Do you thrive on being “results-oriented”? I know a lot of people are. It’s one of the most overused buzzwords on a résumé or LinkedIn profile.
That said, when you are a church leader taking your congregation toward new goals, whether it’s an overseas mission, local ministries or church planting, being results-oriented can be counterproductive and even dangerous. It leads organizations to not get the desired results and can ruin relationships and people in the process.
I’m an author and speaker on the subject of resilience and discipline. In my upcoming book, The Art of Achieving Ambitious Things (coming May 2026), I write about how to accomplish long-term results without being results-oriented. In fact, the goal is not even its antonym, to be “process-oriented.” It’s deeper than that. It’s to be “people-oriented.”
To illustrate the difference, let me use two examples:
Church A: a mid-sized mature church. A mainstay of local Christian faith, the church wants to plant a new church. After planning for six months, they successfully execute the vision and send off one-third of the congregation to the newly planted church. Everyone is on board and excited.
Church B: a small-sized newly formed church. Ever since the new church’s founding, they’ve been renting a local school for their congregation. After four years, they see an opportunity to buy a new building. The price is affordable, and zoning is no problem. But there’s one issue: Half of the church doesn’t agree on buying the building, including some in the leadership. The purchase ends up failing due to internal division, which lingers even after the event.
Granted, Churches A and B have different goals—one wanted to plant a church, and the other wanted to buy a building. But these are very common goals for any church, and one succeeded while the other failed.
You might also be surprised to know that Church B is, in fact, the new church A planted, and some of the people were involved in both endeavors.
So why did A succeed and B fail? The reason is simple: B was results-oriented. The leader really cared about a result—getting a new building. It’s been in their vision from the very beginning of the church’s existence. But they didn’t consult or inform anyone until they were close to the final purchase, and the people weren’t ready and on board. Their hearts weren’t prepared, their prayers weren’t requested and their opinions weren’t heard. So when disagreement happened, both within the leadership group and the church body, infighting broke out and the initiative failed.
Church A took a completely different path. They were not results-oriented, and not even process-oriented, but people-oriented. They aimed to search and bring people’s hearts close to God’s will. From the onset of the idea, they let the congregation know the vision of planting a new church. Every week, they would give a 10-minute update on the progress, from looking for sites to coming up with names to the type of people they were looking for. They prayed together with everyone. They asked for their hearts and opinions. As a result, everyone was on board from the very beginning. And when the final announcement was made, it was a resounding success.
Too many leaders, when running churches or faith-based organizations, fall into the trap of being results-oriented.
When they see opportunities, results-oriented leaders pounce on them like a real estate investor finding a screaming buy or a hedge fund manager seeing an arbitrage.
But the problem is, a church is not an investment firm or business. Its goal is not to maximize shareholder return. Its main goal should be spreading the gospel, building disciples and serving the community. Of all these goals, God and people’s hearts are at the center of the matter, not the results. When people aren’t ready, it leads to years in the wilderness no matter how great the opportunities are.
For leaders who want to achieve ambitious things for faith-based organizations, I suggest the following approach:
1. Pray for God’s long-term vision, not your own. It’s essential to align your goals with what you feel is God’s direction for your congregation, rather than pushing forward with personal ambitions. This divine guidance will lead to more spiritually fulfilling outcomes that benefit the whole community.
2. While setting up a plan and process to achieve the results, establish an even more important process to build and prepare people. Engage your congregation in regular discussions, solicit their insights and genuinely incorporate their feedback into the planning process. This creates a sense of ownership and commitment to the collective goals.
3. Take a focused approach to implementing one actionable goal at a time. This method reduces overwhelm by breaking down complex objectives into manageable tasks. Each action should be clear and achievable, fostering a sense of accomplishment as each is completed. This, in turn, motivates continued effort and engagement from the community.
4. Regularly evaluate and adjust your strategy based on feedback and the progress made. This adaptive approach ensures that your actions remain relevant and impactful, allowing for course corrections based on real-world experiences and community input.
5. Prioritize transparent communication throughout the process. Keep the congregation informed about both successes and setbacks. This transparency builds trust and ensures that everyone remains connected to the shared vision, reinforcing the communal bond and shared commitment to the church’s goals.
No matter what your ambitious goals are, just know, leading people to God is far more important than any other grand vision. When people are ready, achieving goals will be a by-product. This is the uniqueness and beauty of leading faith-based organizations.
What’s your ambitious goal? How can you cast the vision in a people-oriented rather than results-oriented way?