STRATEGIC DISCERNMENT AND DIRECTION

Proverbs 16:1-3

The plans of the mind belong to mortals,

but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

All one’s ways may be pure in one’s own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the spirit.

Commit your work to the Lord,

and your plans will be established.

Discerning strategic direction is complex and complicated, and it challenges even the best leaders. It is about helping a group of people discover God’s purpose and plan for them, and providing leadership in order to help them get there.

Management consultant and author Peter Drucker has described the process this way: “Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.”[1]

Helping a ministry or organization discern its direction can be frustrating, create conflict, cause a church to split, spawn disagreements, produce power struggles, and catalyze confrontation. It can also be one of the most effective and fulfilling experiences a church can go through—one that will ultimately lead to a new chapter of ministry that brings great impact.

What has been your experience in helping a church or organization walk through a process of ministry discernment and direction?

Where have you gained wisdom or competency for helping a church or organization walk through a strategic planning process?

ENCOUNTER

Luke 14:28-32 (CEV)

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. What is the first thing you will do? Won’t you sit down and figure out how much it will cost and if you have enough money to pay for it? Otherwise, you will start building the tower, but not be able to finish. Then everyone who sees what is happening will laugh at you. They will say, ‘You started building, but could not finish the job.’

What will a king do if he has only ten thousand soldiers to defend himself against a king who is about to attack him with twenty thousand soldiers? Before he goes out to battle, won’t he first sit down and decide if he can win? If he thinks he won’t be able to defend himself, he will send messengers and ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off.”

Here Jesus lays out the value of planning—counting the cost before you start the task or process. The words of Jesus apply whether you are deciding to become a follower of Christ or whether you are determining which direction to go next in your ministry. He provides us with both wisdom and warning.

How have you previously engaged in programs or projects and not taken into account the wisdom or warning of Jesus?

How did this experience inform and improve how you went about planning and proceeding the next time?

EXPRESSION

Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, laid out a framework for leadership during her presentation at the 2014 Willow Creek Leadership Summit. This framework provides four strategic categories to help leaders identify organizational direction.

  1. Vision/Strategy/Goals
  • Where are we going?
  • Why are we going there?
  • Why is it better than where we are?
  1. Organization/Structure/Process
  • Do our strategy and structure match up?
  • How do we work together to get the job done?
  • How do we organize and develop a team?
  1. Metrics/Results
  • How do we measure progress?
  • How do we define success?
  • Do what we measure and track reflect what we see as most important?
  1. Culture/Behaviors
  • What is it like to work around here?
  • What behaviors do we engage in that support our vision and values?

How can a leadership framework like this improve your ministry or organization’s effectiveness?

Select one of the four strategic categories and walk your partner through how this is implemented in your ministry or organization, answering the questions for that category.

IMPACT

Terry Walling, founder and president at Leader Breakthru, developed the “Refocusing Your Church”[2] process to help churches move toward renewal and greater ministry effectiveness. He created a series of questions for congregations to answer that will provide an overall direction for ministry and future efforts. (While he writes specifically for the church, you should contextualize the material for your own organization.)

These are Walling’s “SevenQuestions Every Church Must Answer”:

  • Why do we exist as a church? (Biblical Purpose)
  • How has God worked in our past? (Ministry Milestones)
  • Whom has God called us to reach? (Ministry Focus)
  • Who has God shaped us to be? (Core Values)
  • Where is God leading us in the future? (Vision)
  • How will we accomplish our vision? (Ministry Goals)
  • What is our plan for ministry in the next three to five years? (Ministry Plan)

Take some time and reflect how you might answer these questions for your church or organization.

Share with your partner your best responses to these questions.

REFLECT

Sometimes a church or organization is limited in its ability to reach and achieve its strategic direction because of the limitations of the leader. Being open to authentic evaluation and analysis of your leadership helps to discover if you are enhancing or inhibiting the growth and development of a church.

Aubrey Malphurs, a seminary professor and church strategist, has developed a series of questions to help pastors evaluate their role in determining ministry direction.

  1. Am I stuck as the leader of this church or organization?
  1. Could I and/or my leadership be part of the problem?
  1. How might I be holding the church or organization back?
  1. What must I change about who I am, what I do, and how I think, in order to take it to the next level?
  1. Can I change?
  1. Am I willing to change?
  1. Am I the person to take this church or organization to the next level?

Take a few moments and slowly walk through these questions. In an honest moment of reflection, how would you respond to these questions?

Share you thought and feelings, to the degree that you are comfortable, with your coaching partner.

“Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”

—John F. Kennedy[3]

[1]“Peter Drucker Quotes,” Brainy Quote, accessed September 22, 2015,

[2] Terry Walling, Refocusing Your Church: Strategic Planning Process (Church Resource Ministries, 1994).

[3] John F. Kennedy (speech, Coliseum, Raleigh, NC, September 17, 1960).