We know that the essence of life is growth. We experience it from the time we are born. We see it all around us. Nothing stays the same. Things are always changing. People are always growing.
We as church leaders are no different. We should continue to grow and develop. However, there is a tendency for us to get stuck. We get stuck in methodology; we like things done a certain way. We get stuck in an era; we liked it better in 1998. We get stuck in a friend group; these are the people that were with me from the beginning. And, before we know it, we haven’t moved or grown in over 5 years. We are still doing things the same way and thinking the same we did.
John Maxwell talks about “The Law Of The Lid” in where he indicates that an organization will never grow beyond the leader of that organization. For example, if you are a level 6 leader, your church will never grow beyond that. If you want to your organization to grow, you have to grow as a leader. The kicker is that the law of the lid eventually applies to every leader. Every leader will become the lid to their own organization. You and I will eventually get in the way of the growth that we want to see in our church.
The good news is there’s hope. Here are three ways to get out of your own way as a leader and remove the lid that’s keeping you and your church for growth.
Always be Learning. Never stop reading, never stop listening to podcasts and never stop utilizing the opportunities for conferences and connections to grow in your leadership. We can take for granted the many resources that are available to us so it’s important to schedule time for learning in your week. What book are you reading? What podcast will you listen to? What phone call conversation are you going to have this week where you can ask questions and learn something new? If you’re not intentional about making this happen, it won’t happen. Set out goals for growth and take learning seriously. Make notes about the books you’ve read or the podcasts you’ve listened to. Take the things that you learn and re-teach it to others. You will learn a whole lot more if you have to be the one to teach it back to leaders on your team.
Treat Accountability Like A Friend. For some reason, we want to avoid the things that keep us accountable; we fear accountability. When you realize that the only way you will lose weight is if you first step on the scale, you will embrace accountability. It won’t always feel good to realize that your attendance is shrinking or you haven’t developed as many leaders as you set out to do, or that not too many people have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord this past year. However, you can only fix the problems you are keenly aware of. Accountability to metrics and to others will only serve your organization and help you to get out of your own way. Healthy accountability to your board and to a few colleagues will help you improve your leadership and your skills. Setting goals and achieving them will boost your confidence and help you gain momentum.
Practice Humility. Pride is so sneaky and it’s the ultimate barrier to growth and development. We have no problems preaching about humility but when it comes time for us to receive feedback or coaching, we resist it. None of us likes to look like we don’t know what we’re doing. It’s not an enjoyable experience when someone points out ways that we could improve. However, no one gets anywhere in life without listening to feedback and making corrections. You did this in elementary school, hopefully you do this in your marriage, and you should also do this in your ministry. Pride will resist the help. Humility will embrace it. Pride will reject the feedback. Humility will accept and learn from it. Insecurity will keep us from truly being humble. If you don’t truly know that you are loved and valued by Christ himself, it will be impossible for you to accept that there are areas that you should work on. God may have called you to ministry at an altar when you were 14, but he has so much he wants to teach you and train in you so that you can do the things he’s called you to do. And do you know who God uses to do this? Other people. None of us will get too far on our own. Lower your pride and invite trusted people to help you get out of your own way.
Have the courage to look at yourself as a potential lid to the growth of your church and you will begin to see how you can personally grow to lift that lid and grow the church. Remember, that on the other side of this process are souls that will come to know Jesus because you got out of your own way.
Jeremiah works as an Effectiveness Coach with the ABNWT District of the PAOC. He is a passionate and creative leader who believes that the church is the hope of the world. He uses collaboration, innovation, and inspiration to challenge churches and their leadership to engage in the only mission Jesus ever sent his church on: making disciples.