"Having impact spread wide and having impact that resonates deeply are two very different things. They are not mutually exclusive, but more often than not, we settle for a season of brief popularity." unknown
Often times when we build organizations, churches, small groups...anything built on relationships...we want to grow them as quickly as possible. It seems natural that more is better. Why impact only 5 people when you can impact 10, right? That's all well and good, but the key is not how many you reach, rather HOW you reach them. Without really thinking about it, our tendency is to go out and reach as many people as WE can. So WE invite OUR friends, and OUR family, and OUR neighbors, and OUR coworkers, and if WE work hard at it then pretty soon WE have a group that looks something like this:
You may have 5, or 10, or 100, but this is the basic structure, lots of people connected to one thing: YOU. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with this...at first. It's a great start and you've got some momentum and everyone is excited, but how long can it last? The answer is not long. Because eventually YOU are going to get tired, or sick, or complacent, and as soon as YOU stop doing what YOU did to get the thing started, it will die. Now if you're a super duper hard worker you can keep it up for a while, but sooner or later the ball will be dropped. You can only spin so many plates for so long. This is why so many small groups die young.
Have you ever taken a good look at the roots of a tree that has been blown over in a storm? If you have you probably noticed that the root system was very shallow. It may be super wide, but shallow nonetheless. The key to strength and health and sustainability is going deep.
Now the truth is that going deep is a bit harder, and may take a little bit longer on the front end. But long term your job gets easier and easier, because once you have a strong, deep root system in place, growth is virtually unlimited. The key is to not just connect new people to yourself, but to dive down deep through the people you are already connected to. Find 2 or 3 in your group with the most leadership potential and help them make some new connections. Then help them identify a potential leader under them and repeat the process over and over until it starts to look like this:
You are leading and training by example. After you go down 2-3 levels then you can step back and the guy next to you keeps diving and then he hands it off to the next guy, etc... Now which model do you think is stronger? You get 2 or 3 legs going like this and you are set. And think of the benefits: You're identifying leaders at every level. You're modeling true Biblical discipleship. You can easily break off one of these legs and let it become a new group unto itself, duplicating the process infinitely. This works in church, in small groups, in business, in networking.
Bottom line: if you want longevity, strength, sustainability, duplication, health...you've got to go deep.