Prioritizing People Over Tasks
*this article originally appeared in the Feb. ‘24 LeaderCo Newsletter
You probably became a leader because someone saw something special in you. Whether that was your love for other moms, creative spirit, or ability to rally others for a common cause, someone looked at you and thought, "I wanther on my team." You probably said yes, not because you were looking for more things to add to your already full plate, but because you were looking for ways to make more friends and serving on leadership seemed like a great way to do that. And it is!
Over time, however, it's easy to forget what spurred our hearts to leadership in the first place. Decisions get harder, budgets get tighter, life gets chaotic, the work begins to pile up, and suddenly, leadership feels like a tiresome burden instead of a joyous opportunity. To cope, we hyper-focus on the lists of tasks that we and our teammates must complete before our next meeting and neglect our friendships with the women serving alongside us. You know what comes next, and it's nothing good: Resentment. Frustration. Disappointment. Anger. Burnout.
That's not what God wants for us in leadership, and it's not the example Jesus set for us as he managed his leadership team of twelve apostles. In Jesus, we see a leader who, even with all he set out to accomplish, always kept sight of his central focus: caring for his people. Even when his team had miles to travel, no money, no food, high stress, fear, doubt, anger, and confusion, Jesus led with humanity, humility, and compassion. Jesus made it clear he invited people into his team not because he wanted their skill set, but because he wanted them.
This is the leadership model we should follow. While there may be tasks to do, let's focus on loving and supporting the teammates who will do those tasks instead of the tasks themselves. What does that look like? It's lovingly asking if everything is okay when a deadline is missed instead of getting angry. It's doing our part to clarify expectations and avoid unnecessary conflict. It's owning our mistakes and apologizing when we hurt someone's feelings. It's being humble enough to ask for help and encouraging your team to do the same. It's extending the same grace and forgiveness to our teammates that we hope they will extend to us when we inevitably misstep.
So, grab that task list and put it aside. Before we start checking boxes, let's check our hearts and those of our teammates. Everyone wants to be part of a team that genuinely cares for and enjoys each other. Focus on creating that kind of team, and the tasks will get done better than ever before.
