In his talk at Catalyst, Jim Collins’ suggested that people should have a stop doing list, more than a to do list. For me that concept was a big shift and really got me thinking. It got me thinking what should my ministry stop doing?
1. I must stop making things dependent on me.
I feel I am pretty good at delegation, but I joke with my staff that I want to get to the place where I could die and no one would miss me:)
I want to give things away. Not just small things that I still oversee, but I want to give away the conception and vision process, the management, and the execution. Until I am doing that things are still dependent on me. Obviously there is a tension that I do this for a living, but I want my legacy to be equipping.
2. I should stop letting individuals steer the ship.
By that I mean one critic whether a student, parent, or someone else cannot alter what we do. There are times and places where one person can move a group. If you have 10 students and 2 or 3 are from the same family you might be more inclined to flex for a parent, but our ministry is past that. This might sound arrogant, but it also means that less and less can my decisions steer the ship and change what we do when it will affect more and more volunteers and students who are invested in what we do.
3. I must stop being content with myself
If I am being honest there are times when I can sit back and be happy. Our vision is being accomplished every week reaching students through Wednesday nights and than growing them in grace groups toward service and outreach into leadership. I don’t want to be unappreciative, but I want to also not get complacent and think that God’s work here is done or that I have arrived.
I could come up with more and I might later. What do you need to stop doing?
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