Set the Pace 06: Give Energy to Others

As a leader you should have energy – that goes without saying. You have to put in effort and life and oomph into getting things done. But one of the true blessings of leading is to be able to energize others and to energize those that you lead.

How can you give your church, community or business have more energy? There are a number of things you can do!

1. Put people in the right place. Don’t put someone in the position of deacon, or usher, or making the teas if they do not have the drive for it. You need people who give off energy for a thing then get them doing the thing! Help people find their sweet spots and the whole organization will have more energy! Now someone you think is just dull and unenergetic, they might just be in the wrong place. Putting them in the children’s ministry might suddenly unleash energy you (and they never knew they had). This is a skill and art form and you do get better at it. But think about where people are and where people could and should be.
2. Do not promote the leeches. Some people are not in the wrong place, they are wrong in every place. Their self-pity, their selfish ambition make them leeches of the energy of others. Again, recognizing these people is a skill. But think about who when they walk up to you at work or at church, you immediately brace yourself – that person is an energy leech and you are getting ready to have your ears talking off, to have to listen to whining and moaning, to be drained. Those people are not just leeching energy from you but from everyone around them. They need to be discipled and not working with you!
3. Promote the Champions. You know, the people who radiate energy, and energize others. The people who warm up a room just by being in it.

You have to realize that energy leechs are a real threat to any organization and they slow down everyone and everything. It stops people even wanting to move forward. Personally, you will be dealing with leeches every now and again as a leader, so ensure you have enough time in your schedule to spend time with the champions that refresh you and encourage you and lift you. You need time with your mentors, time with your friends, time with your peers. Jim Rohn says that we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. So make sure you are being energized yourself – or you will never be able to energize anyone.

As anyone who understands physics knows, to accelerate anything requires the most energy. Make sure you rest well before a time of acceleration and make sure you help your people rest. That way you hit the ground determines everything! You need more people around with energy.

Another time you need a lot of energy is to remove a blockage. Sometimes things go wonky (very technical term) and you need to put them right. Sometimes a church stops growing or even starts shrinking, sometimes you hit an obstacle or bottle neck. To overcome that takes energy. You need to recognize these times. This last Sunday morning, someone said I was unusually quiet. I was – I was conserving my energy because in the evening I had a situation that may have required all my energy. It’s that simple. You cannot hit 100% speed all the time, it is impossible and you cannot do it. You need to know when to conserve energy and when to use it. You need to find a rhythm that works and produces fruit.

The good news is that energy multiplies. It is like the flu, once one person gets it, other people around them get it. Then the whole group is inspired and motivated and moves forward quickly.

You also need energy when it comes to solving problems. You might not get it right first time and might have to try again and again! Energy makes you more persistent. It makes you a force to be reckoned with, it helps other people start moving, it helps everything move forward. I see so many churches (that’s my field, pastoring) that are not moving forward. They are the same every week, some are even diminishing week by week – and the reason is that the lead pastor does not know how to energize people.

Learn how to energize yourself and then others. It will change everything.