Sometimes those whom you lead need very specific tasks to help them understand how to accomplish a particular role or responsibility.
Those who are considering leadership need to know what specific actions they would be doing from you, because most often their assumptions differ dramatically from what’s expected.
This job description from the 37Signals team, a software company, perfectly illustrated this. This is for the role of Office Manager/Executive Assistant. Instantly if I was thinking about applying I would know what a typical day and probably a typical week would look like.
So often in ministry I’ve seen specific tactics substituted for vague and semi-inspiring spiritual language. When that person fails to execute because they did not know what was expected of them they often see it as a lack of spirituality on their part, when in fact it was more a result of poor communication.
Bible Study leader is one of the most misunderstood role in ministry–potential leaders often hear this as showing up and telling other people what they know about the bible, when in fact great bible study leaders do 90% of their work outside (before and after) the actual study. That 90% is what causes so many people to leave or complain because their expectations were so different than what is actually needed.
For that new area or large goal that you want to see happen this year what are 10 specific actions that a person you are asking to lead could do to make it a reality? If you don’t know, chances are good they have no idea.