A Leader’s Main Objectives: Their Work & Your Work
The Leadership Compass
Lead It Like a Project – Part 2.2
There are two types of work you must become aware of: their work (someone else’s work) and your work (only work you should be doing).
As a leader, your primary focus should revolve around two main objectives, and only two:
1. Their Work: In corporate terms, this is often called delegation, but that terminology is misleading. It implies you are offloading tasks onto others. I prefer to frame it as “their work,” which means the work that belongs to someone else.
2. Your Work: This is the work that belongs solely to you.
Understanding the difference between their work and your work is crucial. If you fail to recognize this distinction, you’ll end up overwhelmed with both types of work and unable to complete either. You get overloaded with your work and do not complete theirs, or you’ll be overloaded with their work and not complete your work.
“But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes.
Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten.” [1]
Your goal is to eliminate everything that doesn’t belong to you, which allows you to focus on your work, the stuff that comes back to you once you’ve offloaded it.
To achieve this, you must offload tasks to those who can handle them. What should come back to you is your work—this includes corrections, enhancements, reviews, and evaluations of any progress they have made in their work. But you’ve got to do it in a way that benefits not only them but it benefits you.
Many who think they are leaders tend to hoard work, becoming bottlenecks in the process. Therefore, when others need your assistance, you may find it difficult to help because you’re juggling both their work and your own. A good leader cannot be effective while managing both types of tasks simultaneously. One is not a leader and definitely not effective when doing both their work and someone else’s work. To be successful, you must learn to relinquish the work in your hands so that you can concentrate on what truly matters—your own work.
“They should always be available to solve the people’s common disputes,
but have them bring the major cases to you.
Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves.
They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you.” [1]
When you assign tasks to an assistant, give them everything. They will come back with questions; BAM, that is your work! For example, when you give all the financial information to the accountant, they’re going to come back with questions. Once again, that is your work. Leaders build this give-and-response-type relationship in everything they do. Building these relationships is key to effective leadership. As you do, you and your team will learn and grow together. This strengthens your team in their areas of responsibility while creating individuals who are more capable and valuable to and for you.
You must learn how to give it all away, wait for the things that come back at you, and do it all over again. This ongoing cycle fosters an environment where everyone benefits—you and your team, leaving no one behind. That, my friend, is how the leadership compass works. It consistently guides you in distributing the work while ensuring you add value and support to those around you.
A great leader empowers others by giving away responsibilities and then waiting for the necessary feedback to enhance the work of others.
[1] Exodus 18:21-22 NLT, Bible.com, accessed April 29, 2025, https://bible.com/bible/116/exo.18.21-22.NLT
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
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