Your Job Is to Train Someone Else to Do the Work

Many leaders believe their job is to do the work. Great leaders understand their job is to develop others to do the work. In this episode, Kevin explores one of the most important leadership principles in ministry and business: multiplication. Discover why delegation is not losing control, why development is one of the highest forms of leadership and how training others creates lasting impact. 

Ephesians 4:11-12

Download: The Four Levels of Leadership

Series: Lessons in Leadership
Speaker: Kevin Moore
Episode 2 of 4, Your Job Is to Train Someone Else to Do the Work
Episode Transcript

Kevin Moore is the regional director at the North Central Region of the Missionary Church and the senior pastor at Noble County Community Church. 

Let's Talk: Life, Leadership & Making Disciples is a weekly Christian leadership development podcast for pastors, church staff, elders, ministry leaders, volunteers, church planters and disciple makers. Every week we provide valuable insights to train, inform and inspire healthy leaders who will go on to build healthy churches.
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The Missionary Church, North Central Region, in obedience to Jesus Christ her Lord, is committed to being holy people of God in the world and to building His church by worldwide evangelism, discipleship, and multiplication of growing churches, all to the glory of God. As a family of churches that is biblically grounded, we exist to inspire, challenge, and resource one another in that task. Find out more at https://mcncr.org/ 

Elevate Church Leadership Conference.
November 2, 2026
Nappanee Missionary Church in Nappanee, Indiana
Learn more and sign up at https://mcncr.org/events/2026-elevate-conference 

The Timothy Project (Youth Leadership Conference)
November 14, 2026
St. Mark Missionary Church in Mishawaka, Indiana
Learn more and sign up at https://mcncr.org/events/the-timothy-project 

Transcript

Speaker 0:02

Welcome to Let's Talk, a podcast about life, leadership, and making disciples. Let's Talk is brought to you by the North Central region of the Missionary Church, where we want to empower everyday people to love like Jesus and live like missionaries. To find out more about our events and ministries, go to mcncr.org.

