This past weekend, Laura, my wife, and I traveled to Atlanta, GA, to visit with small groups pastor Scott Mawdesley, who was generous enough to give us a tour of North Point Community Church and allow us to ask lots of questions about what they do and why they do it. We also got to visit Buckhead Church on Sunday morning. The entire weekend was a great experience.
Whatever you do for a living, I would strongly suggest getting out of your normal environment. Plan a day, a weekend, or even an entire week, to get away and learn from somebody else in a related field. Here are 3 reasons why I think you desperately need this:
1. We migrate to tunnel-vision. Over time, you begin to think that you have the market on all of the great ideas. Well, you don’t. Trust me. You may have lots of good ideas, but not all of them.
2. Evaluation naturally declines when you’re in the same box for an extended amount of time. Think with me for a minute. If you’re literally in a box for a month, you might be in evaluation mode for a week or two. Then, you begin to think that you’ve evaluated everything. And probably, you have. It’s only when you get into another person’s box that you see that your box is in need of repair. Seeing other systems helps you to evaluate holes in your own.
3. Leading an organization (or a small group) can lead to burnout. Visiting other sites, and taking a break from wearing the “leader” hat, is refreshing, and needed on a regular basis. Getting out of your box allows you to take a deep breath and relax.
So here’s my question for you:
Have you taken a break from leading and visited another business/small group/church? What did you learn?
