I was recently thinking about Intervening Skillfully into a situation and in that competency, I came across that line: “make conscious choices” and the thought occurred to me, what is a conscious choice?  How does this kind of choice differ from others?  Hopefully, my musings on this will help you think about intervening skillfully through making conscious choices.

The KLC Quick Guide asks some questions that help define it: “What is our typical approach to intervening on issues like this?  What new intervention approaches might be necessary?  What type of leadership interventions are needed from us right now?”  Again, so many of our interventions are, to quote something I’ve often heard in church life, “the way we’ve always done them.”  We’re not seeking to be effective, but rather to step in like we typically do.  Making a conscious choice means pausing a second to consider if the particular situation you’re addressing requires the same old, same old or if there is a way that you might be able to intervene that would be more effective.

Making a conscious choice requires great management of self, a thorough diagnosis of the situation and a consideration as to how our actions can best be maneuvered to energize others.  So, this works together, with all the competencies, to have the most robust and powerful impact on others.  That is a conscious choice that makes a difference.  Therefore, today, let’s intervene skillfully through making conscious choices and see if we don’t just achieve better outcomes in our leadership opportunities.