If you are leading change in your church, here are some great quotes from Carey Nieuwhof in his book Leading Change Without Losing It: Five Strategies That Can Revolutionize How You Lead Change When Facing Opposition:
The loudest people affected by a proposed change are those who are most opposed. The more opposed people are, the louder they tend to become.
When you focus on complaints, you lose sight of the plan.
Will you focus on the people you want to reach, or the people you want to keep?
There is no way I know to engineer significant change and keep everyone you’ve currently got.
Everyone in your church likes your church the way it is; otherwise, they wouldn’t be there. It’s just that the rest of your community may not. Otherwise, they might be there.
When you consider the 10 or 100 who might leave your church if you change, just pause to remember the almost 10,000 who aren’t coming because, so far, you have failed to change. Maybe as leaders we need to start fearing that.
- Is their vision primarily based on the past or on the future?
- Do they have a spirit of humility? Are they open or closed to the counsel of other people?
- Who is following them, and is this the kind of group that you would want around your senior leadership table?
- Are they focused on themselves or the people you are trying to reach?
- Do they offer positive alternatives that will help build a better future than your current vision for change?