A catalyst is one that sparks something. The catalyst speaks from experience and enables others to move forward more freely. These articles are written to act as a catalyst in your life.
It’s November and that brings a month of Thanksgiving but it also brings to a close the month known in church circles as Pastor Appreciation Month. And you all are great! You’ve done so many wonderful things to make me feel, well appreciated.
You’ve given cards and gift cards and goodies galore! I loved the little hand written notes. The cookies were delicious! And I so look forward to using the gift cards. Thank you all so very much!
But there’s something that I value even more than these items of your appreciation. I value so very highly how you’ve dug in deep these past 18 months. When life got challenging and when things didn’t go the way you wanted them to go, you still stepped in and grabbed the situation and got involved. Thank you!
You found the areas where your passion, values and skills lined up with the mission of the church and you volunteered by taking on a new position. You saw things that needed done and just did them without asking. Thank you!
But even more than all of these things is your participation in worship. You didn’t give up. You didn’t let the distance cause division. You truly demonstrated what it meant to be a church member. A church member is much like a family member. We expect them to do more than eat the food and sit on the couch. We expect our children to clean up their dishes and keep their rooms clean. We have expectations of them participating in gatherings and getting involved. The bible talks about the assembly of God’s people like that of a family or a body. We all have a part to play. So thank you for participating in the family!
You have made life and ministry such a joy even in the midst of a fairly chaotic and challenging time. Knowing that your family has your back means the world! Knowing that even when you get things wrong, you have people who love and care for you enough to stand by your side to help you see the wrong and the right is pretty amazing!
So as we begin this month of thankfulness know that I am starting this month thankful for you and the way you’ve stood on your confession of faith. I’m thankful for your partnership in the gospel. I’m thankful for the way you are willing to stand in the gaps and do uncomfortable things so that the world might know the love of Jesus. You are amazing! Keep it up family! There is a lot to be thankful for and some pretty amazing opportunities and challenges already lined up for 2022!
There are two things that are at odds in most of our lives. Who we are and what we do. Sometimes we let what we do define who we are. But then what happens when we fail? The goal of this post is to help you see past what you do to the reality of who you are.
When we look at our lives it’s easy to get a tad discouraged. There is always someone who is better than us. There is always someone who is faster than us or more efficient than we are at a given task. It doesn’t take much effort to find the shortcomings in our lives, and if our identity is determined by our action then we are in trouble!
However, if we step back from our actions for a moment and realize that our identity is found outside of our accomplishments and failures we will have a better grasp on what is most important. So in short…
When we get our identity and our actions out of order, we quickly lose focus of that which is most important. In the church world, we like to use the word covenant to describe who we are in relation to God. He made a covenant with us that doesn’t rely on what we do but on who he is and what he does for us. It’s all about our identity. It means that who we are is determined apart from what we do. It’s this reality that gives us the title Child of God. It’s this reality that invites us into a deeper relationship with him. God’s covenant with us draws us into a place where his love and care transform who we are regardless of our past.
So if the identity part is determined by God then the action piece of our lives should be determined by our understanding of identity. We call that kingdom. It means that God has invited us into a relationship with him and given us a place in his kingdom. When we have a place in a ruling kingdom, it means we have authority and power and responsibility. This is no different in our relationship with God. He not only calls us children, but also freely gives us all of the resources that are at his disposal. So if he loves us before we do anything then why do we have to do anything?
You see we live out our identity through actions because his love for us doesn’t want us to stay in an ok state. He wants more for us than to survive. He wants us to thrive! This is why he calls us victorious. He gave us the victory over the less than stellar moments in our lives. When our identity is grounded in God’s love for us, then our actions will look like that new identity.
I know, we all mess up. We all fail. We all do things we will one day regret. Those moments are not defining moments. Let the grace of Christ define you. And let this new identity determine how you live.
