Leader Lead Yourself 02: The Main Skill of Leadership is Setting Priorities

I studied Computing Science at university before starting Bible College, and for a brief while I wrote code for ATM machines. After Bible College, I worked for minimum wage at a fast-food restaurant, then I sold mobile phones, then I worked in recruitment, then I worked as a teacher, then I went back to recruitment, then I was a postman before becoming a full-time pastor in 2012.

The one thing in common with all those jobs is that I did not set my own agenda and did not choose my own priorities. The company I worked for that paid my salary chose and decided what was important to me. In some of those jobs I was promoted to leadership roles – and here is what made leadership a thing – as you become a leader you have to set priorities. I would go as far to say that the number one skill of leadership is the ability to set priorities.

Now this series is called leader lead yourself, and I would say, the number one skill of setting priorities is the skill of setting priorities for yourself. I have to for Tree of Life Family choose what I spend time on, what is important. I have to ensure the urgent does not tyrannize the important, and the only way to do that is to develop the ability to prioritise. You only have so much life, energy and time, and you must give it to where it will produce fruit.

The three things that I always determine are vitally important are:

1. Self-Development. You cannot delegate self-development. On the basic level, if you wanted to lose twenty pounds, no one else can do your dieting and exercise for you, it is impossible. If you want to learn, you have to read. If you want a strong relationship with God, you have to pray. If you want to lead effectively, you have to learn. It’s that simple. You must prioritise self-development. This includes your prayer time, your Bible study, your reading. I am always at a minimum of two conferences a year where I am not teaching or preaching or running – why? Because self-development matters. If we do not grow, what we are leading will not grow.
2. Non-Repeatable Tasks. Preaching on Sunday is non-repeatable, I cannot preach the same message each week. Paying the pension scheme is repeatable, it is the same numbers every month, only changing when we add new staff or give someone a pay rise. It is something I can delegate. I cannot delegate non-repeatable tasks so I have to invest my time into those. For me, preparing messages is the priority of my life besides my self-development.
3. Good Ground. When I preach on Sunday, I am sowing seed to all the different soils, but I like to spend time in the week focusing on the good ground – developing leaders and pastors and elders and so on. At the end of the day, right now I am in the position where I am leading leaders and if I do not invest in helping and serving and developing them, then the Tree of Life Family will come crashing into the ground, and we do not want that.

You have to learn to set priorities for yourself. You have to prioritise self-development, you have to prioritise things that only you can do, and you have to prioritise developing people who are good ground. These principles work in ministry, but they will work in a family, they will work in you being a good husband or good parent, they will work in the office.

As you progress in leadership, you will move away from asking the question what does my boss want, which if you have a boss is a very important question indeed. I was the fourth pastor of a church for a few years, and I followed my senior pastor’s vision and systems to the letter, which is a big part of the reason why I am here today doing what I am doing. But as you move from being faithful to another’s to being faithful with that which is yours, you have to ask what is giving me the return, what is the good ground for me, where is the grace for me. You have a super power that if you do it, it will just lead to a greater return than if others do it – we call that finding your lane. If you don’t know what that is for you yet, you need to be faithful where you are and start praying for revelation and opportunities!

Selah.