Everyone has problems. If your church is in decline you’ve got problems. If your church is growing, you’ve got problems. If your church is plateaued, you’ve got problems. Everyone’s got problems. If you think the guy on the other side of the fence doesn’t have problems, you’re mistaken; he’s just shoveling more…well…fertilizer. The real difference rests in how you respond to those problems. Respond poorly and it will eat you alive. Respond well and you just may be a leader. Here are three memorable ways people respond to problems:
Feed a Dragon and it will Eat You
Identifying a problem is not the same thing as solving it. Complaining about a problem is not the same thing as solving it. Doing the same thing you’ve always done and expecting different results is obviously not the same thing as solving it. You have to shift your behaviors to get different results. And while an inspirational speech or new information may shift thinking, systems shift behaviors.
Fight a Dragon and it will Kill You
When you focus on every problem that comes along and try to respond to them all it will kill you. And it will deflate your team at the same time. Instead, addressing problems early on and solving patterns of problems will help you change your systems, which drive behaviors. Reoccurring problems are typically an indicator of a system problem. Stop working on the problem and start working on the system and the culture that is allowing the problem to exist.
Ride a Dragon and it will Take You Places
Learn to lead through a problem, be solution oriented and you’ll be identified as someone who gets things done. Problems and crisis are moments where leaders are identified. Because leaders are at their best when they’re needed, and leaders are needed most in the middle of a problem.
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