It’s no secret that I’m a pastor. I serve in a medium sized church in a semi rural, becoming semi suburban part of central Ohio. Yeah I know that’s pretty vague but eh location really isn’t the point – the people are! I’ve done this whole ministry gig for going on 20 years now and there’s been a constant for me for my entire ministry career. It’s something referred to as the 20/80 rule. It says that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. And that normally holds true in churches to be sure, but also in other organizations and nonprofits as well. .
One of the things we’ve been called to do as pastors, and Christians for that matter, is to disciple people. Now discipleship is far more than just teaching someone the truths of Jesus. It’s about teaching those truths and leading them to obedience. You see, we’re called to raise people up and release them for ministry. We create programs where people get involved and learn and grow, but it’s so very hard to get many people to really connect beyond a Sunday morning worship time. But that has changed drastically in the past 12 months at this little miracle of a church in semi-rural central Ohio.
I really can’t put my finger on what happened or when it happened or why it happened but I can tell you that it happened!
As I look back on the past 7+ years of ministry life at Living Word, one thing has been evident – none of the good that’s happening is on me. I was able to step into a role where a very strong and very intentional Biblical foundation had been laid. My predecessor, Pastor Jim, took the utmost care to teach, lead and care for the people of this little church with everything he had. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it everyday til I die I am only as good as the great men upon whose shoulders I stand in ministry.
But I can’t just say “something happened” and leave it at that. There had to be a shift, a change or a strategy that has proven somewhat beneficial and led to this different approach to life inside this expression of the body of Christ. So here’s my feeble attempt at putting a finger on what precipitated this massive cultural shift.
Keep the main thing the main thing.
Again to Pastor Jim’s credit, the main thing was never in question. Neither he nor I are about the business of getting tangled in the weeds of politics, civic matters or worldly pursuits. Neither of us are/were perfect, so of course we slip but the focus – the thing that always matters and that we continue to come back to over and over again is the one thing that really matters – Jesus.
One thing that I firmly believe has led to this shift in participation and involvement is that we keep the goal clearly in front of people. We’re pressing in to what it means to be like Jesus. Our goal isn’t church growth or launching programs. Our goal is to help people see Jesus in the everyday moments of life and to walk with them along the path of being transformed into his image for the sake of others. And when we see it, we try to call it out or celebrate it (more on that one later).
A serious call to simple action
Another thing that has led to a greater involvement of those connected with Living Word is that we unapologetically keep the call to action in front of everyone. It’s taken a while for some to get it and we have to keep bringing it up from time to time but the call is serious. Without each of us living out the truths of Scripture, someone may never hear the goodness of God’s grace for them. The simple action part is essential as well. We’ve broken so many parts of ministry life into smaller chunks that are more manageable and don’t require lifelong commitments. It’s simple really. What can you do? What do you enjoy doing that can bring glory to God? How has God uniquely equipped you to fulfill the Great Commission? It’s really a matter of high exceptions, short term commitments, and helping people write their story of faith.
Celebrate Wins
If you do anything with a team of people you have to be sure to celebrate the victory of your team. Even if you just say thank you to those who went above and beyond to help pull off an event or a ministry program, just do something. Recognize the efforts of your team. The point is to build up momentum as you gather together for a common purpose.
Do NOT Lower the Bar
Finally the thing that I think really matters to the shift we’ve seen is to keep expectations high. We live in a society where we like to lower expectations to help people feel better about minimal accomplishments, but this is not the way of Jesus. So keep expectations high. Tell people what you want from them and for them. The point of being part of a church is to help, support, and provide for the group moving forward. Even the part of the worship service that recognizes new members joining a local church asks in part do you intend to support the work of the church with your time, talents and treasures? The idea is that church membership is like being part of a body. Each part needs to show up to do their part. No single part is not needed. No part is of lesser value. No part of the body or of the church can say they don’t need to pull their weight. Part of the secret that we’ve been able to tap into is that of continually seeking ways for all parts of the body to do something in the body. It’s part of our discipleship pathway to move worship attenders from observation to full on ownership of the mission of God in this place.
