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2 Things Pastors Should Never Get Mixed Up

Many supporting pastors at churches (I.e. Youth pastors, small-group pastors, worship pastors, children’s pastors, etc.) Get discouraged by their senior pastor’s micromanagement.

Some people like to be micromanaged, because they don’t want to be accused of thinking too far outside the box or pushing the limits. So micromanagement fits them because someone comes along side them and tells him what to do every step of the way.

However, leaders don’t like to be micromanaged…in fact, they hate it.  Most people who are hired to work on a church staff are leaders (maning true leaders, not just those who are given the title “leader”, but those who actually have a gift for leadership). Checking up on every detail in a true leader’s work life feels to them like a lack of trust. Leaders never thrive in an environment where there is a lack of trust.

The bottom line for micro managers is this: stop it!! You are sucking the joy out of the people you are leading. When their work is not a joy, they will eventually no longer want to work for you. Micromanagers ensure that their organization will have a revolving door with staff going in and out all the time.

Okay, let’s shift gears; my intent for today’s post is to address something that should never be mixed up or confused with micromanagement, and that’s MACROmanagement. What do I mean? Macromanagement is vision. It is setting the course from 30,000 feet, pointing the direction, determining the strategy, getting the team excited, and letting them run to fulfill the vision!

There are two tragic mistakes in organizational life where macromanagement is concerned. The first tragedy, is when there is no macromanagement. Vision is the fuel for your organization, and for those you lead. Vision excites them motivates them, inspires in them, makes them want to try harder, and ultimately creates a stronger work-ethic.

The second tragic mistake regarding macromanagement is when macromanagement and micromanagement are confused with one another.  They are sometimes confused because they both get results. However, they do it in very different ways: micromanagement gets results by lighting a fire under peoples butts, but macromanagement gets results by lighting a fire in people’s hearts!  Remember, micromanagement is about the small picture andmacromanagement is about the big picture.

If you’re an organizational leader, the first question you should be asking yourself today is “Am I motivating my team through nitpicking, pestering and over-analyzation, or am I motivating my team with inspiration, action,and vision?” You’ll always lead further faster by motivating with the latter ingredients as opposed to the former.

Organizational leaders are at their best when they lead from a position of macromanagement rather than micromanagement. Macromanagement is about managing the passion and excitement level of your organization rather than managing every nuanced detail of your organization.

What are the ways you’ve seen macromanagement in action?

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alandanielson@churchleaders.com'
Alan Danielson is the Lead Pastor of a church that’s probably a lot like yours. New Life Bible Church is a church of a few hundred people, but not long ago he was on the executive staff of Life.Church in Edmond, OK. Now, along with pastoring New Life, Alan is a consultant and has worked with many of America’s largest churches. Despite this, Alan has a passion for the small church. That’s why he lives by the personal conviction that no church is too small for him to work with. Alan founded Triple-Threat Solutions to help leaders of and churches of all sizes grow. Learn more from Alan at http://www.3Threat.net.