Leadership Tips & Training You Would Have Just Had to Have Been There!

After finishing the Half Marathon, people kept asking how it went. I tried to communicate with them all the emotions I felt and the insights God revealed to me throughout the race, but I found that words could not express all that I had experienced. Have you ever tried to tell someone about an experience you had and they just didn’t “get it?” I have experienced some very special moments in my First Place class when someone decided to share their heart about a matter or someone experienced a weight loss breakthrough at the scale. Those moments are forever etched in my memory, yet they are memories that I have only because I was there! In First Place, the first commitment listed is attendance. To really experience all that God has for you in First Place (and in all of life) you have to be there!

You will want to explain to your members all the reasons for keeping the attendance commitment. I tend to be positive and dwell on all the benefits for attending, yet sometimes showing the members what they miss out on by not being there may have a greater impact. Here are some things they miss out on by not attending:

• Knowledge—When a member doesn’t attend, they miss out on tips and suggestions on how to apply the Live-it and scripture to their lives. They do not get to know the people in the class. You must spend time with people if you want to get to know them! Knowledge is power and attendance will increase a member’s knowledge; thereby, giving them more power to overcome the obstacles in their life.

• Fellowship—When a member chooses to not attend, they lose hope and connection. Proverbs 18:1 states it well: “He who separates himself seeks his own desire, He quarrels against all sound wisdom.” (NAS) When a person has had a defeated week, they tend to want to stay separate from the very group that will give them strength and encouragement to press on. Once they miss the first meeting, it becomes easier to not go back at all and they spiral downward.

• Accountability—Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” The first fifteen minutes of a First Place class offers accountability. Weighing in and saying the memory verse is an examination of your progress in balanced living. People can talk about what they intend to do and what they want to do, but until they make themselves accountable, there will be little progress. Being faithful to attendance is living an examined life worth living!

May 2006 be the year that your members “get it!” Encourage them to be there so that they will not have to hear the words, “Well, you would have just had to have been there!” 

Lead on!

Nancy Taylor
Leadership Training Director



Nancy Taylor is the First Place Leadership Training Director and joined the First Place staff in 1997. Nancy teaches leadership principles to First Place Leaders throughout the country and at Houston's First Baptist Church where she coordinates all the First Place groups. Nancy also speaks at First Place workshops, rallies, retreats, and conferences, where she delights her audiences with humor and encourages them with boldness. She writes a monthly article, which includes helpful tips for leaders, for the First Place E-newsletter, and was a contributing writer to the Today is the First Day devotional book. Nancy is the resident First Place Bible Concordance because of her love for Scripture memory.