Kevin Moore 0:27

Well, hey, thanks so much for joining us once again for Let's Talk, where we want to help you live better, lead better, and make more disciples personally, but also corporately. We want to see people experience the goodness and the grace that's only found in Jesus Christ. And that's one of the reasons why we're doing this podcast. We know everybody in the brother has a podcast, but we believe that God has specifically placed us in this space, in this place with people that could pour into your life that we know that we're going to invite to come on this podcast and help you live better, help you lead better, help you make more disciples. Today I'm really excited about our topic, but before we get into it, I've got a really cool announcement to make. Just a few weeks ago, one of our churches, Hillside Missionary, was in search for a pastor. And you know what? They have found their leader. God has ordained for Pastor Paul Fried to step in to that position as the senior pastor of the local church. And we just want to say thank you, Lord. We're so excited for Hillside. We're so excited for Pastor Paul and his family. And we believe that God is bringing these two groups together, his family and their church, so that people can experience the freedom and the grace and the goodness and the life that's only found in Jesus Christ. So today, Pastor Paul, leadership of Hillside and the Church of Hillside Missionary, just know that we at the region, not just our regional office and me, but three at the region and the churches of our region, we are lifting you up in prayer and believing in faith that God is going to help you begin to share the light of Jesus and the hope of Jesus to hundreds and hundreds of people from your community. We believe the best is yet to come. So thank you for stepping up, Pastor Paul, and leading. We know that you're going to lead well. When it comes to leading, just one quick, one quick plug is we want to help you lead better. That's why we do this podcast, but that's also why we're hosting a church leadership conference that's coming up in November. It's called Elevate. Kerry Newhoff is going to be our keynote speaker. He's going to be doing two sessions with us. And then also we have breakouts with all sorts of different topics to help you in the weeds of leadership. Carrie's going to give that 30,000-foot view, and then we're going to do some breakouts to get you down into the weeds and leading at a different level. And so we really hope that you'll come and be a part of this conference. If you're part of the North Central Region Missionary Church, if you're part of the missionary church, or if you're just part of a church or an organization that wants to lead better, come join us. Just go to mcncr.org, click events, and you can find out all the information. And we'd love to have you come and be a part of Elevate. Well, hey, today we are continuing our four-part series where we are giving some principles that are going to help you live better, lead better, and make more disciples. Last time we were together, we talked about lessons from a paintbrush and a paint can. And today, what I want to talk with you about is your job is to train somebody else to do the work. Your job is to train somebody else to do the work. So here's the deal grab a notebook, grab a pen, and let's get ready to grow. What an honor to speak with you right here on the Let's Talk Podcast. In today's episode, our title is Your Job is to train someone else to do the work. Your job is to train someone else to do the work. With that thought in mind, I think there's five words that you need to have burned into your heart as a leader. These are five words that I have to continually tell myself all of the time. Here's word number one, you. Word number two, are. Word number three, not. Word number four, the. Word number five, hero. When you put that all together, you've got a very powerful ministry and life-changing sentence. You are not the hero. Oh my goodness, I don't know how many times I've had to remind myself of that. Kevin, you are not the hero. You are not the hero. In fact, on the count of three, say you are not the hero with me. One, two, three, you are not the hero. You're not. You heard right. You're not the hero. And in the ministry world that I'm in, a lot of times we as leaders, including myself, we struggle with doing too much. Depending on where you are and your skill sets and what you do and what the ministry, quote unquote, needs are. You're the vision caster, you're the room setter upper, you're the volunteer coordinator, you're the graphic designer, the announcement guy, you're the van driver, the activities coordinator, the worship leader, and also you do the follow-up. And even if you're not leading in a church or a ministry context, my guess is in the business world, nonprofit world, you probably struggle with hero syndrome as well. We all do as leaders. We care so passionately about what we do when something needs to be done, so I'll just do it myself because quite honestly, I don't think anybody else has the time, or they probably can't do it as well as me. Why? Because I'm the hero. No, you are not the hero. I am not the hero. We do far too many things because we think there's no one else to help. And we think we can do it better than someone else. This hero complex, as I call it anyway, it it causes us to think there are all these things that need to be done. And I'm the only one that can do them. Man, that's the farthest thing from the truth. There probably are a lot of things that need to be done, but quite honestly, you are not. I am not the only one that can do them. Your job as a leader is not to be the hero and do all the work that needs to be done in the organization, in your church, in your ministry, in your business. Let's look at what scripture says. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11, it says, And he gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. Did you catch that? I'm going to read it again. And he gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of Christ. Did you catch that? As a leader in the body of Christ, God gave you to the church not to do the work of the ministry, but to equip Christ's followers around you to do the work of the ministry so that the body of Christ can be built up. And I know it sounds crazy. Depending on your experience and how you've been trained, a different thing, it can sound crazy, but your job as a leader of whatever department, whatever business, whatever lane, whatever area you oversee, it is not to do the work. It's to train and raise up someone else to do the work. Paul goes on to say that we are to equip others for the work of the ministry so that we all attain the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves, carried about by every wind of doctrine, by every cunning craftiness and deceitful scheme. Listen, the reason that we are releasing others to do the work is not that we are lazy. It's not that we don't want to do anything. No, that's not the case. It's not the case. The reason that we are supposed to train others is so that they will grow in their life's journey. Serving the vision of the organization or