Tag Archive - development

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New Leadership Coaching Networks this Fall from the Unstuck Group

Sunday, July 22, 2018

It’s Time to Take Your Next Steps as a Leader

Leadership Coaching Networks with Tony Morgan and The Unstuck Group equip you with tools, best practices & peer support to help you lead more effectively.

Now Reviewing Applications for Fall 2018
This fall, we’re inviting you to join Tony Morgan and the team for a coaching experience to help you lead an unstuck church.

Two of our most popular coaching network topics—Unstuck Church and Unstuck Multisite—are back this fall, with cohorts in multiple locations. But we’re also introducinga brand new coaching network to help you build healthier, higher performing teams. Learn more and apply below.

Each of our Fall 2018 Coaching Networks is a 7-month, collaborative coaching experience that includes 3 group gatherings, 2 exclusive webinars, 2 one-on-one coaching calls and ongoing access to a private Facebook Group.

Space is limited! We will only accept 7 churches in each cohort. Read on to learn more about each network.

Ask yourself a few questions:

  • Where do I feel stuck? 
    If some aspect of ministry leadership has left you feeling stuck, you’re not alone. That’s the whole reason why we do these networks! We will equip you with what we are learning is working in churches across the country. And we’ll help you put what you learn into action.
  • Do I know my next steps to grow in effectiveness as a leader?
    Effectiveness is developed, not gifted. Even champion athletes have a coach. Inviting an outside perspective is the best way to pinpoint the areas where you need to grow and take a next step.
  • Am I being discipled myself?
    Teaching, modeling and coaching—according to Scripture, it takes all three to make disciples. Churches and ministries routinely rely too heavily on teaching. Books, conferences and podcasts provide great teaching and models, but where are you being coached?

We’re only reviewing applications at the early bird rate until Aug. 3. Take a look at the networks and feel free to email with questions.

Join a network of 350+ other church leaders who have participated in one of Tony Morgan’s coaching networks. You get priority access to Tony and other consultants from The Unstuck Group—during the coaching network and beyond.

But can we be honest? That’s not even going to be your favorite part.

We probably haven’t stressed enough the value of the peer network in years past. We always ask for feedback from participants at the end of the experience. Every single time, participants tell us that the community they built with fellow church leaders was a defining component.

We’re leaning into that this time. Can’t say why we didn’t think of this sooner—We now have a private Facebook Group to connect our coaching network participants and facilitators for ongoing community and access even after the network ends.

Posted in Leadership

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See you After Sabbatical!

Sunday, June 3, 2018

There are a lot of reasons that I love working at Sun Valley Community Church. It’s the best staff culture I’ve ever experienced on a church staff team, every week there are incredible stories of life change, over the past 6 years we’ve opened 4 new locations and there have literally been 1,000’s of people baptized. It’s a really special place to be a part of.

It’s also a place that values and takes care of the staff team. In fact, after 7 years, full-time Director level staff (and up) qualify for a paid sabbatical. It’s a great way to invest in, value, reward, and incentivize longevity with our team. Each person builds a written plan and budget that focus on three key areas that are submitted for approval.

Professional Development

Key Question: What are you going to do to invest in your career?
What skills, training, or development do you need in order to get better at your craft? Is there a class you need to take, a church or organization you need to visit to learn from, or some kind of process certification you need to complete that will resource you to improve your professional capacity?

Personal Development

Key Question: What are you going to do to invest in yourself?
What about you? It’s a question most people in ministry rarely ask. Ministry Staff Members typically spend the majority of their time and energy serving other people. What do you need to do for you that brings you energy? I don’t mean just sitting on the couch vegging out and watching Netflix but doing something that fills you up.

Family Development

Key Question: What are you going to do to invest in your family?
Why don’t you ditch the kids over sabbatical and go do something with just you and your spouse? But then again, plan something with just the kids too, you’ve got the time. What kind of experiences and memories do you want to build with your family?

Over the summer I’ve got a plan to do all three of these things, and I’m grateful to serve at a church that values their staff in this way. So, at the risk of not being very consistent here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real or on social media you’re going to notice that I’ll be around a lot less this summer on these digital platforms. So, I’ll see you after sabbatical!

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation

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Why the Sky is NOT the Limit for Young Church Leaders

Sunday, April 15, 2018

The sky is not the limit for your church leaders, it’s just not. And we do them a disservice to feed them lines and fill their heads with ideas that just aren’t true. It’s one thing to tell a young leader that you believe in them and encourage them, it’s another to just lie to them. Sometimes in our attempts to encourage young leaders we move past encouragement into falsehood. In doing so we set them up for disappointment and sometimes failure.

In Proverbs 13:12 the Bible teaches us that, “Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick.” In other words, hope that doesn’t end in real results can destroy someone. So we need be careful what direction and expectations we set on young leaders, because if it doesn’t come to fruition we can ruin them.

