Notice that considering these questions does not require that others understand that you are feeling stuck or uneasy or at a seven-year crisis. What does considering these questions tell me about the future of the organization’s work, my work and the work of my colleagues?.What are three or four of most important impacts needed from this ministry in the next seven years? What conditions need to be cultivated to encourage those impacts? How could I be involved in cultivating those conditions?.What are the factors that contributed to those impacts? Who are the key people who have been key actors in those factors? How have I contributed to those factors?.What are three or four of the most important impacts of the ministry in the last seven years?.Getting through the uneasiness involves discerning what is happening with me, with the people and in the context. Knowing that the feelings are normal really helps. With the benefit of a few times around this block, I now recognize the uneasiness. The closer I am to the situation, the more confusing it feels. These seven-year patterns are much easier for me to see in hindsight.
#7 year itch how to
At other times, the change involves a shift in how to do the work so that all the participants have a chance to grow.
Occasionally it is a new direction for the ministry or program. The change can be deciding that the work needs new priorities and a different set of commitments from the employee and other leaders. Such adjustment can happen at any time, but if things go on too long the uneasy feeling I have described functions as a seven-year itch that increases the awareness of the need for change. In smaller organizations, change has to come through adjustments to the job responsibilities. In large organizations, individuals can change departments and be considered for promotion. Yet some kind of fresh air has to blow in to encourage life. Longer tenures are much better than short tenures. Healthy congregations and organizations are concerned about the tenure of their employees. Those who stay for the long haul discover ways to build on the positive. In this situation the leader carefully assesses what is working and what is not. For some, that means staying put but undertaking some kind of course correction. Somewhere around year seven, I have found that the energy and ideas that fueled the first phase must be replenished to go much further.įor some, that means leaving one place and starting the process again. For the next four years, the pastor and people have lots of good work to do. People realize that the leader is not perfect, but that is OK.
But the relationships formed in the honeymoon years are sufficiently close to encourage folks to give the leader a second chance. The good will is palpable.Īt about the two-year mark, there is often a problem that does not end well. If the situation is healthy, this first season is a honeymoon in which missteps are hardly noticed and quickly forgotten. It usually takes a couple of years to understand the rhythms of a particular congregation or agency. My own experience confirms that many ministry positions follow a similar trajectory. Yet something had to change for ministry to move forward.Īs a young pastor, I read Roy Oswald and Loren Mead from the Alban Institute address crises that happened, predictably, at certain anniversaries. In each case, I loved the work and the people. Seven years later, history repeated itself. Seven years after founding a consulting ministry, I had the same uneasy feeling that led to significantly reorganizing how I spent my time as chief executive. Seven years after I became the pastor of an amazing congregation, I knew something had to change or I could not continue in the work.
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