• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
ChurchPlants

ChurchPlants

Looking to plant a church? Find free ideas on how to get started, church planting tips, and establish a strong healthy church. Browse now!

  • Teams
  • Growth
  • Leadership
  • Strategy
  • Finances
  • Free Downloads
You are here: Home / Articles / How to Be an Effective, Lazy Leader

How to Be an Effective, Lazy Leader

April 4, 2023 by Geoff Surratt Articles, Leadership

Leadership is exhausting. On top of all the stuff you have to get done there’s all the stuff the people you’re leading have to get done, and all the stuff the people being led by the people you’re leading that has to get done. I need a nap just writing that sentence, but we haven’t even gotten to the part where you have to develop all the people developing all the people, and you have to hold all the people accountable for holding all the people accountable for developing all the people. Oh, and next Sunday is Easter. Its almost too much for one person to handle. Which may be the point. What if our challenge with leadership isn’t that we’re not working hard enough? What if the challenge is that we’re working too hard? As I have gotten older I’ve realized that the most effective leaders actually do less, not more. Perhaps laziness is the unspoken hero of leadership qualities. If that is the case, here are some tips on how to be an effective, lazy leader.

How to Be an Effective, Lazy Leader

1. Don’t be Google

As leaders we love to answer questions. It makes us feel smart and important, and when we answer the questions we know the answers are right. (Because the answers are ours.) There are a few challenges when I become Google for the people I lead. First, if I answer the first question then I’ll need to answer the second, third and fourth questions. Soon there will be a line at my door of people with questions only I can answer. Have you ever tried to take an afternoon nap with a crowd at your door demanding answers? It’s almost impossible.

The second challenge with trying to be Google is that I don’t always have the best, or even the right, answers. I’ve found that when I let people figure things out for themselves they often come up with better answers. It is a killer to my ego, because I always want to be right, but my ego often needs a little deflating.

Pages: Page 1 Page 2Page Next page
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter

About Geoff Surratt

Geoff Surratt, having served Saddleback Church as Pastor of Church Planting and Seacoast Church as Executive Pastor, is now the Director of Exponential. (www.exponential.com) He also works with churches on strategy, structure and vision as a free agent church encourager and catalyst. He has over twenty-nine years of ministry experience in the local church and is the author of several books including The Multisite Church Revolution and 10 Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing.

« Previous Post
Next Post »

Primary Sidebar

Church Planting Jobs

Search Here

Christian News Now

Enter your email for tips on how to have a thriving church!

Footer

Company

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Service
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Get Email Updates
  • Christian News Now

Copyright © 2025 ChurchPlants

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Service