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The Single Best Way to Lead Change in a Very Traditional, Old or Resistant Setting

After all, most people are part of your church because at some point, they decided to give their lives to Christ and be part of a cause that’s bigger than themselves. Your job is to remind them (and yourself) of this daily.

Leaders who relentlessly refocus on the why are always the most effective leaders.

If the entire group gets focused on the why, the what and the how have a way of working themselves out far more easily, because why motivates.

When people agree on the why, the conversation starts to sound more like this:

Well, I might not like it personally, but it is the most sensible approach. Let’s go for it.

We’ll find the money somewhere.

Let’s give it a try. I’ll put my objections aside.

I feel like there’s a future again!

Will you get some opposition? You bet. But, as I outline in my book, likely no more than 10 percent of people will be opposed, and you can leverage a strategy for handling that.

And if a few people leave … let them go. They can always find another church they can go to. The people you’ll reach will likely far outweigh the people you lose.

What’s the single best way to navigate change in a traditional, old or very resistant setting? Focus on why far more than you focus on what and how. 

What are you learning about leading change in a traditional or resistant context?