Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

I’m pleased to announce that Jeremy Lack has won my latest give away of a brand new copy of “The Power of Momentum” a 4-part video teaching series from Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel.

Like free stuff? From time to time I give away free resources from people and organizations that I believe in. If you are interested in being eligible to win these resources all you have to do is sign up to receive my blog posts directly to your email inbox. Winners are always randomly selected from the subscribers list! You can subscribe here if you’d like!

Posted in Leadership

Catalyst One Day 2013

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

If you missed any of my notes from the 2013 Catalyst One Day with Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel no worries! Now you’ve got all the notes to every session right here at your fingertips for free! These guys did an incredible job of tackling what Patrick Lencioni has called, “The single greatest opportunity for improvement and competitive advantage” Building a healthy organizational culture. Truth is my notes can’t relay all the great stuff shared by these guys so I’d encourage you to check out the Catalyst One Day website and watch for a One Day coming soon to a city near you this year! Hope you enjoy!

1. Introduction by Andy Stanley

5 incredible insights about organizational culture and building a healthy culture on your team.

2. Session 1: Values by Craig Groeschel

A healthy organizational culture never happens on accident but by intentionally fleshing out clear values.

3. Session 2: Staffing by Andy Stanley

Driving this principle of mutual submission through your organization can make your church an extraordinary place to work. And you’ll have an extraordinary team because extraordinary people will want to work there.

4. Session 3: Creating a Culture of Self Awareness by Craig Groeschel

As leaders we have a limitless capacity for self deception. And to boot, the higher we rise in an organization the more difficult it is to get people to tell you the truth, because the more perceived power that you have the more people are going to tell you what they think you want to hear.

5. Session 4: Programming by Andy Stanley

Andy talked about creating a culture around and through your programming by unpacking 3 irreducible minimums for irresistible ministry environments.

6. Bonus Material: Andy Stanley interviews Judah Smith

Two pastors kids talking through ministry transitions and leading through change. Incredible stuff!

Posted in Leadership

Does your Team need to Change?

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Churches get stuck for all kinds of reasons. But a common reason Churches get stuck is that the Sr. Leadership Team gets stuck. Last week I had the opportunity to sit in the room with Sr. Leaders from some of the nations leading mega-churches and talk through this issue. Here are a couple of the thoughts I captured about Sr. Leadership Teams from that conversation.

1. If the team begins doing the wrong work it may be time to change the team

The purpose of the Sr. Leadership Team is to make directional decisions that build a strong unified culture around your values and move the organization closer to vision. When decision making and implementation begin to consistently slow down it is probably means a change on the team is in the future.

2. If someone is building their own kingdom, get them off the team

When someone on the team cares more about their own personal mission, personal posturing or positioning, or a sub ministry in the church; it’s time for them to leave the Sr. Leadership Team. People who serve on your Leadership Team need to be able to think conceptually and transfer principles across disciplines quickly and they must care more about the mission of the church than their particular ministry

3. When you make changes you’re going to hurt feelings

As the church grows and changes so will your Sr. Leadership Team. Different leaders have different capacities. This isn’t a good thing or a bad thing. It’s just a simple reality that we all have a part to play in the body. When a body is smaller someone may play a larger or more public role than they do when it is larger. But be prepared, not everyone will approach these conversations with sober mindedness and a healthy sense of self awareness.

4. Are there too many people in the room?

Span of care is a major issue on any team, but particularly on a Sr. Leadership Team, because so much is at stake. Because a Sr. Leadership Team is not about ministry representation but decision-making and culture formation as the church grows you will consistently be tweaking the team to both have the right people and the right amount of people on the team. Think of it as breathing, the team will contract and expand as layers are added and growth take place.

Want to learn more about Sr. Leadership Teams? Check out my interview with Tony Morgan about his most recent book “Take the Lid Off Your Church, 6 Steps to Building a Healthy Sr. Leadership Team.”

