A question...who's the expert?

What will it take for you to be a better media manager? More time? More management seminars to attend or books to read?

There have been a couple of key concepts that have helped me in the management realm. One I learned a few years ago and have tried to follow since. The other one I am still learning.

For many years, I worked in church media, training volunteers to do the great work of extending the walls of the church and taking the message of the Gospel to the many who won’t or don’t come to church. In that role, I was the master teacher, training those without much media experience to be high quality media workers. I remember how exciting it was to find one or two people who had some media experience, and let them take some of the load in training and directing the work.

When I took on the role of station manager at KCBI Radio in Dallas, there were many with years of experience in radio. Many had far more expertise in their area than I did. And it was very liberating. It led me to develop the mindset that I don’t have to know everything. In fact, I new the station would function much better if others became the experts in their area of work, technical, production, on-air, and support. That was very liberating. I didn’t have to be the expert. I was surrounding myself with experts. I still had to lead, but I could rely on the knowledge of others in their area to fulfill all God was leading us to do as a Christian media ministry.

The other concept is one that I am still working on. A friend of mine, Bob Tide, has an organization called Leading with Questions. With his writing, he is helping leaders become more effective by encouraging them to ask more questions. I see this as a great compliment to being surrounded by experts in your ministry.

Often the questions a leader asks empowers their team to be more effective. In a recent email post by Bob, his guest writer, Kimberly Gleason, gave a list of 35 questions that can be helpful. I’ll just paraphrase a few.

• What is your plan to do that?
• What part of this plan are you most passionate or enthusiastic about?
• What are your strengths or talents that either one of us is not using to good advantage?
• What new ideas do you have?
• What could we be doing better?
• How would you like me to lead you?What resources do you need from me to be successful in your job?
• When do you most feel a part of the team?
• What kind of feedback would you find most helpful?

You will find that each person you work with responds differently to these questions. But I think you will also find that all will appreciate you asking them the questions.

So, why don’t you pick out two or three of these questions and pose them to folks on your team this week. And let me know the response. You see…I’m still learning, and need the feedback.

If you would like to see more, visit Bob Tiede’s website at http://leadingwithquestions.com/

Now…my question to you is…has this been a help to you?

God’s best…