Preparation & Execution: Tensions of Leadership
Luke 10:38-42 (TPT)
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
38–39 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their journey, they came to a village where a woman welcomed Jesus into her home. Her name was Martha and she had a sister named Mary. Mary sat down attentively before the Master, absorbing every revelation he shared. 40 But Martha became exasperated by finishing the numerous household chores in preparation for her guests, so she interrupted Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t you think it’s unfair that my sister left me to do all the work by myself? You should tell her to get up and help me.”
41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, my beloved Martha. Why are you upset and troubled, pulled away by all these many distractions? Are they really that important? 42 Mary has discovered the one thing most important by choosing to sit at my feet. She is undistracted, and I won’t take this privilege from her.”
We can learn a lot from this passage. Here are two contrasted actions and Jesus states which one is right. He states that being present in the moment is better than making preparations in the present.
In my opinion (which isn’t professional or what most people think about this passage), both of these ladies were wrong. I think Martha was wrong in preparing during the time she needed to be present. I think Mary was wrong in not preparing or helping at all beforehand and just being present. They would have gotten along much better had she helped to set Martha free of everything that needed to be done so she could enjoy the night as well. I don’t think we should do one or do the other, but manage the tension of both. There’s a time to prepare and a time to execute and they cannot happen at the same time, unless you’d like to miss a moment or get frustrated. When we’re prepared for the upcoming season, our ability to be fully present and execute the vision is successful.
One of our cultural values at Watermarks is this:
Preparation leads to confidence, confidence leads to success.
The more we prepare, the better we serve our staff, our clients and ourselves. Our preparation sets the tone for the caliber of service and the climate for our attitudes. Preparation and attention to detail are things we can control, and they are the tracks that keep us on the pursuit of excellence. Others suffer when we don’t prepare physically, mentally and emotionally for what is ahead, days and years.
We must carve out time to dream, improve and plan. Then we must take that plan and execute. When we try to plan as we execute, we are more prone to fail, change without getting to breakthrough and frustrate our teams and clients. We are successful when this tension is done in order, one then the other.
“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” —Peter Drucker
“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” —Jack Welch
“Vision without action is a daydream. Action with without vision is a nightmare.” —Japanese proverb
Questions to ponder:
How are you doing at casting vision?
Do you have time to dream, analyze data, get feedback and make a plan?
How are you at executing? Do you wing the plan in execution hoping for great results?