We’re all in it together so let’s join in to make the world recognize what and who the church is because without you it just won’t be the same!
Communication is a tough business. You can craft your message. You can select your words. You can work on inflection and delivery. If it’s printed material, you diligently work on type face and word spacing and all the cool graphic things. But there is a time when certain things are out of your control.
Some people are just going to look for any chance to roast you over what you said or how you said it. There are people in all of our lives who play the role of the eternal antagonist. They want nothing more than to stir the pot. While others have circumstances in their lives that act like those machines at the eye doctor that filter how we see what’s clearly right in front of us. When scenario “A” happens it changes how we see life in comparison to scenario “B.” So the point here is to not over worry about someone’s interpretation of something you did not communicate in the first place.
Acknowledging that some things eventually will be outside of your ability to control however does not give you the excuse to not do your due diligence. While certain things are out of our control, much of the art of communication is very much in our control. It is the responsibility of the communicator to, well communicate effectively and efficiently and eloquently.
I recently was sent an image of a church’s graphic material. It took about half a second for me to see that someone didn’t do their homework very well. While the message communicated was very much right on, there was an unintended snag in their communication. Whoever hung the banners below didn’t understand a cultural nuance in our society. Now I will warn you that if you are easily offended, then you will likely take offense at the image. I am using it as an example that sometimes innocent communication, when lazily put in front of an audience, can speak an unintentional message.
The image is telling us that this church values friends, teaching and worship. But if you look at the way they are set side by side, you’ll notice that the letters at the top are W.T.F.
That abbreviation is not exactly what this church was going for I am very certain. But when we fail to thoroughly look at our message we run the risk of doing exactly what happened here. We can communicate a message that is completely inappropriate without even knowing it. For those of you who don’t know what the three letters mean, you’re probably way better off! Let’s just say it’s not a message most churches would like hanging over their entry doors.
So what do we do with this? Simple, slow down. Get a second set of eyes or ears on the message you’re bringing. Whether it’s in a church or a small business or in front of massive crowds or even just a group of family and friends – what you say and how you say it communicates a lot about the care you give to your message.
Communication is totally out of your hands once it’s been received by someone else, so take your time to make sure what you’re about to say is what you really want to say.
So we all like to have options. We like to be able to chart our own course and pave our own way as the saying goes. We love to be able to look to the life we’ve mounted for ourselves and decide what we want to do with the life we have to live.
We live in a time in which we like to create options when options aren’t necessary. I mean seriously, do you really need to recreate the wheel when the wheel is working just fine? I was talking to someone the other day about a change he was trying to make in his routine. I was struck by the fact that this individual didn’t even know why he was making the change. Change for change sake is not really a good idea.
The problem with changing things up when you don’t really have a good reason to change them is that change causes turmoil, brokenness and conflict. By nature we don’t like change, so bringing change to a situation that is charged with uncertainty will only make the uncertainty greater. It’s the old adage if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. How true is that statement?
Think about it, you don’t change the tire in your car just because you feel like it. You wait until the tread is worn thing or it goes flat. Change for change sake just makes life harder than it has to be.
But there is a time when change is needed. When the system isn’t working. When harm is being inflicted. When someone, including yourself, is in danger. When a better, more productive method is present. These are some of the times when change is not only warranted but even encouraged.
When it comes time to bring change into your life, make sure to go slowly. All too often when it comes to change, we either refuse to change and stay in a harmful situation, throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak, or change something that isn’t the real problem.
Before you make decisions on what needs to change and what doesn’t remember the car analogy. You have to evaluate the real problem, assess the size of the problem, then fix the problem (keep in mind you may need to seek help to fix some problems).
Evaluate the problem.
