Letting Leaders Lead

Following is a wise post by Tim Stevens on his blog, Leading Smart. I share his convictions about this principle, but this has been one of areas in which I've gotten the most pushback from some of my friends and fellow leaders in the church:

We call it the "Loose/Tight Principle." That is, you have to decide as leaders what you are going to hold on to loosely, and what you are going to hold on to tightly.

For example, you likely want to hold on to your mission tightly. It's not up for debate. We have defined the mission, communicated it over and over in many ways, and it gives clarity to our direction. We have some major values and beliefs that are also in the "tight" category.

But there is so much that is in the "loose" category. We bring great leaders on the team and then free them up to lead. They make decisions, spend money, set direction, develop ministries--all without a huge approval process or a bunch of hoops to jump through to get permission.

Problems emerge in many organizations like this...

+Bad hiring decisions are made.
+So senior leaders jump in and start running things.
+Then the organization starts to get bottle-necked and people get frustrated.
+So potential high-capacity leaders don't want to participate.
+And the senior leader is too busy running things to properly interview potential leaders.
+So more bad hiring decisions are made.
+And the cycle continues.

If you want to develop a healthy culture--decide the non-negotiables, then get out of the way and watch great people do great things!