If you live long enough, and do enough stuff, eventually people start putting you on committees.
I am on more than I care to admit.
And to be fair, committees can do some good. They are especially useful when they have a narrow, clearly defined purpose. Review something. Organize something. Make a recommendation. Solve a specific problem.
But committees were never meant to lead.
And God forbid, be innovative.
Innovation usually begins with somebody seeing something differently before everyone else does. Leadership often requires somebody being willing to move before there is complete agreement.
Committees, by their nature, tend to pull toward consensus. And consensus has a strange way of sanding the edges off good ideas until everyone is comfortable with something nobody is particularly excited about.
There is wisdom in counsel. Proverbs says, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14 NKJV
But counsel and leadership are not the same thing.
Listen to people. Seek wisdom. Invite disagreement. Ask good questions.
Then somebody still has to decide. Somebody still needs to bring the fresh idea. Somebody still needs to take the chance.
Some things can be managed by committee.
Vision rarely can.
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First Light
www.firstlightblog.org
A daily reflection on faith, leadership, and life. One honest thought each morning to help you start grounded, focused, and full of grace before the world even wakes up.
By Nathan Clark