Important Truths about Leading - Do What You Say You Will Do

When you are the leader of the Children's Ministry in your church; whether you are paid staff or a volunteer, people look to you, not only for leadership, but also for a number of other things. For the next few days I want to consider some of the ways a Children's Ministry leader, leads . . . and the impact this has on the children, volunteers and families in your ministry.

Today I want to look at one of the most important ways you lead . . . by doing what you say you will do.

This may seem pretty obvious; of course, whether we are a leader in the Children's Ministry or not, we should always do what we say we will do. But, it is something which is easier to say than it is to do. The problem comes when we, as a leader in the Children's Ministry, say we will do something and then do not do it. The children, volunteers and families who heard what we said we would do are likely waiting and expecting us to do what we said we would do. When we do not do it, it erodes their ability to trust us.

We need to be people who do what we say we will do. This means we need to be thoughtful people. People who think about and consider what we say we will do. People who do not just casually say we will do something and then forget, or worse, just decide we do not have to do what we said we will do.

The consequences for not doing what we say we will do can be severe. Not only does it mean we are setting a poor example, but it really can destroy trust and cause genuine hurt to others. I know a person who used to be a Children's Pastor; he was quick to get excited about things and say he was going to do specific things . . . which he forgot, or just decided not to do. Worse, he tried to throw the "blame" on volunteers when they tried to point out when he had said he would do something, but did not do it. This caused pain and destroyed trust.

If we are leaders in the Children's Ministry at our church, we must be people who do what we say we will do. If something happens and we can not do what we said we would do, we need to take ownership and go to those who are expecting something to happen and explain how things changed and work out with them what you can do instead.

It really goes to our integrity. Are we people who do what we say we will do?