Lessons from the Farm: Know the Weight

know the weight
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Today we are continuing our Lessons from the Farm series. You can click to see some of the previous posts that deal with learning when to stop, when to keep going, perspective, and working until the job is done.

Have you ever passed a cattle truck on the highway? Have you ever thought about how much weight is on the truck?

Or how about a grain truck?

Maybe you don’t know the difference between the two. A truck is a truck, right?

Well, let me let you in on a secret: every truck driver hauling a load of cattle is interested in how much weight they are hauling for several reasons, but one in particular: because there are a group of people on the highways who are very interested in how much weight a cattle truck is hauling.

That group of people are so interested, in fact, they are willing to stop a truck and weigh it themselves. Sometimes, they will even use the red and blue lights on top of their vehicles to assist in pulling the truck over.

There are laws as to how much weight a truck can weigh. So, lighter trailers are worth more because you haul more weight if your starting weight is lower.

These are all things the average person will never know. These are all things I still don’t fully understand. But someone in charge of an operation is heavily invested in not getting a fine for having too large of a load.

As a leader, you may not get pulled over to check the weight, but there are things you need to know (and care about) that other people will never consider. Things like organizational health, relational health, growth metrics, attendance, and engagement.

As a leader, in fact, your investment into these factors should be significantly higher. Understanding key metrics about your ministry (or business) will make you a better leader.

I’ve written about this before, but leadership needs to be intentional. We make decisions to move in a direction, otherwise we drift aimlessly. Intentional leadership means we are aiming at something. It doesn’t mean we are stuck aiming at the same thing for years to come, but we are aiming at something.

So, what are you looking at in your ministry to help you know the weight on the trailer? What are your metrics for success? Is it program attendance? Is it volunteer engagement? Is it the financial bottom line? Camp signups?

Take some time today to work through this, if you haven’t already. Learn the weight limits you have, and grow your leadership influence.

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