One of my mentors used to always say, “Time is your friend.” He wanted us as leaders to be patient as we led and to value the fact that change happens over time. Young leaders often want the whole enchilada now (and by “whole enchilada” I don’t mean an actual enchilada-which of course makes sense to eat all in one sitting. This is merely a metaphor, but you’ve probably figured that out by now), but a smart leader is willing to plod along and do what’s necessary to see change happen, even if it appears slow.
I heard it put a similar way when I was being trained as a new campus ministry leader. My teachers there said, “Slow is fast and fast is slow.” Fast means charging ahead without your due diligence of strategic planning and working a decision-making process. It’s fast, but at some point it becomes slow either because you did not properly plan for issues that come up or you did not properly align your team. So, the project comes to a screeching halt and might not ever get off the ground again because you’ve lost faith with your team.
The slow way means involving key stakeholders (students, other staff, etc.) in the original planning and decision-making processes. It takes time, but your buy-in curve will go way up - and who doesn’t want that? And, when significant buy-in happens, everyone on your team starts to pull the weight and that “slow” becomes fast. It also involves working a planning process. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” as the old adage goes.
So, before you as a leader go charging ahead with some new strategy or plan, consider taking the slow lane. Slow down and take the time to make a plan, involve people, and do your due diligence. You’ll be amazed at how fast you end up going.
©1994-2020 Cru. All Rights Reserved.
