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youth worker, youth ministry, student ministry, motivating

Motivating the Mediocre

By Doug Franklin April 30, 2010

Lots of great people wake up everyday and try to do as little as possible. For us leaders these followers are either an anchor around our necks or an untapped resource waiting to be unleashed. Many of you are thinking anchor but I think we might want to consider some ways to motivate the mediocre.

1. Self Awareness
Many of our seemly mediocre followers are miss labeled. They are people who don’t do well with change, new ideas or risk. This is a personality issue not laziness. As leaders we need to figure out how to communicate with these followers. First help your followers become self aware of the issue and then work with them on communication. They may need time to calculate the benefits of new ideas and change. Whatever the solution for these followers you are going to need to change your communication to give them time and space to get onboard.

2. Bite Size

Give your mediocre follows smaller bite size responsibilities. Often many of our followers are overwhelmed by size of a project and shut down. By giving them small size projects we allow them to see the finish line just ahead. As they successfully finish projects they will gain momentum. Momentum has the power to break people out of mediocrity.

3. Kick in the Butt
Let’s be honest- some of our mediocre followers are lazy. The case of Christ has urgency and some of our people have forgotten that. As leaders we can’t be afraid to crack the whip and drive our people to fulfill the mission God has given them.

Don’t give up on the mediocre, they still may have some potential.

About the Author

Doug Franklin

Doug Franklin is the president of LeaderTreks, an innovative leadership development organization focusing on students and youth workers. Doug and his wife, Angie, live in West Chicago, Illinois. They don’t have any kids, but they have 2 dogs that think they are children. Diesel and Penelope are Weimaraners  who never leave their side. Doug grew up in…  Read More