If you lead long enough, eventually you’re going to hit a leadership lid. It happens when you reach your capacity in a particular area, and the good news is there may be a solution.
But what you do next has the potential to make or break your leadership future. Ignore it, deny it, make excuses about it, or refuse to acknowledge and deal with it, and you’ll undermine your impact.
Face reality, and you’ll create a window of opportunity to grow.
You know you’ve hit a leadership lid when …
- The ministry you’re leading has stagnated or is declining.
- The other ministries in the church are growing at a faster pace than the area you are responsible for.
- You’re experiencing a marked increase in conflict.
- Protecting the past trumps creating the future.
- There is a revolving door of participants or volunteers in your ministry.
- You’re experiencing long-term personal spiritual stagnation.
- You’re experiencing mission creep and redefining success as you go.
This week at our monthly staff leadership gathering at Sun Valley, Scott Ridout, one of the lead pastors at Sun Valley, walked the staff from all three of our campuses through Nine Common Leadership Lids That Ministry Leaders face.
Here are some of my notes from that conversation:
1. Character.
Character is the lowest leadership lid; and no level of competency will ever make up for a fatal flaw in character, because ministry is built on trust. This shows up in all kinds of ways, including how people handle pressure, whether they blame or take responsibility, self-promotion or protection, and work ethic among other things.
2. Culture.
The culture of your church is made up of the sum total of the beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviors of the church. Violate this culture by making decisions and leading in a direction that is incongruent with this, and you’ll find your leadership journey short lived.
