I once heard a great quote that was probably by either John Maxwell or Abraham Lincoln (since those guys are the originators of all great leadership quotes, right?) that said, “Everyone ends up somewhere, but few people end up there on purpose.”
We all have a choice in life: to allow the circumstances around us to dictate our path and responses, or to have mapped out our own path that we can be determined to stick to, regardless of what else happens.
For many of us, we find ourselves being dragged through life, with our focus each day being driven by whatever fire is most important. So we slog through week after week of our job, only to look up six months later and realize that we’ve allowed others’ sense of urgency and importance to determine where our attention was spent.
After all, if we don’t intentionally put effort into making ourselves better, how else can we be sure that we’ll focus on and learn the right things?
Thus, it was time wasted, because we put all of our energy into helping other people achieve the results they wanted, without putting the proper amount of attention into ourselves.
Having a personal growth plan is a critical part of the development process for any church tech. After all, if we don’t intentionally put effort into making ourselves better, how else can we be sure that we’ll focus on and learn the right things?
John Maxwell (not Abraham Lincoln) said, “Hope isn’t an effective growth strategy,” but that’s what most of us end up leaning on: the blind hope that we’ll end up in a better position tomorrow than we are today. But who’s to say that hope is well-grounded?
If we desire a life that is intentionally improving and isn’t just left to the mercy of the shifting seas we sail in, we have to be willing to put the time and effort into carving out a plan that we can stick to.
Here are some key thoughts to keep in mind as we embark on this process:
1-Write down your goals.
In Habakkuk, the prophet proclaims that vision must be written down, so that the messenger could run with it (Hab. 2:2).
When something isn’t clarified and written down, it just turns into a game of telephone--subject to changing at the mercy and whims of any and every situation.
Having written goals provides a level of accountability necessary for us if we are to improve at any area. Whether I want to grow spiritually or professionally, I must take the time to clearly draw out what I want to become.
Having them written and readily available provides me the ability to see them on a regular basis, which then serves as a reminder of the importance of staying focused on those ideas.
2-Make your goals measurable.
There are some great and admirable ideas that often flood the world of personal goals, like “draw closer to God” and “become a better parent.”
Those are great ideas, and they’re very important. But they’re also subjective. There’s no way to know how I’m really doing, and my response (or others’) may vary based on mood and day of the week.
In order for a goal to be effective, it should be clear and measurable. Just like in a sporting event, you don’t judge a winner based on “feel.” There’s a clear system that determines achievement and progress.
Goals have to be the same way. So, if I want to become a better leader, my goal shouldn’t just be “to become a better leader,” since I have no way of knowing if or when I hit that mark.
Instead, I should have goals like “Read one leadership book per month,” or “Find an advisor or mentor that can coach me in leadership,” or “Listen to a leadership podcast each week.”
Those are all clear steps I can take on a regular basis and can easily know whether I’m hitting them. The hope would then be that if I do those things, I can become a better leader by default. But I have to know the practical things I need to be doing on a consistent basis.
3-Make your goals a priority.
Many times, our daily agendas are determined by the things that others deem important: their events, their problems, their vision. And if you’re like me, sometimes you look up at the end of the day and realize that you were so busy focused on putting out others’ fires that you didn’t actually do anything on your own to-do list.
If we’re going to become better technicians and leaders, we must prioritize this process. It has to be a “big rock” that goes on our calendar FIRST, and other things slide in around it.
It often becomes easy to push off personal growth, because it doesn’t have a firm date attached (like a big event), or we make the when/then excuse (“when things slow down, then I’ll focus on it”). But the reality is that life will probably never really slow down to the perfect level, and if we want to grow ourselves, we just simply have to force the issue and make it happen.
Block out a window to make phone calls to techs at other churches so you can learn how they do things.
If you want to get better technically, carve out priority time each week to just play with gear to learn more about how it works. Set up a regular time to watch training videos online or to read blogs or magazines. Block out a window to make phone calls to techs at other churches so you can learn how they do things.
You’ll never accidentally get better at your job.
4-Bring others along for the ride.
The Bible clarifies many times about the importance of close friends and relationships. We all need people to watch our backs and help us through life.
But for many of us in the tech world, we tend to choose a life of isolation. Whether it’s due to limited team size or just the sheer nature of our introverted personalities, many of us choose to live on an island anytime we’re outside of an actual service environment.
But if we are to effectively grow into the leaders and technicians that God has called us to be, it’s critical that we realize that we can’t do that alone.
We all need encouragers to support us when we have a bad day, and we all need accountability from others to help keep us on a growth track when life gets distracting.
Plus, we all need some sort of relational inspiration: the people around us that model the behaviors or skills we want to possess and are willing to help coach and teach us to get us there.
Do you have close friends that help walk you through a growth process? Have you shared goals with your supervisor or pastor so he or she can help provide coaching and accountability? Have you identified others in the industry that you want to learn from, both as a technician and as a leader?
Have you shared goals with your supervisor or pastor so he or she can help provide coaching and accountability?
We’re not designed to do life alone, and the personal growth process is no exception.
The ultimate goal of any ministry is growth. As long as people are still being born, there will continue to be unsaved people who need a relationship with God, meaning that there will always be a need for churches for them to step into.
If our church desires to keep reaching people and growing, that means we as techs need to be growing too. Ministry vision will never stop, and it’s up to us to be ready to help implement each new phase.
Without us intentionally growing ourselves, we run the risk of becoming a lid that limits the growth potential of our ministry. But on the converse, if we’re constantly growing ourselves, we and our ministry have nearly unlimited potential.
Because as Abraham Lincoln famously remarked, “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.”
Start the process today.