Did You “Stick the Landing”?

I eagerly anticipate the start of each Summer Olympics and watch as much as my schedule permits. As a former competitive runner, I can appreciate the finer points of track events. For the other sports, I enjoy the thrill of the competition and marvel at the athleticism, but I am not a good judge of the nuances of their performances.

Take gymnastics for example. I don’t know what makes one routine more difficult than another. I don’t notice when an athlete wobbles slightly. I can’t count their rotations except on the slow motion replay. But I know it’s a mistake if they hop on their landing at the end of the routine. Similarly with diving, I know a tiny splash is much better than a big one. So I tend to make a snap judgment based on these relatively small pieces of the overall performance, simply because that’s the one part I understand.

Does that sound like a challenge you deal with as a pastor or ministry leader? You have a variety of people who will gladly judge your effectiveness, but their understanding is quite limited. They may focus on how a sermon made them feel or whether finances are in the black or the trends in attendance. I’m not suggesting that these factors are unimportant, but just like the gymnast’s landing and the diver’s splash, they are small part of the equation.

So what can you do? You know effective ministry leadership is complicated and multi-faceted. You can’t possibly educate the congregation on the significant work that happens out of their view. But you can …

• Have a deeper conversation with your governing body. They are the ones who need to have a holistic understanding of your role. Help them understand the nuances. Give them glimpses behind the scenes. Involve them in the bigger challenges you’re facing.
• Create a meaningful scorecard. Gymnastic, diving, and other sports have systems to determine the degree of difficulty and guidelines for judging performance. With an informed board, you can create an appropriate scorecard based on the totality of the job. 
• Don’t amplify the critics. There will always be people who disapprove of your leadership. You can’t make them disappear, but you can decide what to do with their barbs. Listen to the grain of truth, but don’t ruminate on the comment of someone whose only critique is that you didn’t “stick the landing.”