#6- Learn to prioritize.
A lot of the reason we’re paralyzed in fear is because we’re not sure what the next thing is we’re supposed to do. There’s nothing wrong with stopping and praying and waiting on the Lord. But, sometimes our reason for stopping is that we haven’t done our homework. We haven’t done enough research or given it enough thought. We haven’t prioritized what we need to be doing. Part of the reason we’re so busy and accomplishing so little is because we failed to prioritize.
If you write down what you’ve done all week and look back, it’ll help you prioritize. You’ll realize where you were doing one thing but should have been doing the other. I usually take about ten minutes before I put my head on the pillow at night to pull out my cell phone and note the top five things I need to do in the morning. This helps me prioritize so I’m not getting out of bed in the morning wondering what I need to do first. I’ve already thought through that. I’m a night person. You may choose to get up a little earlier and do yours in the morning. Find something that will help you learn to prioritize. It may be the old-school Daytimer. It could be some software.
As the leader of the team, I would encourage you to model this. I sat down with our millennial a month ago, and he asked how I was getting all this stuff done. I pulled up my calendar on my phone and showed him. He said, “I didn’t realize this thing had a calendar. I didn’t even realize this thing could make phone calls. I only knew it could do apps and Tweet and Twitter and stuff.” Ok, not really, but he wasn’t effectively using his smart phone. I told him I put stuff on the calendar so I know what my plan is. I’m not just getting in my car and running fifty miles across town and missing six stops along the way. That’s what we do, so we need to learn to prioritize.
Another way we can prioritize is to gather with our team and our board for an annual planning retreat where we’ll map out what our priorities are and what we are going to accomplish in the new year. Build a timeline and then work that timeline. This will also help provide accountability for the rest of the staff. “Here’s where we’re headed together.” A lot of times that’s all in one person’s brain. The team will be standing around thinking they’d like to move forward and prioritize, but they aren’t sure what they’re supposed to be doing or where we’re headed.
Delegate. Sometimes we have too much on our list. I’m a control freak, so I like to do it all myself. I know I’m going to do it right. That’s a great philosophy, but it isn’t biblical. Our non-profits will be on the planet long after we’re done serving in them, but if we don’t lay the groundwork for that to happen, shame on us. It will take longer on the front end to delegate. But, in the long run, it will be more beneficial.
I have a friend who works for Focus on the Family Leadership Institute. Great guy, Dr. Kneeland Brown. He pushed me on the delegation aspect one time. He said there are three Ds when it comes to leadership. The first one is Do. We can do and do and do and do. The second is Delegate. We begin to pass the baton to somebody. But if we really want to go to the next level with our organizations, we need to Develop.
Delegate is where you tell somebody enough and they have their task list. They run out and come back, “Okay, I got it done. Now what?” They haven’t been developed enough in their thinking. You haven’t imparted the vision to a degree that they can think for themselves. We want people who are able to think for themselves. We want team members who can help us execute the mission and begin to think like leaders