Leading People, Not Just Managing Tasks

In Episode 10 of Kingdom Insight, Dr. L. K. Leonard teaches how leaders move from managing tasks to leading people.

Leadership is not just about completing assignments—it’s about understanding, developing, and equipping people to grow and lead effectively.

In this episode, we explore how connection builds influence, how discernment shapes leadership, and why developing people is essential for long-term impact.

If you are a pastor or ministry leader seeking to strengthen your leadership and build others, this conversation will challenge and encourage you.

📖 Scriptures Referenced

Matthew 9:36
 1 Thessalonians 5:14
 John 10:14
 Ephesians 4:12

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Episode 10, leading people, not just managing tasks. Welcome to Kingdom Insight with Dr. L.K. Leonard, raising thanks back to God through clarity, structure, and spiritual authority. In episode one, we talked about why leaders drift. And in episode two, we discussed restoring alignments. In episode three, we focused on protecting ministry culture. In episode four, we talked about guarding leadership disciplines. And in episode five, we discussed leading without losing yourself. In episode six, we talked about when leadership gets heavy. And in episode seven, we discussed staying consistent when you don't feel like it. In episode eight, we talked about leading through criticism. And in episode nine, we talked about leading when clarity with clarity when things aren't clear. But today we want to shift into something every leader must understand. The difference between managing tasks and leading people. Catch me now. The difference between managing tasks and leading people. Because you can manage activity and still fail at leadership. You better hear me today today. We can manage activity and still fail at leadership. Today we're talking about leading people, not just managing tasks. Listen, listen. The first thing we must know that when we're leading people and we're not managing tasks, is that management focuses on task, but leadership focuses on people. My God. Matthew 9 and 36 says, when he saw the crowd, catch it, he had compassion for them. And it says when he saw what the crowd was doing, or what illnesses they had, or the things that was in their life. He said, It says, listen, when he saw the crowd, he had compassion for them. Jesus did not just see the needs, but he saw the people. And a lot of times we say, we need to see, we need to find out what the needs of the people are, focus on the needs of the people. But we need to see the people. And a lot of times, a lot of leaders are not seeing the people. Managers focus on getting things done. Catch me now. Managers focus on completing assignments, and managers maintain systems. But listen, we're not just here to manage people. See, managers focus on getting things done, completing assignments, and maintaining systems. But leaders, hear me, leaders, focus on developing people, understanding individuals, and building relationships. If you're going to be a good leader, a great leader, you must develop the people. You must understand the individual that you're dealing with, and you must build a relationship with them. And so many times we are leaders are so focused on managing the people and getting tasks done and getting things done and completing the assignment and we're getting this system worked out and get everything. And so we're not leading people, we're main mainly just managing systems and managing assignments and managing uh managing system. But if we're gonna be great leaders, we must focus on developing the people. We must focus on understanding individuals and we must build relationships. You have to build a relationship with people. Watch miss catch this, catch this, catch this. You can complete tasks and still miss people. You can complete a task with a room full of people and still miss the people there because all you're focused on is getting the task complete, all you're focused on is getting this done and getting that done and getting this completed and meet the deadline and meet and you never see the people. So you can complete a task and still miss the people. So you must understand that listen, uh, and the first thing you need to know is when when you're when you you need that management focused on tasks, but leadership focused on people, and a lot of people are just managing things and they don't see the people that they're dealing with. People, the second thing is people require more than instructions. Oh, that's that's good. People require more than instructions. First Thessalonians chapter number five, verse 14. It says, Ammonish the idol, encourage the faint-hearted and help the weak. My God, we got to look at that verse. It says, Ammonish the idols, encourage the faint-hearted, and help the weak. People are different. Hear me. I know you thought everybody was the same. I know that you thought if people are different, even when we work on a job and we have tasks to complete, but people are different. We may be working on one accord to get something complete, but people are different. Some need correction, some need encouragement, and some need support. We must understand the difference. Some need correction, some need encouragement, and some need support. Leadership requires discernment. A lot of us that are in leadership must it require discernment. You have to have the gift of discernment. When you are in leadership, you have to have you cannot be so orient, goal-oriented, and focused that you miss and don't have the discernment that you need when you're dealing with people. Yes, you gotta get a task done. Yes, you gotta complete an assignment. Yes, we want to complete our vision, we want to work out our vision, we want to move forward, we want our mission, but we must understand that there are some people that we can need to see. We're gonna have to correct some of them, we're gonna have to encourage some of them to work, and we gotta support some of them along in the work, and so we have to have the discernment of which one does what. We cannot have a one approach, uh, because one approach don't fit everyone, and so many times we're so when we're goal oriented and we're trying to get something done, we have a one approach, uh fit all every uh everyone, and that does not work. One approach does not fit everyone. We can't we can't approach everything the same. You can't have everybody on the same uh wavelength, you can't have everybody moving at the same pace and the same speed. You can't have that, and you can cannot move and and grow your organization, you can't grow your ministry, you can't grow your uh whatever you lead, you cannot grow it when you got everybody uh with a one fit approach at thing. One fit uh one approach fit. Listen, catch this. Effective leaders, if effective, listen to with the word, effective leaders don't treat everyone the same, they lead people according to what they need. Hmm. Let that soak in, let that settle. Effective leaders don't treat everyone the same, they lead people according to what they need to get the job done, they uh to get what they need effective. So you have we must learn that people require more than just instruction, they need more, people need more, and effective leaders don't treat everyone the same, they lead people according to what they need. The third thing is influence is built through connections. Catch me. Influence is built through connection. Listen to this. John 10 and 14 say, I know my own and my own know me. I know my own and my own know me. Leadership is built through connection, influence is built through connection. Leadership is not built on your position in the position that you have, it's built on connections. A lot of people trying to build and try to lead on the position that they have and from the position that they're in, but they haven't made any connections with anybody, they haven't connected with people, they don't haven't uh built relationships and connected in relationships, and they just trying to lead based on their position. Listen, people follow leaders that they trust, respect, and feel connected to. Watch this without a connection, leadership becomes control. Without a connection with the people, leadership only becomes control. Now you're just controlling people and you're not leading people, and a lot of times we we we've missed that. Uh we miss that in our ministries, we missed that on our jobs, we miss that um in whatever we we consider ourselves to be leading because we we no longer have we don't have a connection with the people, but we're leading them and we are controlling them, and we become dictators, whether we know it or not, little dictators, and because we don't have a connection, and leadership becomes control, and now we feel like we have to control everything, we have to uh uh micromanage everything because we don't have a connection. If people don't feel connected to you, they will only follow you when they have to. I need you to let that soak in. If people don't feel connected to you, they will only follow you when they have to. You are not wanting people just following you because they have to follow you. Then you become a dictator because at the first chance, they have the opportunity to get out. They're going to get out because they're only following you because they have to, and they feel like they don't have a choice and they have nothing else. Or maybe they're following you because they're getting paid, maybe they're following you because they won't, they're they're they're looking for the opportunity to get what they want out of it, and so they're only following you because they have to, and not because of a connection. If people don't feel connected to you, they will only follow you when they have to. The fourth thing is strong leaders develop people. I need you to catch that today. Strong leaders, strong leaders, strong leaders, develop people. Ephesians 4 and 12. Watch what it says. To equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Leadership is not just about getting things done.

