Meeting the Unique Needs of Leaders
By admin | August 8, 2010
My church just finished hosting the Global Leadership Summit from Willowcreek Community Church. While we were a satellite location, there was still a great deal to do. When you invite leaders into your environment, they come with issues that other people don’t:
1. They are REALLY tired.
2. They are REALLY curious.
3. They are looking for something they can REALLY use.
So how do you address these? For starters, make sure that they are welcomed and feel like you have planned for them. Fatigue can make little things seem big – both good and bad. Since they are curious, have your facilities open and accessible for them. Have your best people scattered around and able ask questions. I was asked “how many chairs in here normally, and at what point do people think its full. This leader wasn’t looking for “80% is full”, he wanted to see if that 80% rule was true for us. I hooked him up with our person who counts every week. We also set up our room with tables instead of rows of seating – this way the leaders could talk about what they were learning and process it with team members. This enabled them to figure out what they could actually act upon as they were processing.
While this was a leadership conference, the leaders in your organization have the same issues. What are you doing to meet them where they are?
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The Leadership Challenge
By admin | June 25, 2010
Church leadership is always a challenge. Not just every now and then, but always – and everywhere.
As I have the opportunity to work with pastors and church leaders, I find that they all face challenges -even in the best of churches. I used to believe that if I could ever work in _______ (fill in with your own dream church), then things would be so much better. Maybe you have felt the same way. You look around and it just seems so much easier over “there”. They have better facilities, finances, leadership, location, committed members, worship, youth… well, you get the idea. Anything has to be better, and easier…right?
Here’s what I learned. It is hard everywhere. Leadership doesn’t get easy just because you are doing well as a church. In fact, the pressure is HUGE for a church that is viewed as successful. Keeping momentum while maintaining direction and vision is no easy task. Things take on a life of their own and have large implications.
So here are the basics:
- Have a Clear Vision – keep things out of the “personal opinion” realm. Make decisions based on the Vision.
- Build a Committed Team – you need people who will work with you and for you, and some that will tell you the painful truth.
- Know and Keep Your Values – these are the boundary markers for how you will make decisions and fulfill the Vision.
- Don’t Take Yourself So Seriously – remember that “grace” thing you were the recipient of? Accept and extend grace – it makes you a better person.
Leading is challenging, but can be incredibly rewarding when done well.
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Opportunity of a Lifetime!
By admin | May 18, 2010
A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a church leadership conference and to sit with several members of one church staff. The church had sent about 7 of the key staff members to the conference, including the Youth Pastor and Senior Pastor. The conference was great, with the Key Note speaker (name withheld) telling us the hard truth on many topics related to leading the local church. It was challenging, yet refreshing.
This church staff was doing everything together, evaluating the things they were learning, sharing meals, etc., but when it was time for the lunch break – the Youth Pastor was missing. He never showed up for lunch, didn’t respond to phone calls or messages. The group (especially the Senior Pastor) was concerned.
Eventually the next session began with worship and a few other things, still no Youth Pastor. But just as the Key Note speaker began - he arrived at his seat, next to the Senior Pastor.
You guys won’t believe where I’ve been! I was in the hall headed to the restroom and ran into him (the Key Note). I decided this was the opportunity of a lifetime, so I said “If you will give me 30 minutes one day, I will drive the 6 hours it takes to get here. I really need to ask you a few things.”
Apparently the Key Note was moved by his sincerity, and instead invited him to lunch in the Green Room. He spent more than the requested 30 minutes, and answered all of the questions. It was obviously a huge deal to the Youth Pastor, and the group was excited for their friend and fellow staff member. The Senior Pastor was especially impressed.
As the Key Note began the next session he said “I want to take a moment and say something to the Senior pastors out there. Some of you really need to work on developing your leadership skills. I just had lunch with a Youth Pastor who offered to drive 6 hours to meet with me because he wanted to find out how to deal with being a better leader than his Senior Pastor.”
That may have been one of the most awkward moments I have ever witnessed.
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Your Church Wasn’t Ready For Easter… Here’s Why.
By 218Matt | April 5, 2010
Every now and then I say or write something that really hits a serious nerve. This past week was one of those times.
In a recent Face Book post, I commented on how many churches work really, really hard and provide worship services all during Holy Week, and that one church I know of does the complete opposite. They offer no Holy Week services, and instead put all of their energy into creating an incredible Easter Sunday experience. I said in that FB update that I was not endorsing one way over the other, but after being pushed a bit – I have changed my mind.
Over these many years, I have had the opportunity to work in and consult with a broad spectrum of churches – from mainline to independent, liberal to conservative, and traditional to contemporary.
In almost every church that offers the Holy Week menu (breakfast devotionals, lunch speakers, evening services) I hear the same comments/complaints from the ministry team. “We are really tired by the time Easter Sunday gets here”.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Church Planting Challange
By 218Matt | February 16, 2010
About 8 months ago one of our pastors decided that it was time to go plant a new church. At the exact same time as this decision, we had been laying the groundwork for our first multi-site effort. We (the Lead Pastor, he and I) spent a great deal of time praying and talking about whether it would be a church plant of our church, a satellite campus, video venue or just have no affiliation with our church at all. Ultimately, our friend made the decision for us.
He wanted to structure this new church in a way that would not fit any of the concepts that we were working on. It had to be it’s own entity with no connection to us.
That was hard. It was like finding out that you were indeed going to the prom, but not with the person you wanted to go with… and now, by the way, it would be a blind date.
We looked for a win-win solution for both our friend and our church. He had been a key leader for several years, and a gifted communicator. Our church was better with him, and our church was good for him. We decided that we would try to keep him on staff for close to a year, while slowly decreasing his responsibilities and allowing him to ramp up the new church. Planting a church is challenging, and this would give him financial stability and continiuty as he began. It would also allow us to keep him in the teaching rotation, and benefit from his gifts.
