When I’m not in charge, I feel like I have no control and feel forced to be reactive.
Reactivity perpetuates passivity.
Passivity causes me to feel stuck.
If you feel stuck in your job, you don’t have to stay stuck. Instead of getting caught in the passivity cycle, I want to give you a road map to resuscitate your proactivity. There are habits you can cultivate to help you reject passivity: choosing, planning, and responding. And they’re more than another slick three-letter memory aid. If you do this CPR, it can bring your leadership skills back to life.
Choosing
To get out of the passivity cycle, it’s going to take some initiative. You simply need to choose something—anything—that you will pick up and own.
In my early twenties, I was in a season of going from one internship to another. During that season, just about every internship included some kind of closet I had to clean out. I now realize that in every church or organization, or even a home for that matter, there is that closet that just accumulates all of the junk. When you don’t know what to do with something, you just throw it in that closet. In most organizations, there is a day that comes around every year, coincidentally right around the time interns begin working, when the closet needs to be cleaned out.
Now that I’m on the other side of the closet-cleaning equation, I love seeing interns that choose to clean it out before being asked. Every organization has closets like this. The closet represents that thing that needs to be done, but no one wants to do. There are projects, problems, and processes that get neglected. They may have worked once, but over time were forgotten or abandoned. During a crisis season some things were dropped and never picked up again. Often, these are the long-term planning items, the practices and habits that make an organization healthy over the long run. But they will take some work to clean out and polish off.
I believe a natural way to reject passivity is to focus on that closet. Choose a closet to clean. Find something that no one else wants to do and just handle it. Find that thing that is always brought up in meetings but no one ever does anything about, and go find a solution for it or choose to own it in a way that a great leader would!
I didn’t see these types of things as opportunities until I started to move up in leadership and away from the front lines of ministry. But the truth is that the closer you are to the action, the more insight you have on what needs to change at that micro level. You will likely have better insight than your boss does as to the changes needed for the day-to-day processes that make up your job and those of your coworkers. You’re closer to it. The manager at Waffle House isn’t going to know how to make a waffle taste better; the cook at Waffle House will. When I talk to interns or entry-level team members who feel they can’t make a difference, I get giddy, explaining to them that they are perfectly positioned to be able to see what most needs to change. In fact, no one is better positioned to see what isn’t working. So find something that needs to change, choose to own it, and come up with a realistic plan to fix it.
One of the people in our organization whom I know does this best is Robby Angle. While I was at Browns Bridge Church (part of North Point Ministries), we hired Robby as a middle school groups director. It’s not a very sexy title, but it’s a crucial role for our ministry to middle school students. The job description for that role is twofold. First, he needs to ensure that adult volunteer small group leaders have everything they need to lead the students to discover a faith of their own. Second, he needs to remove any obstacles in their way. Robby has a business degree from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in counseling from Appalachian State. He has also led post-earthquake relief efforts for an entire country in southeast Asia. Needless to say, he was feeling bored in his role after about ten months because he was crushing it!
Here’s what I love, though. Instead of getting frustrated with what he couldn’t do because of the level of his role, Robby started looking around to find ways to make stuff better. That’s what great leaders do. Having spent a few years after graduate school counseling teenagers, he was already convinced that the way to help a student best is to involve the student’s father. So after he had competently mastered the core essentials of his role, he asked if anyone on the team had a problem with him tinkering with ways to help facilitate better relationships between fathers and sons. What he came up with was not rocket science, but it was well thought out, carefully orchestrated, and manageable through our existing small group model.
Robby created an event for fathers to give their eighth-grade sons a blessing before they entered high school. He called the event a pig roast, because what’s not to love about a bunch of fathers and sons roasting a pig in an open field? After massive amounts of pork were consumed, everyone was directed to the small groups they had been involved with for the past three years. Each father had been instructed to write a one-page letter to his son, explaining in detail why he was proud of him. As you can imagine, after those letters were read, there wasn’t a dry eye to be found. This event has now been implemented at all of our campuses and it is seen as one of the key milestones for our students.
And it all happened because one guy decided to lead when he wasn’t in charge by choosing to take initiative. If you can find ways to add value in the areas others are looking to avoid, you will find yourself with more on your plate than you could ever ask for. What is not getting the energy or focus it needs? What are the things that continuously come up in meetings but never become to-dos for anyone on your team? What are the things you can pick up that others have put down? Decide to be the one who isn’t afraid to pick it up and choose to own what others are looking to avoid. That’s the first step in rejecting passivity. Make a choice.
Planning
Another antidote for passivity is developing the margin to plan. The whirlwind of your calendar likely has a way of whipping you into submission, but great leaders, whether they’re in charge or not, make room for planning. Instead of reacting to your calendar, create margin to get out in front of it. I mentioned earlier that lacking time to plan and prepare for meetings is a common problem for me. When that happens, I resort to the easiest, least resistant plan. And having no plan is a plan in and of itself. When you’re living meeting to meeting, you’re being reactive instead of proactive.
