Andy Stanley spoke about what he calls the best leadership decision he ever made. He had always been plaqued by the following fear:
"I'm afraid that if I don't _______, then ______".
If I don't work 70 hours a week, then the church won't make it.
If I don't visit the lady in the hospital their family will leave the church.
Or whatever...
Stanley realized, though, that Matthew 16 in the Bible says "and on this rock I will build my church". It is God's responsibility to build the church. What a relief!
He also saw that Ephesians says "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church". Men and women need to work on marriage and family; loving the Church is Christ's specialty.
When Stanley planted North Point Community Church he decided he was going to work no more than 45 hours per week. He felt that God would have him cheat the job... cheat the church... rather than cheat his family. He's stuck to that and led his staff to do the same.
When you limit your work and your staff's work to a certain number of hours per week you do several things:
- you focus on your strengths... there's no time to mess around with your weaknesses
- you prioritze the things you do as a person and learn to say 'no'
- you focus the organization and learn to say 'no' to new opportunities
- you create incredible loyalty from staff and the people you lead (because they are healthy, focused, and protected from overwork)
One final Andy thought...
Never violate the principles of God in order to gain or maintain the blessings of God.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Leadership Summit - 2006 - #3
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3 comments:
Some good thoughts. I'll be picking up some extra work hours during the week and will have to juggle time between two roles. In the process I've been thinking that I'll need to make a more intentional effort to spend time with God so that our relationship doesn't suffer. After all, if God is the one who will help me remain pure and honorable in lieu of a wife don't I need to spend close to the same amount of time developing that connection?
Great thoughts, Parke. I think that whether single or married the "family" Andy talks about can expand to include (of course) God but also friends as well.
word up. his whole talk was so understated, but he communicated some real wisdom. loved it ....
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