Today, at our weekly faculty meeting, we revisited (well rewrote after our original list went missing) our staff root beliefs. We ended up with a list of four.
There was one of mine that did not make it - nor do I think it should. It is a root belief of leadership. "Never ask anyone to do anything that you would not do yourself."
[There is one caveat - the caveat of expertise. I do not have the knowledge to fix my engine. If I did, I would try to do it; but I cannot because I would most likely end up breaking my car even more. I do not have the ability to coach volleyball. If I did I would have played longer than a cumulative four minutes during my eighth grade season at Christ the King Catholic School.]
As a leader, to be effective, I must delegate. It becomes an issue when I catch myself delegating the "unpleasant" jobs. When I do so, I weight such actions - why am I letting someone else clean that mess up? Why am I letting someone else sub in that classroom?
If the answer is efficiency or expertise or my own hyper-focus - than I find it okay.
If the answer is pride or laziness than I am reminded of the prayer I try to pray multiple times a day, "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner."