Quiet Confidence

This weekend I spent Friday evening and all day Saturday facilitating a planning retreat for my church’s leadership staff and board, the culmination of a month-long series of conversations with members about their hopes and dreams for our congregation. Perhaps the greatest anxiety felt by participants was the pressure to accurately represent the varied needs and wishes of those persons who had contributed so much to these rich discussions. Leaders tasked with articulating a picture of the future for their organization probably often feel this tension.

Early in the process I reminded the team that they were bringing with them into every conversation and planned activity the images, stories, and ideas they had already heard from those previously held gatherings. I encouraged them to confidently approach the planning process knowing their thinking would be influenced by what they had encountered and learned. When careful listening is accompanied by a thoughtful planning process the results can generally be counted on to represent the deepest passions and dreams of everyone.

As the event unfolded, participants began to connect their insights with the collective voices of the broader congregation. Stories merged to offer new clarity, creative energy was sparked from existing strengths or deeply held values, and dreams were shared about a hoped for future. My reminder to plan with confidence had clearly paid off.

Then a moment of apprehension emerged at the most critical component of the process, where stated dreams were now being converted to possible next steps. Leaders naturally feel uneasy as they try to accurately represent the wishes of other stakeholders. Retreat participants addressed this concern by “looping back” to the gathered data and collective stories from the earlier conversations with members. By comparing those themes with the emerging dreams, as stated by the leadership team, congruence was found and the process could continue.

As leaders seek to guide their organizations into a uncertain future, a quiet confidence is essential. There is no room for ego or power in this process. Leaders don’t hold all the knowledge or possess special clairvoyance about the future. Their confidence in setting direction comes from gathering the stories and hopes of key stakeholders, culling the themes that emerge from those conversations, and “looping back” during the planning process to compare nascent initiatives with previously collected data.

Clear dreams are necessary to engage church members or company employees in any effort to share a new future or direction. Confidence in those same dreams, and the process used to create them, is one way leaders can ensure success.