As I walk into a familiar local deli, I am greeted by a hostess who smiles and says, “Staff Meeting for one?” I smile and nod to acknowledge that it is, in fact, Monday morning and time for my weekly staff meeting…with myself. Over coffee and a danish, I call the meeting to order, seeing that all are present, and I begin the process of getting on the same page with myself for the week. For the next hour, I will spend time in prayer and Scripture reading, then look over my week and begin to chart out the happenings of the next seven days. This meeting is critical to the overall outcome of my week. The days of going into the week blind, only addressing the issues as they come, are over. If I am going to lead others, I must first lead myself. As it says in Song of Solomon 1:6: “They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!”

To some, a weekly personal staff meeting might seem like a waste of time, but it has made all the difference in my vision, and the production of that vision, since I began doing it a few years ago. I am reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 that says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” Paul says that whatever it takes, in the way of training and preparing to lead others to Jesus, that is what he must do. So many times in my ministry I have attempted to lead, just to turn and look back and notice that no one was actually following. It goes back to John C. Maxwell’s principle of the Law of the Lids. We can only lead someone to the point that we have already gone ourselves. We can not lead other people to become more disciplined, organized, creative, or spiritually mature than we are ourselves. Therefore, we must be sure that we, as leaders, know our Leader and the direction He is leading us.

Here are 4 things that a weekly personal staff meeting has done for me:

1. It has given me DIRECTION FROM GOD. I am just creative and relational enough to go out on my own in ministry and fill up my time doing seemingly worthy things. But, not every idea and relationship is worth pursuing to fulfill my calling in ministry. I have found that if I do not set aside time to ask God to show me His direction and path for my week, then I will just start walking on my own. I always begin my personal staff meeting with prayer and a prayerful request for God to guide my steps that week.

2. A personal staff meeting allows me to FOCUS MY VISION. As God sets me on the right course, He fills me with vision for leadership and ministry. One of the key objectives of this weekly time alone is to focus on that vision to define and develop it. This always sets me up to know how to proceed throughout my week as I work closer to reaching that ministry vision.

3. A staff meeting for one allows me to ORGANIZE MY TASKS. Who am I needing to meet with this week to reach my goals and vision? What am I going to teach when I speak in a couple of weeks that matches the direction that God has set me on? What do I need to say “no” to so that I can eliminate those things that will distract me from my focused vision? These are the questions I must ask myself as I organize the tasks of the coming week.

4. The final thing that this weekly meeting does for me is AFFIRM MY PRIORITIES. So many times I have found myself in the midst of doing something in ministry only to discover an uncertainty as to why I am actually doing it. This usually means that I am wasting time and have gotten off course from the original plan and purpose. Spending  some time pouring over my calendar and the week at hand gives me a picture of what is a priority and what is not.

As I have learned, my success in ministry is directly connected to the fulfillment of my calling and purpose. That calling is translated into a vision, which details itself in tasks and priorities. These things don’t operate on their own, but rather, while I connect to Christ and He directs my paths each moment of every day. Those stakes are too important not to set aside some time each week alone (& re-visit it daily), before leading anyone else, to lead myself closer to what I am called to do.

[ THE ART OF SELF LEADERSHIP HOMEPAGE ]