Leadership

I am approaching twenty years of service at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board in a few months and preceded that with fourteen plus years in a local church. I am somewhat familiar with long tenure. As I approach the milestone of twenty years, I am having a conversation with myself. I do not want to be that person that hangs on so long that people are whispering and wondering “when will he step out of the way?” I want to lead effectively, make a positive impact, and leave at the right time whether it is a year from now or a decade from now. Therefore, I am refreshing myself with some thoughts on the upside and the downside of a long tenure.

If you have been at your place of service or leadership for more than a decade, you would do well to ponder alongside of me. If this is your first week on the job, the points can be likewise instructive. I want to share my top five thoughts on the upside of long tenure and then my top five on the downside with a very brief comment on each. Here we go:

UPSIDE

1. Deep relationships. Friendships grow strong when you work day in and day out with a group of team members over the course of many years.
2. Stability. You and your family stay rooted in a community and disruptions are minimized to some degree.
3. Ability to Mentor. You know where the landmines are. You have seen people fired, failed, and get in hot water. You know very well how to avoid those landmines and can help others avoid the same fate.
4. Benefits. In most organizations, benefits accumulate with longer tenure, whether it is salary, eligibility for additional time off, or special advantages that come with both tenure and sometimes advancement.
5. Satisfaction. Perhaps you are stuck. But more likely in the American economy you have stayed because you enjoy your work and get great satisfaction from what you do and who you work alongside.

DOWNSIDE

1. Unhealthy Repetition. If you are not careful, you will rely on yesterday’s victories for tomorrows battles. It is too easy to rely on what happened last time without taking a fresh look and improving the process for the next implementation whether it is budgeting, events, strategy, or annual obligations.
2. Skills Isolation. What if the role you have now disappeared? Have you developed skills that make you valuable in a variety of contexts or have you isolated your skill set?
3. Complacency. The longer you are in one location, the greater the temptation to “coast” instead of “innovate.” It takes no energy to “coast.”
4. Stunted Personal Growth. At the point you fail to grow, you forfeit your right to lead. If you are not careful you will mistake tenure for growth. They are not the same thing.
5. Arrogance. Arrogance in this instance occurs when you feel like the processes, standards and rules do not apply to you. Those are for the “rookies” and the other staff who don’t know how to get around them.

I am committing myself to avoid the downside of long tenure as I bust through the twenty-year mark. I am talking to myself and inviting you to listen in and I have no one else in mind. But I know how it goes when I write articles like this. “Is he talking about me?” No, but as the proverb goes, If the shoe fits, wear it! Because if you do, you are on the path to maximizing your leadership.

“There is no future in any job. The future lies in the person who holds the job.” – John Maxwell

Leadership exists on multiple levels. You can lead your family, lead your team, lead a small group, or lead people to go through a buffet line. Leading a larger group or organization calls for a higher level of skill, knowledge, and influence. Some can lead tens, some hundreds, and some thousands. What does it take to provide leadership on a macro level where you are not simply leading hundreds or thousands of people, but providing leadership for multiple teams, multiple organizations, or in the case of denominational work, hundreds and thousands of churches? The difference in helping a church advance and helping hundreds to advance requires different skill sets.

I have been blessed to observe some leaders who are very effective on the “macro” level over the past twenty years. Here are the qualities I find evident in the life of a MacroLeader.

Multi-Level Thinker- The ability to think big, plan big, strategize big, and to inspire leaders to move their group or organization forward.

An Intimate Relationship with God- If you fail at this point you cannot succeed. An intimate relationship with God is the only hope to lead a movement rather than an institution.

Communication Skills- The expectations are higher and the skills must be undergirded with passion.

Relationship Builder- This does not change at any level. It is about people and being personable and developing relationships increases effectiveness.

Overcomes Negativism- Instead of dozens you deal with hundreds… meaning you’re likely to encounter larger amounts of cynicism, negativism, and criticism. Don’t become a cynic yourself!

Long-Term Commitment- You can move a person forward today. Moving multiple groups, organizations, or churches forward can take years and the results are harder to measure. MacroLeaders are in for the long haul.

Experience in a Healthy Church- You cannot likely take people where you have not been yourself.

Ability to Manage Time- The demands pull from multiple directions. You must work hard without neglecting the priority of spiritual growth and healthy family life. You better have a system to manage your time or you will not be effective.

Does What He/She Teaches- No one cares what you did ten years ago. What are you doing now shows that you can be effective on any level. Be a practitioner or else you lose your credibility.

