It's July 1st. That means 2010 is 50% done.
The good news is that 2010 still has 50% to go.
So put together a plan that allows you to reach your goals.
6 months is plenty of time to accomplish many goals.
It's halftime. So take a breath, focus on what you want to accomplish, and go for it!
P.S. If you want a resource that can help you get more done, pick up our resource "The Productive Leader". In fact, use the coupon code july4 to get 30% off.
The main reason I do coaching is because I love Pastors and helping another leader brings me a great amount of joy.
The other reason I invest in other Pastors is because it makes me a better leader. It's a weird equation, but the more I invest in other leaders, the more I improve in my own leadership.
I believe that's a principle that's true for all of us as leaders. The more we invest in other leaders, the more our own leadership improves.
So take that Pastor out to lunch, return that email from a church leader across town, and coach that church planter. What you'll find is that you're becoming a better leader in the process.
If you haven't seen this article yet, it's from the guys who wrote "Made to Stick" (a book I highly recommend to any communicator).
It's about seeing little things that reveal bigger problems.
Here's the link. Take 5 minutes and read it. You'll thank me later. (Plus, if you like Van Halen, it's a cool insight into their world in the 1980's).
I enjoy reading books by theorists. Their views on society and cultural changes are extremely helpful.
Yet here's where we need to be careful. Beware of theorists posing as practitioners. I have no time for a theorist telling me how to run Calvary Fellowship. Why? Because they've never done it.
Honestly, I sick of guys writing books about how to "do church" who have never actually done it. Or, they pastored a church, left, and then wrote a book about how everything needs to be different.
With all due respect, It would be a much greater service to the body of Christ if they simply showed us what to do by modeling it for us.
Unfortunately, that's a lot harder than writing. (Rant over)
I drove by a shopping plaza and I saw several stores that had recently closed. I overheard someone say that all of these stores closing is a sign of the economy. The 2 people talking mentioned how the economy was the villain and the cause of all of our woes and they moved on.
I stopped to think for a moment and I thought, "The economy isn't the villain. The economy is simply revealing the problem."
"What's the problem" you ask. It's a bad plan. Let's think about this:
- It's a bad plan to live off credit, which is what many of these businesses did and when the credit ran dry, their business was over.
- It's a bad plan to not have a marketing plan that continually drives customers to your store.
- It's a bad plan to think we're always to going to live in the "7 years of plenty".
Here's the kicker: churches do the same thing. But we can learn the lesson and grow wiser.
- Get your financial world in order
- Create an outreach strategy that makes sense and won't break the bank.
- Don't overcommit yourself and put the church in a tough financial position
- Budget conservatively. You can always bump up your budget if God blesses above what you expected.
- Reducing a budget is a lot harder and usually bring casualties.
The economy has made our lives a little tougher, but if it's forces us to seek God more and put together a better strategy then maybe we should be grateful.