the church are ways that will help them become stronger in their faith, in their family, in every facet of their life. And if we do all the work, we're actually robbing others of a chance to step into what God has prepared for them to do. These principles are leadership principles, not just spiritual ones. These are leadership principles, not just spiritual ones. So what I just wrote for the leader and what I just said for the leader in the local church, it the exact same thing is applicable for your family, for your sales department, for your small business, for your organization. It's a leadership principle. And through the through the years, to be honest, I I've learned this the hard way. So I'm gonna give you here are a few lessons that I personally discovered why doing the work myself is not a good idea. Because I struggle with this. I still struggle with this. Why doing the work myself is not a good idea? Here's number one. When I do the work, I will run myself into the ground. I I've discovered that whenever I do the work, I run myself into the ground. Years ago, I played the role as a hero. I did. I taught the youth Sunday school class every Sunday. I set up the room on Wednesday nights. I planned the calendar and all the events of the year. I spoke on Wednesday. I followed up with all the students, I called the parents, I even helped on the worship team on Sunday. I was the hero. And to be quite honest, I was miserable, I was stressed out, and I was underachieving as a youth director. At that point, I was a youth pastor in my life. I was underachieving as a youth pastor. And I I found out that whenever I begin to cast vision properly, whenever I begin to delegate and I begin to release to others some of the things that needed to be done, not only were they more fulfilled, but I am less stressed out, I am less tired, and we're actually doing more. But when I do the work and all the work, I run myself into the ground. And that's the case whether you are youth pastor, kids director, executive pastor, senior pastor, business owner, entrepreneur, or parent. When you do all the work, you're going to run yourself right into the ground. Here's the second thing. When I do all the work, I keep someone else from finding their place. Whenever I do all the work, I keep somebody else from finding their place. Whenever I'm the one who's doing the announcements, and I'm the one who's in the worship band, and I'm the one who's doing the volunteering, and I'm the one who's I'm doing five people's jobs, and because of that, I'm keeping four other people, five other people from finding their place. That's not my job as a leader. My job as a leader is not to do the work. My job is to empower other people to do the work of the ministry. I could go on and on and on about literally giving you names of people through the years that have found their place because things were delegated to them. It is so important for us to learn how to be a leader that develops and delegates others. Delegation is one of the greatest tools to release the work of the ministry to other people. It's also one of the greatest tools to help people become disciples and fulfilled in their life. So today, before I get you to your questions, I just I just want to give you what I call the four levels, four levels of leadership. I was I was talking with a a friend of mine one time and he he he mentioned this and I've taken it and shooed on it, stewed on it, kind of been been working on this myself for for quite some time now because it's it's it's it's so practical. But it's the four levels of leadership. When it comes to leadership, there's different levels. The first level would be someone who is a doer. They're a doer. Now, a doer, you know you're a doer when the first thing you think is, is what needs to be done and when can I do it? The doer's thought process is what needs to be done and when can I do it? That's a very that they have the position of a leader, but they're a leader who's not directing, they're doing. So the first level of a leader is someone who thinks, what needs to be done, when can I do it? That's a doer. The second one is is a delegator. Now the delegator thinks to their mind still, what needs to be done, and who can I have help me or do it themselves? What needs to be done, who can I have helped me or even do it themselves? That's the delegator. So the doer is what needs to be done, I'll do it myself. The delegator is what needs to be done, who can help me or I'll have them do it themselves. But then there's the third level of a leader. The third level of leader is a developer. And a developer doesn't start with what, a developer starts with who. Who is it that I can train to do what I do? Who is it that I can train to do what I do? Who is it that I can trade to do things that need to be done that I can't do? The developer doesn't start with what, they start with who. Who is it that needs to be done and what can I do to empower them and train them? Now the fourth level is the designer. The designer doesn't start with what, the designer doesn't start with who, the designer starts with why. Why are we doing this? Why does this exist? Now, who could we help do it, empower to do it, and what would they need to do to get it done? The designer thinks at a completely different level. Why are we even doing this? What's the best way to do this? I I kind of break it down in my mind this way is that if there's a ladder leaning up against the wall, the doer sees the ladder and climbs the ladder themselves. The delegator trains somebody else to climb the ladder. The developer trains someone to train people how to climb the ladder. And the designer says, Why do we have a ladder? Do we need a ladder? Should we just build stairs? Doer, delegator, developer, designer. There's not one that's morally better than the other, but however, what happens is in organizations, church organizations, nonprofits, whatever it might be, is when you have the position where you should be a developer, but you're still a doer, you're you're going to cause a lot of friction in that organization. And what happens is many times people will have a position that demands be a designer, but they're still just simply delegating. As you quote unquote move up in leadership positions, you need to also be moving up in your leadership levels. And you're always you're listening the designer still develops and still delegates, but they they they're they're they're they're designing, they're thinking questions like why. So you you never actually leave all of those things, but you kind of like vacillate between one or two. I'm not a doer anymore. I'm I'm a delegator. But if I'm a delegator, I can't delegate unless I develop people to do it. So most people who are delegators, they eventually become developers and they kind of go back and forth of developer and delegator. That's where they spend most of their leadership. And people who are designers who are asking the questions why, and then then then, you know, who and then how, they also they'll they'll begin to develop and they may uh definitely still delegate. You you never actually leave all of them when you go to the next level, but there's one or two