The Smart Church, part 4

The Smart Church, By Connie Goodbread

Does your congregation empower, support and encourage leaders to lead?

You could measure how well your congregation is doing, in its
support of leaders, by counting how many past presidents are
still active members? How many ministers has your
congregation had in the past ten years? Twenty years? What
does this tell you about how your congregation empowers,
supports and encourages leaders?

The only real training for leadership is leadership. Anthony Jay

If the statement “The only real training for leadership is leadership,” is true, when should we begin to recognize, encourage and empower leadership skills in people?
What would happen if we had fearless, adventurous, dynamic and inclusive leadership development programs in our congregations?

Do we empower leaders to be adventurous, bold and creative?

There is a policy at Rubbermaid that all ideas should be tried out and that creative thought should be encouraged. Someone came up with a creative idea and Rubbermaid put a lot of time, money and effort into the production and selling of this product. However, it failed to be the hit they had hoped for. The CEO of Rubbermaid went to the individual who had come up with the idea and congratulated her for her efforts. He told her that it didn’t matter that it wasn’t a hit, she should continue thinking up creative things for Rubbermaid to try.

What would happen if we had the same sense of adventure and fearless encouragement for creativity as Rubbermaid?
What would happen if we dared to be bold?
What would happen if we understood our fears but didn’t let them rule us?
What would happen if we no longer filled every slot just because it was empty but rather waited for the exact right person for the job? Or even changed the organizational structure if that’s what was needed?
What would happen if nominating committees understood that it is an honor and a privilege to ask someone to serve their congregation and Unitarian Universalism?
What would happen if individual members understood that it is an honor and a privilege to be asked to serve their congregation and Unitarian Universalism?
What would happen if we understood that we are, each of us, servant leaders? ¶ 2/04/2007