More yeses

In Managing the Non-Profit: Principles and Practices, Peter Drucker defines a customer as a person who can say "no". (p.55). Do you have customers? Are they just the people who come to your events? They can either come or not come. Do you spend most of your time trying to get all those people out there to say yes and come to an event?

What about the lay leaders you serve? They can come to ministry team meetings or not. They can offer their best efforts for your event or they can offer that effort at work or at home or at the ball park. How much time do you spend cultivating and giving good customer service to this group of customers?

How about the person you answer to as a staff member or as a volunteer? How much time should we spend giving them good value for their investment? Are they an annoyance that you put up with? A hurdle to overcome? It'll be tough for them to have very much customer satisfaction if you do.

And what about those you are responsible for leading as a professional?

Can they say "no"? Or do they have to say "yes"?

If they can't say no, you are not a leader, you are a manager and perhaps not a very good one.

If they can: how often do you get them to yes?

That might be an indicator of how good a leader you are.