If your car has one of those cool indicator lights on the dashboard, it might tell you that you need an oil change. When that little dummy light turns on, it’s saying hey dummy change oil. Sometimes we rush into our troubles and address the wrong problem. We feel like something isn’t right or see something that is just a little off so we run away from everything we know to be true. That’s like seeing a light turn on in the dashboard and thinking our car is going to blow so you trade it in for a new one when all it needed was an oil change. Don’t overreact to the dummy lights in your life. If you slow down you’ll see more clearly the problem they are indicating.
Assess the size of the problem
When we realize what the problem is then we can determine who can address the problem. Some problems we can easily manage, others we can’t. When we assess the size of the problem we honestly, truthfully seek to find the best possible outcome for the problem at hand. It is often helpful in this stage to invite someone you trust to come alongside you to ask you some questions to help clarify what you’re seeing. In the car situation above, this is looking at the owner’s manual to see what the little light means, calling a friend who’s a mechanic, or even taking it somewhere to have one of those cool code readers attached to help diagnose the problem. We don’t need to go changing oil in a car that has low tire pressure. Seeing the size of the problem will help you better understand how and who can fix it.
Fix the problem
When you’ve effectively evaluated the situation, determined the problem and its size and know who can fix it. You need to make the appointment or set the time aside in your schedule and just get the job done. I’ve seen many people, read the indicator light correctly, realize who can fix the problem, but then they don’t do anything with the problem. They let it just sit there and fester and grow and get out of hand. The longer the problem sits without being taken care of the bigger it gets and likely the more damage is done. Remember the car scenario…know what happens when you don’t change the oil as you’re supposed to? Maybe nothing today or tomorrow but if you go long enough you can tear apart an engine. The same is true of your problems. If we don’t fix the right problem, we’ll end up with a lot of expense and be no better off. Likewise if we know the problem and do nothing we’ll be living in the carnage of our laziness.
So change sucks sometimes but when we’re honest, methodical, and intentional about the situation we’ll end up with a well oiled machine called life that we can drive. (Yeah I know bad pun but I’m a dad so what can you expect.)
There you have it. Change is hard but the right change at the right time by the right person is essential.
It’s no secret that what we do is important, but equally important at times is how we approach those things we hold near and dear. We’ve probably all heard the old adage that says doing the same thing the same way expecting different results is insanity. Well I think that applies to a lot of different scenarios in life.
One thing I have learned from the last 18 months is that some people care more about how they do things than what they actually do! Now it’s no secret that I serve as a pastor of a central Ohio church, so admittedly my examples will be slanted in that direction. But I know from conversations with those outside the church leadership realm, that some of these correlation apply across cultural settings.
I think something interesting happened when the initial wave of closures and shuttering of activities started. Many churches and small businesses realized that they had relied on one method of doing things. Predominantly, churches had a singular method of distributing their content. Come to a centralized location. Receive what we give. Go home and live it out.
This worked for decades in North America and even in pockets around the world. But take away the church’s ability to meet together and the whole system goes out the window. I’m not saying we shouldn’t meet together! Actually I think meeting together is very beneficial, if not essential. But is it the only way?
From what I’ve seen and experienced it appears many churches in mainline Christianity have made the structure of how we do church more important than the gospel the church is to proclaim. In other words, doing church has become more important than being the church.
Think about the operational system of the church. Many churches are formed around the principle of gathering. If the church gathers it is functioning properly, then it will be gathering in a large assembly. But can the church operate without mass gatherings? What are some alternatives to the church assembling in one location?
Now before we get all early church critical here. The early church, according to the book of Acts, tells us that they gathered as an assembly and they gathering in homes. It wasn’t one or the other, but it was both. However it seems in our 21st Century church tradition we worship the idea of gathering more than letting the gathering fuel our worship.
Think about a restaurant or fast food joint for a minute. If you have only dine in seating, and you can’t gather to sit inside, how are you going to stay in business? This very problem caused many small businesses to shutter and eventually go out of business last year. It had similar effects to some churches who just couldn’t pivot fast enough to provide connecting points beyond the Sunday morning in person worship gathering.
