I am a numbers person. My doctoral research was quantitative, and my instinct is to measure everything.
So one idea stopped me when I met it in a book about sharing faith: success is being faithful to do your part. The result belongs to God and to the other person.
That can sound like an excuse for poor results. Paul says the opposite. What is required of a steward is not to be impressive. A steward is required to be found faithful.
The idea. Outcomes matter, and a leader should track them. Outcomes also arrive late and depend on things nobody controls. Faithfulness can be measured today. Did we listen? Did we tell the truth? Did we hand over the decision? Did we follow up? Teams measured only on outcomes learn to manage the number. Teams measured on faithful actions learn to do the work.
The action for this week. Beside each outcome on your scorecard, write one action your team fully controls that leads to that outcome. Review the action first in your next meeting.
“Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”1 Corinthians 4:2, ESV
Jake
P.S. More on faithfulness before outcomes is on the For Leaders page.