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Proactive vs. Reactive

 

Are you getting proactive help or reactive help?

In Rick Atkinson’s book, “In the Company of Soldiers” he gives a story that illustrates the need for being proactive.  He tells of a staff meeting of the commander of the 101st Major General David Petraeus.  Atkinson writes, “When a supply officer admitted uncertainty about stocks of a certain artillery shell, Petraeus stood and faced the staff.  ‘I want to make this point again.  We know we’re shooting artillery, so why the heck do we wait for them to ask for more rounds?  We know we’re shooting tank rounds, so why do we wait for them to ask for more?  We need to anticipate.  That’s what a proactive staff does.’”

As you engage in the Kingdom battle that God has for you do you have a partner that is proactively anticipating your needs or one who simply responds when and if you ask?  The answer to that question could mean all the difference in the world between moving forward or moving backward.  In this edition of The Stewardship Coach we want to explore the difference that a proactive partner can make for you in the stewardship arena.

What do proactive partners do for us?

  1. They anticipate what we have not anticipated. How is it that they know what we seemingly don’t know?  Experience and gifting.  A good partner has a wealth of experience to draw upon.  It is not simply learning from books although you certainly need to be well versed in the latest happenings.  Good partners have real world experience.  They have been there as a leader themselves attempting to raise funds for their ministry.  They have learned from their own mistakes and successes.  They have a wealth of experience helping other ministries.  It is one thing to help one or two ministries but real experience comes in helping countless ministries raise funds successfully.

    They have a divine enabling given to them in order to help ministries like yours.  All the experience in the world can be meaningless unless your partner is gifted by God to do what they do.  There are times that it is simply unexplainable why a proactive partner gives the counsel they do.  It is simply something that comes from the Holy Spirit.  Though harder to quantify it none the less is essential that your partner has that anointing to bring to the table.  Having the experience and the gifting allows your partner to anticipate your needs.
  2. They ask questions that we are not asking. My mentor in the stewardship field says repeatedly, “The value is in the questions.”  It is not in the quantity of questions but in their quality.  Time magazine did an article on FBI agent Coleen Rowley who blew the whistle on pre 9/11 complacency in her agency.  She said, “Everyone acknowledges that it is only useful intelligence that counts.  Gathering troves of information on people just clutters the picture and (besides upsetting innocent folks) makes connecting the dots harder.  Quality trumps quantity.”  Make sure that you have a partner that is asking the right questions of you.
  3. They cause us to think outside our box. The way that you will know that your stewardship partner is asking you the right questions is when their questions cause you to rethink or to think outside the box.  Questions are asked to cause us to probe and think.  Too often we get stuck in a rut continuing to do what we have always done.  A good proactive partner stretches your thinking before you arrive at the point of needing to make a decision not afterwards.  Good proactive partners help you be forward looking rather than simply attending to the crisis of the moment.
  4. They help us to see what we might not have seen. This is the whole point of a proactive partner.  Recently a pastor told us, “I came into the room thinking one way and you have stretched my thinking.”  He saw the possibility of a new way that had not been apparent to him.  Sometimes we are too close to the chess board to see the best move available to us.  We can get tunnel vision towards a set way and never see any other possibility.  A good proactive stewardship partner can help you see things you might never have seen thus saving you time, momentum and money.
  5. They help us act so as to maximize our results. In the opening illustration of the 101st during the Iraqi ground war what would have happened if the staff had not anticipated the needs of the division?  The results gained would have at least taken longer than they did and thus endangered more lives.  Having a support staff that was proactive maximized their fighting capabilities.  Having a proactive stewardship partner will maximize your results also.   

Not long ago there was an ad on television that showed two men talking about their investment portfolio.  One man comments on something that has been set up for him in his portfolio.  The other man says, “How did your broker know to do that for you?”  The investor thinks for a second and says, “He asked.”  Without saying anything else the sponsors of the ad were saying we know what you need to know before you know you need to know it.  A good investment broker is proactive for you not reactive. 

When it comes to something as important as our investments we trust those that we believe can help us do more than we think we can do ourselves.  The same is true when it comes to stewardship.  Find a partner that can help you but find one that has the time and talent to be proactive instead of just reactive.  You will be glad you did and your ministry will show the positive results

Mark Brooks


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