Be All You Can Be: A Challenge to Stretch Your God-Given Potential (20 page)

If you are able to answer these seven questions about any leadership situation that calls for decisive action, you are on your way to making a wise choice. You have laid a solid foundation and are ready to move on.

At this point of the decision-making process you go on a fact-finding mission to help you better assess the situation as it really is. There are three key questions to ask at this stage:

What do I need to know?
Before I came to Skyline, I needed to know what my job description would be. I needed to know exactly what I was responsible for and to whom I was accountable. I needed to know what my salary and benefits would be. These are the hard, cold facts of the job.

What do I know?
After you have decided what facts you need to know, mentally check off the questions that you already have answered.

What do I not know?
In my own situation, I knew what the search would be expecting of me. I knew what they were going to pay me. I knew that they were behind me. I did not know, however, whether or not I would be so readily accepted by the congregation. I did not know where I would live or where my children would go to school. It can be difficult to make a decision when all the facts are not in.

Once you have answered these three questions to your satisfaction, you are in the position to make a decision, so make it. At this point, many people fall into the “what if …” syndrome. These people rarely do anything decisive. What they need more than answers is a swift kick.

At this phase of the process, you may get strong reactions. People will either confirm your decision or question your wisdom. This is a crucial time because emotions come into play. You will hear such comments as, “This is the way we’ve always done it!” or, “But my grandpa helped build this church.” Expect to take some heat after you have lit a fire.

The secret here is to develop an “inner circle.” In my case, my inner circle is my staff. Your inner circle should be made up of people who are closely involved in your project, people who are knowledgeable, positive, and unintimidated.

How do you determine whose feedback is going to count? Let me give you six factors that should be taken into account:

Knowledge of the subject
. Obviously, this is critical. If, for instance, I have to make a decision involving the music department, I am much more likely to listen to members of our music staff than our comptroller.

Skill
. Not only should the person know the subject in question, he or she should be good at it. Our comptroller may have some knowledge in the field of music, but he can’t carry a tune in a bucket.

Experience
. This means successful experience, of course. There is no substitute for experience in giving a person expertise in any area. I am ready to listen to the person who has already lived through what I may be going through.

Responsibility
. Someone who has successfully shouldered the responsibility of seeing a plan carried out will certainly have more credibility than a novice.

Strength of feeling
. This is an intuitive thing, but when someone has strong feelings about an idea, it comes through. I love people of conviction. If a person is willing to lay his life on the line, he has my attention.

Principle
. Am I well enough acquainted with the person to know that he runs his life on the same general principles that I do mine? If his principles are in violation of mine, he’s not apt to be in my inner circle.

If a person qualifies in all six of these areas, he or she has my ear. If a staff member comes to my office to sell me a program and he passes all six tests, I’m in a position to buy.

The feedback stage is crucial in the decision-making process. If we don’t spend enough time here, we’re in danger of making the wrong decision. If we spend too much time here, we may never get the decision made. Actually, the greatest difficulty is not in knowing the right decision but in making it. After you know the facts, the history, and have feedback, you need to make your decision without delay.

At this point my attention turns from, “What decision should I make?” to, “How shall I make my decision work?” Here I move from the inner circle to the “outer circle.” In this stage I need to focus on two concerns:

PROBLEMS—What might torpedo the decision?

PROCEDURES—How can the decision be effectively communicated?

I discussed handling difficulties in chapter 9, “Your Problem Is Not Your Problem,” but here I want to give you a concise four-point outline for responding to problems:

1.
Anticipate them
. Don’t let problems take you by surprise.

2.
List them
. Write down all the problems you’re aware of.

3.
Address them
. Examine each problem thoroughly and think of a solution.

4.
Outsmart them
. If plan A doesn’t work, be ready with plan B.

When we first began dealings to purchase land on which to relocate our sanctuary, the chairman of the relocation committee wrote to the congregation answering the potential questions and problems before they had a chance to ask. It kind of lets the wind out of a possible opponent’s sail when he discovers you’re one step ahead of him. Address the possible problem before it becomes a reality.

