How do you get more room when you need it? When people begin having kids they usually need more space so they switch from a sedan to an SUV or minivan, they trade the 1 bedroom apartment for a place with 2-3 bedrooms. When our closets get full we figure out the items we no longer wear and we get rid of them.
Today’s post is a follow up to some thoughts I shared a few months ago (You Have More Capacity). The topic of capacity is important because I believe no matter what season of life you are in there are 2 things which are true of you:
- God wants to entrust you with more responsibility – but is waiting on you to create margin (capacity) in your life. (Click to tweet)
- God is able to expand your capacity so you can carry more – but you have to be willing to grow. (Click to tweet)
Capacity is required for growth to happen. When you grow your family you need more capacity in your house. If you want to grow your career you will likely need new capacity on your calendar. For your team to grow in impact and influence you have to find more capacity on your team.
In every season I am a proponent of team growth. A healthy team should always be looking at the next way they will expand their influence and impact.
For the team you are on, here are 4 things you can do to create new capacity:
- Think Outside the Box – You have naturally maximized all the capacity you could find. If you want to find space where it does not currently exist you have to think differently. Outside the box thinking says, “There are more possibilities than I see.” (Click to tweet)
- Ask Insiders to Help Create Margin – The point of creating capacity is not to make insiders more comfortable. The reason you spend time creating capacity is make room for others. A key part of creating margin is giving insiders vision for an expanded team. Creating capacity for those outside the team requires sacrifice from those on the team. (Click to tweet)
- Redefine reality – The old way of doing things got the old job done. New capacity requires a change in the way people view and experience reality on your team. New job titles, new hours or new responsibilities are a natural result of growth. Some members of the team will feel that their role in has been cut in half. Others experience the new reality as added pressure because you have expanded the scope of the team to create capacity.
- Value Growth over Perfection – Creating capacity creates mess. Fear of falling short of perfection can cause some to shrink back from growth. When you decide that creating capacity is a priority you are choosing to embrace the mess for the sake of growth. This does not mean you ignore standards and pursue something less than excellence. Creating capacity will lead to a series of critical moments where you chose between growth and perfection. Chose growth. (Click to tweet)
Cory Lebovitz 