When it serves to protect our egos rather than our schedules.
Friends don't use gatekeepers to book lunch with each other. Even leaders at the highest levels offer a private number... or a special e-mail address. When we book appointments through our gatekeepers, we are essentially saying, "You are not on my level. I am doing you a favor."
And, hey, that's okay. But I just want to be clear about it. =)
agree wholeheartedly ben.
great post.
Posted by: Milan Ford | January 22, 2009 at 10:23 AM
love the concept, and the point.
i would throw one thing out there though that you might agree with or not about gatekeepers.
it is so much easier for my asst. to say no, than me. can i keep up with my own schedule.
most of the time. but her saying no for me, it protects me and my schedule because it is so dang hard for me to say NO!
great thoughts bro. thank you.
Posted by: charles hill | January 22, 2009 at 10:37 AM
PREACH!
Posted by: Steve Patton | January 22, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Charles, people respect no. You won't lose friends over it, I promise.
Posted by: Ben Arment | January 22, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Great post, and something I've struggled with for years. Tell me your opinion on this:
I gladly give out my direct line/cell number. More than 100 volunteers in the church have it. Very accessible.
But scheduling meetings with folks is a nightmare. I call them, get their voicemail, and when they try to call me back I'm in another meeting so they get my voicemail.
So, I've used my personal asst to set up meetings. She is almost never in a meeting, so she can answer the phone, put something on my calendar, and it's all resolved in one call or email.
Is that rude? I had one guy tell me he didn't like getting a call from my asst to set up a lunch, so after that I always called him myself. But it seems more rude to make them leave repeated voice messages.
Your thoughts?
Posted by: Rich Barrett | January 22, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Rich, I don't know. hmmm. I use e-mail to set about 98% of my appointments, which never creates availability issues. But it sounds like you're a very relational guy and that the phone is your instrument of choice. It might be necessary in that case. Hey, do you want to do lunch? =)
Posted by: Ben Arment | January 22, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Digital calendars can now be updated with push/pull tech...So you can have the best of both worlds.
You or your Asst. can update a schedule on the fly, and have the other in the loop. You can schedule personal meetings, and your gatekeeper can handle the biz side.
What do you think about that?
Posted by: JoshuaCryer | January 22, 2009 at 10:37 PM
Great point. Pastors need a schedule but do not need bodyguards. Jesus does not have a gate keeper. He is trying to get through our gate keepers for a little time.
Posted by: Mike Watkins | January 25, 2009 at 11:31 AM