Leadership is Not a To Do List

Leadership is not all about ticking things off the ‘to do’ list – or even having the list in the first place.

Leaders possess the initiative, sense of purpose and skill that motivates others. They are able to look beyond the task into the motivation behind it, they are able to see what needs to happen three or four moves ahead; to anticipate the needs of those they are leading.

I sometimes need to check my tendency to give youth leaders lists of tasks and hover over them until the tasks are completed to my satisfaction. My time is better spent helping them define the purpose and motivation of their work. When leaders start with a sense of purpose and motivation they figure out what needs to be done on their own. When leaders start with a list of tasks they focus on completing the list.