There were leaders in our church that challenged me on the wisdom of this arrangement. In business, (and in many churches) once you announce your are leaving – you’re out. But we were convinced that we could make this work. The three us have met together most every week for a time of prayer and accountability. We have committed to communicate and be honest with one another throughout the process. There are times that is easy, and others…well “not so much”.
Topics: change, leadership | No Comments »
Rise of the Creatives…
By 218Matt | October 26, 2009
In working on a yet to be publish post on the Future of God, I realized some truths about the Past of Leadership.
Industrial Age -The Individual worker is minimized, the Managers are Empowered, and Leadership is minimized. (think Peter Drucker)
Technology Age – The Individual worker is minimized, the Manager is minimized, and Leadership is Empowered (think John Maxwell)
Creative Age – The Individual worker is Empowered, the Manager is minimized, and Leadership is minimized (think Richard Florida)
Empowered in the sense that the attention is shifted to that position, and much is written on how to make the work environment most conducive to that position being effective.
Minimized in the sense that ability to perform is assumed and not the focus of attention.
The current trend of business related thinking on this topic will soon begin to significantly impact the church (as it has in the past) and we will feel the same shift. There is already the early signs of this with the growing movement in the church to develop a “Strengths based” ministry concept. We are still very consumed with the Leadership models of the past 30 years, so it may take a while to see this as a “new” paradigm of ministry.
There are several other posts on this site about the Strengths-based approach on this site.
A wise church leader will listen and learn, and be read to lead in a new Era.
Topics: future, leadership, strengths | No Comments »
Design Thinking and the church
By 218Matt | October 6, 2009
Sooo…why the long blogging absence???
Well, in a word. BUSY. Very busy.
Several months ago I decided to put together a new website that would cover a different area of my consulting life: Design Thinking.
At the time, I thought it would be a small site that might get a little traffic, and maybe inspire some people to consider the effectiveness of the Art of Design Thinking. Wrong.
It has been a HUGE surprise to see the amount of traffic from all over the globe. As a result, I have spent a great deal of time blogging, Tweeting, and consulting on the topic.
So how does this fit with the primary topic of this blog??? Well, it’s all about the ability to bring effective solutions to real problems. And that is what leaders do…especially in the church.
If you have not had a chance, I encourage you to check out the new site DesignThinkingBlog and see what you can learn.
And for those of you who are looking for direct help, use the contact page and let’s talk.
Topics: Design Thinking, leadership | No Comments »
Design Thinking
By 218Matt | September 18, 2009
For several months now I have been on a quest to pull the best information together on the topic of Design Thinking. I was first introduced to the concept through a Nightline story on IDEO, an Industrial Design and Engineering company in California. As I watched to story almost 10 years ago, I was fascinated with the ability that this company had to create very cool and effective products. They were on to something that could change the way companies developed products.
Over the years, I have followed IDEO as they have moved from creating products to teaching other companies how to create. The success they have had has opened the doors to an international audience that is hungry to find new ways to do things. Eventually, the big focus was on HOW they did things, not WHAT they did. The IDEO process became known as Design Thinking and is now hitting the business world as a new way of getting results.
So is Design Thinking just another business fad…the lasted “flavor of the month”? Maybe. But it is also one of the most legitimate shifts in thinking over the past 20 years.
We as humans seem to have this odd desire to look for extreme solutions to the problems that we face. For a generation, the solutions came from our ability to dream and create. Then for a generation, it was our ability to analyze and engineer. For a new generation, it is about personal experience. So which of these extremes is correct? D. All of the above.
Over the next several posts we will explore this new concept and how it can have a positive impact for the church.
Topics: Design Thinking, future | No Comments »
Leading versus Managing
By 218Matt | September 5, 2009
OK – this is not a new topic by any stretch of the imagination. If you Google the topic, you will get a bajillion results. Ultimatley it comes down to how you relate to the people that are in your area of influence. I had a great conversation with a church leader the other day on this topic. We talked about people that think they are Leaders, but are really Managers. And of course, there are people who think they are Managers, but they really are Leaders. So what makes the differnce and does it really matter?
Yes.
It matters because some of the people that you are leading/managing can work for one, but not the other. Here is what I mean.
There are people that need a large vision cast that captures their attention and motivates them to look for ways to make that vision into a reality. They will ask general questions to see what the boundaries are for the task, and then make things happen. They need to be checked on through out the project but given lots of room to make it happen.
There are also people who really don’t care about the big picture, but simply want to know exactly “what” it is that you want them to do. They want very specific instruction with a list if possible. They want feedback on each and every step.
This first person needs a leader.
The second needs a manager.
Look at the people that work for you and seem to be very content with how you lead/manage them. If they are in the first group—congratualtions, you are a leader. If they fall into the second group — congratulations, you are a manager.
So which is more important to a church or organization? The one that is effective.
Topics: leadership | No Comments »
Church Leadership is Boring (sometimes).
By 218Matt | August 11, 2009
I recently sent out a tweet that said “Sometimes, Church leadership is boring”. It got a lot of reactions!
Here’s the deal. Every job is boring on occasion. There are no exceptions. Even when you are serving the most Holy and Awesome God.
When you think about it, you know that it is true. “Bored” is literally a state of mental being. I have been in incredible places with my boys, where opportunity and adventures abound – and I still hear the phrase ” I’m bored.”
I have met with some incredible, cutting edge, type “A” leaders in both the church and business worlds and heard the phrase “I’m bored.”
Topics: change, leadership | 1 Comment »