Stop Doing It...

Something Andy Stanley said at Catalyst West has been haunting me for months.

He was trying to break apart two myths that are prevalent amongst leaders, and especially within church leaders.

Myth #1 - Great leaders are great at everything
Myth #2 - I need to focus on my weaknesses and wing it with my strengths

Apparently when we start doing everything we start damaging ourselves and hurting our leadership ability. He was trying to get us to see the need for focusing on what only we can do and then delegating the other tasks to other leaders. By doing so we free ourselves up to thrive, and we create opportunities for other leaders.

Looking over the crowd at one point he started talking about the burnout that was probably evident in the lives of some of those in attendance and he said something to the extent of, "It's not the amount of work you're doing that's killing you, it's the kind of work."

I think he would argue that burnout starts when you're doing too much of everything and therefore not receiving energy and satisfaction from what you are good at doing.

So he tossed a few questions (below I have put only 4 of them) our way:

1. What do you do that is almost effortless from your perspective but daunting to others?
2. In what areas do people consider you the "go to" person?
3. What energizes you?
4. What do you wish you could stop doing?

This idea of "playing to your strengths" has been floating around in leadership circles for some time now, but it seems like most people (especially those in church circles) are slow in catching on to it. I know I have been.

Thoughts?