like your boss .
Learning to let go is one of the first challenges to overcome when you start leading people . Then learning the difference between your preference and something being wrong is also a key factor when letting go . It will definitely not be done the way you did it , but that doesn ’ t automatically make it wrong .
This whole letting go conundrum is just the beginning of figuring out what it means to lead a team .
FIGURE OUT THE WHY , NOT THE HOW
Up until this point , you ’ ve been the “ get it done ” person . Your job has been to figure out the “ how ” of most situations . As you start to delegate and lead others , it is important to shift your thinking away from the exact way something will be accomplished and to think at a higher level . The whole idea of leading a team is to empower them to figure stuff out within their sphere of responsibility . This is one step beyond letting go , this is empowering someone to take it to the next level .
What was once you doing everything , now you ’ ve got a team maximizing each area , bringing their personalities and skills to the table . With all the extra work getting done comes the reality that while each person is bringing their best to the table , and each individual has a different idea of what should be done . With all those different ideas , it is important for someone to provide a framework for everyone to work inside of . This is less about the details of each person ’ s job and more about the direction everyone needs to take together .
Honestly , this was another one of the more difficult parts about becoming a leader for me . I was so used to doing the tasks , that I didn ’ t really know what it meant to think beyond that . What my team needed was an overarching mission and values that helped us make decisions for the overall direction of production . We needed some guardrails to determine what was inbounds and what was out of bounds ; a road map of where we were going , and more importantly where we weren ’ t going .
As I began working with my team on what those guardrails should be , we developed some statements that helped to inform the decisions we each had to make in a given situation . Statements that didn ’ t tell us what to do specifically , but why we do it .
While we borrowed ideas from different churches and different production environments , it was important that we developed something that was true to our team and our church . Here are a few such statements that could be a starting point for your journey towards developing your own :
People over product ; excellence = doing the best with what you have ; be prepared ; seek to understand ; safety second ( or the no dying rule ); how does this advance the church ’ s mission ?, etc
There are many different ways to set up guide posts for you and your team to follow , without needing to be micromanaged .
This is work that feels unimportant when there are so many other urgent tasks to accomplish . However , if you don ’ t spend the time now , in the long run there will be a bottleneck on what your team can accomplish .
In the story of your leadership journey , making the leap from doing tasks to leading people will be defined by how willing you are to let go and to develop a framework for the why of production , not just the how .
NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO LEAD THEM
As a production person , I was so used to being led , to having someone point the way . What are we doing ? When is it due ? Why are we doing it ? Once I became the leader of a team , I realized that I was that person . I needed to answer all those questions for my own people .
That wasn ’ t quite enough of a realization at first . It took me even longer to figure out that if I didn ’ t lead them , no one else was going to . At least not in the way production people need to be led .
As a production person , you know what it takes to do the work . You know when something could be better . You understand the difference between an unexpected gear failure and operator laziness . You know when someone on the team knocks it out of the park . No other leader understands your team like you do . So , if they are to be led , it ’ s up to you .
I spent a bunch of my time as a tech person feeling like nobody understood me : what I did , how I spent my time , what was really involved in pulling off the impossible each week . The people on your team might possibly feel the same way . As their leader , you know what it is like to be in their shoes unlike anyone else at your church . Step into the role of leader with the confidence that you can help bridge the gap between your team and the church . Not only helping others understand what your team does , but helping your team understand more what the church is about .
For your team to take the next step , it is important for you to step fully into your leadership role . Let go of the tasks you were so good at and let others bring themselves to those jobs . Develop a framework to help your team understand the why behind the tasks they ’ re performing . Lead .
Todd Elliott Todd is a writer , speaker , technical artist in the local church and founder of FILO , which stands for First In , Last Out . FILO was born out of his own need as a technical artist in the local church to be in community with other church tech people , to learn new ways of doing things and to be inspired that what he did mattered . The more FILO-type people he met , the more convinced he was that these are things we all need . That ’ s why FILO exists : to equip , encourage and inspire technical artists in the local church to become the best version of ourselves . Formerly the Technical Arts Director at Willow Creek Community Church , he started FILO in 2015 to help other technical artists become more effective so that the local church can be more effective . In his free time , he enjoys being inspired by Winston Churchill speeches and visiting the gravesites of U . S . presidents . Residing near Chicago , he and his wife Bissy have three kids and a dog ... none of whom are into production . filo . org
124 May 2023 Subscribe for Free ...