Consistency > Charisma

I recently had a conversation with a High School Pastor who shared with me the current needs for volunteers in his ministry.  His ministry is growing, and thus the need for more volunteers.  We discussed what qualities he was looking for in new team members, and he shared a story with me that stuck out big time.

Bill is a small group leader in the High School ministry and has been serving for several years.  Recently, Bill was spotted at a sporting event of some of his students, and when the pastor approached him to ask if he had his own kid at the event, Bill explained that he was there with his family to support some of his students who were playing.  This is huge!  Bill spent time, outside of his career, hobbies, housework, etc. to take his family to a sporting event of students in his small group. 

As you can imagine, I encouraged the High School Pastor to clone Bill if possible.  Bill is an exceptional High School Ministry volunteer.  But not for the reasons you might think.  His students respect him, and they know that he cares about them with authenticity and generosity.  But here is the kicker:  Bill is not a fireball of charisma as you might imagine him to be.  He is a dad who works in finance and would not consider himself to be “cool” with students.  When most students gravitate to the young adult demographic for influence, based on social status, dress, social media prowess and charisma, Bill is left there in the trenches with his students.  Nothing fancy, nothing extra, just old fashioned care and effort over time.

Bill’s impact teaches all of us something important:  Consistency is greater than Charisma.  Too often, we believe that our impact potential in the lives of people is dependent on our ability to conjure up the right amount of charisma to influence people.  But impact takes time, and consistency is the key.  Charisma fades out, but consistency speaks out.  Consistency tells people they matter over time.  So, next time you feel like you don’t have enough charisma to influence people, remember Bill.  Consistency might be unassuming, but its impact potential is unavoidable.