Ask this question to get more freedom in your work.

It’s frustrating when you’re ready to move on to the next task at work, but you have a growing list of things that “need Father’s approval.” Sometimes, there are legitimate things that we need to run past the pastor. For example, even if it’s in the budget, you may need his signature to approve a purchase.

However, for many of the actual day-to-day decisions that you’re making, there’s a good chance that he doesn’t want to be a part of that decision making process. He’s got a hundred other decisions to make, and funerals to plan for, and a homily to prepare, etc.

Your pastor probably doesn’t care how you’re lining up catechists for the year; he just cares that you’re lining up catechists. There are many items like this that you know he’s going to sign off on, but you still feel like you need to run them by him. If he’s going to sign off on them though, we have to wonder why we’re waiting to move on until we run them by him. A better question might even be: Why do I need to run them by him at all? Usually, it’s just because we never asked for permission to make decisions for our selves.

Next time you’re running ideas past your pastor, use this simple phrase: “It seems like we’re on the same page. How much do you want to be on the front end of decisions like this in the future?”

Chances are, he’ll say something along the lines of, “That’s what I hired you for. I trust you.” Even if it’s not a blanket “go-ahead,” every time you ask this question, you’ll still come away with a better understanding of the decision making rights that you have in your position. You may even be empowered to lead in a way that allows you to run your job more efficiently.

In fact, even if your pastor doesn’t trust you and wants to continue to micromanage your work, asking this question with regularity, will create opportunities to have conversations that build trust up.

Give it a try, and let us know how it went!