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In this fast-paced world, we all move a mile a minute and often deal with people quickly and not always thoughtfully.  As Stephen Covey often said and wrote, “Be efficient with things but be effective with people.”  Showing kindness to everyone with whom we meet and work is the right thing to do but it is also a smart thing to do – for us.  Look no further than the proverbs (11:17) – “When you’re kind to others, you help yourself.”  Taking an extra few minutes to treat people kindly will pay dividends.  Give it a try and see what happens. 

I just read a wonderful little book entitled The Better Pastor by Patrick Lencioni, a best-selling author and prominent business guru who has written a series of about 10 short books presented as fables.  Each fable tells a fictitious story of a business situation and how those in the story make their organization much better.  The most well-known is probably The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.  One can most likely read these short books in two or three hours.  Each highlights practical lessons in organizational management.

His latest is even shorter and is entitled The Better Pastor.  It presents a fascinating fable where a lay parishioner, who works as a management consultant, confronts his priest in a kind, caring manner, and enlightens him that his job is not just to be a priest but also the pastor or leader of his organization, which has typical challenges around strategic planning, building a leadership team, dealing with HR situations, etc.  Like the other books, it leaves the reader with some practical steps to make a church more effective.