We’d be better off to encourage them to understand that their limit is their limit and go have fun testing their limits. When young leaders find their limits and live within what Jesus has wired them up to do they’ll experience more peace and produce more fruit!

Truth is, the sky is not the limit for young leaders, there are real limiting factors that they are or will experience, here are just a few.

1. Gifting

The Scriptures are clear that not everyone gets the same gift (and leadership is clearly defined as a spiritual gift in the Bible that not everyone gets). There are different gifts, God seemingly loves diversity and has created a system that pushes us towards one another instead of away. For the Church to be its best we need to bring our best together and lean into each other’s areas of gifting and brilliance!

2. Capacity

The Scriptures are also clear that not everyone gets the same measure of gifts. Some have a greater capacity than others. It’s possible that two people may have a teaching gift, but one may have a great measure of that gift. You get how this works.

3. Approach

Now this is something that young leaders can actually control. They can control the approach they take. They can decide if they are going to have a great attitude or not, they can choose how much effort they are going to put forth, they can choose to submit to those in authority over them or not, and they can choose be teachable or not. They can choose their approach.

4. Opportunity

I’ve heard it said that luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation. You can call it providence and blame all of your opportunities or lack of opportunities on God or you can take personal ownership of your life and go make your own opportunities. Now I’m not a “demon behind every bush” kind of guy, but I don’t want to not give credit to God when it’s due either. Some opportunities are self-made while others are God given. Whichever come your way take advantage of them because not everyone gets the same opportunities.

5. Resources

Some young leaders simply have greater resources at their disposal. These resources give them a disproportional leg up over their peers. Some have access to greater preparation, development and coaching. Some have access to more finances which allow them greater margin. Still others have access to deeper personnel bench to deploy. Recourses are a limiting factor for growing leaders.

Posted in Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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How Your Church’s Growth Can Out Pace Your Team

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Most church leaders I talk with want their church to grow. But few of those same leaders are willing to change and do things differently in order to grow. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for your church to grow and everything stay the same. I know, it would be nice if everything could stay the same as the church grows, but it can’t.

There are a lot of things that a church out grows as it grows. One of those things is often the church staff team.

Pace

The growth of your church has the potential to outpace the growth of your team. Beginning a new ministry, adding a new service time, building a new building, or starting a new campus all have the potential to be catalytic to growth at your church. The problem is that people don’t grow as fast as churches have the potential to. I’ve heard all kinds of stories of churches doubling over night, but when is the last time you doubled your personal leadership capacity over night?

Development Culture

Building a development culture will help you keep pace with growth for a while and will provide opportunity for your greatest capacity and highest potential leaders to rise to the surface. Development doesn’t happen in a classroom but in the “heat of battle.” Giving a young leader a big opportunity by throwing them in the deep end of the pool is a great opportunity to teach them how to swim. Preparation, opportunity and coaching are the greatest tools in the arsenal of development.

Outside Acquisitions

If you’re leading in a growing church eventually the pace of growth at your church will force you to recruit talent from the outside to add to your team. Don’t be afraid of hiring people who have more experience, more expertise, more exposure, and a greater capacity than your current team. Great hires should intimidate you a bit and push you to grow. To keep pace with growth you’ll need to bring in outside talent or you’ll allow your team to be the lid to growth.

Posted in Leadership

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How Crucible Moments Accelerate your Leadership

Saturday, February 3, 2018

The growth of your church has the potential to outpace the growth of your personal leadership. It has the potential to outpace your ability to develop leaders to keep pace with growth.

There are moments where growing churches take huge leaps forward. Another service option is added and the church grows. A new building is opened and the church grows. A new campus is launched and the church grows. New options are created for new people to engage with the Gospel and the church grows. Unfortunately most church leaders don’t grow at the same rate.

The good news is that there is something you can do to accelerate your leadership. Moments where your leadership can equally take huge leaps forward. It’s called a crucible moment. A crucible moment is a moment of severe trial that leads to the creation of something new.

It’s Good to be in Over your Head

Growth doesn’t happen when things are smooth and comfortable. Conflict, stress, and being in over your head forces you to figure new things out, learn new skills, and build new muscles. Instead of complaining about how difficult things are, rise to the occasion, learn from it, and grow.

Jump in with both Feet

If you really want to grow then stop allowing life to just happen to you and put yourself in a situation where you’re in over your head. Do it on purpose. Take a job that scares you. Accept a new project at work that will push you to figure new things out. Choose the crucible and it will remake you.

Learn the Truth about Yourself

Crucible moments not only create opportunities for growth but they reveal the truth about who you really are. Pressure has a way of holding up a mirror to us and showing us who we are. That definition of reality provides the opportunity for us to pivot to a new future. Growth.

Posted in Leadership
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