I’m taking a journey with eProductivity and its affecting how I look at everything.  I’ll be blogging regularly about my experience right here. Follow me by rss feed, by email or through Twitter

I’ve always been big on trying to make sure the church Raewyn and I have the honour of leading has a compelling vision.  On top of that, I talk about the vision often to our leaders, (and to everyone else for that matter), from the platform and in my written communication.  I also try to coach my leaders to know that one of their most important roles is to transfer the vision.

Our purpose is our reason for being:

It is to “Make a Difference” in people’s lives.

Our vision tells us what things will look like if we’re being true to our purpose.

When we see more and more people coming into a relationship with God,

When we see more and more people living as Jesus did, and

When we see more and more people serving others unconditionally,

then we’ll know we’re being successful.

But if I look at what has been taking up most of my time, day after day, I realise that I’ve been busy doing things that don’t give a significant push to moving the church closer towards realisation of that vision.  In fact, my implementation of eProductivity from Eric Mack, (a Lotus Notes template for implementing GTD (Getting Things Done) by David Allen), has shown me that very clearly there has been a disconnect between my every day tasks and the purpose for which I am called by God.

Time to re-read my Getting Things Done book again because I know that David talks about Horizons of Focus as being a way of making sure this disconnect is not there. (Once again, eProductivity reminded me of this with the way it seamlessly connects the mail database to the special eProductivity reference database with easy links for Horizons of Focus documents).

To summarise what I understand to be David’s ideas here are the Horizons of Focus, in my words:

Runway

These are your next actions that you need to take to move your projects on towards completion.  Remember that in GTD the next action for a project is the only one you should be thinking about and that anything that requires more than one next action is regarded as a project.  For example, if reaching a decision about something requires:

1. Making an appointment with Joe, and
2. Discussing issue and finalising decision with Joe

then that is a project.

10,000 Feet

This is where the projects reside.  Well, at least those projects that would be completed within a reasonable time frame (say, a year).  Obviously the next actions that you’re undertaking need to be moving towards advancing these projects.

20,000 Feet

This level appears to relate to your areas of responsibility.  In my case, as leader of the church, part of my role is to coach other leaders and so I need to make sure that my projects at 10,000 feet reflect this.

30,000 Feet

This is where we articulate the goals of the organisation. (I use the term organisation only to separate them from your personal activity – These could be family goals or even personal goals such as running a marathon).

Its important to note that these goals will often require input from others within the organisation, often others over whom you have little direct influence.

40,000 Feet

This is the vision for the organisation

50,000 Feet

This is where you articulate your purpose and, very importantly, your values

Now I have a couple of minor issues with how these Horizons of Focus are articulated.

First, in my opinion, the order should simply be reversed so we always start with our purpose.

Second, the terminology of 10,000 feet, 30,000 feet etc simply doesn’t do it for me.  It’s not sufficiently descriptive for my brain to automatically know what I’m looking at.

That said, its extremely helpful, so this is where I’m at (thanks to eProductivity).  Note that I’m only talking about church at this stage, I need to introduce my family to these concepts but I’d like to show them working at church first.

Purpose and Values (was 50,000)

Our reason for being is set and agreed with leaders.  The original values as promulgated by the planting team approximately 14 years ago still hold true (as you would expect with foundational values).

Vision (was 40,000)

We have a well articulated and easily understood vision that church members are very much on board with.

Goals (was 30,000)

“SMART” Goals have been set and agreed by the leadership team.  These goals are challenging and all relate very specifically to moving our church towards its vision.

My Part in This (was 20,000)

I need to sit down and work out just where I should be spending my time to best benefit the church and move us forward.  Obviously there are some things I need to continue (preaching, leadership development etc), but there are also things I do that should be done by others who are more gifted than me in certain areas.  I seem to recall reading that John Maxwell sat down with his board and agreed what percentage of his time he would spend on communication etc.  (Note to self – next action – Find that book!)

Projects to achieve the Goals (was 10,000)

What projects that relate to “My Part in This” should I instigate that will give the church significant wins in relation to the “Goals”

Next Actions (was Runway)

Self explanatory

Two Questions for you (please do not hesitate to be brutally honest in your comments)

1. Am I on the right track, or is there some other way I should be looking at all this?
2. What are the most important things for a leader of a church to spend his or her time on?

Please note that these posts are all my own thoughts and experiences. I will also be taking advantage of Eric’s kind public offer.

Related posts:

1. GTD and eProductivity Highlight What's really important I’m blogging about GTD, eProductivity, leadership and books. If you...
2. To Focus or Not to Focus? That Is the Question I’m lucky enough to work only about 20 minutes walk...
3. 6 Reasons Pastors Should GTD What do you reckon your job is as a pastor?...
4. How Important is Focus? Over the last few days I’ve been feeling pretty unwell*. ...
5. 4 Reasons Leaders should GTD GTD (Getting Things Done) by David Allen is much more...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.