People cannot get better at doing things without doing them. You cannot learn to drive a car by reading a book. People forget a lot of what you tell them but when they are doing things they remember.
John Maxwell has a 5 M process to letting people do things, which I think is awesome and I try and utilize myself. Some people can do this instinctively, I can’t and need to keep coming back to this, and try and get it right again.
- MODEL. You do it while they watch. Make sure they see you start the process of. Don’t show someone how to use your church database unless you show them how to turn the computer on. People need to see every step to learn. When someone KNOWS it, next stage.
- MENTOR. You do it, and let them help. You at this stage tell people why these things are important. When they can see WHY, next stage.
- MONITOR. They do it, and you help. You also encourage the person while they are doing it and inspire them to keep trying and work at it. When they can do it CONSISTENTLY, next stage.
- MOTIVATE. They do it, you do not help – you only inspire and motivate and encourage. That’s it. Let them suggest ways they might be able to do it better and discuss those. When they can OWN it, next stage.
- MULTIPLY. Maxwell says this is the most important stage, when you encourage your new person to find someone to model the task to. Then you can get on with the stuff you really wanted to do in the first place.
Selah.
Inspiring and Challenging Dreamers 