Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—a great read on any day of the week for Christians.

 

I watched with interest the NCAA Basketball Championship games this year—primarily because the Big 12 Conference had so many representatives in both the men's and women's post-season brackets. Never having played basketball myself (for rotund reasons, to start), I had only heard about "transition" plays. I didn't fully know what that meant in basketball lingo. I had thought "transition" applied primarily to persons moving from job to job, house to house, state to state, or from one relationship to another. But in basketball, I learned that how a team plays transitionally often determines who wins. Not just often, but always.

 

Then I happened on to a relatively new book that contains dozens of inspiring stories and hundreds of priceless quotations that had appeared over the past half century in Reader's Digest magazine. In the Introduction of the book, author Stephen Covey suggested the term "transition" applies to persons in leadership roles. Specifically, he called people who excel in changing the tempo of their environments, "transition persons."

 

Using his ideas as a starting point, I entitled this week's "Tuesday Morning" epistle, "Transition Persons." I applied Covey's term "transition persons" to the persons I know best--Christians who lead churches, educational institutions, business corporations, homes, or who are self-employed. If you fit into any of those occupations, you will benefit from reading this week's "TM." And if you are preparing to work in any of these fields, this week's effort is especially for you. Read on whenever you are ready, and be prepared to look for opportunities this week to turn dark places into light places, discouraging situations into encouraging situations, negative talk into positive talk, and failures into successes. You can be a "transition person" where you live and work. It all beings with attitude.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior Transitionalist

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Transition Person

Tom Barnard

 

hen it comes to basketball, I am an observer, not a player. Just look at me and you will know why. I am overweight, slow, and I have no talent for the game. Besides that, I cannot shoot the ball, and I cannot run and dribble at the same time. Other than those shortcomings, I’m okay.

 

But I understand what “transition” means in basketball. It refers to the process of changing from defense to offense, or from offense to defense. Teams that excel in transition basketball generally win. Those that don’t, lose. Basketball coaches at every level train their players to quickly change from one activity (say, defense) to the other (offense). And teams that run transition plays efficiently are winners. Always.

 

Stephen Covey has taken the expression “transition” and made it applicable to leadership in other things. He calls people that excel in changing the tempo of their environments, “transition persons.”

 

“A transition person is one who breaks the flow of bad—the negative traditions or harmful practices that get passed from generation to generation, or from situation to situation, whether in a family, a workplace, a community, or wherever. Transition persons transcend their own needs and tap into the deepest, most noble impulses of human nature.” (Everyday Greatness, Rutledge Hill Press, Nashville, 2006, p. ix)

 

Covey goes on to say, “In times of darkness, they (transition persons) are lights, not judges; models, not critics. In periods of discord, they are change catalysts, not victims; healers, not carriers.” He concludes, “Today’s world needs more transition persons.” And let me add, in today’s church, we could use a lot more transition persons. We have plenty of judges, critics, victims, and carriers.

 

How can ordinary people become “transition persons”? Here are some suggestions to start. If you need more help, buy the book, above. Following are some ideas that I find relevant to where I am. Feel free to edit and add to fit the circumstances you are facing today.

 

·        Evaluate the situation where you are now. What “harmful practices” need to be addressed? How long have they been allowed to exist? Who are the negative voices that have crippled the efforts of those who have preceded you? How frequently have there been changes at the top leadership level?

·        Determine responsibility and accountability lines. How much authority do you have? For what are you responsible? To whom are you accountable? Does your organization have a mission statement? If so, how widely is this mission statement understood and followed?

·        Take charge of the situation within your organizational framework. This will require wisdom and patience, but it also requires courage and discipline. Don’t worry about the things you cannot change. Devote your efforts to the things you can change.

·        Create a Dream. You may not have a “dream team” yet, but without a dream, the team you have will not produce results worth anything at all. A dream begins with a vision of what the organization can do, if everyone is pulling together in the same direction. Lincoln once said, “Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.”

·        Gather around you a team of workers (including volunteers).  You are looking for people on whom you can count to help share the responsibility and carry out the mission of your organization. As in basketball, use your “bench players” to take pressure off the “starters.” The bench players must observe what’s going on during the game, so that when they are called upon, they are ready and motivated to hit the floor running.

·        Overcome Adversity. No plan is perfect at the outset, but perfection will come with practice, time, and perseverance. Flexibility and adaptability are key components of a management plan.

·        Reward effort. Personal notes and frequent phone calls to the members of your team will build their confidence and self-esteem. Remember, head coaches are not paid for playing; they are paid for their effectiveness in encouraging those on the team to do their best. And best is always better than better.