Let New Staffers Lead Early to Gain Momentum in Ministry

Whenever you enter a new job, especially one in which you are the primary ministry lead, there has always been a saying of, “wait 6 months before you make changes”. This expectation is put in place in large part because you don’t want to shock the ministry too much too soon. There is already a shock of being the “new person”. But, you don’t want to be the “new person” to make changes too soon, in particular with ones that people may have actually liked. That is why ministers are strongly encouraged to spend the first few months of their new job observing, having conversations and getting the know the culture of the ministry before changes are made.

When Its Good To Let the New Person Run

While this is true and important to do a lot of times, there are some times when it may be best to let the new people run and make changes immediately. After all, with new faces can come new energy. Those some times are when the old person who is being replaced was fired for poor/failing performance or when the person being replaced is being succeeded rather than replaced. It is in these instances where having a new leader come in and start running early and often to make an impact is necessary and very appropriate.

But, there is one other instance that it is important for a new leader to be encouraged to make an impact early. And this is the state of a lot of ministries right now as we are coming out of COVID and the effects of the pandemic. That situation is when the ministry has grown stale and the ministry is in maintenance mode rather than growth mode. There is no energy or momentum.

The pandemic has taken a lot out of ministries and ministers. Ministers have been trying to survive with all the extra pressure to meet the needs to the community, staff members leaving which creates more responsibilities on few staffers, financial constrains due to lack of giving and declining attendance. Because of all these extra stresses and pressure, ministries have not been able to grow as much as they could in the past.

For these reasons it’s great to let the new person run with the ministry immediately and start creating momentum.

Don't hold new leaders back. New faces can bring new energy which can lead to immediate impact and momentum. Click To Tweet

When a new leader comes in, he/she brings new energy. And with that energy comes excitement. With that excitement comes new momentum that can help you bring back people who have faded away as well as new people who will be curious about what is happening.

So what can you do to help the new staffer be successful early?

• Set him/her up with stake holders who have invested in the ministry. Have him/her have conversations with them, building rapport with them, learning from them while also providing him/her an opportunity to cast vision for what lies ahead. The more stakeholders you can have supporting the new hire, the more positive energy and momentum can develop.
• Give him/her so easy wins to get momentum going. Momentum comes when you have success. Give him/her some small successes that can snowball into real momentum for the ministry.
• Give him/her the ability to fail! In order to move the ministry forward you have to try new things. Some of those new things will fail and that’s ok. As Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Give them the ability to fail and see what successes and momentum come from it.

Conclusion

You don’t have to wait 6 months to see better results. With new faces can come fresh energy. And with that energy can come real momentum and encouragement in the ministry. Momentum and energy that this ministry may not have seen in really long time. If your new hire is showing the passion and energy to start leading immediately, don’t hold him/her back. Launch them and trust God to guide them and the ministry to where it needs to be.

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