One of the biggest challenges that leaders face when considering delegation is, “what should we delegate?” Some delegate the tasks that are easier to do because they think they are the only ones who can handle the “tough” stuff? Some try to delegate everything so they can just sit back and “manage”, which is laziness. Some delegate the important stuff so they aren’t to blame if it all goes wrong. Neither of these are healthy approaches to delegation.
A better way to discover what you should delegate is by first discovering what you should NOT delegate. If you are a lead pastor one thing you should never delegate is Vision. Your role is to receive vision from God and cast it to the people God has given you to lead. Vision is something you should never waiver on. It is not something that you can give up, because it was delegated to you from God. If you delegate vision or vision casting you are likely to end up with another vision!
The same principle applies if you are a leader in business. Your organization or department looks to you for direction or vision. If you give that up to someone else, then you may end up somewhere you didn’t want to go. You must set the vision, cast the vision and protect the vision.
If you first discover the crucial things you must never delegate, then you can safely figure out what things can be delegated. I know that preaching the Word and vision casting are 2 things I can never delegate. (I can get help doing these things, but they must always stay on my radar!) I was hired and more importantly called to do these things. But counseling, event planning, running the sound, fixing the lights, playing guitar and other areas of ministry can and should be delegated to the right people. If you discover your greatest gifting and calling, then you will know what you must keep. Everything else is negotiable.