that you kind of live your leadership in. So there there's two series of questions that I've asked myself and I ask myself on the regular in order to help me go to a new level of uh leadership. The biggest question that I ask myself regularly is this one. If blank has to be done and I'm not going to be there, how could I still get it done? If blank has to be done, but I'm not going to be there, how could I still accomplish it? That question alone causes me to leave the doer and become a delegator. In fact, I may have to go up to develop because I may have to develop someone to have the skill set to do the thing necessary to take place whenever I'm not there. What need if blank needs to be done, what do I need to do in order to make that happen? And then I develop and I delegate so that that can be accomplished. Now the trick is, is once you start asking yourself that, you know, listen, if you're gone on a Sunday, how can we do the Sunday service, but I'm not gonna be there to preach? What do you do? You got to delegate the preaching. Right? If if if I'm not going to be there to run the kids' ministry, what do you got to do? Well, you got to develop a kids' team and delegate the ministry to them for the Sunday that you're not there. But but here's the trick of it is start asking yourself that question even when you're going to be there. Start acting as if I'm not going to be there. And that that'll force you to delegate. It'll force you to develop. It'll force you to let someone else learn how to do something and find their place. If blank needed to be done, but I wasn't going to be there, how would I still accomplish it? That will push you up the leadership level. Here's a second question. Is what needs to be done? What is it that only I can do? And who can I delegate to do the rest? That series of questions drives you to a different level of leadership. What is it that needs to be done? I'll literally get a list out. These ten things need to be done. Okay, there's ten things need to be done. Now, second question: what is it that only I can do? There's certain things because a position or authority that only I can do. Maybe skill set, only I can do. Now, okay. What's the other things? Let's say there's 10 things that need to be done. Only I can do, I might want to do all 10, but truthfully, only I can do, you know, three of them. Now there's seven other things that need to be done. Next question is who can I develop and delegate that to? Who is it that I can raise up to do that task? Who is it that I can delegate these other things to? That question, oh, that series of questions, what needs to be done, what is it that only I can do, and who is it that I can develop or delegate and delegate the other activities to? It causes me to go up at a different level of leadership, but it also causes me to walk out Ephesians chapter four. My job now is not to do the 10 things, my job is to equip people to do the seven other things that I can't do. I still got some things that only I can do. I'm on the team as well, but I'm going to develop people and delegate those things to them. This is massive. This is massive in our leadership, is to understand that we are not the hero. And when we act like a hero, we are actually slowing down discipleship. We are slowing down personal development, and we're also slowing down organizational success. We become, we become the lid to what it is that we're leading. Master the art. Master the art of delegating and developing. Four levels of leadership. There's the doer, the delegator, the developer, and the designer. So let me ask you some questions. Where is it that you are acting like a hero right now that's costing you? That's costing you health, costing you family time, costing you joy, maybe it's costing you effectiveness. Where is it right now that you're acting like a hero? Here's a second question. Where are you on the leadership level? Again, this isn't about better or worse or moral or immoral. It's not that. It's just where are you at? And and by that, what what what two levels do you tend to typically lead in? Are you kind of doer, delegator? Are you just doer? Are you delegator developer? Are you designer? But you also you you where where are you on this? This is important to be self-aware. Here's the third question. What tasks are you doing that someone else could do at least 80% as well as you? And what's holding you back from releasing it to them? If you've got someone on your team that could do what you do, they can't do it as good as you. I mean, not be in a prideful way. They just quite honestly, they're not there yet. But they could do it, could be if they got the reps. What is it, what's holding you back? Why why haven't you released that to them? Do they need to be developed more? Do you need to delegate? What does that look like? Who's a person that you could train this month? Who's the person you could train this month, and what responsibility could you delegate to them? See, what happens is the tyranny of the urgent. We know we want to do this, but I gotta do this, I gotta do this, I gotta do this, and it gets together. Next thing you know, two weeks have gone by, and we haven't spending any time spent any time properly delegating to people, developing people. This week, ask yourself, who's the person this month? Ask it this week, but work on it this month. Who is the person this month that I could train? And what responsibility could I delegate to them? And then here's here's your last question. Which of those questions on the uh four levels of leadership do you need to focus on? Is it the three questions, what needs to be done, what is it that only I can do, and who can I develop? Maybe that one really stuck out to you, or maybe it's the other one. If I if blank needed to be done and I wasn't here, how could I do it? Which of those two questions will you begin to enact? Listen, you are not the hero. God has placed you in your ministry, God has placed you in your church, God has placed you in your organization as a leader, not to do the work of the ministry, but to equip others to do the work so that they will find their place and ultimately the body of Christ will be lifted up. Today, lead well by developing and delegating the people around you. Well, hey, thanks so much for listening to Let's Talk. We're excited about everything that God is doing in you and going to do through you. Remember, your job is not to do the work of the ministry, your job is to raise up and to empower other people to find their place in the body, to use the gifts that God has given them. And they do the work. And together, you and them, together, you will see God move in amazing ways. So, hey, thanks again for joining us. If you haven't signed up for Elevate, make sure to go to mcncr.org, click events, and sign up for Elevate or sign up for our Timothy Project Conference for young for for youth leaders. We would love to have you be a part. Thanks again for joining us. As always, hope this helps. Can't wait to speak with you next time.

Speaker 24:48

Thanks for joining us for Let's Talk. If you have any questions, topics you want us to discuss, or a story you want to share, email us at info at mcncr.org.