Conference Attending 201

Let us assume that you took to heart the lessons learned in CA101. You have your questions ready, you attend the conference and get the answers you were looking for, and you have begun making you action plans.

Here are a few things to remember while you make plans that will not only affect you but everyone who you lead.

They don't care. Not like you do. They can't because they were not with you at the conference. Without the same experience they cannot have the same response, and you should not expect them to. I see so many leaders who get frustrated when they present a new vision, with great passion, and their followers do not respond with a similar level of passion.

If you want your people to care like you do, then help them experience what you experienced. On a practical level this is often possible by purchasing DVDs of the conference itself and actually letting them get the information first hand.

They think you took a vacation. This does not mean that they are upset or bitter. Hopefully your people love you and are glad you had some time away to think, learn, and perhaps even grow.

If you want them to see what really happened, then show them your work. Show them the questions you were asking and how the answers you received can change the organization. Then show them their part in that change. Again, don't expect them to get it the first time, but paint the big picture and let them see that this was not just a weekend away to rest.

This will take time. Think in months, not days. You have likely been thinking about the issues on your heart for months. Give your followers the same courtesy. If this has not been something that you have already been talking about and working through, then realize that they will need at least as much time to work through the process as you did.

Allow this understanding to affect your scheduled release of your new plan. I have seen many good plans killed simply because they were never given a chance to take root. What the leader blamed on "lack of buy-in" was really a case of his followers being completely overwhelmed. Most people cannot manage a complete shift of paradigm in mere days and be ready to implement the practical changes it demands on their lives.

These truths lead me to encourage leaders not to attend a conference in the Spring to get great ideas for their Easter service. Allow the things you will learn this Spring to shape your Fall and your 2011. Let your people have the chance to get as passionate about the answers you have found as you did, and you will be amazed at how much greater the results can be.