I figured I’d do a short series of posts on some things that I recognize as needing improvement. After all, we’ve all got things we could improve on right?
So today, let’s talk about focus. I’ve always been somebody who was pretty easily distracted. So from day one of moving here to start this church, I’ve really had to work hard at focusing. And I admit, some days are better than others.
Since Sunday’s are the Super Bowl for us, I spend a good amount of time focusing on the message, but come Sunday morning, I can’t focus on one thing because I’m thinking about whether or not the camera works, how’s the sound, are there enough people greeting, did the signs get put up, does the band know when to come up, is the video loaded, do they know when to fire it, is everyone getting a name tag, are first timers getting their gift, is the service being recorded, and on and on and on.
So what’s the solution? Three things: delegation, trust and feedback.
I’ve gotten better at giving away the things I don’t need to be doing. I can’t greet people, run sound and the computer while shooting video. I don’t need to either. So I’ve delegated that. Good first step, but now I need to trust the people who do those jobs. It’s harder, because they will always do it different. Sometimes they’ll mess up, but sometimes they’ll knock it out of the park. And that leads to the last point, feedback. I think this can be the hardest part about focusing. Why? Because some people focus so much that they forget about everything else and that’s not healthy or helpful in my opinion. When some delegated task gets done well, tell the person who did it, and when someone messes up (because they will) sit down and talk about it. Use it as an opportunity to coach them. Let them know that how the job was done isn’t acceptable, but give them solutions and suggestions (or even resources) so that it gets done right next time. Then you’ll be able to focus on what you need to do?
Do you have any secrets that help you stay focused?
6 comments:
Hmm... Take a look at your previous post, "Somewhat Normal" and apply it to this post. Can you smell the irony? (sniff! sniff!)
Love ya!
Good post - I think the most important thing and the hardest thing to do is the follow up. I think we are headed in the right direction to improve focus.
The hedgehog effect...a hedgehog only knows how to do one thing (roll into a ball to defend itself) but he does it extremely well. When we try to be everything to everybody...we fail. In the church, we need dedicated christians who feel personally led to take responsibility for key areas in the church. Areas where they can be a hedgehog. Let these key areas be a ministry for someone who had the right gifts ... and let go and let God do His thing...my 2 cents...
um...ritalin??!!
I have to sit up close at church so I don't get distracted by people during the service. So I can't be the "typical back pew baptist" !
I know that probably didn't help you, just wanted to share!
Usually, to stay focussed I... I'm sorry, what were we talking about?
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