Delegating vs. Dumping (Part 1)

Imagine for a second a good friend has asked you to help them move. As you walk into their house they are holding a heavy box of valuable china and ask you to put it into the moving truck. So you take a few steps towards them and you’re suddenly taken off guard as they toss the box rather than handing it to you. You do your best not to drop the box of priceless valuables, but the sudden thrust of weight into your hands causes the box to quickly drop to the floor. The next thing you hear is the dreaded sound of broken china. You apologize for dropping it as your friend stands there staring at you in shock.

I’m sure many of you have faced a situation like this at some point in your life. You’re tossed a box that normally you could pick up and carry with no problem, but the sudden weight thrust into your hands is too overwhelming. Now to apply this experience to the area of leadership, imagine you’re on staff at a church or working on a leadership team at work and are quickly approaching a major event or presentation. As you come in the day before this event/presentation, your boss hands you three pages of high priority tasks that need to be done by the end of the day. You stand there like a deer caught in the headlights, thinking to ask if anyone will be helping you with these tasks, but realizing by your boss’s tone that it’s all on you. The end result in this second scenario would inevitably be similar to the first. The day of the event/presentation, you have managed to get many of the tasks done, but as expected, part of the second and all of the third page of tasks go untouched. You’ve ‘dropped the box.’ Your boss looks at you in disappointment and shock. The result is an event/presentation that is sub-par and average at best. More on this tomorrow - but give me some thoughts!!