Once you have faced the issue and decided what to do about it, how do you proceed? There are five steps to take in order to make a decision effective:

Communication
. Make others aware that you’re aware.

Consideration
. Enable your outer circle to visualize the positive results of your decision.

Comparison
. Evaluate your decision honestly. Compare the pros and cons.

Conviction
. This is the climax of the decision-making process. This is the step at which you reach a consensus.

Commitment
. Once you and your circle have agreed on the decision, they should stand with you in seeing that decision through to fruition.

This is the part of decision making that I like: It’s the time to move ahead. The critical element at this stage is timing; if your timing is off, all of your preparatory work may not save your decision. A good formula to remember regarding timing is this one:

The wrong decision at the wrong time = disaster.

The wrong decision at the right time = a mistake.

The right decision at the wrong time = unaccceptance.

The right decision at the right time = success.

Now you have the five stages of decision making. Don’t underestimate the value of understanding and practicing this process. A leader’s ability to make decisions and see them work means the difference between success and failure. Remember, success is not for the chosen few, but for the few who choose.

chapter 12

I DON’T HAVE TO SURVIVE

S
URVIVE
—
IT
’
S THE MOST NATURAL THING WE
do. We were born with an instinct to try to survive. We are born fighters.

But that natural desire to survive creates a conflict. In Galatians 2:20, Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ”—that’s not survival. We’re caught between resurrection and death. We all want the resurrection, but most of us don’t want the crucifixion. This is a major problem in the church, both among church leaders and laymen.

The desire to survive keeps us at a mediocre level of living. It eats away at our conviction until we find it too easy to compromise and next to impossible to confront. The result of this survival mentality in the church is spiritual stagnation—maybe not death, but not exactly life, either.

If our number-one goal is to survive, we’re no longer free to make the best decision. I find this all the time in leadership. We make decisions that are acceptable instead of making decisions that are right and godly. We take a poll as to what satisfies the people rather than what we know in our hearts is really right.

Also, if we desire to survive, we are encouraged to excuse our lack of effectiveness. We talk a lot about being faithful in the church; we talk very little about being fruitful. A fruitful person has to die first, so since most of us haven’t died, we would rather talk about faithfulness. We may not really accomplish much, but at least we’re consistent.

Another thing our desire to survive does is to sap our freedom and joy in the Lord. That’s why there’s a lot of talk in the Christian community today about burnout instead of move-out. We are trying so desperately to survive that we’re operating in the flesh, and that is just wearing down our emotional and physical faculties.

Our desire to survive hinders us from completely obeying God. The Bible’s heroes were characterized by wholehearted obedience. But if we are survivors, when it comes to the point in our walk with God where we may lose our skin, we cease walking in the light in order to preserve our flesh.

Our desire to survive robs us of the power and the blessings of God. When we strive for man’s approval, that’s about all we’ll get. What we’ll miss out on are the riches of God.

There are a number of survival seekers in the Bible who, because of their desire to save themselves, lost the best that God had for them.

Lot is a good example. He chose the well-watered plains of Jordan. He took what was best for himself, and he lost his family in the deal. Ananias and Sapphira withheld from God what was rightly his and lost their lives because of it. King Saul wanted to keep his throne and his kingdom. He also wanted to keep all the glory to himself.

There’s something common to all these people who tried to survive: They lost what they tried to keep. Whatever the survivor holds tightest he loses. It’s a paradox evident in the teachings of Jesus. “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it” (Luke 9:24).

Sometimes we think that the people who have the most are the ones who hold on to it the tightest. The rich young ruler is a good example. But this is not necessarily the case. If you’re a survival seeker, it’s because of your mind-set, not your position or your possessions. Survivors have an “I want to stay alive at any cost” attitude. Anybody can adopt this philosophy of life.