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How to Handle Success

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Ever wonder what the dog would do if he actually caught the car he was chasing? What then? What do you do when you actually reach your goals? What do you do when you actually experience success? What happens after you win? What then?

“Success is a lousy teacher. It reduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” Bill Gates

1. Don’t Believe Your Press Clippings

When you win people will notice, period. But the goal is not to bring attention to you. I’m not prescribing a false humility; rather, leveraging the platform that success has brought you to bring more attention to Christ and advance the mission of the Church.

2. Build the Right Team

When you’re winning other people are going to want to be a part of it. In fact winning can provide you with the opportunity to attract team members that could really help make the vision become reality!

3. Stay Disciplined

Keep doing what you’ve been doing that got you here and if you don’t know why you’ve been successful your first priority is to find out, and I mean quick. Stay focused on the mission and screening every decision through the filter of where you’re going. Avoid the temptation to overreach. Remain relentless in your pursuit of the mission.

4. Invest in Others

The most successful leaders, leaders that last, are those who are personally secure enough to share success with others. Use the opportunity that winning has brought to develop and invest in those around you. One of the most effective methods to keep highly talented leaders on your team is to share success, share leadership opportunities, and invest in them.

5. Stay Consistent

Just because you won once, doesn’t mean the pressure is off. If anything it means the pressure is on. Now people are going to want to see if you’re a one hit wonder or if you’ve got what it takes to build a consistent winning record.

6. Be Content

Winning can be addicting. It can make people do crazy things. If you can’t be happy with a little, you’re not going to be happy with a lot. Winning just puts the spotlight on you and accentuates everything that’s good or bad about you. If you don’t have the character to handle things as they are, chances are you’re not going to be able to handle the spotlight that comes with winning.

Posted in Leadership

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Soul Care and the Leader

Sunday, November 11, 2012

We’ve all heard the statistics. And what the statistics are telling us is that beneath the surface of appearances, a majority of pastors are hurting and discouraged. Do a quick Google search on “pastor burnout” and you’ll easily find the following statistics and more!

• 1,500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.

• 80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.

• 50% of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

Great, so that’s reality. Really encouraging right? So what are Pastors to do about it?

1. Learn to say “No”

Believe it or not “no” can be a complete sentence. The Church already has a Savior and He’s doing quite well. Jesus already died for the Church, you don’t need to!

2. Learn what “Fuels Me”

You’ve got to discover what fuels you and then do that. Whether it is recreational or spiritual (it can be both) you’ve got to take the time to understand your own soul. One of the reasons there are so many spiritual disciplines is because there are so many different personalities and styles. Don’t do what works for somebody else. Do what works for you!

3. Protect Each Other

Life is best lived in community. In fact life-change happens best in the context of relationship. That’s not just a cliché we use to get people into small groups. Who are you doing life with? Who knows you? Who are you intentionally opening your soul to? Who is protecting you, and who are you protecting?

4. Control your own schedule

Time is simply an asset to leverage in order to get you where you want to go. Use it how you want to, so you can get where you want to. Intentionally schedule time with your family, vacation, time to evaluate, personal retreat days, etc. If you don’t control your calendar, everyone else will.

What have you found helpful in avoiding burnout in ministry? Leave a comment!

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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Measure what Matters

Sunday, November 4, 2012

I can remember as I was growing up my dad got this idea to build a barn (big enough to park a boat in). He drew the plans up himself and had in his mind that this was going to be one of those father-son bonding moments, a rite of passage into manhood so to speak. While some of us in the family look back at the moment more fondly than others (the barn was built and I don’t think a hurricane could take it out), I did take a valuable lesson out of the experience. “Measure twice, cut once.” Apparently accurate measurements can lead to a successful project, and a failure to measure accurately meant more time on the project, more money to buy more supplies, and a goofy looking barn that would probably come down in the first rainstorm.

As churches are in the middle of evaluating 2012 and planning for 2013 there are a couple of critical principles about measurement that we need to keep in mind…

Continue Reading…

Posted in Leadership

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October’s Top Blog Posts on Helping Churches Make Vision Real

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Thank you! You made these the most popular posts this month on “Helping Churches Make Vision Real.”

#1 Take the Lid Off Your Church

Catch my interview with Tony Morgan about his most recent book, “Take the Lid Off Your Church: 6 Steps to Building a Healthy Senior Leadership Team”

#2 Join Me For a Week in India

An incredible opportunity to join me and 30 other Church Leaders from around the country for a week in India!

#3 Five Keys That Can Make All the Difference When Speaking Up to Your Boss

Learn how to speak up to your boss the right way (so they’ll actually hear you) when you disagree with them.

#4 Why Some Teams Win and Most Lose

Notes and take-aways from my time with Larry Osborne last month.

#5 Leadership Lessons I was Reminded of while on Vacation

4 Leadership lessons that I was reminded of while I was on family vacation this past month.

Posted in Leadership

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Taking Steps to Make Vision Real

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Typically churches aren’t stuck when it comes to the mission. Fortunately we don’t have to search very far in the Scriptures to discover God’s intent for the church to reach the nations. However where churches are notorious for being stuck is what comes next. Understanding and developing the steps that are necessary to take in order to make that vision reality. This is where strong leadership is needed. The task of leadership is to break a complicated process of moving from where you are to where God wants you to be into clear, simple, easy, natural steps that make vision real.

Clear:

If what you’re asking people to do is confusing, chances are they’ll move in a different direction than you intend for them to, or worse they won’t move at all. Your idea and message may seem obvious and clear to you, but it doesn’t matter how clear it is in your mind. You’ve got to figure out a way to make it clear to the people you want to take the step.

Simple:

If you want people to take a step that will move them and the organization in a preferred direction then it can’t be complicated. If you’ve ever put together IKEA furniture then you understand what I mean. It’s amazing how they can fit a 6×6 entertainment center in a box the size of a Rubix Cube, and for some reason there always seems to be parts left over! The best and quickest process is always a one step process.

Easy:

Let me be clear. By no means am I saying that helping people take steps towards making vision real is easy in the sense that it is painless, peaceful, or comfortable. Moving people towards a preferred future vision of reality (change) by its very nature is difficult and painful. Rather I’m asserting that easy solutions to complex problems lead to movement.

Natural:

If you are intentional in forming the culture of the organization then you will be creating an environment that tells people where they should naturally move towards and how they should behave. People should begin to see it as the natural obvious step they should move towards.

Posted in Leadership
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