1 Thing a leader must be Redundant in. Redundant in.

“The only way for people to embrace a message is to hear it over a period of time, in a variety of different situations, and preferably from different people. That’s why great leaders see themselves as Chief Reminding Officers as much as anything else. Their top two priorities are to set the direction of the organization and then to ensure that people are reminded of it on a regular basis.”

In order to better lead Momentum (an 18+ God Party), I read, “The Advantage,” by Patrick M. Lencioni. One section of the book brought security to an area of leadership I see leaders often fail or are insecure about (people like me).

Lencioni says leaders must prioritize two things:

1. Set the direction of an organization

Six Months ago, I presented that “Momentum exists to lead young adults into growing relationships with Jesus Christ and one another.” We explained in our vision casting meetings why we existed and stated that Jesus came to the Earth, according to John 10:10, to bring life and life more abundantly. Therefore, Momentum joins in the vision of Jesus to bring life and life more abundantly to young adults by leading them into these stated growing relationships. In short, we party for life.

Coming up with our two portable vision and mission statements took months of painstaking thinking, praying and team brainstorming. As simple as “We Party for Life” sounds, it took an embarrassing amount of time to come up with.

Setting the direction of the organization, however, was just the start.

2. Ensure people are reminded of it on a regular basis

Earlier, I mentioned feeling an insecurity about my leadership. This is it. Since crafting our “Why we exist” statement (I call it that because I still get confused about the difference between vision and mission), I have repeated it in every one of my meetings. Every service, staff meeting, recruitment session, briefing, debriefing, all of it includes Pastor Pradeepan repeating something he has said hundreds of times.

To be honest, I get bored saying the same thing over and over. I also feel like my words become too predictable and babying. A meeting begins, I make a few dumb jokes and then drive home the point, “We Party for Life.” I share a scripture and explain what’s coming up on the calendar and then emphasize we do this to “lead young adults into growing relationships with Jesus Christ and one another.”

People are starting to mouth or say the words with me! Whether this is out of mockery or buying in, it makes me feel insecure! I know they aren't mocking me, though (Just to be clear)!

Reading that leaders need to see themselves as the “Chief Reminding Officers” brought me a lot of encouragement and passion to keep repeating the same words.

As leaders, we are responsible for keeping the organization going in the right direction, and, for the most part, that direction will never change. We know why we exist and everything we do must line up with that why. So often, we feel the need to meet everyone’s desires or facilitate all the random ideas. This should not be.

The difference between a life giving river and a home destroying flood is focus—the primary responsibility of the leader.

We must be unapologetic in sticking to our vision and repeating it so that we never go off track or lose focus. So, I gladly restate and restate and restate why we exist! I am the Chief Reminding Officer and if you come to Momentum, you know that WE PARTY FOR LIFE!

Leaders remind people why and how you do what you do every chance you can.

You are the Chief Reminding Officer! You are the Chief Reminding Officer!