What happens when the church can’t gather like we expect it to gather?
I think we need to start looking at how we can do and be the church in the midst of rolling black outs of meeting together. Analysts have said this is not the last shut down we’ll experience. And if we believe the teachings of the Bible to be true, we’ll see things getting harder and harder for the church as time goes on. So we need to value highly our gathering times, not neglecting to gather by any means. But we also need to find creative ways to gather, get the message out, stay in touch with one another. We need to develop deep relationships with those around us. We need to look out for one another and be proactive in establishing emergency response plans where we take care of those in our community.
There is no hard and fast, silver bullet approach to navigating crisis. There’s no perfect solution to a disruption but we can see clearly that putting all of our eggs in one basket of how we do what we do, didn’t work so well. Look at strategies for staying connected and even reaching beyond your current circle to those a little farther off who are in need of the good news you have to share.
The point is your methods aren’t bad. But perhaps we need to look at additional methods to bolster the overall impact of the message we have to give.
The premise of welfare and the working of the welfare system can be some controversial topics at times. The intent here isn’t to belittle anyone in the welfare system. The intent is simply to provide some perspective on what seems to be a more biblical approach to what we call welfare.
I recently was reading the book of Ruth in the Bible. It’s the story of a woman, Naomi, who lost her husband and sons in a short span of time. She was left a widow with her two daughters-in-law as the only ones to care for her. Long story short there was no one to take care of them. One of the daughters-in-law left to go back home, so the story continues with Ruth taking care of Naomi.
Fast forward to chapter 2 and we see Ruth out in a field gathering left over grain off the ground. Enter God’s welfare system. The practice was simple actually, farmers would gather the grain but leave some in the field for the poor and widows and those needing help. They didn’t have a system where people got a handout. The system God designed in this time had work built into it. They had to work to get the food.
No hand outs, just hand ups.
It was a fantastic system, if you really think about it. It kept those needing a little help active. It taught responsibility and work ethic. It made the people an active part of the community. And it wasn’t morally degrading to anyone who was too embarrassed to receive a handout. They did an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage. It was truly amazing! And better yet…it worked!
The issue faced in some parts of our country is that when we offer hand outs instead of hand ups we let people stay where they are. But when we offer a system designed to help people succeed and receive help at the same time, it’s a win – win for everyone!
When we think about helping those who are going through rough times, we have to understand that there is a time for handouts. But those times are not continual. If Ruth didn’t have to glean the fields for the leftover food, she wouldn’t have ever met her husband. When we sit back and rely on handouts and giveaway items, we run the risk of losing out on some massive opportunities for life!
How can you help give someone a hand up in your day to day life? If we would focus on empowering people to grow and succeed, we could quite possibly shatter any glass ceilings that exist in our culture for people of any and every life circumstance.
Sometimes I have a really hard time biting my tongue, but if I’m being honest – saying nothing is most of the time a much better option! When we get all worked up and angry about something or when something strikes that one nerve and we just explode – yeah that’s not a good thing. So practice restraint. Measure your words and be very calculated on what/when you speak.
However, there is a time when silence just won’t do the trick any longer. But when is that and what do you do? Here are a few scenarios when we just need to break the silence:
When someone continually makes the same mistake, it’s beneficial to point things out so they can grow and learn from that mistake. Just be careful you don’t come across as condescending or judgmental. Offer a loving word of encouragement to lead them in a different direction.
When you’re being attacked and you feel threatened, you must say something. Either say something to the person who’s doing the attacking or in some cases, if it’s gone too far or your life is in jeopardy, then you need to say something to an authority figure. This is one of those times when speaking up is absolutely critical!
When your morals are being compromised by those around you, and you don’t feel comfortable in the given situation, you should speak up. This one gets a little trickier because not everyone has the same moral standards that you have. When your morals are being put to the test, how strongly do you hold to them? When you speak up in this area, a word of caution. Don’t be a judgmental jerk. Just because they are your morals and convictions, doesn’t mean they are everyone else’s!
