I was out on a bike ride the other day, and I passed someone’s house who goes to our church.

I had that thought that I think every ministry leader has had at some point.

Hey…I don’t think I’ve seen them for a while. Has it been 3 or 4 months? (Pause).

I wonder if they left?

I even tried to help one of their family members through a crisis recently. Then I thought I wonder if I made it worse…not better.

I then found myself in that awkward space. We are a larger church (about 1500 people call us home) with two locations.

How do you drill down on that?

I realized we have people who are within this family’s natural sphere of care and so of course we’re going to check in on them and make sure they’re okay.

It also made me think about how people tend to leave churches these days.

Some leave angry and cause a fight. 

Most just disappear, often without a word.

We don’t have a lot of the first kind at our church these days, but I’m sure we have some of the second.

It got me thinking…

Keep reading this post…

We’re all gifted at something.

Sometimes in the name of false modesty we pretend we’re not really that gifted. But that’s just not true.

You’re gifted at something:

Communication

Leadership

Mercy

Serving

Discernment

Music

Encouragement

Giving

And besides, it’s always good to remember that our gifting says as much about the Giver as it does about the recipient; your gifting is a reflect of God’s handiwork.

You would think a gift could only help you. But that’s not necessarily true.

It can actually hurt you.

So how does that happen?

Here’s how:

Keep reading this post…

My guess is that, whatever you lead, you

Want to lead an aligned organization

See as much agreement in your organization as you can

Find and cultivate consensus

Let me go out on a limb here and guess that it’s been a struggle.

Aligning people around a common mission, vision and strategy is hard work. 

Getting people to agree is difficult.

And finding consensus can sometimes seem impossible. 

I get that. I’ve been there.

The trap I’ve seen so many leaders fall into is that they approach alignment, agreement and consensus backwards.

Many (if not most) leaders try to get:

Consensus first.

Agreement second.

Alignment third.

I’ve tried that too.

The problem with that approach is it almost never works. In fact, it’s backwards.

When you figure out the right order, it can change how you lead forever, and help everyone involved.

If you miss it, it can leave you and everyone you lead floundering.

Consider this: when the automobile was first invented, almost nobody saw how big the car would become. The Literary Digest wrote:

“The ordinary “horseless carriage” is at present a luxury for the wealthy; and although its price will probably fall in the future, it will never, of course, come into as common use as the bicycle.”

Consensus about the car developed after the car was introduced. Not before.

The application to your situation is direct.

So let’s get at it.

Keep reading this post…