Here is how planning will help you counter passivity in your leadership. The most well-planned idea usually wins the meeting. Think about the last several meetings you’ve sat in where you had to make a decision about something. When the topic of the meeting is sent out ahead of time, there are usually one or two people who have done a bit of homework, research, and planning to determine what they are going to share. I’ve noticed that the most thoroughly baked idea is most often the dish chosen for the menu. It doesn’t mean it’s the best idea, but it’s the idea that went the furthest down the road. But coming to a meeting prepared takes a little bit of planning.
Last December, I had the opportunity to attend a football practice for the University of Alabama as they prepared for the College Football Playoffs. It took some explanation for Jenny to understand why I would spend time doing this, but I convinced her that anytime I get the opportunity to see one of the best practice their craft, I need to take it. While I was at the practice, I met Jeff Allen, the head football athletic trainer for the team. Jeff has the daunting task of sitting in staff meetings with Nick Saban, having to give an account of the injured players.
After some casual conversation, I asked Jeff, “When a new staff member steps onto your team, what do you tell them is the key to working for Coach Saban?” Without any hesitation, Jeff responded, “Have a plan. If a player has an injury, don’t just tell Coach Saban about the injury. Be prepared to propose a plan on what you’re doing to rehabilitate the player.” He then went into a hypothetical explanation. “If a player has a hamstring injury, I can’t just say, ‘Yeah, Coach. Jalen has a pulled hamstring. We’re still trying to figure it out.’ Instead,
I need to say, ‘Coach, Jalen has a hamstring injury and we’ve gotten these two doctors to give us opinions on the severity of it. And here is the plan that we’re moving forward with to get healthy.”
This is a key idea to remember for your own work: never present your boss with just a problem. Always bring a plan for the solution. But remember, it takes planning to come up with a plan. Where in your calendar can you begin to make room to plan? I don’t know Jeff’s weekly schedule, but it’s clear he has found a way to create margin in his calendar for planning. Planning takes time, thought, and mental space to be able to think through solutions. In my calendar, I’ve found that the only time to do this is early in the morning. On most workdays, whether I have something due or not, I’m up early working through my list of what’s most important for the day, the week, and the next ninety days. I’m at my best when I’m planning well in the margins of my calendar. And you should plan time to plan in the margins of your calendar.
Responding
Many people who have an ambition to coach sports desire to be the head coach. Most people don’t set their sights on being an assistant for life. However, most of the great head coaches were great assistant coaches. The last few winning Super Bowl coaches spent a good portion of their careers as assistants. Bill Belichick was an assistant for twelve years with the New York Giants, mostly under Bill Parcels. Before Gary Kubiak won the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos, he cut his coaching teeth as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers, winning a Super Bowl as a quarterback coach in 1994. Pete Carroll was an assistant for almost twenty years before he stepped into the head coaching role. Being a good assistant is key to learning to be the head coach.
To be a great assistant coach, you have to be able to anticipate and respond to what’s important to the head coach. The assistant coach has to move one step ahead during practice, setting up the next drill in order to keep practice moving. Leaders seeking to resist the passivity of not being in control need to do the same. Rather than responding only to what comes next on their calendars, great leaders respond to what’s most important to the boss and move accordingly. In order to be able to anticipate and respond to the direction the boss is heading, you and I must know what is most important to who we’re working for. Here are a few questions that can help if you’re currently stuck in passivity:
• What has my boss established as the greatest “win” for our team?
• If your boss could wave a magic wand and have something done, what would it be?
• What is your boss most worried about? What is creating stress? How can you relieve that?
• On your team, what is a frequently discussed problem? Can you take steps toward fixing it today?
Word to the wise: make sure to ask these questions of yourself before you ask them of your boss.
As you train yourself to choose what’s not getting done, plan time for future planning in the margins of your calendar, and then respond to what is most pressing for your boss, you’ll have a game plan that can work. That’s the CPR for resuscitating the proactivity that defeats passivity.
A WASTE OF TIME
Being under the authority of someone else often feels like waiting. But don’t let waiting turn into passivity. Get out of the rut of passivity. Think differently. If you are in a season of waiting, what can you learn now that you can only learn from the seat you’re in? Where can you cultivate influence with those around you, to learn how to serve them better? What new skill can you learn that you could only learn while you’re in the position you’re in? What’s in the way of your team accomplishing more? What can you do to remove that obstacle?
When Moses was in Pharaoh’s house, it wasn’t a waste of time. He was becoming acquainted with what made those in Pharaoh’s house tick, he was building influence with his Hebrew brothers and sisters, and he would eventually use all of this to free God’s people.
When Joseph was in Potiphar’s house and in prison, those days weren’t a waste of time. He was learning to problem solve in ways he would use in an even greater context under Pharaoh. He was cultivating influence with those around him—those he would eventually lead.
