I was watching football recently and was struck by something I’ve seen a thousand times, but it jumped out at me. I realized how far back the running back lines up behind the quarterback.

The running back is usually 5 to 7 yards deep from the line of scrimmage. It occurred to me that if he was directly behind the quarterback or the offensive line, he would have no momentum to run forward, but with his placement on the field, he has a chance to build up his speed and gain momentum.

Momentum is a priceless thing – in leadership, it’s essential.

Momentum is something that every leader longs for, but unfortunately, most don’t know how to create it or sustain it once it occurs. I was at Catalyst One Day awhile ago and got to hear Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel speak on the power of momentum.

Here are some of their thoughts from Andy Stanely‘s opening talk:

• Businesses immediately respond when momentum decreases, but for some reason the church will ignore momentum declines for years as long as the bills are being paid.
• Momentum is always disruptive, so it scares some churches.
• Momentum is all about moving forward, which is why leaders like momentum.
• If you lack momentum and you don’t understand these principles, you are one dumb decision away from losing it all.

Three components of sustained momentum:

New – Anything new, negative or positive, triggers momentum…

Organizational momentum is often triggered by one of these three things:

• New leadership
• New direction
• New product

New doesn’t guarantee sustained momentum, but new is an essential trigger for momentum.

Improved, The new must be a noticeable improvement over the old.

Improving, Momentum is sustained through continuous improvement.  This improvement must be continually evaluated.

So pastor, what are you doing to start and sustain momentum? How much of momentum do you think comes about from the God-factor? How much does the leader help create? How much would you say are the work of us partnering with the Holy Spirit?