Leadership & Decision Making

Hey gang! I've had a lot of great comments regarding my sermon on the "Pilot Principles of Decision Making" last Sunday. Thank you all for that! In follow-up discussions, I've been impressed to share two other concepts about leadership and the decision making process. They are:

1. The level of responsibility impacts the challenge of decision making.

And,

2. The Peter Principle of decision making impacts how far you want to advance within an organization.

First, it may seem obvious, but the fact is--decision making gets tougher the higher you rise in authority/position within an organization. In religious circles, Baptists and Congregationalists have tried to minimize this by sharing virtually every decision via congregational votes. The premise they use is from Peter's first epistle where he writes, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation... (I Peter 2:9a NIV)." The problem is, they leave out the context and thus imply that there is no real authority in the church since everyone's a priest. This isn't far from Korah's argument during the rebellion in the wilderness when the people said to Moses, "...You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly (Num. 16:3 NIV)?"

A quick read of the rest of THAT story makes it clear that God rejects the premise. Why? Simply put--it doesn't work. Ultimately, someone has to take responsibility and make a choice--group dynamics won't resolve every issue or answer every question. Further, conflict and division often result from constant voting.

Bottom Line--there ARE leadership levels or different responsibilities in God's economy. And, with that, both secular and sacred positions, the challenge of decision making changes. Why? Because eventually, you rise to a point where the "buck stops" just short of God. For example, if you're a supervisor and you have a manager and VP above you, you can defer some things to them. Furthermore, you can and should always refer to the company manual. Still, what happens when you're the president or CEO? You have fewer people to refer to. The same is true of Senior Pastors or other leaders in the body.

We all lead at some level. The key is to know what the limits of that authority are and who/what to refer to when decisions need to be made. Everyone answers to God and his Word. But lower-to-mid-level managers also have human supervision to rest on and seek advice from. Again, this is obvious, yet, sometimes we get "freaked-out" by the suggestion that we're "a leader" as a parent or ministry leader or supervisor on the job. We shouldn't. God's people should always be able to do these things--especially when we understand the reality and limits of our authority under God.

That leads me to the next point. One of the dangers "on the job" is what's called "The Peter Principle." The basic idea is that people will always rise and be promoted to their "level of incompetence." Meaning, we promote people to the point where they can't really do the job. The classic example is a salesman who becomes a Regional Manager because he was such a good salesman. The problem is, he has limited leadership gifting and is frustrated by overseeing people instead of directly selling products. If the company isn't patient, they'll fire him instead of recognizing that it's their fault for putting him in that position.

One of the keys to successful living is knowing where the line is drawn for each of us re. the "Peter Principle." If I know what I'm called, talented, and gifted to do and I excel to that place, but don't try to exceed that gifting, the Peter Principle won't apply and I'll have joy. My decision making responsibilities won't exceed my SHAPE (Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experience). Proverbs 3:5-6 promises guidance that can help us maintain that balance--maturing and taking on our full potential, but not rising to the point of being frustrated, etc.

If you need help with this journey, let us know. We'd love to pray and counsel with you re. finding your true leadership and decision making potential on the job, in the church, and in every aspect of life.

In His Love,

Pastor Joel