Consistency: The Second Responsibility of a Leader

 “A double-minded person is unstable in all his ways.” ~  James 1:8

“Consistency is the key to your breakthrough,” Creflo Dollar, Pastor, World Changers Church International, Atlanta, GA, exclaimed with a robust, determined tone.  I remember it like  he said it at coffee this morning.  I was seated in the second row of the Minister’s Conference that year, struggling to build a new church in Grovetown, Georgia.  We had been engaged in many things but had not really found our niche in the community.  I had explored several types of worship up to that point and was led to attend this conference and join this ministry as one of Creflo Dollar spiritual sons.  I had my core team with me for the training and we were excited.  

Fast forward to 2013 and I still hear those words, “Consistency is the key to your breakthrough.”   What does it mean for a leader to be consistent.  Aldous Huxley, once wrote, “Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to  life.  The only completely consistent people are the dead.”  Perhaps he was right; consistency is contrary to nature because according to Creflo Dollar you can’t be consistent without exercising self-discipline.  Tony Robbins, a major personal development guru, said, “It’s not what you do once in a while that shapes our lives.  It’s what we do consistently.”  I have concluded that consistency is something that leaders grow more adept at being.  It is vital that leaders develop this trait because consistency is a leadership quality that develops trust among those you serve.

As a little boy I could depend on my parents chagrin and chastisement should I produce inferior work at school or church.  In the military, my infantry squad required a consistent regimen of training in order to become proficient in combat ready skills.  As a pastor, church leaders need to know what to expect from me in terms of behavior, decision-making processes, and operational procedures.  In other words, consistency in a leader’s approach to getting things done is key for the team to know how to assist that leader in the effort.  In the Army, we called it commander’s intent.  When I knew what my commander wanted to accomplish and when he wanted to accomplish it, I could then engage all my creative and problem solving skills to bring that vision into fruition.  A leader needs to ensure that his team knows his intention, his purpose, his modus operandi.  This is the second responsibility of a leader and it must be consistent from one day to the next.  When it changes, it should be because of an intentional, articulated, and necessary change in circumstances/direction.

Leaders who are not consistent, send mixed messages to their team.  That produces conflict and inertia within the organization.  As a leader, the more consistent you are, the better results you will achieve among those who follow your vision.