freedom and limitations
“And Jehovah God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree of the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For when you eat from it, you will surely die.'” (Genesis 2:16-17)
Everyone needs the gift of freedom and limitations in their work to be successful. God established the best work environment in the Garden of Eden. He gave Adam and Eve the responsibility of managing animals, agriculture and every activity. He gave them specific instructions on how to do the work, but also gave them freedom of expression to accomplish their tasks.
He also told them what was off limits. They could not eat the fruit of the tree of good and bad because he knew it would be bad for them. He wasn’t trying to stay away from them; He was trying to protect them.
If you are a manager it is your responsibility to clearly define the job responsibilities of the people working under your supervision. They should know clearly what are the freedoms and limitations they have in carrying out their duties. They should be given enough freedom with the right to implement their own decisions which will affect whether they can be successful or not.
Once freedom and boundaries are established, it allows a healthy accountability to be established between management and the worker. Both can have healthy expectations from each other.
Do you have a clearly defined job description with measurable goals? Are your freedoms and boundaries clearly defined so that you know what you can and cannot do within the scope of your job? If not, you are setting yourself up for failure.
Today, evaluate your work assignments and make sure you have clearly defined expectations and the manner in which you are expected to complete your tasks.
