People often look for the magic behind successful organizations. They are looking for miracles, models and prototypes for success. There is one thing that many successful organizations – churches and others have in common. And it is not a miracle, model, or physical prototype. One correlation many of the successful organizations have is a devoted adherence to a set discipline. Yes, these organizations have an understanding of their mission. The leaders have strategically planned a course of action and continually attempt to instill the core values of the organization to fulfill the mission through those core values.  One thing that sets the successful organizations apart from all like organizations is discipline. Whether you are a leader in a church, denominational judicatory, or any other organization, how is your discipline?

Many of us would answer that question; “Oh, I’m disciplined. I don’t do this or that. I am cautious about these areas…” These might fall under the parameters of discipline. However you will notice they focus on the negatives to avoid rather than the discipline to continue moving forward. Successful organizations, when plotting their strategies, always build in disciplines to maintain the course. If you are planning to take a trip driving from Houston, Texas to New York City and you have only five days to make the drive, you will plan your route and set your course accordingly. Planning your route is where you determine how you will get from Houston to New York. Setting the course is where you will determine how far you will need to travel each day to arrive at your destination in the allotted time. Discipline comes into play along the journey.

If you map out your total miles from Houston, Texas to New York City as 1628 miles, you can divide that by five days and know that you need to drive 326 miles each day. That will equate to about six hours of drive time each day. Through proper planning you will also add into your calculation stops for fuel, rest, and meals. This is still the planning stage. Yet you are building in the discipline aspect of your journey. How well you stick to the course you previously set for the journey will demonstrate the level of discipline and amount of success you will reach along the journey.

Successful organizations build disciplines into the course of action for their organization. Not only in the course of action, a culture of discipline is then instilled and adhered throughout the organization. Using the analogy above of the journey from Houston to New York in a simplified demonstration, an organization with a culture of discipline to drive 326 miles each day would not attempt to drive 500 miles for two days then slack off and only drive 250 miles the other three days. A large part of building a culture of discipline is pacing your journey; keep moving forward at your pace through the difficult times and do not attempt to outpace your organizational ability simply because it looks like you are on a downhill slide. Success comes not from writing disciplines into a plan, but from the faithful adherence to the disciplines set forth.

If you want success don’t search for the magic, models, or miracles of other organizations. Building discipline for a successful venture in your organization requires strategic planning, setting the course, and maintaining the pace of the ability of those within your organization.

For more information on building a culture of discipline in your church or other organization contact George Yates and SonC.A.R.E. Ministries. God bless!