Evolving Expertise- You are viewed as an “expert.” You must stay up-to-date and that means you continue to read, attend seminars, take classes, and do everything possible to continually expand your knowledge base.

Responsiveness- A MacroLeader has a system that ensures calls are returned, emails/texts/letters receive a response, questions are answered, and concerns are addressed in a timely manner. While the resolution make take time, the response is quick. You can use these qualities to evaluate yourself on any level.

You may or may not be a MacroLeader but these qualities can help you grow your leadership no matter what level you lead from at this time. Which area is your weakest? Start there and you will be on the way to maximizing your leadership.

Thanks for joining me on this journey as I lead an initiative to help churches in reaching the next generation. I imagine you are familiar with the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. In the fourth chapter, he points out how organizations that excel take into consideration “the brutal facts but they do not lose faith.” How does a church do that and how can it help? This week I submit to you video number three (3) of six (6) which addresses the second phase of a church strategy to reach the next generation. You will discover in this seven minute video the next step which is self-evaluation. A church must know where they are right now in order to map out a plan to get to their desired destination. That can be tough to acknowledge shortcomings but that type of transparency can serve to propel the congregation forward. This video lays out a quick template that can be used by any church and provides some immediate ideas for the beginning of resolution. You can view all the videos at www.reachingnextgen.com.  Here you go…

 

When [Jesus] had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4

I suppose you are familiar with this story. You may recall how Jesus got into Simon Peter’s boat and pushed back a short distance from the shore to teach the multitude of people who had gathered. Following the message, He turned to Simon, and asked him to take the boat into deeper water in order to catch some fish. Simon responded that they had already fished all night and were unable to catch anything. It is clear that Simon was tired (he had fished all night) and that he was frustrated (we toiled all night and caught nothing). Nonetheless, he deferred to his leader and headed into the deeper water. Do you recall the result of his obedience? The scripture says that, “they caught a great number of fish.” They caught so many fish that their nets began to break and they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help.

Despite his fatigue and frustration, Simon Peter launched his boat into the deep and went fishing. Here is a question that I want you to consider. Why did he do it? I am looking for the most elementary explanation. Here it is: He went fishing because his leader asked him to! I realize that there are a variety of possible answers, but this is the simplest interpretation. I believe this account is literal, but I also believe that it paints a picture of what the church is supposed to be doing. This story is illustrative of the Great Commission. Every church is a fishing boat that should be intentionally launching out into the deep (going) letting down their nets for a catch. Likewise, every Bible study group is a fishing boat. Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men” [Mark 1:19].

One of the drawbacks to effectiveness in evangelism in churches today is that they have converted their fishing boats into houseboats. What do you do on a houseboat? You relax, fellowship, and enjoy those on the boat with you. You do have work to do, but it is centered on maintaining an environment of leisure. You, likewise, have work to do on a fishing boat, but the objective is different. A fishing boat exists to assist you in catching fish. A Bible study group exists to help you to grow personally as you partner together to reach out to the lost and unchurched. It is organized around affinity groups to assist in the endeavor. Middle school students reach out to middle school students, college-age young adults to college-age young adults, senior adults to senior adults, etc.

Why is it that some churches use their groups as tools for evangelism and others do not? It is because in some churches the leaders ask them to. Are you challenging your groups to be “fishing boats?” Are you equipping your groups to go fishing? Are you intentionally leading your groups to reach out to the lost and unchurched? I want to challenge you to make a commitment to convert your houseboats into fishing boats. The possibility: “For he (Simon Peter) and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken” [Luke 5:9]. I pray that this verse will reflect the testimony of your groups in the years to come. For in doing so you will have maximized your leadership.

 

 

Dear fellow leaders and workers;

Since you work so hard accomplishing your tasks day by day, I thought you might appreciate a little humor to launch your week.  Did you know…

The population of the United States now stands at 326 million. One hundred and fourteen million are over 60 years of age, which leaves 212 million to do most of the work. People under 20 years of age total 140 million, which leaves 72 million to do most of the work. Thirty-two million are employed by the government which leaves about 40 million to do most of the work. Almost two million serve in our Armed Forces leaving 38 million to do most of the work.

Deduct about 22 million who work in state and city government offices and that leaves 16 million to do most of the work. Currently there are 2,220,000 people in jails and prisons leaving 13,780,000 people doing most of the work. There are over four million people who are hospitalized or severely ill leaving only 9,780,000 to do most of the work.

