The older I get, the more I realize the number of pet peeves I have. For the most part they are pretty useless; they don’t really do anyone any good. They just bother me and nobody really knows anything about them.
Here’s one, though, that I think has some merit …
I really hate it when a member of management refers to “management” as “they.” I remember when I first went to work for Comcast. I was leading a staff meeting that had pretty much turned into a “wining” session. There were a few comments about how “they” had decided something and nobody could understand why “they” would decide such a thing. They were, of course, referring to “management.”
Now, keep in mind that I had a staff of leaders! There were managers and senior managers reporting to me as a director. After I allowed the discussion to go on for a while, I spoke up and said, “Isn’t everyone around the table a manager?” Of course, they responded with a “yes.” I then said, “So ‘management’ is we … right? What’s up with the ‘they’ language. Aren’t we management?”
The bottom line is this: as a leader any decision made by the leadership of my organization reflects on me. I need to first be part of the decision-making process (if I can) and second, regardless of my personal feelings or opinions, be on board with the decision. “They” is “we.”
This is a critical leadership fundamental. When we as leaders are presenting a decision or otherwise doing our “leadership thing” day-to-day, we have to communicate decisions, actions, etc. as if they are our own … as if we own them. If a leader cannot do this, then they should move to an organization in which they can include themselves. Make sense?
To be effective, a leader must constantly guard against the “us versus them” mentality. It’s extremely important that the people we lead see a “united front” when it comes to the leadership of the church.