Maxwell's Reflective Essay

A note of caution: enthusiasm shouldn 't take the place of God 's Word. Has thoughtful thinking and ideas been bounced around enough to see a best option? Someone wrote: "Plan ahead, it wasn 't raining when Noah built the ark." -Anonymous. Goals are going to take a team effort and lots of work. Teamwork will most likely spring from the minister 's initiation. That being said, minister 's need to take the tough job. What is the tough job? Managers work the process, but leaders work people. Minister 's are in the "people business" and indeed people are tough to get along with. It seems like so many souls could be saved, but people get in the way! Working with people is never on the top of the "to do" list. Many want to live as Emperor and just dictate what is going to happen. Maxwell reminds us that we need to complete and not compete. He lists five things this will take: listening, finding common ground, being available, keeping humor and being truthful. Listening shows that one cares and is willing and open to other 's idea 's. With those ideas, common ground can be found. The minister needs to be available for the progression of these ideas, but also available for the controversial ideas people didn 't bring up in public. Humor goes …show more content…
Maxwell lists a few types of thinking: poor thinking (negative progress), average thinking (no progress), good thinking (some progress) and great thinking (great progress). Minister 's need to articulate their own thinking to the members. The author lists eleven skills that good thinkers must have. They must think with the big picture in mind and yet also keep focused on the task at hand. While being creative (innovative) they must know their limits based on reality. Being strategic and tactical, they shouldn 't neglect any possibilities. If a congregation doesn 't think they have the power for a specific goal, can it be accomplished through a mini