Perry Noble is the Senior Pastor of New Spring Church, which has been recognized as one of America’s largest churches. According to the Hartford Institute, this Southern Baptist congregation averages over 9,000 people in attendance on a weekly basis. You can connect with him by following him on twitter or by reading his blog.
Noble writes extensively about leadership on his blog, including a recent piece about seven reasons leaders flame out:
- We Allow Our Schedule To Control Us
- Believing We Have To Have All Of The Answers
- Ceasing To Learn
- Refusal To Admit Mistakes
- Avoiding A Problem And Simply Praying It Will Go Away
- Refusing To Ask For Help
- Refusing To Make The Necessary Changes
So What?
Leadership burnout has been a popular topic in the church for several years. Clergy burnout has received considerable attention of late. Awareness of these concerns is important, but alone inadequate. For those who serve as leaders in the church or in any context, it is important to periodically engage in intentional introspection and to find ways to gather and respond to data from those you trust.
Take a few minutes to review Noble’s list. How many of the seven do you struggle with on occasion? Try ranking the seven in order from the one you have no issues with to the one that is currently your greatest concern. Once you identify your areas of relative weakness, make a plan to do something to overcome them (and be sure to include others in that plan — see especially #6).