When your life is being threatened, you need to open your mouth. Ok so this should be obvious but perhaps we need a little reminder. No one under any circumstances should do anything that directly impacts your safety. If this is the case, seek help immediately! But please note: directly impacts. You very well might be in situations where someone else’s beliefs or views might allow them to do things that aren’t exactly the safest. Just because you don’t feel it to be safe doesn’t mean that you will be directly impacted. An example here is speeding. Pretty much everyone does it. Doesn’t make it right. It can potentially cause an accident leading to someone’s injury but that’s not necessarily a direct impact to you, after all you’ve done similarly! If you feel the need to say something to someone about how their actions might potentially cause harm to you or someone else, understand that if it’s not a clear and direct threat that can be proven you might not get very far in your argument.
When, after a time of deliberation, research and conversation, you realize your personal convictions are being compromised and the greater good is being challenged. This is again a slippery slope. We are emotional beings living in emotionally charged times, so proceed with caution. Don’t go off half cracked here. That will only do more harm than good. If you are in this situation, do your research. Not surface level and not just one sided. Look into the opposition’s point of view. Try to see things from their side. Understand that your convictions and beliefs aren’t everyone’s convictions and beliefs. So when you speak for your convictions you will contradict someone else who is likely just as convicted as you in the opposite direction.
The long and short is that there will be times when just sitting quiet is best. But there will also be times when you just can’t be silent any longer. When those moments arise, be educated, be humble, be consistent (make sure your words and your actions line up), and be understanding that not everyone will see it your way. We can do a lot of healing if we learn to have good healthy debates again! You have your point of view and that’s great! Just be ok with the fact that I have mine as well.
Be well friends and treat the other person with respect.
Once upon a time in a galaxy not too far from here, I would speak before I thought. My words would flow at times faster than the water over Niagara Falls. Some of those words were pretty intelligent, if I do say so myself. But others, well let’s just say not so much! And if I’m being honest, there were likely way more not so smart things than there were even half intelligent things!
But it’s not just saying dumb things that will get us in trouble. Sometimes we say hurtful things. We say unkind things. We even say untruthful things. All of these types of words can do vast harm to people we care about and ultimately can destroy a relationship.
You see words have power. Your words, once they come out of your mouth or through the inter webs on your computer or cell phone, can’t be retrieved. Once they are out there, well there’s no getting them back! You can’t apologize your way around them or talk your way past them. You just have to, in many cases, start brand new rebuilding the trust you once had. But it takes time and effort.
You see not only do words have power but the relationship from which they’re spoken carries weight as well. So what you say, how you say it and who you are to the person with whom you’re speaking all factor in to the damage done by your words (or your silence when words are most needed).
Before you hit send on that text message or facebook post. Before you reply to something someone says to you. Before you go off and spew your feelings all over someone else, hit the pause button. Ask yourself a couple of questions:
Is what I’m saying the whole truth?
Where did I get my information?
Is ruining this relationship worth getting my point across?
What do I have to gain by saying this? What could I lose?
The old adage of sticks and stones can hurt my bones but words will never hurt me couldn’t be more wrong. The damage done by our words, or lack of words, is far greater than anything inflicted by a slap on the face or punch in the gut.
The bible says in one place that our words and our tongue are like a fire burning inside us that if not handled properly can do vast damage. Words can lift up and they can tear down. Speak kindly with one another. Be silent when speaking isn’t necessary. Speak when the time is right. But when you speak, make sure what you speak is truthful, complete and said with love and respect. Be bold and courageous in your speaking when necessary. Be calm and gentle when the circumstances dictate.
Below is a message I recently gave on the power of our words. If you have a few minutes, I’d be honored for you to listen and give your thoughts.