Another 9,768,000 are on disability bringing the available workforce down to only about 12,000. Of those remaining there are at least 11,998 currently taking a nap. That tells us that most of the work is up to you and me and please help me because I am getting tired of doing everything myself.

Adapted from chapter one of Developing The Leaders Around You by John Maxwell.

We are living in a time of great blessing. The ability to travel by car or plane enables us to make journeys on a weekend or in a one-week time frame that would have been unimaginable for all of history up until the last century. We live in an economy where almost everyone has resources that would have only belonged to the wealthy in previous generations. I look forward to family vacation opportunities and I appreciate the many options that are available to my family for travel and leisure.

Here come the summer months. People are traveling and the Worship and Bible Study attendance drops. Apparently, you and I are not the only ones who appreciate the options available for travel and leisure. The lower attendance can be frustrating to a pastor or Bible Study leader. Can anything be done to stump the summer slump?

1. Make sure your measurement is properly oriented. Attendance tends to fall into a pattern of two surges and two slumps, each year in North American churches. The first surge ordinarily occurs in August (when school starts back) through October. November and December averages will generally be lower because of holiday weekends. Attendance will surge again in January through March unless the weather is extremely bad. April (with Spring Break for students) begins the second slump that may fall even deeper by July. Here is the key. Compare your attendance to the same month last year instead of the previous month. You may be averaging less in June than you did in March. But, if you will check your records you may find that you are averaging more than you did last June.
2. Spend more energy rejoicing over those present than bemoaning those who are absent. I wonder if we might sometimes feed the slump by complaining. Members can still grow and the lost can still be reached on any day or any week of the entire year including the summer months.
3. Don’t back off of the drivers of growth. Don’t let up on connecting with absentees, ministering to members, group fellowships, outreach, enlisting new members, etc. Keep your foot on the ministry accelerator or else you will feed the slump even further. You need to continue to sow these seeds with the understanding that you may not reap the results until August or September.
4. Utilize the VBS strategy. Remember that Vacation Bible School is not intended only to be a week of Bible Study for the children in your church. That is a benefit of the week. The purpose is to introduce prospective families to Bible Study, to share the gospel, to connect them to groups, and to transition them into your discipleship process.
5. Some churches successfully utilize themes and/or promotions to rally around. This particular idea does not work with every congregation. You must know the culture of your church. Many churches promote a theme and/or a promotion to spark interest and encourage faithfulness. The theme I utilized recently in the church where I served as interim pastor was “The Summer of No Fear.” The summer sermon series addressed issues related to “fear” and the Bible Study leaders participated in a promotion called the “Bible Study No Fear Factor.” In another church, we went “Contact Crazy” for the summer and tried to document our invitation of several thousand people to be our guest during the summer months.

Paul reminded the Corinthians that if they sowed sparingly they would reap sparingly. While it is an uphill struggle to maintain the same level of attendance in the summer, it is not impossible and not unprecedented. But to maximize your leadership you must be strategic and intentional. What is your plan?

“Do you think a church can be too big?” That is a question that was posed to me by a church leader. I have been privileged to minister in churches of all conceivable sizes as well as to serve on the staffs and as interim pastor in churches that ranged in attendance from less than fifty to well over 4,000 in weekly worship participation. Churches of every size possess unique advantages and disadvantages that I have come to appreciate over the years.

Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame baseball player and coach once remarked: “No one ever goes to that restaurant any more. It is always too crowded!” Apparently, a lot of people enjoy attending larger churches and that accounts for why they are so big. Should a congregation be small, medium, or large? The Bible never prescribes the ideal size of a local congregation. There is no “wrong size” church. Thom Rainer recently pointed to a move toward smaller worship gatherings as a growing trend. Many people avoid attending larger churches because they have a deep concern for the relationships and the intimacy that a smaller congregation can provide. This desire for closeness is a legitimate need.

Can a church be too big? It can for “some” people. You could also ask, “Can a church be too small?” Again, it can be for “some” people though the Bible does not say. It is not the size of the church that makes the difference. It is the size of God that matters most. God does big things through small churches. The reality is that opportunities for ministry and evangelism are actually enhanced by the fact that congregations come in all sizes. People are internally wired with differing combinations of temperament, experience, culture, education, personality, giftedness, intellect, and preferences. The differing blends create a variety of needs. Some people’s needs can best be met by a smaller congregation while others can be addressed more effectively by larger churches.
Every congregation, regardless of size, has a responsibility to obey the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. All congregations should seek to make disciples by engaging the members in prayer, evangelism, equipping, fellowship, worship, and ministry in the same manner that the earliest congregations did as described in Acts 2:42-47. It is often easier to minister to everyone in a small congregation and it can be easier to reach larger numbers of people for Christ with the leadership assets of a larger congregation. However, the criteria for responsibility is not based on the size of the congregation, but on the teaching of the scripture.

