A team at rest tends to stay at rest.
Seth Godin, writing in "Linchpin", states that forward motion isn't the default state of any group of people, particularly groups with lots of people. Cynics and politics and coordination kick in and everything grinds to a halt.
In an old school, top-down factory model this isn't really a problem. The owner controls the boss who controls the foreman who controls the worker. It's a tightly linked chain, and things get done because there is cash to be made.
Most modern organizations are now far more fluid than this. Responsibility isn't as clear, deliverables aren't as measurable, and goals aren't as cut and dried. So things slow down.
Sound familiar? Like maybe your church?
Enter the linchpin. Understanding that your job is to make something happen changes what you do all day. If you can only cajole, not force, if you can only lead, not push, then you make different choices.
In many organizations, but especially the church, you can't say, "Get more excited and insightful or you're fired." No, the men and women who go beyond their job description (if any at all) to do the unexpected and out-of-the-ordinary do it because they were inspired to do so by a leader who isn't even around when the team is at work.
Are you that kind of leader?
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