The PF Women Team at our Annual Team Retreat ~ 2018 Today on Seth Godin's blog, he said: It's tempting to decide to make a profit first, then invest in training, people, facilities, promotion, customer service and most of all, doing important work. In general, though, it goes the other way. Yes, it does. If you are waiting to make a profit before you do these things, in my experience you're not going to make a profit. So many organizations, ministries and churches are struggling with financial issues. I know your pain. As anyone who follows our story knows, our ministry was in a ton of debt four years ago when I came on as director. Since that time, we've gotten out of debt and turned a profit every year. God has done amazing things through out team, for which we give Him the glory! I find that what Seth is saying here is absolutely true, with one disclaimer. For Christian leaders, spiritual disciplines must always be first. Before we started i...
When you can tell it is time to step down from a leadership role?
I always find it interesting that people ask the question, “when should I step down?” much more than asking “when should I step up?" But that's another topic for another day.
I will start out by telling you when you should never step down. Don’t step down when you are frustrated, tired or in the midst of conflict. For some of you that would be…all the time. Ha! In all seriousness, these are times it would be unwise to step down. Everything is clouded by your fatigue and frustration and you don’t think clearly during times like this. Before I ever step down I step back. What do I mean by that? Let me clarify right off the bat that it doesn't mean I stop caring about the quality of my work! When faced with feelings that it might be time to step down I might take a vacation, or take a few days to catch up on sleep, proper eating, exercise, and get in the right frame of mind through prayer and spending time in the Word. Only after doing that can I make a prayerful, spirit led decision. Many times it's just my fatigue talking and I realize that after I rest. A decision to step down needs to be prayerfully and carefully made and should never be a knee-jerk reaction to pain or frustration.
Leadership is never easy, at least true leadership. Too many people step down just because things aren’t easy or they aren’t receiving appreciation. All I have to say to that is “welcome to leadership!” The life of a leader is hard. The higher up you go the harder it is, not the other way around. If this were easy, everybody would be doing it!
When you first accept a leadership position you normally go, “Yay!” Then you get into it for a while, discover the challenges of the role and say to yourself, “Okay, was I doing the right thing to accept this?” It’s normal. Everyone goes through it. I don't know any leader who hasn't gone through this ambivalence.
If it is truly time to step down God's will is not a rash decision but one out of prayer and a clear mind – not confusion (Satan is the author of confusion) and have the peace of God. The Bible says we are to be led forth with peace.
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