Stupid Leader Tricks

By Geoff Surratt

Published: April 08, 2009

One of the most challenging aspects of working with leaders is seeing an otherwise brilliant leader making a stupid mistake. The most common stupid mistake I see is when a leader tries to do most of the work of the ministry themselves. The reason often comes down to one of several basic issues:

Lonely Martyr Syndrome
Have you ever thought, "No one will do it as well as I will"? If you are like most leaders you think no one cares more about the outcome of ministry than you. You have given away tasks to others in the past and they either did a poor job or dropped the ball altogether. You know that you need to give away ministry to other leaders, but if you do the quality of the ministry will suffer, needs will not be cared for and people will leave the ministry. Rather than giving away ministry you wind up taking on more and more tasks, stretching yourself beyond the breaking point.

If we were really honest we would admit that deep inside we believe that the success of the ministry depends on us. And deeper down we would admit that we like it that way. We crave the validation we get from praise. This attitude also feeds our bitterness and resentment toward people who we feel are using us. We relish the role of the lonely martyr.

Hired Gun Disease
The thinking goes like this, "I am being paid to be the leader, how can I ask volunteers to do my work for me? We're taxing our people's time already by asking them to teach classes and attend small groups, we can't ask them to do even more. And what will the people think of me if I am not working hard? They will find out that other people are doing all the work and I am laying down on the job." One of the key factors of moving to a team based ministry is to get past the guilt of giving away work and realizing that what is a burden is for you is a blessing for someone else.

Corner Cutting Disorder
Sharing ministry is a lot of work; often it is easier to just do it myself. To share the load I have to first identify what part of the ministry I will give away. I then have to find a leader who could take over the task, recruit the new leader and train the new leader. After I have trained the leader I need to coach them in their new task. When they make mistakes I have to help them improve rather than stepping in and taking over. In the end recruiting, training and coaching usually takes a lot more time and effort than doing the task myself. Many leaders work too hard and do too much because doing it themselves is simply easier.

Rejection Aversion
When I first saw Sherry Sparks I knew I was in love. She was the foxiest looking 15 year old chick I'd ever seen. (That is how we talked in 1978) The problem was that the thought of actually talking to her terrified me. What if something fell out of my nose while I was talking to her? Worse, what if I finally got the courage to ask her out and she rejected me? Fortunately I was able to ask a friend to see if a girl he knew would ask her best friend to call Sherry and find out if she would be willing to allow me to call her. Finally I called the lovely Miss Sparks and invited her to our church's next youth group party; two children and 32 years later she still has that effect on me.

Sometimes we don't ask people to share the load of ministry because inside we are still that fifteen year old terrified of being rejected. Whether it's asking for a first date or asking a member to lead a ministry the fear of rejection is never easy to deal with. (By the way it would be a bad idea for a pastor to ask someone to lead a ministry WHILE on a first date.)

Ministry Garage Sale
Every couple of years we go through a painful exercise at our house; we clean out the garage. The challenge is that cleaning out always entails getting rid of stuff. If we aren't ruthless each spring we will eventually drown in a pile of priceless treasures.

Is it time for a garage sale in your ministry? You have been accumulating tasks and responsibilities for years and it might be time to give some stuff away or to simply throw some things away. What are you willing to pass on to someone else? What are you ready to see end all together? Be ruthless, your ministry will grow when you do.

Excerpted from Ten Stupid Things that Keeps Churches from Growing available May 1, 2009 from Zondervan.

Geoff Surratt is Pastor of Ministries for Seacoast Church, a multi-site congregation based in Charleston, South Carolina. Geoff is a co-author Multi-site Church Revolution (Zondervan, 2006) and author of Ten Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing (Zondervan, 2009). You can connect with Geoff at http://www.geoffsurratt.com or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/geoffsurratt.