If you want to be a college campus tour guide, you need to be able to walk backwards while carrying on a conversation. That’s a good skill for leaders as well.

Most leaders, by temperament and responsibility, are forward looking. They aren’t focused on the past, and often barely think about the present. They spend much of their time casting a vision that looks ahead to the future. This is good – up to a point.

What would happen if the college tour guide never looked back? Some of the prospective students would probably wander away from the tour and get lost. Others would stay with the tour, but would have trouble hearing what the guide was saying. The great thing about campus tour guides is that even while looking back and keeping the group together, they’re moving forward.

Pastors and ministry leaders face similar challenges. It’s only by looking back that you can gauge whether people are actually following. When you do so, you may find that they’re right with you. But you may discover that they’re confused about where you’re going or exhausted because of the pace that you’re trying to keep. Some may have inadvertently wandered away and started doing their own thing. None of these are hopeless situations, but they do call for appropriate leadership responses. 

Imagine a pastor who has been emphasizing discipleship, specifically championing the philosophy that spiritual formation happens best in “circles, not rows.” Wouldn’t it make sense to see if individual group leaders understood and embraced this philosophy? You have to spend time “looking back” to develop a meaningful assessment. 

I’m not suggesting that we can ever achieve 100% buy-in around a vision, or that this kind of looking back will guarantee that no one wanders away. But we should look both ways enough to get whatever group we’re leading to the desired destination. 

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As you might guess, I travel quite a bit in my work. The hotel brand where I stay most frequently almost always has the same bathroom fixtures. But the interesting thing is that even with the same hardware, getting the water to my ideal temperature requires turning the shower handle different amounts in each room. 

One of the jobs of a leader is to create urgency, or said another way, to turn up the heat. This has been said in a variety of ways by leadership experts. Max DePree’s famous statement is that “the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.” John Kotter says, “Conducting business as usual is very difficult if the building seems to be on fire.” People are only willing to make difficult changes when they are confronted with a reality that falls short of their ideal.

So what does this have to do with the showers in hotels? Everything. One of the challenges in creating urgency – turning up the heat – is that the same picture of reality will elicit a variety of responses from people. For some, a small dose of reality is all that’s needed to spur them to action. Others will argue that “things aren’t that bad” or that the picture you’re presenting is inaccurate. They need much more heat before they’re willing to change.

Of course, you can’t individualize the temperature setting for each person in your congregation. So what can you do?

• Work individually with core leaders. In small groups or 1-on-1, you can tailor your approach with skeptical individuals, listening to their concerns and responding appropriately. 
• Encourage those who “get it” early to spread the message. The best advocates are often volunteers who are not paid to create urgency. Their influence can be a powerful voice for change. 
• Be patient. It usually takes a little while for the shower water to warm up, and the same will be true for people in your church. 

Two final thoughts from the shower. First, if you turn up the heat too much or too fast, you (not your congregation) are likely to get burned. But second, don’t leave the water on the cold setting due to the fear of getting burned. That only results in a miserable shower and a frustrated leader.

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• How has God provided for your needs this year? Have you thanked God for this?
• In what ways did you benefit this year from the work of others and from things that you did not build?
• What enemies or obstacles has God removed from your path?
• Does success tend to go to your head? Do you believe that you’re the master of your destiny, forgetting that every good gift comes from God?
• As you look ahead to 2017, what fears do you have? Do you trust that God will go before you and walk beside you?

• It points us heavenward. Only God (or His messenger) can answer Mary’s question. Leaders should build great teams that will wrestle together to address important organizational issues. But if they’re not looking to God for guidance, they will never get the right answer.
• It recognizes our limited understanding. How often do we reject an idea with the phrase, “I don’t get it”? The angel’s message didn’t fit into Mary’s understanding of earthly or heavenly reality. Rather than rejecting a dream as nonsense because it doesn’t fit our preconceived ideas, we should ask the “how” question. God’s ways and thoughts are always higher than ours.
• It accepts our limited abilities. Mary’s question points to a simple truth: she is utterly incapable of making this miracle occur. If Gabriel is right, then it’s up to God. For leaders who are listening closely, the call to do impossible things means walking more closely with God rather than walking away from the challenge.