Starter, Sustainer, or Finisher?

We recently packed up all of our things and made a cross-country move from Minnesota to California.  I will be the Senior Pastor of the San Luis Obispo Seventh-day Adventist Church and also have oversight of the Morro Bay SDA Church.  The people here are wonderful and I'm really looking forward to leading this exceptionally gifted church district!

I have been an expert at setting up systems for success at the beginning, making sure that the foundation is strong for the vision.

But I've heard it said that lots of people start well and that it's finishing well that really makes all the difference.

And at a recent leadership conference, Bill Hybels spoke about how a vision is most vulnerable in the middle (not the beginning or end).

So, what's most important?  Starting?  Sustaining?  Finishing?

All three are important!  And you must have people and processes in place to make sure all three get done.

When we were packing for our recent move, this came out clearly.  I had a vision for how the packing was supposed to go.  I was getting rid of things we didn't need, packing up the large things, and getting everything going so it would all fit in the PODs we rented.

But the closer we came to moving day, the less energy and vision I had.  When my brother and mother-in-law showed up to help, it was exactly what we needed to sustain all of the packing fervor.

The day before the move, I was basically shut down.  I no longer had any vision or energy for packing the small things and dealing with finishing well.  Thankfully, as I was shutting down on all of the detail things, my lovely wife was gearing up as she could see the finish line and see that things were now manageable.

In any project, you need to be sure you have people and processes in place to start well, sustain forward momentum, and finish well.  You need visionaries, workers, and managers to bring a project through to the end.

Are you a good starter?  A sustainer?  A finisher?  I'd love to hear your perspectives.