The Organizer

8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:14 KJV

14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

Bless the Persecutors

Bless and Curse Not

Nehemiah is a great biblical example of an organizer.

Sometimes called administrator.

The Greek word that is used to designate the sixth Motivational Gift is, “proistemi,” and, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, means, “to stand before” – or – “to preside” – and can be translated “to administrate” – “to organize” – or – “to facilitate.”

The King James Version renders this word as “rules.”

Though most studies on the Motivational Gift uses the title “organizer” as I will throughout this study

This seems to be to be the most exact meaning of this Greek word in the culture in which we now live.

The Organizer has an intuitive sense that enables him to “give leadership to aid others.”

He has the ability to work with, and through, others.

He is able to get things running, and functioning properly, in order to meet needs.

The motivation of an organizer is to coordinate the efforts and resources of others in order to achieve agreed upon goals.

In the same way that the giver is able to view financial assets and how they can best be used to achieve goals, the organizer is able to view final objectives and how these objectives can be met by the proper delegation of tasks.

I. Characteristics of an Organizer

A. Able to Visualize Final Results

When a major project is given to an organizer, he is able to picture the completed task and what it will take to accomplish it.

When Nehemiah, an administrator, was given the task of removing the “great affliction and reproach of God’s people in Jerusalem,” he immediately visualized the need to rebuild the walls (Nehemiah 1:2-3).

HE IS HIGHLY MOTIVATED TO ORGANIZE THAT FOR WHICH HE IS RESPONSIBLE

An organizer loves a challenge and has a natural motivation to develop, or organize and administrate, anything he is in charge of.

He has a creative desire to take “raw materials” and people and to produce something that has never been, like organizing an office – setting up a committee – or developing a project.

B. Need Loyalty in Associates

In order for an organizer to visualize the completion of a task, he needs to know who and what his resources are.

Since the efficiency of his entire operation depends upon the faithfulness of the workers, he would rather have fewer that he can count on than more that he cannot count on.

Nehemiah required an oath of cooperation from the rulers, nobles and people

Nehemiah 5:1-13

But the organizer enjoys workign with, and being, around people.

Like the exhorter, the organizer is a people’s person, however, unlike the exhorter his motivation is not to encourage others, but rather, to get to know, to learn from, and to interact with, others.

He is a great observer of human behavior and is constantly learning how to work with people more effectively.

C. Ability to Delegate

The organizer loves to tell people what to do – in a positive sense!

He can easily see what jobs need to be done and seems to know who can do them well.

He enjoys distributing work in such a way that it will bring about maximum satisfaction and accomplishment.

He knows which task to delegate and which he must do himself.

He is able to sense which workers will need more assistance than others and he is able to, naturally, maintain a continuing accountability with his workers.

The organizer prefers to be under authority in order to have authority

The organizer (administrator) understands, honors, and respects authority structures and feels comfortable with them, whether he is at the top, or somewhere within, the system.

The centurion who came to Jesus to ask Him to heal his servant probably had the Motivational Gift of administration.

When Jesus offered to go to the sick man’s bedside the centurion replied,

Matthew 8:8–9 KJV

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

An organizer wants to know how much authority he has, or does not have, because he respects those limits.

He likes to have the exact parameters of his authority defined for him so that he will not inadvertently step outside of them,

but he also likes the freedom, within those parameters, to “be his own boss.”

Given this situation, he is creative and productive, not given this situation he feels stifled and inhibited.

Nehemiah delegated the work involved in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but he retained the responsibility of dealing with the enemies.

Nehemiah 4:13 KJV

13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

D. Withstand Reaction to Tasks

Once an organizer commits himself to a task, he will endure criticism in order to accomplish.

Leaders are often criticized because there are always those who feel that he should do things differently.

Despite criticism that may come from either insiders or outsiders, the organizer is willing to endure much opposition to his leadership to accomplish his final goal.

Nehemiah did not allow persistent opposition from outside enemies and fellow workers to dissuade him from his task

Nehemiah 4:8-18

E. Make Jobs Look Easy

An organizer has the ability to take seemingly impossible tasks and break them down into achievable goals.

Nehemiah took the huge work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and broke that work down into sections that each family, or group, was able to complete

Nehemiah 3:1-31

F. Very Alert to Details

An organizer notices what others might consider small, unessential details to the completing of a project, and,

not only does he know which details are essential in order for the project to be completed in the proper way,

but he also tends to remove himself from distracting details that would hinder him from focusing on the ultimate goal.

Nehemiah did not get involved in the actual building, however, he removed obstacles, such as financial pressures, that would have hindered the workers

Nehemiah 5:1-13

G. Completes Tasks Quickly

Because the organizer wants to see things completed as quickly as possible, his efficiency begins before he starts a project by checking out, and securing, needed resources.

He does not like delays, red tape, or people dragging their feet.

Nehemiah secured timber from the king’s forest before the rebuilding began.

An organizer also assigns tasks to workers according to their strengths and weaknesses so that maximum productivity can be achieved.

But the organizer does enjoy working on long-range goals and projects

While the “server” enjoys short-term goals, two days or two week, the organizer thrives on two-year projects.

If you ask a person with the Motivational Gift of “mercy, or compassion” to set a goal, he would answer, “Whatever for?” –

because he lives one day at a time, or more precisely, one moment at a time.

