It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many naturally wired leaders and driven types rise to the helm of our churches. Each one is following the call of God in their lives and comes with a mixed bag of healthy leadership traits and “type-A” hang-ups.
That leaves you feeling the tension. Some days you are excited to be a part of something that is moving forward. Other days you may feel like you are working for a dictator who is building his own kingdom.
So what do you do when the primary unstated value of your ministry is “No growth, no glory!”
How do you resolve the tension of enthusiasm versus oppression?
You will probably never resolve it completely, but here are a few tips to help you keep sane and develop your own strengths as you lead.
1. Cultivate your own progress orientation.
Believe it or not, you have a lot to learn from the healthy side of proactive leadership. Remember, Jesus ran a lean-mean tight ship as the twelve-turned-seventy-two forged ahead city to city with urgency and focus.
Where is God teaching you to cultivate a godly sense of urgency? Are you developing the willingness to take more initiative? How can you practice a bias for action even more?
2. Tie all “push-back,” back to progress.
It’s important to move past hasty disagreement or quick pushback. Don’t disagree out of emotion.
It may be that you have better ideas. You may have key insights for sustainability and integrated efforts. You probably see the need for a better system or process to define before launching the next ministry initiative.
The key is this: When you share you ideas or when you have to push-back, make sure you “connect the dots” back to progress. Don’t share your idea until you can demonstrate why it makes growth eventually better, stronger or faster.
Many times, I use the phrase “slow down to speed up” or “squat before you leap” to help a leader appreciate a season of “no new visible progress” in order to prepare for the next visible growth run.
