As a servant-leader you’ll need to realize that the people you serve have their own agendas and needs. One of their greatest needs is simply to know that you care – that you are there for them. As a result, response time is highly reactive.
Response time is a block of time dedicated to cleanup and follow-up and this time should only occur if you already have your results and rest time scheduled and protected because these are vital to the long-term health of the entire organization.
As a servant-leader you’ll need to realize that the people you serve have their own agendas and needs. One of their greatest needs is simply to know that you care – that you are there for them. As a result, response time is highly reactive.
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The difference between a street fighter and a boxer is not power, but control. The boxer measures his punches and conserves his power. He thinks strategically about each and every hit. A street fighter flails and throws as many punches with as much power as he can exert at once. When you focus on your main thing and protect time to accomplish your main thing, you act more like a boxer than a street fighter. You will end up accomplishing more with less and still have energy for life at the end of the day. Last week I gave you some advice on protecting results time in your weekly schedule; half day or full day increments set aside to work on your main thing(s). But in order to do this, you need to define your main thing. Here is a definition and some questions to get you started: The secret to increasing my efficiency and effectiveness comes in the jealous protection of my results time. I set aside several half-day or full-day blocks of time to focus on my “main things.” Results time is driven by the mission, and my unique role in moving it forward. To some it might look selfish, but if I do not guard this time, I am not contributing my full potential to my ministry and I am not being a wise steward of the gifts God gave me. In Mark 1:35-37, right after Jesus slipped away to rest and reconnect with His heavenly Father, His leadership team tracked Him down and expressed with apparent disgust, “Everyone is looking for you” (verse 37). Or as it might sound to you, “Boss, the people are lining up, the phones are lighting up, and the inbox is piling up with emails from hurting people wanting your touch. Let’s hurry up and get back to work.” But Jesus took another approach, refusing to let other people set His agenda. He walked away from the people who were pursuing Him. He calmly redirected the team, “Let us go somewhere else…that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for” (Mark 1:38). Jesus’ mission took priority, even over the real needs of some real people who really wanted His touch. Last week I introduced you to the 4 “R’s” of time management – Rest, Results, Response and Refocus. This week and the following three, I will dive a little deeper into each of the 4 “R’s,” beginning with Rest Time. Rest is one of the most coveted and seemingly unattainable uses of our time. Because of the pervasiveness of technology, today it requires real dedication and discipline to reserve a true day of rest. And by day of rest, I mean absolutely no work – no phone calls, no emails, no reading work-related journals and no quick check-in with the office. Based on this definition, I bet there are some of you that have never experienced a true day of rest. Feeling busy, buried and behind? No matter the size of your ministry or church, people will throw more stuff your way than you feel you can handle. Some of that stuff can be ignored and some delegated, but much of it needs to be juggled. Before you’re buried in dropped balls, get into the rhythm of rest, results, response and refocus. For over 20+ years in ministry, I have exercised the practice of categorizing my time into each of the following four categories and then making time for each. The key is to plan my week in large chunks of time, full or half-day units. When I try to fit more than one “R” into one block of time, I experience frustration and defeat. My stress goes up and my productivity goes down. |
AuthorI am Dale Burke, a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ, husband, dad and grandpa, leadership consultant, senior pastor for 30+ years and a pastor to pastors. Archive
May 2014
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