#1 - Email/Texting DOES NOT WORK If You Want To Communicate Something Important!
It is incredibly easy to be misunderstood when communicating through technology…that is why if I have something REALLY important to communicate to the people I serve with I take a walk down the hall and meet with them face to face…and the few times that I have violated this concept it has bitten me in the butt big time. (OUCH!)
(Texting wars are incredibly immature!)
BTW…some people communicate through email/texting because they FEAR a face to face communication OR because they are lazy! BUT…a leader is WILLING to have a tough and/or uncomfortable conversation when it is necessary. “I sent an email” does not mean we did our job in regards to leadership/communication of something important; in fact, it could mean the opposite!
Don’t hide behind technology. It can be used to information…but if there is a certain emotion associated with that information then we owe it to the people we work with to speak face to face.
#2 - Saying “They Don’t Get It” Isn’t An Indictment Against “Them,” But Rather One Against Us!
Leadership means that we take ownership…and so when we say that statement (“they just don’t get it”) reality is that it’s probably MY fault…not theirs.
The pastor or church leader that is always complaining that his people “just don’t get it” isn’t really bashing his people but rather exposing a weakness in his leadership.
If “they” do not get it then reality is I am probably not saying it clearly enough or often enough.
We cannot assume that our staff, volunteers and church members will fully grasp in five minutes what it may have taken us five months to develop.
Stop blaming people for not “getting it,” if they don’t “get it” then keep leading them to “it!”