CHURCH TECH
LEAD YOURSELF | Todd Elliott
When I watch a high-capacity leader , it generally seems like they have it all together , and stuff comes naturally to them . When a person has mastered something , they make it look easy . The reality is that there is work going on behind the scenes I never see . From the outside , I only see the tip of the iceberg of what goes into making something a reality .
If we hope to lead a production team that is thriving , we need to be healthy ourselves . We need to lead ourselves to become the best possible version of ourselves . I don ’ t think it is an overstatement to say that many of us work , work , work and think about our own health last .
We all want our teams to do amazing work . For that to happen they need to be led well . For a team to be led well , we , as leaders , need to be at our best . Here are a few things I have tended to miss in the quest for becoming the best version of myself .
GO HOME Guess what ? You will never get all the work done . It doesn ’ t matter how many hours you work in a week . The pile will always be there . You know what else ? There is life outside of your job .
I ’ ve worked at a couple of churches where the work expectations were pretty high . We worked long hours . Plus , we were killing it , and that is always a great feeling .
Once I was walking to my office , and I bumped into the senior pastor at around 5 p . m . He said “ Don ’ t stay too late !” as he was walking out the door . I told him I was wrapping up and that my wife and I had an agreement that dinner was on the table at 6 p . m ., so I needed to be home on time for that . He said , “ At my house , dinner is on the table at 5:30 , so I ’ ve got to get moving !”
This exchange was a huge revelation to me .
So much of our work culture seemed like it came from the top of our organization . But here the top guy was saying he had to leave at a reasonable hour to make it home for family dinner ! If he can go home for dinner , I shouldn ’ t feel so guilty about doing it myself .
Much of my need to stay later than everyone else was so I didn ’ t have to confront my own dysfunctional attitude that I ’ ve not done enough .
If I ’ m the last one out , then I can feel better about myself and my contribution . If you ’ re familiar with the Enneagram , I am a classic Type 9 — the Peacemaker . What I should be doing is dealing with my wrong thinking and being OK with leaving , even when others might still be working .
Sometimes when I would leave the house in the morning , my wife would say , “ Come home early !” My response was normally nervous laughter . Did she have any idea how much work I had to get done ? Maybe she meant early in the morning . Like 1 a . m .?
While I wasn ’ t able to come home early all the time , it was usually on my mind while I was at work : how can I work efficiently so I can leave early ? And especially now that it has become part of my everyday life , I can ’ t imagine life without that simple phrase early on in my journey .
Life exists outside of church . Go live it . It makes you a better human .
READ YOUR BIBLE It sounds like a joke . Of course I will read my Bible . I ’ m a Christian , right ?
Actually , it isn ’ t a joke .
For those of us working in the local church , we are there all the time . But how often are you getting fed by being in church ? If you ’ re working , it is difficult to pay attention to the message like normal people . It is difficult to worship the same way others do . If we aren ’ t careful , we will empty ourselves out for the sake of the church and be left with an empty shell .