by Tim Swanson
I went through a period of a few years as a church music director where I used the same basic set of musical dynamics for every song I played. All my songs went like this: start softly, gradually crescendo to a high energy chorus, all instruments drop out to finish the sing a cappella. The music I led was so bland and uninteresting. The worst part was I had no idea. After the services every week I would congratulate the band on a job well done, and give myself a little pat on the back for being a great leader.
One Sunday I was rehearsing with my team and I introduced a new song. As I described the way we were going to play it, it dawned on me that it was exactly like every other song we played. That was a sickening feeling. I had relied too heavily on tactics that worked well when I started out, but had become very stale over time. I was in a rut, and I wasn't sure how to get out of it.
Recently I was reading one of my favorite books on leadership, The Leadership Challenge. In the book, the authors identify five things that leaders do when they are at their absolute best. One of those things hit me like a brick to the face. The authors call it "challenging the process". They say that when leaders are at their best, they challenge the status quo, and find new ways to approach outdated habits. The book is filled with great examples of leaders who have challenged their processes and benefitted from it. I had some pretty great results myself. The music during Sunday services at my church is certainly a lot more interesting. But I noticed a lot of other really good things through challenging my processes. My team was more energized, I began growing as a leader again, and best of all I started getting inspired again.
Have you slipped into a rut in your leadership without even realizing it? Are you holding onto defunct processes that burn through your energy more than they contribute to your productivity? If so, these are four things you can start doing today to work your way out of your rut and back onto the path toward your goals.
1. Pray. God already knows if you're in a rut. And He knows the way out. And He is more invested in your success than anyone. That makes Him your best first stop for help.
2. Figure out what's keeping you down. Sit down and make a list of the things you were doing when you first started your current role. Highlight the things you are still doing. Ask yourself if the action is still helping you work toward your goals. If it is, spend some time reflecting on whether that is still the best way to do it.
3. Reach Out. Look to some of your heroes. I have a number of church music guys that I look up to. I frequently ask them how they accomplish certain goals. My heroes are all older than me and have a lot more experience than I do. Many times I'll leave meetings with a completely new perspective on something that I've been doing for a long time.
4. Ask your team. No matter what kind of leader you are, your team will know your strengths and weaknesses. If you're a good leader you'll take advantage of that fact. Ask your team where the comfort of familiarity has started detracting from accomplishing your team's goals. You'll build relationships by doing that, and someone there may have the exact idea you need to kick start change.
Your time is valuable in that you don't have as much as you need to accomplish all your goals. And you certainly don't have time to wallow around in a rut that's taking you nowhere. Use these things to help you get back on track.
It's my goal to be helpful to other leaders, like you, as you lead your team. It's my guess that you've got some experience and natural talent to start. What I really want is to offer leaders like you tools to help you sharpen your skills and hone your craft. If you have a good method for working your way out of a rut that you think would be helpful to other leaders, please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading.
0 comments:
Post a Comment