Being a Decisive Leader

Despite what some employees or staff might say, most leaders or senior pastors are well-intentioned people. They really do want their organization/company to grow and be the best it can be. Too often, however, that desire gets lost in the confusion of being an indecisive leader.

If there is one thing that can drive staff and even the most committed from your ranks it's being indecisive as a leader. An indecisive leader usually falls into one of the following categories:

> A leader that lacks vision for his/her organization. Without clear direction, it becomes incredibly difficult to lead others. As a mentor in my life once said, "It's really tough to steer a parked car." You will find leaders guilty of this often complaining about the lack of passion or misdirected in their congregations or employees. What's ironic, is that lack of passion is actually their fault. Without vision, there can be no unified passion or even passion at all in some people. The best advice I would give for this leader is get on your face before God and get that God-sized vision. Once you get, sell it to your staff. People will follow you to the ends of the earth for a vision they believe in.

> A leader that has vision, but lacks conviction. This leader at least has established vision, but their certainty in the validity of that vision is waining. This leader needs to clarify and confirm their vision. If you have a vague idea or direction, clarify it. Clarity brings confidence. Even more importantly, though, this leader needs to gain more confidence in who God is made them and where He's placed them.

> A leader is trying to please everybody. As the popular saying goes, "When you're trying to please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody." If you are in a church setting, this is even more evident. In any organization, if you have 100 people, you will have 100 different opinions on how things should be run. You need to know what environment and direction you feel led to create and just do it. Most people will actually respect you more for moving forward with conviction rather than trying to please. Now I understand you don't want to be so 'task-oriented' that you forget people. You need to remember your reason for being is people, but move forward with your vision.

So on behalf of the many frustrated employees and staff, please don't pull a John Kerry impersonation. Move forward with what you feel led to do and stick to your guns.