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Four Opportunity Killing Mistakes Young (and Old) Leaders Make

Mistaking Warm Fuzzies for Results

I have lost track of how many times I’ve had this conversation:

“How was the event?”

“It was great!”

“Awesome. What made it great?”

“People loved it!”

“People loved it” is never an accurate measure of the effectiveness of a sermon, an event or a communication. For one thing it can’t be measured. Just because people say they love something doesn’t mean they love it. It may mean they can’t think of a polite way to say, “This sucked,” so they go with “Great job.”

The correct answer to, “How was it?” Is

  • My goal going in was that x number people would take y action
  • We met or exceeded that goal
  • Therefore it was great

For example:

  • My goal going into the men’s breakfast was that 25% of the men who came would join a men’s group
  • In the end 30% of the men who came joined a group.
  • Therefore it was a great event.

We all need warm fuzzies and attaboys, we just can’t confuse them with actual results.

I have focused on young leaders in this post, but I have seen leaders of all ages, including myself, make these mistakes. The goal is to recognize our mistakes and learn from them. Then we can go out and make new mistakes. Hopefully we grow in the process.

This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.