know is a simple way of saying: What is the one thing that matters most in your role? Because if everything is important, nothing is. Clarity here protects your focus and your energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third, we are defining Irreducible Minimums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are the things you must personally own. But here\u2019s why that matters: Everything outside of that should force you to ask the question, Who can I develop to take this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s where the development of others begins. The final important section will list what you CAN delegate to others. This may be the biggest shift. Some of your responsibilities are no longer things you do. They are things you are responsible to see done through others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That means raising up leaders, letting go of control, and trusting people with real ownership. And yes, that can feel slower at first. But it\u2019s how ministry actually multiplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when you look at this new template, don\u2019t just read it as a document. Read it as a leadership tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is meant to help you focus on what matters most, let go of what doesn\u2019t need to depend on you, and intentionally build people who carry the mission forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me leave you with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If our ministries grow, but our people don\u2019t, we\u2019ve missed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if our people grow, ministry will always grow with them. That\u2019s the kind of church we\u2019re called to build. And this shift is one step in that direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discussion Questions: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to start with a quick, honest question. Have you ever jumped in and handled something in ministry because it was just faster? You knew how to do it. You knew it would get done right. And honestly, it felt easier than trying to walk someone else through it. I\u2019ve done that more times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-leadership-pipeline","7":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Rachel Axtmann","author_link":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/author\/rachel\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1334,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1333\/revisions\/1334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
You\u2019re responsible for people. It means you\u2019re not the hero of the story. You\u2019re the one raising up others who step into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n