“I value my Christian testimony too highly to tell people off,” he once told a friend.

From another post near the frozen foods he watched Ethel, his problem checker. Ethel’s customer relations were good, but she could never balance her money drawer. He really ought to take her away from cash handling, but then she’d resent being transferred.

He didn’t quite get to frozen foods before the head of the baked-goods department stopped him. ”We’re over on bread, Gil,” the fellow said. “‘We’ll have to cut to half price to sell it out before closing.”

Black wondered how a man could be so dumb about gauging the needs of his department.

Everyone at the store thought Gil Black was a very nice man to work for, but a slow burn was going on inside him. He never found fault; he simply swallowed his discontent.

But what was this bottled-up resentment doing to him? At home, he was crabby; he lashed out at his family in even the smallest matters.

“Why am I so nice to people at the store and so mean to my family?” he asked me.

Was he being nice to his employees by not addressing their mistakes? He concealed his anger at the store, but like an overloaded steam boiler, he blew his top at home.

“You’re a Christian,” I said. “You need to learn the meaning of 2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

”Why not be just as gracious as you appear to be?” I asked.

He had never thought of it that way. In Christ, grace was available for him to meet every situation honestly and graciously. Now Gil no longer swallows his anger and makes his family suffer for it. Instead, in a gracious manner that stems from a duly gracious spirit, which he sought and received from God, he lets people know what he expects of them. He now runs his store with a firmness that has increased his stature as a manager and a Christian.

The names and certain details in this true case history have been changed to protect each person’s identity and privacy.

“Why, I bet I have to tell them three times before they fill out their repair tickets right or turn out a light they’re through using,” he raged.

Mr. Morgan had come to me from a sickbed. Every month or so he had to quit work. His stomach pained him; he was short of breath; he couldn’t eat. He would blow up at the garage and go home.

As we talked, he unburdened himself. Not only did things go wrong in the garage, but at home and at church, too. The baby’s crying upset him. The teachers in his Sunday school department were slow in putting through desired changes.

From his story, I learned that John Morgan never had much confidence in himself. As an expert mechanic working for someone else or in the ranks as a church worker, he had known how things should be done and he did them, to near perfection. When other workers fumbled, he would stew but say nothing. Even when asked for advice, he choked on the words in his throat.

This stemmed from his childhood, it turned out, when his mother and father never asked nor accepted his opinion, and they silenced him when he tried to express one. His conclusion was: “I can’t afford to open my mouth or I’ll get hurt.”

John Morgan saved his money and one day bought the garage. About the same time, the baby came, and he was appointed a departmental superintendent in the Sunday school. Now at work, he had to give orders. At church he had to give directions. His wife expected him to help in the decisions concerning the baby. What he had wanted to do all these years, he had the opportunity for, but no one paid much attention!

I reminded him that as a mechanic, it had been hard for him to do his job someone else’s way, and now it was hard for others to work his way.

Together we worked out a definition of supervision: The enforcement of a standard set by proper authority. Why was supervision necessary? Because people always fall short of the standard. It is human nature to miss the mark. Isaiah said everyone has turned “to his own way.” The psalmist said, “There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

Supervision wasn’t simple or soon accomplished, but a steady, delicate task. As John Morgan learned and looked to God for patience, his blowups and sick days decreased drastically. And his effectiveness as a leader grew.

The names and certain details in this true case history have been changed to protect each person’s identity and privacy.

God sent Samuel to give King Saul an assignment. This assignment could also be called a “job description.”

“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

But Saul disobeyed. 

Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Realizing Saul hadn’t completely done the job, Samuel confronted him. But Saul lied: “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”

That’s why you need management, because someone needs to make sure that the people in your business do their work.

That’s what Samuel did. He put Saul on the spot. “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”

Saul answered with an excuse. “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

Samuel ignored Saul’s reply, saying “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?”

You don’t need to answer people’s excuses, simply get back to the original responsibility.

Surprisingly, Saul twisted the assignment: “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.”

