I believe that a solid organizational strategic plan
requires more than a Chief Executive Officer. For an organization to center its
envisioned future in the hands of one leader is short-sighted, temporal and
detrimental to organizational success. CEO’s come and go but institutions that have a long history stay afloat,
regardless of their viability and vitality and management of resources rule the
day. More important than the leadership of the CEO is the formal and informal
leadership pool of the organization. In my world, the Church hasn’t adopted
these philosophical thoughts on leadership well.
Too often, communities of faith and faith-based
nonprofits center their strategic focus on the directives of a single person or
small group of leaders who are centered on the pastor’s
or CEO’s strategic desires and dreams. Understanding sound leadership
principles would assist churches and faith-based organizations in creating solid
pathways for organizational viability, vitality and value.
Since January, the D.C. Baptist Convention has been
involved in a strategic initiative called The
Journey of 180. This initiative involved 60
days of discernment, 60 days of dialogue and 60 days of dreaming— all with the
end product being an envisioned future story. All throughout this journey, the
questions I am most often asked are, “Where do you want the Convention to go?
What do you think we should be doing? What is our future story?”
While those questions feed my ego and temptation to
answer, I have sought to refrain and reframe the questions. It not about me but
an organization that has been the collective witness of the Kingdom of God here
in the national capital region and throughout the nation for over 130 years.
It’s not about my direction but God’s direction. It’s not about my story but
about God’s story. A great mentor of
mine in Alabama once told me, “Ricky, you are called to a job. The job is a job,
not your life. Your life is much bigger than your job. So, when you consult as
a strategist, lead people to see beyond themselves and see God. People come and
go. Leaders leave and leaders die but the vision of an organization must live
on. It will die if it is centered on you, so do everything in your power to
lead people to connect their future with God.”
Discerning the will of God for an organization is hard.
It’s a whole lot easier just to have someone dream for us and tell us where to
go and what to do. A leader that has succeeded is a leader who has connected
the future story with God so that when the leader is gone, the story continues
to be written.
In October, the envisioned future of D.C. Baptist
Convention will be unveiled to the delegates to decide if indeed what has been
revealed during The Journey of 180 is their future story. It
will be a story that has been envisioned through prayer, discussions with member
churches, community leaders and leaders and dreamers within our Convention
family. It will be a story that is not centered on a person but on God and His
discerned pathway. Will it be an easy decision? No. Will it be an easy path to
walk? No. Will it be like the convention of yesteryear? No.
The envisioned future will be God-sized and written only
if we are willing to write the story as He leads. If we are not willing to
faithfully follow God without knowing all the details and relying on our own
strengths, then it becomes just another example of functional atheism.
Believing and supporting things we can see, hear, feel, touch and accomplish
without a god.
I have faith in God. I have faith in the D.C. Baptist
Convention. I have faith that they will indeed embrace and write their future
story.
