My philosophy is that the more fun the participants
have, the easier it will be for them to learn ...
and to overcome the challenges that are being presented.
Helping each other ascertain where in the world
they want to be in 5 years, 10 years, etc.
One of the frequent challenges for leaders of spiritual communities is to overcome the tendency for a passive spirituality. This is where we all sit around feeling spiritual, feeling close to our God, and feeling love for each other … while actually giving little or no attention to demonstrating that “love and closeness” to the world around us.
As a community, why are we here?
How are we, specifically to demonstrate our love for God, self and others to the world around us?
As the person seeking to guide the conversation toward answering these questions, I wanted to massage their brains to begin thinking new thoughts. To accomplish this, I needed to use language they were unaccustomed to.
As these men and women were all participants in the Christian Faith, they were use to hearing of being fruitful and glorifying their God. So. What did I talk about?
What will success look like, sound like, and feel like … in your particular community? If you can’t describe this in specific detail, how will you know that you are headed in the direction of your vision, and fulfilling your mission?
Five years from now, what do you want to be seeing, hearing and feeling in your community?
Five years from now, what do you want the people outside of your community to be seeing, hearing and experiencing from your community?
Now. Let’s design a strategy for accomplishing this.
We then discussed the differences between being oriented around Needs and being propelled and guided by Mission.
One of he initial push-backs was my suggestion that none of the communities being represented here were equipped to be All Things to All People. No community, however large, is.
St Paul spoke of his own mission as This One Thing I Do. “What is your community’s One Thing?”
You can’t feed the poor, care for the orphans, provide graduate level theological education for the faithful, set up medical clinics, provide micro-enterprise loans to help people start businesses, create environments conducive to attracting unbelievers to the Faith, and etc., etc., etc. You don’t have the resources to Be All Things or Do All Things. Period.
From here, the conversation took off into exploring what each individual believed he or she was passionate about accomplishing in his or her communities, and then designing strategies for communicating and accomplishing their visions.
As a trainer/facilitator, I never know what the Big Takeaway is going to be for the participants. When the two days were over and people were standing to share what was most helpful for them, one of the most oft repeated topics was my comment (not original) that HOPE WAS NOT A STRATEGY.
You accomplish what you plan on accomplishing.
If you don’t plan, someone else will … and where will that lead?
If you don’t have a strategy that you are executing daily, you are at the mercy of circumstances.
“Leaders Lead. Leaders are headed in a specific direction, setting out to attain specific outcomes. If this is not your mindset, you are not a Leader.”
It was a great two days. Can’t wait to begin receiving feedback as to what is taking place in the communities these men and women are leading!
Tomorrow, I will be training 40 men and women involved in our micro-enterprise project. “Discovering, Developing, and Deploying Your Potential … or OWNING YOUR POWER!”
Stay tuned for my report!
Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment