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Ministry Emergency: 4 People That Need Quick Attention

Responsiveness is extremely important in leadership and organizational health. It’s one of the non-negotiables for teams I lead. (I wrote about those non-negotiables HERE.) Being responsive shows that a leader cares for others, recognizes their value, and is disciplined enough to follow through.

There are times, however, when I believe responsiveness is not only the wise or right thing to do but is critical in terms of protecting the relationship. If you are leading in a church or a business, these individuals demand a timely response if there is any hope of keeping them.

Here are 4 times when responsiveness is critical:

Busy leaders

If the President of the United States ever calls you, it would be best not to say, “I’m busy right now, I’ll call you back.” Some people simply live busier lives than others. They aren’t better than others, just busier. They aren’t more important, but they often carry more responsibility. If they extend you time, they expect a timely response.

First timers

Whether a new customer or first time visitor to the church, these people don’t trust you yet. If you let them down early, you’ll never connect with them.

Injured or hurting people

Broken people are more skeptical of trusting others. They’ve received disappointment in life, usually from other people. Unresponsiveness now is received as further rejection.

People in crisis mode

In the moment of crisis, people understandably become incredibly dependent, perhaps even somewhat self-centered. Unresponsiveness is akin to uncaring for them.

Let me be clear, I’m not suggesting you can solve the person’s concerns immediately or that you have to drop everything else to respond. What I am contending is that with these type scenarios, responsiveness becomes even more important to protect the relationship. It could be as simple as a message that says, “I’ll get back with you soon,” which is not a bad practice with everyone. (Just make sure you keep your commitment!) It might be that you quickly refer them elsewhere for assistance. You could even delegate the response to someone else on your team.

With these specific groups of people, the key is that some response comes in a timely fashion if the relationship is valued enough to protect.