unknown 11:44

Whew!

SPEAKER_00 11:44

That's gonna mess up somebody's theology. That's gonna mess somebody up today today. Leadership is not just about getting things done, it's about building people who can carry the work. Too many times, as leaders, we're just trying to get things done and we're dictating what we want done, and we're not developing people, and we're not building people so that they can carry out the work. We are only concerned about getting what we want done and getting it done how we want it done and how we think it ought to be done. And leadership is not just about getting things done, but it's about building people who can carry the work that you want done. Strong leaders, they train, they equip, they develop and they release other strong leaders. They're gonna train, they're gonna equip, they're gonna develop, and they're gonna release others. They're not scared about someone taking their place or somebody taking over because they trained them, equip them, and develop them and release them. But no, they're the strong leader is not focused on that. They're focused on developing people. And if people you can develop people to go release them and go out and to do things, and it's not about trying to control them and keep them within your own reach and to do what you want done. It's not just by getting assignments and getting things done, it's about developing building people, and that's what strong leaders do. They train, equip, develop, and release others. Catch me? If you only focus on task, the work stops with you. But if you develop people, the work continues beyond you. If you only focus on getting tasks done, the work stops with you. You may not see it as that way, or you may not understand it as that way, but if you look and take a stop, a step back and look. If you only focus on task and getting the task done, the work will stop with you. But if you develop people, the work continues way beyond you. And that developing people is not putting into them uh which how you want it done, it's teaching them what you want done and allowing them to work and train. So listen, leadership is not about managing activities, it's about leading people, see people, understand people, develop people. Because strong leaders don't just complete work, they build people who can carry the work forward. This is kingdom insight. Leadership and clarity.