Whether you’re leading a small group, a ministry, a church, or even a denomination, every leader has struggled with momentum killers.
It seems like life is never better than when momentum is strong. Likewise, it seems like life is awful when momentum halts.
The great thing about momentum is that it’s easier to maintain than to generate. The bad thing about momentum is that if you don’t intentionally maintain it, it will stop.
Momentum, without help, can not continue perpetually.
So what kills momentum?
1. Repeating Mistakes
Mistakes are a part of life. We all make them, and everyone on our teams make them.
While mistakes are normal, repeating them doesn’t have to be. Once you’ve learned how to maintain a good flow in your worship service, don’t get lazy and slip back into the old habits that used to make your services mediocre. Once you have thorough hiring practices in place, don’t neglect them just to hire your buddy or a family member. Once you make your facility look great, don’t let it get run down again. Once you’ve got an emergency reserve fund in place, don’t forget to replenish it after your next emergency.
Make a practice of learning from every mistake and then never repeating them. The school of hard knocks is a great teacher, but you don’t want to pay for the same education twice!
2. The Wrong People
This is a hard thing to talk about in ministry because people should always be a priority. The tendency, therefore, is to neglect making the tough calls related to volunteer and staff positions.
The hardest conversation I’ve ever had was with a volunteer I had to “fire” in a small church I was planting. It wasn’t an easy conversation, but it was necessary. The ministry this person led was floundering and momentum had stopped. The only way to regain momentum was to make the tough call and move on. In the end, it was the right decision.
If you’ve got someone on your team who just isn’t the right person, don’t wait to act. Don’t let your desire to show mercy damage the entire organization you’re leading. This might sound cold, but sometimes, we must risk hurting the one for the sake of everyone else.
