By Dale Sellers

I once attended a leadership conference where John Maxwell taught about the accumulating benefits of being able to change as a leader. He compared the ability to change to how compound interest works in a savings account. No matter how much you start out with, the power of compound interest can turn a small investment into a large sum over time. I believe the same principle is often at play when it comes to leadership effectiveness—only in reverse.

Starting out with a leadership deficit is not uncommon or fatal. There are simply some things to learn through experience, whether or not we have previously studied them. However, something happens to us as time goes by if we continue to ignore problems. Uneasiness sets in as the cost of change starts increasing.

An unwillingness to change will always work against us. The cost of correcting a character flaw or lack of training is much cheaper in our twenties than in our forties or fifties. Simply put, the reason so many leaders are unwilling to change is that they can no longer afford the price. Or they just refuse to pay it. Either way, interest has compounded against them.

An unwillingness to change will always work against us. The cost of correcting a character flaw or lack of training is much cheaper in our twenties than in our forties or fifties.

It took some time for me to discover my leadership deficiencies after I entered the ministry. I began to learn that it takes more than preaching and praying to build a healthy ministry. Even if you have an encouragement gift like me, becoming everyone’s cheerleader will only take you so far. Eventually, to my dismay, it became apparent that I didn’t really know what I was doing. I had read a lot of books on how to be successful. But implementing their advice wasn’t giving me any traction.

My fear of being exposed caused me to dig in my heels in order to gain secure footing. I expended a great deal of energy trying to mask my shortcomings and never really reached out for help. Instead of pursuing Jesus, I desperately tried to find what I must be missing. I also spent a lot of time becoming an expert deer hunter as a distraction from ministry. If you allow yourself to follow this path, you will soon discover that you are continually discouraged.

My fear of being exposed caused me to dig in my heels in order to gain secure footing. I expended a great deal of energy trying to mask my shortcomings and never really reached out for help.

How would you feel to discover that what you thought was holding you back wasn’t the problem at all? Would it be a relief to finally know the truth? Or is it possible that you would make the problem worse by refusing to acknowledge it? Even worse, what if you were completely oblivious to the problem? The trouble with blind spots is we don’t know what we don’t know. But when they are revealed, we can begin to deal with them.

Sellers, Dale. Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There by Now (pp. 41-43).

Helping leaders deal with the hand they’ve been dealt is a part of the reason we do what we do at 95Network. The facts of your situation are what they are whether they are good facts or bad facts. I’ve learned personally over the years how helpful it is to have someone who will transparently walk with me revealing their struggles as well as there successes.

What are you doing that is working well? What is not going so well? Let’s connect and have a conversation about it. At 95Network, we are here to support and serve you in anyway we can. If you feel like you’re in a season where your stalled out and can see the way forward then please reach out to me at [email protected]

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