Success Requires Cultivating a Freedom to Fail
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John Doe
Loriana Sekarski is the founder and president of BONSAI, a consulting company that transforms leaders (and businesses) into the best version of themselves. Outside of BONSAI, Loriana serves as an adjunct professor at Washington University's graduate student program. Additionally, she's fine-tuning her passion project, TakeFlight, a program that addresses domestic abuse within the Christian community.
There are a number of potential obstacles to outreach, but people’s fear of failure is a big one. I was recently thinking about the workplace ramifications of a generation of adults who were protected from failure by schools and parents. Social media further exacerbates this issue by being quick to capture and broadcast people’s failures. This creates an environment where people simply don’t take the risk or don’t try something new because they might fail.
This fear of failure and resistance to taking risks can hinder progress in the workplace, but it has even greater consequences for outreach.
Every time we share a God story, spread the gospel message, or initiate a new type of outreach, we are taking a risk. While data shows only 1.5% of people give their friends a hard time about their faith, people still see a risk in sharing their faith. And if we as formal and informal leaders don’t prepare those in our domain to be willing to take that risk, we won’t see the benefits of outreach.
They say good is the enemy of great. I propose perfection can be the enemy of progress. In our work with business leaders, we are seeing more people who fail to act due to fear of making a mistake. We especially see this happening with younger clients—they fear having hard conversations in the workplace because they don’t feel equipped with responses to all possible reactions. If it’s an issue in a job people are paid to do, it’s no surprise that it’s an issue when the hard conversations are voluntary. Many people simply opt out before they even try due to their fear of failure or concerns about not having the right words.
To find new ways to help our communities, we sometimes need to develop new approaches to old problems. If we want to attract people to an outreach event, it often requires a fresh approach, and that means taking a risk. When I was considering starting my coaching business but hesitating for fear of failure, a former student exclaimed, “You can’t score any points if you don’t take a shot.” The same is true of our outreach efforts.
Here are some ideas to help your community move beyond their fear of failure when it comes to outreach.
Share the benefits and data about outreach
While many people are afraid of failure when it comes to outreach, data shows that 51% of unchurched individuals would respond positively to an invitation to church from a friend. This number increases to 70% for the unchurched who identify as Christians.
Talk about your experience with outreach conversations
Talking about your outreach experiences means sharing those conversations that were well-received and those that were not. This helps your community see that you’ve experienced negative outcomes, which are rarely the antagonistic scenario they may fear. It also helps them realize that the positive reactions far outweigh the negative ones and helps them learn how to organically share a story through your example.
Encourage people to take risks
Many of our clients regularly practice “out of comfort zone” challenges to increase their confidence and risk tolerance. This simply means challenging themselves personally or within a small group to do something outside of their comfort zone for personal growth. Taking small risks, even if not directly related to outreach, can help build confidence in their ability and be applied to future outreach efforts.
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"We must acknowledge the possibility that outreach might not go well. Teach people what to say should a negative outcome occur while also coaching them on the steps for successful outreach."
Define success in terms of planting seeds
All too often, individuals who are new to organic outreach think success is defined in big ways. Those who have been practicing organic outreach for some time know that it’s about planting seeds. Even if someone declines the invitation to a service or event, unless the person turns hostile, a seed has been planted. People decline invitations for many reasons. The next question might get a “Yes!”
Support and celebrate the innovators
If someone in your community is hosting an innovative outreach event, be there alongside them when it happens. If it succeeds, stand back and recognize the great work, and praise God! If it fails, come alongside them, encourage them, and help them learn from the experience. Tom Peters, a leadership guru, said, “Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast.” Turn this into a learning opportunity and praise God for it. And celebrate them trying something new!
Remind people that Jesus expected his disciples to take risks
Jesus expected his disciples to take risks, but he also prepared them for it. He sent them out two by two with this instruction: “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” (Mark 6:10-11)
Jesus didn’t protect them by telling them what locations to avoid because of possible rejection—he instructed them to take the risk. Even in those places where they were rejected, Jesus didn’t condemn his disciples but rather recognized that a choice was made by the villagers.
Jesus told them what to do if the outcome was not desirable, which is an important message as well. We must acknowledge the possibility that outreach might not go well. Teach people what to say should a negative outcome occur while also coaching them on the steps for successful outreach.
With Easter approaching, the time is now for leaders to be role models taking risks and challenging their leaders and followers to do the same. There is so much opportunity for outreach this season!
* Data from You Found Me by Rick Richardson
Loriana Sekarski is the founder and president of BONSAI, a consulting company that transforms leaders (and businesses) into the best version of themselves. As a leadership coach, Loriana teaches leaders how to hone soft skills, spur workplace engagement, and achieve untapped levels of potential. Outside of BONSAI, Loriana serves as an adjunct professor at Washington University’s graduate student program. Additionally, she’s fine-tuning her passion project, TakeFlight, a program that addresses domestic abuse within the Christian community.