Monday, May 13, 2013

the top 5%, concerns and responsibility

I enjoyed Maca's review of Leading On Empty - a book about pastoral burnout. I'm looking forward to reading it. 

A couple of thing stood out as requiring some thought.

1. The Top 5%

Maca says:


[The author] pushes us to identify the top 5% of life. Cordeiro argues that 85% of what we do, anyone can do. These are the things that don’t require any expertise, and many of them can be easily delegated. 10% of what we do, someone with some training should be able to accomplish. But 5% of what I do, only I can do. This is the most important 5% for me. This 5% will determine the effectiveness of the other 95%. Now we could argue the figures, but the overall point stands. We need to work out what our 5% is, and let this get first priority.

I like this. Wondering if it relates to people other than ministers. What do I do that could be delegated to others. What is my top 5%?

But if everyone had this as a rule and prioritised their top 5%, would dog jobs ever get done? There are some tasks involved in running a church that everyone finds tedious. Do we just push these tasks further down the chain of command? 

2. Concern vs Responsibility

A major issue was recognising the difference between a concern and a personal responsibilityConcerns are things we should pray about, and then leave them with God. If we treat them as responsibilities we end up trying to carry the world on our shoulders. Responsibilities are the things that only I can accomplish. They cannot be delegated, ignored, or dumped off onto someone else.

This is helpful, but there are some things that many are 'concerned' about, but no one takes responsibility for. I'm concerned that a whole lot of women in our church aren't getting the pastoral care and bible teaching that they need. How do I know if this is my responsibility? My plate is pretty full at the moment but it could be emptier if I ditched some other things (perhaps like reading and thinking time which I value highly). I guess with this one I can pray about and wait and see.

1 comment:

  1. I don't have any context here other than what you say above, but sometimes the 5% jobs may be the "dog jobs", because of the responsibility. They may be jobs no-one wants to do, but you are responsible to do them. They may be jobs no-one else can do, because you are responsible to do them.

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