Even though Samuel didn’t have the luxury of a written job description, it’s wise to write the job description down.

Samuel didn’t back down:  “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”

Does the Lord delight in how hard we work? Or in how much we are sacrificing? Samuel answers that question for us:  “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams”

Finally, Samuel brings the conversation to completion: “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”

When you lead people, you’re going to experience interplay between looking at the job and looking at the performance standards of your workers. Communicate your expectations clearly and follow up to see that the job gets done.

Are you currently in a leadership role where you have not communicated clearly what it is that you want/need done? Evaluate how you can communicate the expectations more clearly and then make the necessary changes.

This summary is from Dr. Brandt’s manuscript, The Nature of Human Nature.

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Write job descriptions for the people that work for you, and remember you are the one who sets the policies and the guidelines. As the leader, you are the one setting the direction, getting the day-by-day operation done through other people. The wonder of management is that you get your work done through other people who follow through on what needs to be accomplished.

When you want a project done and know nothing about it, it’s important to delegate it to the people that do know and turn the responsibility of doing that project over to them. That’s management – simply finding the sharpest, keenest, most qualified people in your organization to do what needs to be done.

When you put to work the most qualified and the most knowledgeable people you can find in the area of their expertise, then you’ll be free to function in the area of your expertise. That’s not laziness. You are doing it together. You hold up your end as a leader, and they hold up theirs.

As a leader, you need to walk in the Spirit, leading your people in the ways of the Spirit. Take lots of time to think, to read God’s Word, and to dream. Schedule “nothing” for a period of time, so that you are rested, clear-minded, and spiritually refreshed. Then you’ll be fired up and ready to share with your people a word that will turn the light on in their thinking and doing – something that will spur them on.

Having a message burning on your heart that you can’t wait to share with your people is one of the first ways of establishing rapport and confidence in you, and your people will want to help you with whatever project is important to you.

And this was what the Apostle Paul was saying in Romans 1:11-12: “I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”

It’s wonderful to watch your staff grow in knowledge, experience, and grace, and to watch your projects expand as you work together. As a leader, you don’t have to do the project. You just have to see that it gets done. That’s management.

Take a step . . .
Begin to head into a project that’s on your heart, using the basic principles of goal setting, delegating, and dreaming.

This summary is from Dr. Brandt’s manuscript The Need to Delegate and Follow Up.

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No matter what your specific role in your church, if you are a leader, you need to demonstrate three important qualities.

The first of these qualities is to have a “record of attainment” – a reputation for doing your job well. A leader has a mission and a plan to fulfill that mission. There’s a reason for doing what you’re doing, and when anybody thinks about you, they think about a person with a plan who is dedicated, and implements it well.

The second quality demonstrated by a leader is intellectual maturity. You believe in something, you stand for something, and you’re decisive, speaking in such a way that causes people to make choices. You make it so plain they can’t ignore you.

The third important quality of a leader is to demonstrate emotional maturity. If someone doesn’t follow through on a responsibility, or exhibits poor behavior, and you’re going to address it, you don’t need to be hostile. Walk in the Spirit. We see a picture of emotional maturity in 2 Corinthians 4:7-10:

“But we have this treasure (the Holy Spirit) in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

As a leader, you must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Demonstrate good leadership by having something to say, understanding sacrifice, having a record of attainment, and being intellectually and emotionally mature. Rejoice, giving thanksgiving to God that you’re His minister. Be enthusiastic with the joy of the Lord in your heart.

Take a step . . .

Are you currently in a position of leadership? Are you demonstrating the qualities of leadership discussed in this post:  a record of attainment (a reputation for doing your job well), intellectual maturity, and emotional maturity? In what area do you most need to improve? Ask God to give you the discernment to identify the ways in which you most need to change, and the discipline to make the necessary changes.

This summary is from Dr. Brandt’s message The Marks of a Mature Leader.

Click here to read the manuscript or to listen to this audio.

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