Everyone Is an Expert

A recent news story described frequent power interruptions in one of the newer subdivisions in our city. The reporter included the utility company’s explanation that squirrels were damaging the power lines and that they were taking steps to remedy the situation. There was also an interview with a resident who insisted that the problem was the rapid growth in the area and a lack of infrastructure  investment by the utility. Listeners were left with the impression that the resident was correct and that the utility was unwilling to spend money to provide reliable service. The problem with this story is that the resident had no expertise or qualifications for offering this judgment, and yet he was given the most prominent voice. Have you ever found yourself in a similar leadership situation? If not, you’re one of the fortunate few. A common dynamic in churches and ministry settings is for a person to offer an authoritative perspective, even when their only basis is personal opinion. What is a leader to do when this occurs? Start by remaining calm and not overreacting. When someone makes a statement that is clearly wrong, it’s natural to want to shut them down, especially if you are being criticized. If someone says that your church’s mission efforts are a waste of money that produce no fruit, you’ll be tempted to tell them to shut up. But that will only exacerbate the problem. Instead, you would do much better to ask how they arrived at their conclusion and what evidence they have to support it. You may discover that their only data point is a single personal experience, or you might be able to offer information that paints a different picture. And even if you can’t “prove” that you’re right, your gentle answer will still be a testimony to your leadership. Of course, there is always a chance that the person truly has some expertise or valid information that you need to hear. In those cases, a calm exchange may lead to a great solution. You can’t keep the squirrels from causing problems, but you can choose how to respond. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>