Your best leader could be on his way out of your ministry. 

How do I know? Because they are susceptible to burn out like the rest of us.

Everyone’s schedules are too packed and stretched too thin. If you are not overwhelmed you might be a toddler — even middle school students are overwhelmed with sports and homework.

And if you are not careful, your leaders and staff might walk out on your ministry because of burnout.

Growing up, my dad worked in retail overseeing many employees and hiring.

I remember a nugget of wisdom he told me when I was in high school:

Your best employees are the ones who quit. Your uninvested employees are the ones who are fired. 

He went on to explain that your best employees are the ones you give the most important tasks and responsibilities because you know that they will get them done. They will work longer hours, take on more stress, and endure hardships to ensure the job gets done.

As a supervisor, you NEED these people. Sure you are concerned with your employee’s well being, but after all you have deadlines and quotas to hit like everyone else.

So you pile the responsibility on your best workers.

– Your less invested leaders are happy because they have less work.
– Your key contributors are slowly dying because of the unrealistic demands.
– Your great workers will continue with a large portion of the responsibility for a while, but they eventually move on to a better opportunity.

This has always stuck with me.

The principle isn’t a universal truth, but a problem we must analyze as church leaders: 

Your best leaders have the greatest potential to leave your ministry. 

And it could partially be your fault.

While we do not sell a product, a church’s mission is of eternal importance.

Church leaders feel the pressure of school and family schedules, innovative events, and managing volunteers. Eternity is on the line!

As we attempt to do more ministry with less resources (finances, time, and leaders) we put a large load of ministry on the few we know will get it done.

There are certain people who will naturally be more productive than others. Not to say your other leaders are evil, but during different seasons people’s schedules shift.

My leaders who are teachers have more time in the summer to help out and almost none during the school year. I have to realize this and ensure that they are not overwhelmed by the expectations I place on them.

Here are 4 steps to retain your top leaders:

1. Recruit more leaders
If your ministry is growing, make sure you are adding new leaders throughout the school year. Few people love volunteer management, but it is a necessary part of church ministry. If you fail to recruit new volunteers, your seasoned leaders will burnout from the growing demands of ministry. 
Pray for them.
Engage them.
Screen them.
Train them.
Send them out to serve. 

2. Remove some leaders
Do you have a few leaders who are under-committed, uninvested, or disengaged? — Let them go.
This does not have to be negative. Everyone needs a vacation and break from time to time.
An offer for someone to take a break is normally received as a welcomed gift. Why would you want to keep them on a team that they are not invested in? 

3. Refuel your leaders
Your leaders need fuel throughout the year. This goes beyond encouraging cards and recognition during worship services, you must invest spiritually in your leader’s hearts and souls. Jesus will comfort and energize them more than you could ever imagine. Prayer, encouragement, and communication are the three tanks that fuel your leaders. 

4. Restructure your ministry
Is your communication strategy flawed? Do you have a ton of pointless meetings that could have happened via email? Are your events pointing to your church’s mission/vision or are you simply doing what you have always done? Have the leader responsibilities effectively been communicated?
Planning ahead will help eliminate last minute problems that are often put on your leader’s shoulders.

Side note: When you do forget and something is last minute, you take the hit and complete that task.  As my mom has always said- Your lack of planning is not another person’s emergency. 

Your best leaders are the ones with the greatest potential of leaving your ministry.

What are you doing to protect your leaders and ensure that they are not running out of fuel?

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