Genesis 41:55
And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.
There are several types of people when it comes to getting things done. The first type are those who don't care about accomplishing anything. The second type are those who talk about getting things done, but never do it. The third type are those who start getting things done, but never finish. The fourth type are those who finish what they start. The fifth type have so many things on their plate that they get overwhelmed and find themselves getting some things done, but never getting everything done. The sixth type does everything themselves and limits their ability to grow because they think nobody can do what needs to be done as good as they can. The seventh type are those who delegate responsibilities but micromanage those they give the responsibilities to and won't let them do the work. The eighth type are those who delegate responsibilities and let them do their task so the leader can do the tasks that is critical as a leader to do. This eighth type is the type that gets more things done than any of the other groups.
Pharaoh was the eighth group. He delegated a task to Joseph and let Joseph do what was delegated to him without interfering. When people came to Pharaoh about their lack of bread, he sent them to Joseph because that was his responsibility. Pharaoh could’ve said what to do, but he understood he could get more things done if he trusted those he delegated responsibilities to. We must follow several things if we want to get more things done.
First, you can't get everything done yourself. You are limited in what you can do. The fact that you are trying to get things done is admirable, but you cannot do everything yourself.
Second, you will get overwhelmed and become despondent if you try to do everything yourself. Leaders face burnout, not because they are working too hard, but because they try to do it all themselves. You can't do everything, and you are heading down a dangerous road if you don't learn this critical principle.
Third, you must delegate responsibilities for the sake of getting more things done. You could do everything if you didn't have everything on your plate, but your plate is overflowing; therefore, you must delegate responsibilities to others to let them help you get more things done.
Fourth, oversee, but don't micromanage those you delegate responsibilities to. As a leader, it is your responsibility to oversee everything to make sure everything is being done according to your standard by those to whom you delegated responsibilities, but don't micromanage them.
Fifth, you must follow channels of responsibility to keep from destroying the purpose of delegating. When someone comes to you about something you delegated to someone else, you must send them to that person even if you have the answer. If you answer one person out of the roles that you delegated, it will destroy the confidence of the one you delegated a responsibility to, and it will destroy your ability to get more things done. We must get more things done because of eternity’s sake, so let’s learn to delegate and stay within the boundaries of our delegating.
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