One day I heard a man give a personal testimony saying "I thought of myself as being a self made man and I worshiped my maker." Now that level of Pride and Ego will get you in trouble for sure!
If you're convinced that you know all and have all you need, and that you earned it all by yourself, then get ready for a really big learning lesson that is sure to come your way soon. I know HUMBLE and how difficult it is to learn and live with, but I promise you (having been on both sides of this particular issue) that the Pride and Ego side is also extremely difficult.
Somehow we have to find a middle ground - that grey area - that path that allows both sides to live in Peace and Harmony most of the time, and then firmly plant our feel and ideas there to sprout and grow in that fertile ground.
I watched it happen when I was involved in manufacturing. When decisions which affect the assembly line are made in the boardroom they seldom work and are always resented. The quality of work diminishes and production stalls.
I watched it happen when I was in sales. When procedures are handed down as edicts, without including the input of salespeople, morale is damaged, which ultimately has a negative impact on sales.
In several churches I’ve been involved with I’ve realized it also happens in churches. When the pastor, or a body of senior leaders, makes a decision that impacts the children’s ministry, for example, without the input of people who are actually doing children’s ministry, resentment builds, momentum stalls, and people resist the changes.
Be careful making decisions from “the Ivory Tower”. Many leaders lead with a top down approach, passing down decisions without consulting with those who have to live with them. It’s easy in leadership to forget that real people have to implement your decisions.
Don’t stand in the tower. Get out among the people you work with on your team.
Great leaders build decisions from the ground up, not from the top down.
Want people on your team to buy-in to your decisions? Then allow the people having to implement them be a part of the team making the decision. You may just be amazed at how little you know and how much you can learn.
How is your organization making decisions?
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