[featured-img]One of the problems with high-functioning ministers is that our energy tends to always function quite highly, even to the point of dysfunction at times. Many of us score a high “P” on the Myers-Briggs Inventory (which, by the way stands for PANTS, as in fly-by-the-seat-of), so orderly doesn’t tend to be either in our vocabulary or in the way we conduct business. We get up and go to bed – and sometimes wake up in the middle of the night – with visions of ministries running through our minds. We think out loud, sometimes at inappropriate times. We get an idea and just know it’s great and needs to be acted on NOW.
But there are three words it behooves all of us to consider. Only six syllables that can make a BIG difference in the quality and sustainability of what you have dreamed up.
Slow … Steady … Strategic
Slowing down for a few moments (or – oh forbid it! – maybe even a day or two) allows us to really consider our idea, to give it the attention it deserves, to consider the pros and the cons and the who’s we need to talk to if it’s going to take shape and become owned by the congregation so it can be their ministry, not merely ours.
Likewise, ideas rarely catch on in a day, at least not across the board and rarely by those who think strategically. If you haven’t thought through the pros and cons and don’t have a clear plan for (a) how your idea is going to make a difference and (b) how it’s going to get from head to flow, you’re going to hit a few walls (and, no, it is not appropriate to get around them by going only to your yes-sayers). It can be frustrating as H%/L but settling into steady – which doesn’t have to be slow! – allows for more than mere ownership by the congregation. With your function on high, you will help them buy-in with their time, talent, treasure, and testimony.
To proceed strategically implies you have a strategy in place, as well as your tactics and logistics in hand. Every move you make and encourage in others is part of the larger plan. If you slow yourself down just a bit and keep yourself steady, you’ll find yourself making and implementing those plans strategically. You’ll be less tempted to veer off the agreed upon path and you’ll find that idea of yours becoming a reality. And, if you don’t burn out first (a huge risk for highly-functioning ministers), you may even get to see it for yourself. Slow … Steady … Strategic. There not just three words comprising six syllables. They’re a commitment effective ministers make.
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Thanks for the great words of wisdom!