Get on the field. Play the game.
ADAGE
Get Off the Bench
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RESPONSE
Get on the field. Play the game. Contemporary business leaders face a deluge of daily distractions that will pull them away from making sales calls, inspecting production equipment, raising capital, interviewing top management candidates, dissecting competitor vulnerabilities, firing poor performers, attending company picnics, and playing shortstop on the company softball team. Your office should be covered in dust and full of cobwebs. Dashboards and spreadsheets are wonderful for identifying measurable strengths and weaknesses, but real knowledge is gained through personal interactions with employees, customers, vendors, and partners. Push decisions downward, but give sufficient guidance so that everyone is rowing in the same direction. Encourage risk-taking. Reward success, but avoid punishing failure. Exploit your subordinates’ strengths. Shore up their weaknesses. Devour everything you can find written by John Boyd, William Lind, and Don Vandergriff. Delegation without instruction and authority to execute is not delegation. People need to know what to do from their leader and then be given the authority and freedom to do it. Leaders who fail to delegate can only do as much as their personal capacity allows.
SCRIPTURE
Exodus 18:20-21 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
Proverbs 16:3 (ESV) Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
QUESTIONS
How do the Scripture(s) apply to the business adage?
Does Satan tempt via distraction? Explain.
What are the top five distractions that affect your productivity?
If you lack confidence in a subordinates ability to complete their tasks, should you invest in their training or replace them with someone you do trust to get the job done?
How many times do you forgive a direct subordinate who makes mistakes that impact your operations?
DOWNLOAD
Download the free PDF worksheet for this adage, print it, and use it in your meeting, conference, or group.
