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Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20 ESV
Miggy Moments happen to all of us. They take control. During a Miggy Moment, you over-react with words and actions that you later regret. Miggies can be individual, with two people, or an entire crowd, and the dreaded Miggy Boardroom Moment!
The board meeting has lasted two hours. Looking at your watch, you think, “I’m going to get home for dinner on time.” Then – oh no, not this person – says something. It’s an idea-bomb thrown at the last minute. The meeting lasts another two hours.
A dreaded Miggy Boardroom Moment!
An innocent comment. On other boards, the team would laugh. But this one comment, like a match to dry tinder and boom! A comment, another comment, two people square up, sides taken, then shouts, anger, and frustration.
Another dreaded Miggy Boardroom Moment!
Continued Miggy Boardroom Moments become Miggy Boardroom Culture.
If you are a member of a board that has a Miggy Culture, you will do anything to avoid the meeting. You are even thankful for COVID because the meetings, now in Zoom, can be avoided through a feigned unstable internet connection.
Symptoms of Miggy Boardroom Culture:
- Meetings too long
- Outbursts of anger and frustration
- Control
- Praying during the board meeting, “Lord, come back soon!”
Unfortunately, I have been in the situations described. I’m not demeaning legitimate conversation, and tension has a place in great decision making. But constant Miggies in boardrooms create a culture of reaction.
Fear, passivity, and anger dominate; not listening, understanding, or agreement.
Not knowing the exact date, Jesus’s return isn’t an option for dealing with Miggy Boardroom Moments. We need to understand why they exist and then follow a simple plan to avoid them.
Why?
There is a tiny part of the brain called the amygdala.
Some scientists describe it as primal. In times of crisis, it takes control with a fight-or-flight response. A good thing in a dark alley with someone quietly walking up behind you, but not so good when discussing the annual budget. Okay being awakened with your house on fire; problematic when a board meeting always ends in a conflagration.
A Miggy Moment has spiritual roots too. Irate behavior is symptomatic of demonic strongholds.
A simple plan: Stop it!
To deal with Miggy boards: Stop!
- Have a culture with your board that allows someone to say, “This is a Miggy Moment, let’s pause.”
- Have a culture in your board that accommodates grace talk avoiding “idea-bombs”. A meeting of grace invigorates the members to leave the meeting to accomplish the vision.
- If the points above cannot be accomplished, resign from the board, or extinguish the board and start over with a group committed to unity.
I know, I’m saying a lot. For more on Miggy Moments, read Interruptions #214, #215, and #255. To understand “Grace Talk”, read #149.
I’ve served on boards that truly served one another. Prayer requests shared regularly between meetings. Icy conversations became warmer and even hot for vision with opposing viewpoints melting toward a common purpose.
Boards don’t have to be Miggy. They can be a saintly method allowing two or three or even 10 believers to agree.
I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. Matthew 18:19-10