This is a question every leader should ask seriously when planning anything — an event, worship service, training, or meeting. Would I want to go to this?
If you wouldn’t want to go, there’s a good chance that others won’t either. And if you go but you don’t really want to, everyone will feel it.
Sometimes we plan things because we think we should. Other times we schedule meetings or trainings because it’s something we want but, if we put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, we wouldn’t want to come either. Too many times I’ve seen leaders subject their followers to meetings that they wouldn’t want to attend either.
If you ask this question and the honest answer is, “No, I wouldn’t want to go to this,” then three options remain:
- Cancel it — nobody else probably wants to go either.
- Improve it until it’s something you’d want to attend.
- Keep it.
The only time that #3 makes sense is if you are so outside of the mainstream in your particular preferences related to the idea. (For example, I’m not big on food trucks but I realize that I’m outside-the-norm on this and therefore am OK with events that have food trucks.) These #3 moments are rare.
Have the honesty to ask this hard question and make courageous and creative decisions to ensure that nobody is subjected to things that you — and they — don’t want to participate in.
