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Developing Depth Through Delegation: 10 Steps

6. Push authority down! It is extremely important that you always delegate authority along with responsibility. One of the dumbest sayings I know is “The buck stops here.” There are many places for the buck to stop when you give authority to others. Those you delegate to can not carry out the tasks that you desire without the authority. 

7. Put your heart into the level of leadership under you. A person cannot represent you well if they don’t have your heart. You cannot put your heart into your volunteer leaders without making a commitment to spend time with them. Always take someone with you whenever you can. Be quick to pass on what you know to someone else. Allow those around you to ask questions. Establish excellent lines of communication. Take advantage of every communication tool available. I use meetings, newsletters and e-mails. 

8. Support and encourage those who help you. It is imperative that you build a support structure around your volunteers. Our job is not to do all the work in Children’s Ministry but to train up others and prepare them for works of service. In the same way we must lead others by encouragement.

This is not as hard as you may think. Here are five sure-fire ways to encourage your volunteers. #1. Say thank you constantly.
#2. Catch people doing things right. Complement your volunteers in a job well done.
#3. Take the calls of your volunteers.
#4. Check on your volunteers and see how they are doing. Use your M.B.W.A. degree (Management By Walking Around).
#5. Help others be better at what they do, every chance you get. 

9. Make corrections and changes when necessary. What if they quit? Why be negative—if they quit, they quit, but what if they change and become a super leader? If it’s not broke, don’t fix it—in other words don’t make changes just for the sake of change. Every service can be better than the last one if you make changes and corrections each week. I make a list each Sunday, then spend my week correcting that list. Then next week, I get to make a new list. 

10. Always set the pace, be the leader. Be the kind of person you would like to work for. Dare to lead no matter what. Give your volunteers an example to follow and a model worth imitating. 

Delegation is not an option for those who want to succeed in ministry. But to succeed you must take inventory of where you are. Start small and go from there. I try to recruit my team one worker at a time. Ask yourself and your volunteers, “What do I need to do differently?” What volunteers do you see potential in? Commit to coach volunteers and let them learn by doing and you’ll have depth to win championships!   

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Jim Wideman is an internationally recognized voice in children’s and family ministry. He is a much sought after speaker, teacher, author, personal leadership coach, and ministry consultant who has over 30 years experience in helping churches thrive. Jim created the Children’s Ministers Leadership Club in 1995 that is known today as "theClub" which has touched thousands of ministry leaders each month. Jim believes his marching orders are to spend the rest of his life taking what he has learn about leadership and ministry and pour it into the next generation of children’s, youth, and family ministry leaders.