Chronic mediocrity and apathy are close cousins. It reveals something is lacking in the vision and/or the communication of it. It usually also reveals a lack of preparation. Or a lack of stewardship. Or both. It demoralizes the team members who want to strive for excellence.
The Harvard Business Review published an article a few weeks back called What to Do About Mediocrity on Your Team. The opening line is poignant:
“The toughest test of a manager is not how they deal with poor performance — it’s how they address mediocrity.”
Wow. For reasons I don’t like, this line jumped out at me as something church leaders need to chew on.
How do you recognize mediocrity in your ministry? I asked the team at The Unstuck Group to share some ideas based on what they see in the churches we’ve served.
You Might Be Tolerating Mediocrity If…
- You’re trying to please everyone.
- You’re waiting to perfect a new strategy before you try it.
- You spend all your time trying to perfect what you’re already doing today.
- You spend your whole budget to fill all the roles you think your church needs, rather than investing more in the best people for fewer roles.
- You measure your church’s devotion to prayer by how many people show up to a “prayer gathering” on a certain day and time.
- Your ministry model is complex. Mediocrity is a natural result of complexity. You can’t do a lot of things and do them all above-average.
- You think measuring results isn’t spiritual.
- Your team consistently does the minimum required; there’s not an effort to exceed expectations.
- You don’t require accountability from your staff or volunteers.
- You don’t prioritize coaching, training and mentorship for your staff or volunteers.
- You have meetings, more meetings, and meetings about the meetings.
- You allow a fuzzy vision to prevail for years.
Chronic mediocrity and apathy are close cousins. It reveals something is lacking in the vision and/or the communication of it. It usually also reveals a lack of preparation. Or a lack of stewardship. Or both. It demoralizes the team members who want to strive for excellence.