I recently found myself repeating a phrase I had not used in a long time. The phrase is “leadership by the negative minority.” Let me explain what I mean by it.
One of the challenges leaders face is dealing with negative reactions to change and efforts to effectively be on mission with the gospel. If you lead, you will encounter these.
Many churches and other organizations are actually led by a negative minority. Here is how it usually happens.
A leader, along with the majority of the group, have a dream and begin moving the church or organization forward in a direction they believe is of God. That is when the negative minority begins making noise. In those churches or organizations where the highest value is keeping everyone happy…the majority gives in to the minority that is making noise. The result is the church or other organization stands still…and eventually moves backward. This is what I call “leadership by the negative minority” because whether people know it or not, the negative minority is actually leading the church or organization. They are setting the priorities and direction.
Leadership does involve hearing our critics and doing our best to learn from their criticism. It also involves doing what we can to involve others and bring them on the journey with us. If people are not following, we’re not leading…we’re just on a lonely walk.
Yet there are times when leading also means doing so even when some people are making negative noise. If we wait for everyone to cheer, we will be waiting a long time.
Pastor Steve Hogg
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