However, the organizer (administrator is the one who will attend time management seminars because he will want to increase his sill in handling projects of significant size.

H. Able to Be Decisive

Because the final goal is clearly visualized by the organizer, he is able to quickly evaluate requests, and situations, and to make firm decisions.

An organizer is a visionary person with a broad perspective.

Vision is needed to keep people in focus (Proverbs 29:18).

Proverbs 29:18 KJV

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

An organizer is not only a person of vision, but he also has the ability to uphold that vision for others and to inspire them to make that vision a reality.

When Nehemiah was consistently invited by his enemies to come and have a conference with them, his decision not to go was immediate and decisive.

An organizer is an excellent communicator and looks for ways in which he can most effectively, and clearly, say what he wants to say.

Believing that a picture is truly worth a thousand words, he will use charts, diagrams, outlines, graph, and other visual aids to better illustrate the ideas he is endeavor to communicate.

I. Completion Involves Cleanup

In an organizer’s mind the job is not finished until everything is back in its place and he will inspire and encourage workers to complete a job by approval, praise, reproof, and challenge. The organizer’s final joy is in seeing all the parts come together and it doesn’t really matter to him if others appreciate the joy or not because as long as he knows it was accomplished according to the plans laid out, it is the only satisfaction that he needs.

II. Misuses of the Gift of Organizing

A. Viewing People Only As Resources

The organizer can regress into “using” people to accomplish his goals because his goal-orientation can make him forget that people are not pawns to be moved about as in a game of chess.

He may not mean to do this, but if he pushes the importance of good quality to an extreme, he can become inconsiderate of, and even hurtful to, others.

An organizer must not only learn to simply direct people based upon his gift of seeing the bigger picture, but he must also learn to patiently explain all the steps that he sees that are required to reach the goal.

If the organizer is not in the place of leadership, he may tend to make suggestions and then react negatively, or become discouraged, when those suggestions are not followed.

B. Building Loyalty with Favoritism

Because an organizer is very sensitive to loyalty because he depends upon it to accomplish his goals, or the goals others have for him,

he may, if he is in charge of a work, single out individuals whom he things are especially important to his goals and show them favoritism, or partiality, in his endeavor to foster this loyalty.

If he is not in charge of a work, he, very often, experiences a frustration that, if expressed openly, can cause disharmony among the workers.

C. Using Delegation to Avoid Work

When a person with the gift of organization is not in charge, it is easy for him to delegate his responsibilities to others that,

even though his work may be completed, will not only rob him of the character training, and other objectives, that the one who assigned him the task had in mind for him,

but will also cause the one who is in authority over him, as well as others, to accuse him of laziness and irresponsibility.

D. Being Unresponsive to Appeals

When an organizer, who is in charge of a project, rejects valid suggestions, or closes his ears to grievances, pressures result that cause him to become harsh, or even, to resign.

When an organizer is not responsible to directions from his authorities and they discipline him – as they should be – if he reacts negatively to this discipline, he will build patterns of resentment and pride.

Sometimes they can become upset when others do not share the same vision or goal.

The organizer finds it difficult to work in team leadership, and when his coworkers have stunted vision that hampers the accomplishment of goals, it is to him as a millstone around his neck.

E. Putting Projects Ahead of People

When an organizer, because he is only focusing in on people’s inefficiency, or disorganization, reacts negatively to people who do not have his gift of administration,

he not only overlooks people’s real needs and potential, but he also damages what could have been important relationships and the potential ministry that God had intended for him.

The organizer can sometimes drive himself and neglect personal and family needs.

Priorities are what the organizer needs to keep in mind.

The organizer can be overextended, be too committed to a task, or take on too much for either his own good or the good of his family,

Giving 100% of one’s self to whatever he does may be an admirable quality, but it can also wreak havoc in other areas of his life.

If an organizer is not careful, he can find himself neglecting routine home responsibilities due to intense interest in “projects,” or his “job.”

F. Overlooking Workers’ Serious Faults

If an organizer is given a position of authority in the local church, and appoints workers on the basis of their ability to get the job done,

he will, if serious character flaws are discovered in a valuable worker, be reluctant to dismiss him.

His reluctance to do so, however, will communicate approval and acceptance of unacceptable behavior,

This will not only cause negative reaction from some but, also, imitation by others, as well.

G. Failing to Explain or Praise

When an organizer is put in charge of several people to accomplish a job,

he may tend to give instructions without explanation that will cause fellow workers to feel like pawns in a chess game.

If, coupled with this, the organizer fails to give them proper praise, or appreciation, when the work is done, their feelings of being used will be intensified.

H. Forcing Decisions on Others

An organizer can misuse his special abilities of persuasion and decisiveness by coercing others to help him achieve personal ambitions

And, even when it comes to legitimate jobs, he can misuse his special abilities by being insensitive to the schedules, weariness, or personal priorities, of his workers.

I. Losing Interest in Finished Jobs

Because the fulfillment of the organizer comes from seeing a job completed, he prefers to move on to a new challenge once that goal has been achieved.

However, before moving on to a new job, he must make proper provision for maintenance of the completed job.

When this tendency to continually “move on” to something new is carried over into the personal life of an organizer,

he is never content with the things that he has – or the things that he has done.

But the organizer is often bored with repetitive work.

Because, unlike the server who might enjoy the security of a work routine where he knows exactly what is expected of him, the organizer views routine work as having no challenge, he has no interest in it.

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