Adding Value

I recently listened to a podcast of Harvard Business Review (IdeaCast) featuring Marshall Goldsmith. Goldsmith “is a world authority in helping successful leaders achieve positive, lasting change in behavior. Dr.Goldsmith is the author or co-editor of 22 books, including What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.”

All that to say…the man has a clue what he talking about.

He was asked about the need some leaders have to “add value” to employees ideas. The article and the comments are here.

This hit me as a truth that needs to be brought out.

When an employee or volunteer has an idea or action plan, they also have a huge amount of ownership in that idea. The likelihood that they will work hard to make it happen is very high. When they come to the leader with this idea, what they are looking for is approval or additional resources to make it happen.

Most leaders incorrectly assume that the employee or volunteer is eagerly awaiting a “better version” of this idea from the boss. You have seen it and maybe even done it. We, as leaders, somehow feel compelled to offer additional insights or options to the presented idea. It is our way of “adding value” to the idea. That’s what we are supposed to do. Right? Make things better…

When we do that, we actually decrease the likelihood of success. Why? Because we took ownership away from the employee. The idea is no longer really theirs - but our version of it. As such - they are less committed to seeing it happen.

A leader needs to know when to encourage, and when to “add value”. Our desire to add value is usually nothing more than our personal ego at work - which is not the best reason to open our mouths.

Becoming a Vital Church

There are very specific things that each and every local church must do if they expect to be around in the next 25 years. 25 years may seem like a random time frame. It’s not. That’s how long it takes for most churches to move from vital to declining (and soon to dead).

Honestly, most church leaders are not worried about what their church will look like in 25 years - they are just trying to figure out how to make things work for today. The good news is that these concepts apply to both today and tomorrow.

Let me begin by saying that I believe each and every local church has a mission to fulfill. No church is the “vermiform appendix” of the Body of Christ. No church had a purpose for existing in the past, but not one today.

Where that mindset exists, you have leaders who have missed what God is calling them to do and to be. I am not referring to the clergy when I use the term “leaders”, but rather the people who influence the direction the church is allowed to go.

Before this conversation begins, you need to ask yourself if you are actually open to doing whatever God may call you to do…or are you just hoping that God will bless what you choose to do.

Most North American churches are in the second category - and will soon be dead. What about you?