How are you going to get there?

In a couple of weeks at the Foursquare Church’s annual convention, I get to help present information about Mobilizing Our People for Ministry and Mission. I think this is pretty important stuff, so I’m excited to be a part of the conversation. Here is part of what I’m going to say:

As a pastor, I have learned that clarity is important for leadership. One of my primary assignments is to understand where God is calling my congregation to go. It doesn’t mean that I arbitrarily create or singlehandedly cast the vision for the church, but that ultimately the responsibility falls on me to be clear about our direction so that we all can stay on course. Because, as the old saying goes, “If it’s misty in the pulpit, it’s cloudy in the pews”.

But though I have to learn to clearly communicate where God is calling our congregation to go, as much as possible I want to release people to figure out how to get there.

Here is an example: If I’m going to meet someone at In-N-Out for lunch, what I really care about is that they are there at the time we agreed to meet. I might need to clarify instructions (which In-N-Out; what time is lunch) and if they are unfamiliar with the area, I will need to give directions. But those who know the city don’t need me to dictate how they must travel to get to our lunch. Maybe they want to leave early and run some errands. Maybe they know of a short-cut I am unaware of. Maybe they want to carpool with others who are going to meet us for lunch too, and along the way want to put the top down and crank up some music. Great! I’m interested that we have lunch together, not in micromanaging their specific pathway to that meal.

Release people to come up with plans and strategies that fit the agreed-upon and clearly articulated vision. Others will often come up with ideas and directions much better than anything we could have figured out, anyways. They get buy in; they get to use their gifts and abilities; they get to learn and have fun; and we all get to where we have agreed to go together.

In fact, if we have a too-strict and too-complex system, we will need to learn to celebrate and champion those who work “outside” of our predetermined systems. Some of the greatest inventions—post-it notes, frappuccinos, super-glue—happened because people were working outside of their boxes (In the case of frappuccinos, one hot Southern California day a Starbucks partner brought in a home blender and started experimenting…and I’m happy to say the rest is history!) Without trying new methods and creating new pathways, we will all get stuck in a rut that will never allow for break-out ideas and creative expression.

So work on being a permission-granting organization rather than a permission-seeking one. Use “yes” as the default, and save “no” primarily for when there is a clear philosophical reason someone shouldn’t do something. When people are released to creatively go after congregational vision, I believe our corporate impact will be multiplied many times over.