The people of God have always understood laziness to be a sin because laziness fails to appreciate the gift and blessing of work and fails to make the most of the time we have been graciously given. We are commanded to be wise and to make the most of the time (
Ephesians 5:15-16). Squandering time and living and leading lazily are foolish.
Like all sin, laziness can slowly creep into our lives and leadership. If we fail to address the temptation to move toward laziness, we become unfaithful in our leadership. Here are five warning signs.
1. You are learning less.
Leaders, when they are passionate about their assignment, are sponges. They soak up learning from a plethora of sources because they are so committed to their task. When a leader’s learning appetite wanes, laziness is creeping in.
2. You are listening less.
Leaders know they need to listen to gain new perspective, to understand what is taking place under their watch, and to provide care for those they lead. But effective listening always results in work, in addressing problems, in rallying people together. Thus, one way leaders can ramp down their workload is to listen less. But listening less shows a drift toward laziness.
3. You are evaluating less.
Just like listening produces work, so does evaluating. When leaders are passionate for their assignments, they are always evaluating and always tweaking their craft. When evaluating goes down, laziness is likely going up.
4. You are coaching less.
Coaching others, developing others, takes time and energy. Yet because the results are not immediate, leaders can coach less without people really noticing. So if you are coaching others less, laziness is creeping into your leadership.
5. You are complaining more.
Instead of attacking problems, finding solutions and working with others to solve them, it is much easier to complain. If complaining is on the rise in your heart, laziness is likely right along for the ride.
