Page 164 - The Bible On Leadership

150 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP

really there working! Unfortunately, Holt was sometimes there for the
wrong reason—his inability to delegate. This was ‘‘a curse ...I’m
totally hands-on, I don’t delegate,’’ he moaned. Finally, he was forced
to delegate (but only after his marriage fell apart). He promoted his
COO, Michael Kassan, to president. To his delight, he found that even
though Kassan lacked media-buying experience, he and Kassan comple-
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mented each other well and made an excellent team. Although he had
yet to appoint officials over ‘‘thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens,’’ he
had at least begun the process of delegating responsibility to others be-
sides himself. If he had had a consultant (or father-in-law) like Jethro,
perhaps he could have learned to delegate much earlier.

EMPOWERING AND DEVELOPING THE TEAM

Competent leaders know that you cannot just assemble a group of un-
skilled individuals, call them a ‘‘team,’’ and expect them to achieve large
organizational goals. You’ve got to empower the team members, giving
them the tools and authority to accomplish their task. And you’ve got
to develop the team, giving it and its members the necessary skills, and
constantly giving them the opportunity to upgrade those skills to match
the ever-widening tasks.
The apostle Paul gave his young prote ´ge ´ Titus specific instructions
on developing his team members at every level: ‘‘Teach the older men
[senior male executives] to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-
controlled, and sound in faith, in love and endurance. Likewise, teach
the older women [senior female executives] to be reverent in the way
they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to too much wine . . . Then
they can train the younger women . . . Similarly, encourage the young
men to be self-controlled . . .’’ (Titus 2:2–6)
Paul’s prote ´ge ´ in Ephesus, Timothy, had a different readiness and
experience level, and so received different instructions on how to build
and develop his team: ‘‘Have nothing to do with godless myths and old
wives’ tales . . . Command and teach . . . Don’t let anyone look down