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7 Habits of Highly
Ineffective People
Continual success is the result of repeated good habits – whether we are trying to succeed in ministry, business, or an area of personal life. Likewise, continual failure is the result of repeated bad habits. Here are seven of the most common habits found in people who are highly ineffective. By reviewing and examining ourselves for habits we can change, we increase our effectiveness as leaders.
1. Highly Ineffective People Are Not Good Time Managers. Ineffective people usually don’t know how to manage their time. They don’t even know where their time goes. Everything we do has an eternal impact, so we cannot afford to waste time.
2. Highly Ineffective People Possess A Losing Attitude. I have never seen a continually successful person who had a negative attitude. Winners live with a positive attitude, one that reflects their belief that they can do all things through Christ. Be a winner. Develop the habit of thinking positively.
3. Highly Ineffective People Quit Growing. John Wooden, one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, said, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” Wooden recognized a common trap that people fall into – the wrong belief that they can graduate to or arrive at a place where they no longer need to keep learning and growing. Effective people keep growing. Get out of your comfort zone. Personal growth opens the door to effectiveness.
4. Highly Ineffective People Have No Plan For Their Lives. Anatole France said, “The average man does not know what to do with his life, yet wants another one which will last forever.” Most people don’t have any idea where they are going in life; hence they don’t go anywhere. Life is not a dress rehearsal. God has a plan for your life. If you don’t already know what it is, it’s time to find out. Ask yourself these five questions:
a. What do I want to accomplish?
b. Can I make this propose specific?
c. How am I going to accomplish this?
d. Am I currently accomplishing this?
e. What do I have to change in order to accomplish my goal?
Examine yourself, pray, discover your purpose. Then develop a plan for your life. Get into the habit of working every day to fulfill that plan. You have God-given tasks, just as Jesus did. He prayed, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” (John 17:4, NIV) That should also be our goal.
5. Highly Ineffective People Are Unwilling To Change. To grow, a person must change. No one can improve and remain unchanged at the same time. That is why effective people learn to accept and even embrace change. When they don’t, they limit their future and that of the people they lead. If leaders are not change agents, they are condemning organizations to mediocrity and a slow death. Getting used to change takes time, but it is certainly worth the effort. If we can keep our eyes on God’s purpose for our lives, we will be able not only to accept change better but also to become positive change agents.
6. Highly Ineffective People Fail In Relationships With Others. All successful leaders are good at building relationships with others. Christian leaders are in the people business. Natural talent, intelligence, a great education – none of these guarantees effectiveness. But an understanding of what people want and need and a willingness to give it to them provide the greatest chance for success.
7. Highly Ineffective People Do Not Pay The Price For Success. Every victory has a price. Jesus taught that. There is no success without sacrifice. People who are unwilling to sacrifice, unwilling to pay the price for their goals and dreams, will never be effective. They may love God with all their hearts, and they may be good people, but they aren’t willing to take the necessary steps or make the required sacrifices. You must form habits; then habits form you. And those habits will be a great factor in determining your effectiveness.
“Have you been trained to fail?” You have been trained in ministry to fail if you have been taught to do the ministry rather than to train other for ministry. I am grateful to the teachers who taught me to perform the functions of ministry: visiting, counseling, marrying, burying, teaching, witnessing, and a host of other duties. All are needed. By themselves, however, they help us only to maintain, not to maximize ministry. We can never be effective ministers until we learn what it means to be a leader and how to function as a leader. The following are five common ingredients in growing churches:
(1)
The pastor and
the congregation understand their God-given gifts and use them in ministry.
(2)
The pastor’s hands-on ministry decreases and the
congregation’s increases.
(3)
Both the quality and the quantity of ministry increase.
(4)
The pastor’s ministry influence increases as he shares
ministry responsibilities with the congregation.
(5)
A biblical philosophy of ministry is established. That is, leadership plus lay ministry equals
growth.
How can you build a leadership team and maximize ministry in your church? The following six steps are proven and effective.
1. Identify the leaders in the church. Who are the influencers? These persons may hold formal or informal positions of leadership. They are the ones to whom others look for decisions. Write down their names and rank them on a scale of 1 to 10 as to their leadership and influence within the church.
2. Intentionally take time to build relationships with your current and future leaders. Do not ignore or exclude the others, but focus on developing leaders.
3. Select and recruit people with leadership potential. Look for humility, teachableness, willingness to serve, loyalty, and responsiveness to spiritual authority. This small group will love God and man and will be developing godly character.
4. Orient them toward leadership in general. The objective is to help them understand the dynamics of true leadership, to catch the vision, and to be challenged by it.
5. Involve them in ministry. As you assess their spiritual gifts, place people in apprentice positions to observe and practice ministry. They will begin to assume responsibilities as they are trained.
6. Release them in ministry. After people have been oriented, equipped, and involved in ministry, deploy them. Permit them to take the full load as leaders and ministers.
Jesus took a handful of men and transformed the world. He did so by pouring Himself into them and training them. Then He sent them out to do even greater things than He had done. Jesus knew the secret of minimizing maintenance and maximizing ministry.
Ministerial Tips To Avoid Discouragement
A discouraged minister dreamed he was standing atop a granite boulder and working diligently to break it with a sledgehammer. Hour after hour he worked with no results. At last he said, “It is useless; I quit.” Suddenly a man stood by him and asked, “Were you not given this task? If so, why are you going to stop your work?” The minister replied, “My work is in vain; I can make no impression on this granite.” The stranger replied, “That is not your business. Your full duty is to hammer away, whether the rock yields or not. The results are in another’s hands – keep working.” The minister saw himself setting out with renewed vigor. At hs first blow of the hammer, the granite fell into hundreds of pieces. Sometimes we may feel like the discouraged minister. Here are tips that will help overcome discouragement:
1. Don’t allow others to rob you out of your self-worth as a servant of God. Your value is in Christ, our Lord and Savior. He constantly tells us how much He loves us.
2. Ignore any rumor unless there is clear evidence of its reality. Then take it to God in prayer and seek His wisdom of approach.
3. Don’t waste time trying to determine the origin of anonymous letters. As soon as it is determined that a letter is anonymous, throw it away.
4. Don’t take rejection of an idea as a personal rejection. People can reject an idea without rejecting the individual. Your ideas and plans are separate from who you are as a person. An idea is an idea.
5. Avoid developing a God complex; however, a minister cannot be just “one of the guys.” You are called out to be God’s spokesperson with a servant’s spirit and mentality.
6. Don’t ever think you are right all the time. You are human, so there will be mistakes. When you err, admit your error, make whatever restitution required, get up, and continue your journey. Rejoice that you are a member of the human race.
7. Don’t share every criticism that you hear about yourself, your family, or your ministry with your spouse. Criticism not only increases discouragement but may possibly start the discouragement process in your mate.
8. Your personal joy does not depend on circumstances, salary, what others say or do, or the personal attention you receive. Joy, happiness, and personal fulfillment do not come from others or from things but from within – the Spirit within and an attitude of gratitude birthed by the Holy Ghost. You alone are personally responsible for your joy and fulfillment.
Ten rules for letting go of discouragement are (1) Go out and do something for someone else. (2) Repeat rule 1 nine times. Your stature is determined by how much it takes to discourage you. Be encouraged!