Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is nearly 85 years old and still works a full week from 9-5 plus several evening shifts and on weekends. She has to be nice to thousands of people every week, shake hands with hundreds of them, share her mid-day and evening mealtimes with dozens of them, and look absolutely perfect a all times no matter what.
She's been doing it since 1952. And she has to travel thousands of miles every year to events in far places where she's expected to be charming and perform.
There are many things one could say about her...but LAZY is not one of them!
She takes her responsibility serious and is constantly aware of what is taking place in her kingdom. In once sense you could say she is a MICROMANAGER.
When you hear the word MICROMANAGER one tends to believe it that is "taboo" when it comes to leadership. In our culture, most leaders do not want to be accused of this.
I'm convinced that all of us need to be held to ACCOUNTABILITY.
Without it, we are a TRAIN WRECK waiting to happen.
Every leader needs to be EMPOWERED to casting a compelling vision and experimenting with ideas that may be out of the box.
Our personal preferences should not DICTATE every decision we make. The freedom to explore will actually MAXIMIZE our abilities!
Getting the right team in place is VITAL. Leaders who are SELF STARTERS are an incredible asset! Leaders who are LAZY hold up progress and certain things don't get done.
In Exodus 18 Jethro told Moses that he was trying to do all of the work and in doing so he would wear out and hinder the progress of Israel. I agree with Jethro. But there are quite a few instances in the Scriptures where MICROMANAGEMENT is essential...
- Adam was micromanaged by God when he was told what trees he could and could not eat from. Adam was empowered but ALL empowerment comes with direction and accountability.
- Moses was micromanaged by God when he was given the vision of what to build and how to build the tabernacle...down to the measurements and color choices.
- Joshua was micromanaged by God when he received the battle plan for Jericho.
- Nehemiah was a micromanager - and also one of the most effective leaders in the Bible. He empowered leaders, shared his authority and accomplished much! However, when he returned in chapter 13 the vision God had given had fallen apart and was in complete disorder. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? He had leaders in place...they were empowered...BUT when a vision gets too far from the person God originally shared the vision with then it will always become DILUTED (taken away from) or POLLUTED (added to).
- JESUS WAS A MICROMANAGER - He called people to follow Him. He gifted and empowered them...He sent them out and the did incredible things. BUT...when you look in the Gospels you'll see that many times He CORRECTED and INSTRUCTED them. He didn't just let them do their own thing...He took OWNERSHIP of His leadership and LED them.
- When the Holy Spirit came we were not only empowered to "do things" but He moved in us to make sure we get it right.
- Even Paul was a micromanager - he literally wrote the majority of the New Testament...writing to the church and church leaders about what to do and what not to do. (also known as micromanagement)
- Leaders can sometimes become LAZY.
- It is good for us when God uses the Holy Spirit to put PRESSURE on us or other people to do the same.
- When this happens it causes us to dig deeper and make corrections.
People don't do what you EXPECT
they do what you INSPECT.
- If we don't embrace the CALL of God we'll embrace laziness because it's much easier to be lazy than to do what He expects.
- The right thing is not always the easy thing.
If you're a Pastor/Leader don't give into the fear of what people think when it comes to MICROMANAGING. You can't allow the labels people try to put on you to dictate your calling and ministry.
You must oversee the vision God has given you. At times you'll have to put pressure on those you've empowered. If you're working with someone who has a problem with being held accountable they will hide behind the accusation of "micromanagement" to excuse themselves from their ineffectiveness.
Someone who loves the church and loves you will not get mad when you occasionally ask some really tough, specific questions about a particular issue; in fact, they will embrace it because they know that having "that" conversation will CLARIFY the vision and will also prove that you actually CARE about them and their work.
As a leader, you'll never know everything about everything...but you should know something about what God is pressing into you. Don't run from responsibility because of fear of more work!
Whether you're OVERSEEING the ministry from the 10th floor or the ground floor...do what God called you to do.