When David was under Saul’s leadership, that wasn’t a waste of time. He was learning how to create an oasis of excellence with the military that he was in charge of. He was building relationships with those around him—not simply to be in charge of them, but to learn how to lead them well.
My good friend Tim Cooper has this line that pops into my head all the time: “You will never passively find what you do not actively pursue.” You’re not going to bump into leadership or wait your way into it. Don’t let the feeling of having little control beat you. Find a way to initiate by choosing, planning, and responding to reject passivity. Make use of the time God has given you because what you’re doing now matters greatly!
You will never passively find what you do not actively pursue.
TIM COOPER
CHAPTER 8
CHALLENGING UP
“Have you done yours?”
This was a question my parents asked me every day when I was a kid, and I hated it. My dad came up with it. He had some pretty strong beliefs about the value of studying. Every night, Sunday through Thursday, whether schoolwork was due or not, each of us had to sit at the desk in our respective bedroom and engage in an hour’s worth of studying, reading, or homework. As I look back now, this strikes me as one of those ideas that parents employ in a moment of frustration, but rarely follow through with. Not my dad. He was committed to it. Every night, and I mean every night, homework or not, we would sit at our desks for one solid hour.
Though each of us had our own room, our house was not large. My room was adjacent to my younger sister’s room and the wall we shared became an instrument for us to practice our own variation of Morse code. After years of perfecting our own tapping language, we decided enough was enough. We needed a better system of communication. And so we did what any prepubescent teenager would in that situation. Like Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, we used our primitive tools—pens, rulers, and scissors—to cut a fist-sized hole through the drywall, effectively connecting my room with my sister’s room. It was brilliant. The drive-through at the bank had a similar system, so we were convinced this remodel of the wall was adding to our home value. Quietly, covertly, and in unison, we dug out that hole.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep it quiet enough, and the sounds of our unauthorized construction project alerted my dad. He was not as excited about our improvement to the wall. I’ve seen him mad from time to time, but I don’t remember him getting quite that hot before. In my mind, it seemed like such a small matter. But he was furious.
Now that I’m a homeowner myself and have experienced the frustration when my kids damage the property I’m responsible for, I understand his emotional state. But at the time, his anger befuddled me. What was he not getting? How could he not see that this was making our house better, more efficient? We had essentially just proved our brilliance and worth to him. In my mind, I was making our home better. I had found a problem and had come up with a solution to fix and improve it. Of course, I had no concept of ventilation or HVAC systems or electrical wiring, and I certainly knew nothing about “property damage.” I just saw an opportunity, an area that needed improvement, and I did what was needed to make that happen.
CHALLENGED TO CHALLENGE
The instinct to do what needs to be done is an essential aspect of leadership. While the way I went about making the changes I felt needed to be made wasn’t the greatest (it’s usually best to get permission if you don’t own something), that desire was not wrong. Leaders see problems. They see things that aren’t working. And they come up with solutions.
Leaders make a way when others can’t find a way. Leaders look at what is, see what could be, and organize others to move toward the preferred future. Leaders are not rabble-rousers, but they will challenge the status quo. They are not okay with “this
is the way we’ve always done it.” They refuse to accept mediocrity. Leaders are not content to sit on the sidelines, managing a system that is yielding solid results, when there are potential changes pregnant with greater results. I say this because if you’re bewildered or mystified by your boss’s comfort with the way things are going, I want you to know that there is not something wrong with you. You have the instincts of a leader. You may be feeling the weight of what God has put in you, the desire to effect change and improve what isn’t working.
Leadership can feel like a burden. I’m sure you’ve had moments where you would rather not feel the pressure of what could be—when you wish you could just turn off the drive for more, better, faster, or stronger. But when it’s in you, it’s in you. And if it weren’t in you, you probably wouldn’t be reading this book.
Without challenge, we do not change.
I don’t know the specifics of your situation, but I know that something in your church or organization needs to change. Perhaps God has put that desire in you and has put you in your organization because it needs that change. But in order to see that change happen, you’re going to have to challenge and you’re going to have to challenge well.
As the authors of The Leadership Challenge put it, “Leaders must be agents of change.”1 It’s motivating, freeing, confirming, and challenging all at the same time. But just knowing that doesn’t mean it’s any easier to determine how to do it in your organization. So this chapter is about how you do this. It’s about the leader’s responsibility to challenge well.
FREE AGENCY
Unless you’re a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers or the Cleveland Indians, you probably missed this story. In August of 2016, Jonathan Lucroy, an All-Star catcher for the Brewers, refused to be traded to the Indians. That’s it. That’s the story: he refused to be traded. Lucroy said, “When you are dealing with life-changing, life-altering decisions like this, there are a lot of factors that come into play, mostly family. The other half of that is your future in this league and your career. There are a lot of different things to take in. Whenever those things don’t line up, decisions have to be made that might be tough, but that’s the way it has to be.”2 His decision was not all that popular among baseball fans.
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