I had been working with Pastor John as a coach for some time. John is a very good young man with a great heart for God. Our main focus was helping John, “give the ministry away.” John had a habit of doing everything himself. And as with anyone trying to do this, some things get dropped, you are spread thin, and burnout can take a toll on your life and ministry. Not to mention you are robbing someone of using their gifts and skills.
Over the months John had been making good strides of giving the ministry away, delegating to others and allowing other members of his congregation to lead in those areas delegated. On one particular afternoon as we were sitting in his office the discussion was about a newly revised Welcome and Greeting ministry. John had put together a good sized team for his church. A training session was held, where he let a couple other people lead in much of the training. This larger group had divided into three separate teams and would rotate manning their positions as the welcoming team on Sunday mornings.
I asked, “What is your next step? What do you need to do next to make this a viable, fruit bearing ministry?”
John stated, “I need to find someone who will make the call (or text) each week to everyone serving the upcoming Sunday morning to remind them.”
“Okay, Good,” I said. “Where should that person come from?”
“From inside the ministry team,” was John’s response.
“Good.” I exhorted. “Who’s doing it now?”
“I am.” Came John’s reply.
“You know that you do not need to be doing that. You need to give that away.” I retorted.
After a couple more back and forth questions and answers between us, John stated that a lady named Ann had offered to take on the responsibility. To which I replied, “Great. Why haven’t you turned it over to her?”
“Because,” he stated, “Ann has offered to do things like this in the past. And she is good at it – for about 2-3 months. Then she just fades away. And I end up with it again.”
I had to give him credit. John had realized a glitch in this person’s service abilities. Rather than continue pursuing the original quest, I shifted gears, still in coaching mode and asked, “How are you going to use Ann?” Within only four questions from me, John came up with the answer. “I need to use her for short term events. We have a church picnic coming up in two months. I need to put her in charge of it. And then I can use her for the Christmas…”
He found it. John had realized the inefficiency. Then with four questions he had come to realize how to best utilize this person’s gifts and skillset. Now we could move back to the original quest, and we did.
Past performance is truly the best indicator for future expectations. However, past performance is relating to behavior patterns, not a one-time mistake someone made. Mistakes can be a great learning experience. Behavior patterns are repetitive.
When you are looking for someone to fill a particular position, reflect on their past performance in a similar position.
For more on understanding how to determine past performance’s effect on future expectations, contact George Yates and pick up your copy of Reaching the Summit.