Leadership and Disappointment in Ministry

Inevitably, something will happen in your ministry position that will discourage you. You'll plan an event that doesn't go at all according to plan (and not in the Holy Spirit kind of way), no one will show up at a new mid-week gathering, or you'll experience significant conflict within your leadership team causing you to lose leaders. Whatever it might be, there's bound to be some disappointment. What happens when things go wrong, and you're the one in charge?

There are three basic ways to react:

1. Repeatedly say, "This is all my fault" and sulk around the house for days in your bathrobe.
2. Blame others: "Why won't [Fill in the blank] get it together?"
3. Admit that it is a less-than-desirable situation and ask, "How are we going to respond to this?"

In case you haven't guessed, the third option is the way to go. When things go wrong, a good leader will acknowledge the disappointment, then chart a course for responding. Sometimes that means the leader needs to admit a bad decision and apologize. Sometimes conflict resolution is necessary. A wise course of action may be gathering your leaders together as quickly as possible and spending lots of time in prayer together. I've noticed that there are two opposite but equally damaging mistakes many ministry leaders make when things go wrong: 1) wallow in self-deprecation or 2) disavow any fault or responsibility. An honest, effective leader acknowledges the obstacle exists then finds a way forward.

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