All congregations, large and small, should seek to effectively minister to their members as well as to reach out to their community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The critical question is not, “can a church be too big?” The real question is, “can a church lose focus?” The answer is “yes” whether a congregation is large or small. The aim is to provide personal ministry to the members while proclaiming the message of salvation to the community without neglecting either. That is a great challenge for a congregation of any size. I challenge you to leverage your leadership to engage your members in doing both whether your church is large or small. The size of the congregation will resolve itself if the focus is correct!

Do you have “Frustrated Followers”? Sometimes you can do the right thing or make the right decision and still frustrate your team members. However, you want the frustrations they experience to be the exception rather than the rule. Frustrated followers will ultimately under-produce, walk away, or undermine the leader whether intentionally or unintentionally. John Maxwell, in his book Developing the Leader Within You, suggests seven ways that leaders frustrate followers. They are based on a survey conducted by J.C. Stachle and are listed in order of importance. All of these are avoidable. My comments are in italics. Here they are:

 

1. Failure to give credit for suggestions. An effective leader is more concerned with the progress of the organization, the development of the team, and the fulfillment of the mission than who gets credit for particular ideas. On the other hand, please be sure that you do not get too caught up in who gets credit if you are a team member. An effective leader will share credit for victories and take responsibility for defeats.
2. Failure to correct grievances. If you are a leader, you are a problem-solver. Your ability to discern the depth and validity of complaints along with the determination to correct grievances endears you to your followers.
3. Failure to encourage. Encourage, praise, encourage, praise, rebuke, encourage, praise. Encouragement and praise must always outweigh rebukes although the ability to rebuke and correct are also critical skills.
4. Criticizing team members in front of other people. That speaks for itself. Surely you would not do that. Would you?
5. Failure to ask team members their opinions. Leaders continually make decisions. Even the smartest and most educated leaders cannot match the combined intellect of the team. Getting their input not only helps the leader to make wiser decisions, but also makes team members feel more valued and content in their work.
6. Failure to inform team members of their progress. Followers value the perspective of the leader. When respect and trust are present, praise is inspirational and critique is motivational.
7. No one likes to feel left out of the loop or inferior to other team members. If they ever feel that way, it should not be because the leader does not make everyone feel personally valued.

Great insight to help you to maximize your leadership!

Adapted from chapter seven of Developing The Leader Within You by John Maxwell. The 
term “team members” was substituted for the term “employees” in points four, five, 
and six.

 

Have you ever walked along minding your own business only to be unsuspectingly stung by a bee or a wasp? Ouch! Getting surprised with a sudden sting is one thing, but why would you knowingly put your hand on a bee’s nest? Getting stung by the loss of a job is an unpleasant experience no matter what the circumstances. We all know people who lost jobs and appear to have been treated unjustly. In the world of church leadership I have seen pastors lose ministry positions for doing what I perceived to be undeserved reasons. Sadly, some pastor’s lose their jobs for doing the right thing. In addition, you probably have acquaintance with friends who lost jobs because of layoffs due to budget reductions. Those types of things are out of one’s control and you can only trust your competence and personal faith to overcome these types of losses.

Sadly, others lose jobs because of mistakes that get them into hot water with their employers. Can you minimize the possibility of losing a position? You can when you understand five of the top six reasons employers elect to part ways with employees. According to Robert Half International, a San Francisco based consulting firm, the top reasons people get fired are as follows:

• 30% for incompetence
• 17% because of inability to get along with team members
• 12% because of dishonesty or lying
• 10% because of negative attitudes
• 7% because of lack of motivation
• 7% because of insubordination (failing to follow instructions)
• 8% for all other reasons.

John Maxwell rightly points out that “although incompetence ranked first on the list, the next five were all attitude problems.” Attitude is everything to an effective leader. Maximizing leadership takes place when you purposefully tune your attitude by being authentic, exercising good people skills, having positive expectations, expressing passion, and being a team player. While a person with a good attitude can get stung it will not be because they foolishly put their hand on a bee’s nest. How do those around you view your attitude. Always be attentive to it and you will maximize your leadership!

Adapted in part from chapter six of Developing The Leader Within You by John Maxwell.