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

Catalyst One Day Bonus: Andy Stanley’s interview with Judah Smith

Friday, February 1, 2013

I’ve enjoyed sharing my notes and take aways from Catalyst One Day with you this week. My hope is they’ve been helpful. Truth is my notes can’t relay all the great stuff shared by these guys so I’d encourage you to check out the Catalyst One Day website and watch for One Day coming soon to a city near you this year! Here are ideas some I wrote down from an interview that Andy Stanley did with Judah Smith who hosted the Seattle One Day.

When you go on vacation don’t go to church. That’s not a family vacation that’s a ministry trip to look at other churches.
Leadership is acknowledged not appointed. So try out young leaders. Give them something and see what they can do with it.
Acknowledge leadership in young leaders who have a proper view of authority and demonstrate a teachable spirit
The test of any church is how it responds when the lead personality is gone
Adjustment and progress are better words than change
If past leadership is trusted you’ll have the opportunity to be trusted
Every change a new leader makes is a critique of the past
Remember everything is where it is
It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to just get in line with the picture you have of the future and where you’re going
Expect tears and pain in change
Demonstrate extraordinary empathy to the past and the value of all that has come before you
Work through powerbrokers and influencers. Each influencer receives honor differently and there are keys to everyone’s heart so don’t approach them all or treat them all the same.
Don’t play with false humility
Honor is convenient when everyone is on the same page but real honor comes in a moment of conflict and conviction and when you have to put personal agenda aside and do what is best for the people
People want Jesus and the Gospel works!

This is your last chance to grab more Catalyst Resources for yourself and your team for free! I’m giving away a brand new copy of “The Power of Momentum” a 4-part video teaching series from Andy and Craig. Just sign up here and I’ll let everyone know who the winner is next week!

Posted in Leadership

Catalyst One Day Session 4: Programming by Andy Stanley

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Andy Stanley gave a talk in session 4 on “Creating a Culture Around and Through your Programming” that I know you’re going to find helpful. If you’re responsible for ministry environments (worship services, children’s ministry, small groups, student ministry, etc.) than this talk is pure gold for you!

If everyone doesn’t have the same picture of a win you end up with chaos and nobody ends up winning

Funny Andy Stanley moment: “If I could heal people at will to draw a crowd I would, but I can’t…so I have to hire a band”

Every single ministry program (worship service, student ministry, small groups, children’s ministry) is being evaluated, not formally, but by participants. Wouldn’t it make sense for you as a staff to go ahead and have a plan to be on the same page and evaluate it together?

3 Irreducible Minimums for an Irresistible Ministry Environment

1. An Appealing Setting

The physical environment
Settings create first impressions (What does it appear to be at first pass?)
An uncomfortable or distracting setting can derail ministry before it even begins
Every physical environment communicates something; there are no neutral physical environments
Design, décor, and attention to detail communicate what and who you value most
Design, décor, and attention to detail communicates whether or not your expecting guests
Periodically we all need fresh eyes on our ministry environments

Are your ministry settings appealing to your target audience?
Do the design, décor, and attention to detail in your environments reflect who is most important to you?
What’s starting to look tired?

2. An Engaging Presentation

Engaging presentations are essential to the success of our mission
- Presenting the Gospel
- Teaching them to “obey everything I’ve commanded you”
To engage is to secure one’s attention
Generally speaking it’s the presentation that makes information interesting
An audience’s attention span is determined by the quality of the presentation
Engaging presentations require engaging presenters
Always sacrifice the one for the many not the many for the one

3. Helpful Content

Helpful = useful
It’s not enough for it to be true. It has to be helpful
Helpful content is content that addresses helping people think and act differently
Information that doesn’t address a felt need is perceived as irrelevant

Is your content helpful?
Do you content creators know the goal of content is to help people think and act differently?
Is your content age and stage of life specific?

Want to grab more Catalyst Resources for yourself and your team? I’m giving away a brand new copy of “The Power of Momentum” a 4-part video teaching series from Andy and Craig. Just sign up here and I’ll let everyone know who the winner is next week!