The path to professional freedom begins with a commitment to excellence; when you embrace the hand of the diligent, you gain the autonomy to start calling your own shots. In any leadership role, especially within a kids’ ministry context, your work ethic determines your level of influence and independence.
Diligence is the primary method for writing your own ticket and advancing your career. By working hard and executing tasks with precision, you will find yourself calling the shots rather than following the strict mandates of others. Conversely, those who slack off or fail to execute effectively often lose their autonomy to more disciplined supervisors.
In my experience, many individuals in ministry struggle with a sense of frustration when assigned tasks by other leaders. However, maintaining a diligent spirit ensures that you are viewed as a trusted partner in leadership rather than someone who requires constant oversight.
Well, after hearing him complain about this for some time, I had to have a hard talk with my friend, and I shared with him, in all seriousness, this is a matter of diligence. The senior leaders viewed this individual as having plenty of margin on his hands. He had a lot of idle time. And because of that idle time, he was viewed as an individual who could be tasked with jobs. He didn’t want those jobs. He was being forced to do those jobs. Why? Because he worked with a slack hand. They saw him having margin, and they handed him things that he did not want to do. He was carrying another man’s dirty water. They wanted the job done, but they didn’t want to do it themselves. Find someone who doesn’t look busy.
On the other hand, I was not handed these random tasks, and here’s why: I was diligently executing things and had been for years. What ended up happening is that leaders would never think to hand me some random task because they knew that I was extraordinarily busy and I had massive amounts of results to show for it. The hand of the diligent will rule. They weren’t handing me tasks that were painful and something that I didn’t want to do. I don’t want to do somebody else’s tasks. I want to conquer things that I want to do.
The way that I accomplished that was through diligence. I worked hard, created new opportunities for myself, and executed those opportunities with extreme art and care. At the end of the day, if you don’t want to be told what to do all of the time, be that individual who dominates with diligence and you will find yourself calling your own shots.
First published on KidMinScience.com. Used by permission.
