Hi Everyone! I need to apologize for not returning to the blogosphere when I returned from Cuba last week. I came back to the states with a nasty cold or some type of upper respiratory gunk, which is no excuse for failing to post anything last week. It did get me down for a few days, and with the normal stack of work that piles up any time I take a week away, I failed to make Helping Leaders Lead Better a priority. So, as the title states: I’m very sorry. Please, forgive me.
This week we’re going to address an obvious weakness in my leadership, which we’ve addressed before, and which is a challenge for many of us. While some of us came out of the womb organized and able to set goals and make to do lists that give us the ability to achieve them, I’ve worked all my adult life on determining what is most important and then pursuing that. If setting priorities and goals and then developing the actions necessary to achieve them is not a challenge for you, I’d welcome a comment as to how you’ve succeeded in determining what needs to be accomplished and then to getting it done.
For the remainder of this post, I’m going to address keeping the main thing the main thing. Then on Wednesday we’ll look at setting goals and on Friday we’ll consider what kind of to do list will help us be the most productive. So, how do we keep the main thing the main thing? For starters, we have to know what the main thing is. In every type of endeavor there is a main thing. For me as the leader of a healthy, growing local church, the main thing is to help people who don’t now Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord come to know Him, and to help those who do to grow up and live as a committed follower of Jesus.
For you the main thing may be developing the next product for your company that will keep you or make you the leader in your specialty. If you lead a non-profit, the main thing may be an ideal, or a particular type of social action, or practical provision. As a leader, particularly if you are the CEO, the president, the lead pastor, or the one in charge, the main thing for you is to determine the main thing and state it clearly. Only then will you e ale to keep the main thing, the main thing.
I’m always amazed when I speak with another pastor and ask them what his or her main thing is, and don’t receive an answer. Or “I never rally thought about that.” Or “We’re so busy with survival, we don’t really have much time to create a vision of where we’re going, or of what’s the main thing.” I get it. I get it at least in this regard: daily life is so daily. It fills up with challenges, questions, routines and tasks that need to be accomplished, and they’re a lot easier, or urgent than sitting down and taking the time to consider the main thing. After all, if we stay busy all day we must be leading, right? Not necessarily. Busyness isn’t the same as carrying out the business in which we’re engaged. Our activity often produces more heat than light.
Why not take some time right now and ask yourself, “What is the main thing for me as a leader?” The answer may be both personal and corporate, that is you may need to make or continue some personal priorities, which will allow you to be healthy enough to address the corporate main thing for which your responsible as a leader. If you ask, “What is my main thing?” from a corporate standpoint and you aren’t clear, it’s essential for you to take some time and get clear. After all, it’s awfully hard to get to your destination if you don’t know where that is. It doesn’t really matter that we’re making good time if we’re lost.
As you pause to reflect on your main thing, you may do well to bring some others in your organization on board as well. If you’re already clear about the main thing, ask the next level of leadership whether they are? What about those who are “on the floor,” if your in an assembly line business, or the members if you’re in a church or other type of voluntary organization? Can everyone state the main thing in a clear, concise way? When everyone’s on the same page about why we exist it’s considerably easier to start setting goals and moving toward attaining them. More about that on Wednesday and Friday!
Here’s to leading better by taking time to make sure we know what the main thing is, so we can keep it the main thing–today and tomorrow!