I’ve noticed a trend lately in leadership circles in which I run. Leaders have been making so many decisions at such a rapid pace, that decision fatigue is sinking in and many leaders have simply stopped making decisions. They’ve settled for sitting in the I’m thinking about it phase. They’re stuck in the information gathering and mentally processing of data stages.
While these are important to be sure, because we never want to go off half cracked and make a decision without thoroughly thinking it through; there comes a time when we have to just make a move and trust our instincts. Now if you’re a person of faith, we call that moving forward in faith. But I don’t want to assume everyone who reads this is a person of faith. So think of it as going with your gut.
My sixth grade teacher always told us when we were taking tests that our first instinct on an test question was 80% of the time going to be the right answer. If this is right, then moving forward with the gut decision is something that will more often than not benefit us and those we lead.
But why do we not make decisions? Why do we sit in the thinking phase for so long? Below are three key reasons why we fail to make decisions, and some suggestions for how to move through this phase more efficiently.
Fear Of Making The Wrong Choice
This is probably the most common issue that I see leaders facing. Deciding not to move forward because we’re afraid it’s the wrong decision only cripples all forward movement. When we stop moving forward or pivoting through challenging times, we lose momentum. It’s actually a matter of simple physics. An object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest. Now there are some external circumstances that play into this, but once we let our movement stop it’s far more challenging to get things moving again.
Think about a car when it stalls. If you’ve ever run out of gas while driving and needed to push your car to the closest parking lot, you know how hard it can be to get the car moving initially. But once you get those wheels turning the force needed to keep it moving is significantly less labor intensive.
I’ll be totally honest. I hate to fail. I hate making wrong decisions, but I hate even more being in a state of constant inertia. Sitting around not moving causes so much anxiety and it is exhausting. Friends, it is far easier to change directions or make corrections to your course if you’re moving. Even if you make a mistake. Even if the direction you choose turns out not to be what you thought, it’s far easier to make corrective action as long as you never stopped moving.
If you’re stuck in this mindset, take a moment to consider that one small step you can make. Find someone to hold you accountable to making the move. Check in regularly with your team to ensure the desired shift is actually yielding the change you’re hoping it will make. But most of all, just move. Small steps are better than no steps.
A Change Isn’t Really Needed
Some would say that I like change, but they really couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t like change at all. It’s uncomfortable and painful to say the very least. But when a change is needed it’s absolutely necessary to move. The challenge however is when we wrestle with a total change when a mere heart shift will work.
More often than not, we lose steam and think a revamp of a whole system is needed when all we really need to do is turn the dial a little bit. Not all changes entail throwing out whole systems and starting from scratch. As a matter of fact the change we need to make might be simply moving personnel to different roles or changing the layout of our communication structures. Sometimes flipping two steps in a process will yield tremendous results in shorting the gap between the desired outcome and the actual outcome.
When you’re approaching change and the change looks daunting, carefully evaluate with the team if the whole change is necessary? Ask if there are smaller changes that can be made to incrementally get you to the place you’re hoping to arrive. Be flexible with your change. You never know what’s around the corner until you get there.
We’re Just Plain Lazy
The hardest one of these to type is that of the lazy leader. Lazy leaders are uncaring. They have the skills to lead an organization into a great direction, but instead of doing the hard thing and making decisions and stepping forward in action…they stall. They don’t move. They clam up. They sit back and wait for the perfect scenario in which they might move forward.
Lazy leaders aren’t leaders. They’re leeches. They suck the life out of an organization. If you’re a leader and you’re not moving forward, making decisions, leading through the challenges, then perhaps your presence is actually detracting from the life of the organization instead of just passively watching things unfold.
No action is often far worse than making the wrong action. Leaders it’s time to rise up and lead again. It’s time to research your options and move. Too many good leaders settle for good when great is attainable. Lead. Step forward. Pivot. Keep your eyes open and you just might move into a future you couldn’t even have predicted for yourself.
