Have You Implemented These Two Game-Changing Activities?
It turns out that wise leaders do two things on a regular basis. Wise leaders clarify the win in advance and evaluate results after every attempt.
A recent Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast provided a reminder that I need to share again with my team. And I need to share it with you too.
Wise leaders clarify the win in advance and evaluate results after every attempt.
Have you ever truly clarified the win for your ministry? I’ve written about this concept many, many times. The idea is by no means original with me. Peter Drucker wrote about deciding in advance what you will call success and Andy Stanley wrote about clarifying the win in 7 Practices of Effective Ministry. See also, Clarifying the Win in Your Small Group Ministry and Clue #4 When Designing Your Small Group System.
I was reminded today that I need to always keep the importance of clarifying the win in front of my team. It is so easy to lose sight of the true objective. It is painfully common to get caught up in determining whether an event or a program is a success based on something as short-sighted as attendance or the opinions of the usual suspects.
I was reminded last week that if you haven’t clarified the win for your ministry or event (what you will call success) it will be very difficult to know whether what happens as a result of your ministry or event is good or bad. You won’t be able to genuinely decide if you won or lost.
- Clarification: Defining the win. What’s the bullseye on the wall for the critical events in your ministry? If no one is clear on what the win is, then you really shouldn’t expect to hit the bullseye.
- Evaluation: Evaluation can’t be effective without clarity on what a win actually is. The tendency is to evaluate the numbers. The best organizations evaluate both the numbers and the experience. Evaluate both what didn’t work and what worked.
Need an example? Here are a few that could happen anywhere:
- You have a monthly men’s breakfast. It is fairly well attended but attendance isn’t growing. It has a solid base of happy customers. There are always new men in attendance.
- You have a growing small group ministry. You’ve doubled the number of groups in both of the last two years. You’re hopeful that the leaders do more than convene a regular meeting.
- You have a very popular on-campus women’s Bible study. It is well attended and caters largely to Beth Moore fans. Although a few of your table leaders invest in their group members and serve as shepherds, most do not and serve mostly as discussion facilitators.
Which of these are examples of a win? It really depends. Without clarifying the win in advance, results cannot be evaluated wisely.
Wise leaders clarify the win in advance and evaluate results after every attempt.
Want to listen to the podcast? Here’s a link to Better before Bigger.
What do you think? Have a question? Want to argue? You can click here to jump into the conversation.
