I love how principles of business leadership can also be applied to families. Steve Covey gives many family examples in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. One of my favorite scenarios is with his seven-year-old son, Stephen. Covey uses the scene to point out the easier “go-fer” management versus the more effective stewardship delegation.
Covey’s family was deciding on tasks, and little Stephen said he would be in charge of the yard. Dad Covey walked around with him to be certain he understood the expectations: “Green and clean.” The idea was to water the lawn so it was as green as the neighbor’s, and clean up any papers, toy and junk. “Green and clean.” Dad Covey let Stephen know that the boy was in charge, and now his dad was only a helper. The boy had stewardship over that job.
Well, little Stephen did nothing over the weekend, and nothing on Monday. Dad Covey remembered, “Now it was Tuesday. Certainly he’d do it today. It was summertime. What else did he have to do? All day I could hardly wait to return home to see what happened. As I rounded the corner, I was met with the same picture I left that morning. And there was my son at the park across the street playing.”
At that point it would have been normal for any of us to pull the stewardship back onto us; after all, we knew what to do and we would get it done. But Dad Covey was more interested in teaching overall principles to his son. Somehow biting his tongue, Dad had little Stephen show him around the yard to see “how it’s going in your stewardship.” Finally young Stephen’s chin began to quiver, tears welled up in his eyes and he whimpered, “It’s so hard, Dad!” Dad Covey, the helper, asked how he could help his son. Young Stephen said, “Will you pick that stuff up?”—garbage from Saturday night’s barbecue. So, Dad did. Afterwards, Stephen only asked for help two or three more times that summer. At a young age, he was able to understand the principal of stewardship.
Often the most effective way takes more time initially, but reaps greater benefits ultimately. But man, Dad Covey, where were you when I was raising my children?!
Taken from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, pg. 174-178