Leadership Communication

ddunn — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:26:49 +0000

Leadership and management involve making up your mind what you need people to do to accomplish organizational objectives. Explaining to them what their job is. Describing to them what constitutes satisfactory performance. Checking to see that the work is done. Recognizing quality work. Correcting poor work. Getting rid of the ones who don’t do their work. Sometimes those tasks can be difficult, but they are required of leaders.

In 1 Samuel 15:1-23, we find an example of a management experience involving the leadership of men.

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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Managing People Effectively

ddunn — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:07:53 +0000

Are you heading into a project and wondering how to manage it? It can be simple if you follow a few basic management principles. These principles involve scanning the horizon to find the right people, and taking the trouble to see to it that there’s training available for them. Then you must take a chance as they apply their minds to your business.

Establishing goals is vital. If you’re fearful of setting goals and objectives because they hem you in, remember they’re not cast in concrete. They can be changed whenever necessary. You’ll do the best job setting your goals using the indicators you currently have. If you’ve set yourself on the wrong course, just lay your plan out again, recognize that you’ve missed your goal, and change direction.

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.