Tag Archive - future

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Why Visionaries Paint Pictures not Wordsmith Statements

Right now, there are churches across the country that are working on their “ministry theme” for the new year. They’ve gotten their Senior Leadership Team together to come up with a pithy statement that they can build a sermon series around and many have even built a campaign around this statement to make sure all of their key volunteers know the new statement for the new year. They may have even put it in a print piece, on their website, or even branded and purchased some swag to give away to support the theme.

You’ve probably seen churches do this. They build themes around baptizing a certain number of people, social justice and serving their community, “going deep” together through bible studies, building community through small groups, or some kind of generosity initiative to name a few.

Many churches even go so far as to call this their vision for the next year. Unfortunately, it’s not. It may be a ministry emphasis, a goal, or even a slogan but it’s not a vision.

“Make America Great Again” and “Stronger Together” were campaign slogans. Neither was a vision. Unfortunately, churches get stuck building and using “campaign slogans” instead of vision casting.

Vision isn’t a Statement it’s a Picture

Vision is a picture of the future, not a statement. Many churches spend an incredible amount of time wordsmithing vision statements instead of providing a clear picture of where they’re going.

Vision isn’t a Goal it’s a Destination

Goals are simply vision with a timeline. They are the actionable and attainable steps or objectives to be met that move the organization in the direction of the vision. You know you’re winning and moving in the direction of and reaching the vision when you are meeting your goals!

Mission Answers the Question: Why do we exist?
This is the timeless answer to why your church is on the planet in the first place. We don’t get to pick our mission Jesus did that for us. That’s the whole, “go and make disciples,” part. But we do get to pick language that contextualizes it for our culture.

Vision Answers the Question: Where are we going?
This is the next hill that needs to be taken. Vision typically changes every 3-5 years. Vision changes because once you get there and have taken then hill, there’s always the next hill to take.

Most church staff can’t articulate the next hill their church is taking. They don’t’ know the target on the wall they’re shooting for. One way to begin to bring clarity to the vision at your church is to simply ask the question,

“Where would we be in 3-5 years if our church faithfully lived out the mission Jesus has given us in the context of our community, unique culture of our church, gifting and passions of our Sr. Leadership, and resources that God has given us?”

Doing the serious work to answer this question will help you put a target on the wall to hit. Getting crystal clear on this will have a “trickle down” effect on every decision made in your church over the next 3-5 years. It will allow you to:

  • Set goals and measure results.
  • Determine how to allocate resources and budget.
  • Help you understand how you need to structure your staffing model.
  • Bring alignment to ministries.

Posted in Leadership

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Why Knowledge isn’t the Key to Team Leadership

You don’t have to be the best at everything to lead the best team. I’ve seen church leaders of the past lead based on titles, having the most experience and knowing the most on the team, having the right answers, and being an expert authority. Church leadership is changing, and I think it’s changing for the better. Church leadership of the future is based on the leader’s ability to build the right kind of team culture that attracts high capacity team members. It takes humility, trust and the ability to give leadership away, not just keep it to yourself and tell everyone what to do.

If you have to know everything or be the one with the greatest expert knowledge on the team then eventually you will become the lid to growth.

While you don’t have to know everything, if you’re the leader you still need to be able to provide your team with the following 4 keys that unlock team success.

Clarity

Great leaders provide clarity to the team so that everyone knows where they’re going and what the objective and deliverables are. Clarity and pace are directly linked to one another. The greater the clarity the faster the team can move.

Resources

It’s really difficult to do a job without the right tools. Great leaders give their teams the tools, time and resources needed for them to succeed at their jobs.

Alignment

Great church leaders provide alignment for their teams. They coordinate all of the individual working pieces of the team into one direction. They have the ability to focus the finances, staff, volunteer teams, ministry calendar, communications, weekend services, and the discipleship pathway to move the entire church in one direction.

Care

In church-world our work is unique. It’s not about the bottom line or shareholder value. It’s about life-change. It’s distinctly spiritual work. Great church leaders understand this and they care for their teams along the way. They invest in them, they don’t just use them to get stuff done.


Posted in Staffing

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3 Pressure Points Facing Millennial Church Leaders

I recently had the opportunity to spend some significant time with 10 talented young millennial church leaders and had a blast! If these leaders are any indication of what the future leaders of the church look like then rest assured, the church is in great hands.

That being said there were a couple of pressure points that came up over and over again in the conversations from different angles.

#1 Anxiety about the Future

It was interesting to listen to these young church leaders discuss their work. They really are passionate and committed to the ministry God has called them to. But they’re also anxious about it. Their ambition to move the ball down the court, help the ministry progress, and get things accomplished can keep them from enjoying and receiving the blessings of the very ministry God has given to them. I also picked up on a longing for a future bigger and better role and ministry at the expense of missing the fruit of what’s been given to them today. I’d encourage young leaders to be faithful to whatever God has put in front of you today and let Him be concerned about where He puts you and what He gives you tomorrow.

#2 Relaxing Today

Many of these young leaders referred to the inability to “turn it off.” Anyone who is deeply and personally connected to his or her work can relate to the difficulty of coming home from work and not thinking about work. Being present is essential to health in life and relationships. “Bringing work home with you,” can be a recipe to undermine your most important relationships. I’d encourage young leaders to learn to take your weekly days off, scheduling your time off that you have coming to you each year, and put the cell phone down when you’re with your family. If you don’t learn what fuels you, fills you, and then schedule those things into your life you’ll end up in some kind of a crisis in your 40’s or 50’s that you could have avoided.

#3 Workload Confusion

It was also intriguing to hear the weight with which they carried the ministry they are involved with. Many young church leaders really do feel as though they are really busy and that one day when they are in a more important role with a more important title, have more authority and more people working for them that ministry and work will be easier. While I agree that many of them are working hard, I think many are confused about hard work. The weight of and the busyness of doing ministry is a very real thing, but not compared to the weight of leading ministry. I’d encourage young leaders to enjoy the season of ministry they are in, learn as much as they possibly can, and not long for greater responsibility too much because you might get it. And when you do, you may discover that with greater responsibility, more staff, and a more important title comes more pressure than you’re feeling today.


Posted in Staffing

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Leadership Summit 2016: Jossy Chacko

Jossy Chacko gave a fantastic (and witty) talk at the Global Leadership Summit about Expanding your Leadership. Jossy serves as the Founder and President of Empart Inc.

  • You have been trusted with something, how are you proving that you can be trusted with more
  • Faithfulness is not just sitting on what you’ve been given. It’s multiplying.
  • Keeping things safe and steady, playing it safe, and maintaining is not God’s mission.
  • Your legacy will be determined by what you do with what you’ve been entrusted with

The 3 E’s in Expanding your Leadership

#1 Enlarge your Vision

  • What are the conversations like on your Board and Sr. Leadership Team?
  • Is it about maintenance or multiplication?
  • When people hear the vision it should inspire them to do big things for God and challenge their view of what God is like
  • Don’t let popularity determine your vision but instead lean on what the Creator has put inside of you
  • Enlarging your vision means staying focused and allowing your horizon to get bigger at the same time
  • Start with the opportunities that are around you
  • People don’t sacrifice their lives for a statement on a wall

#2 Empower your People

  • Give people the resources they need to do their job and then leave, and let them figure out solutions
  • Take wise chances and give people opportunities, regardless of your personal past hurts
  • Don’t be duped by the package that leaders come in (what they look like)
  • Leaders are all around you, you just need to find them
  • Empowerment allows you to do things and go places you could never do or go on your own
  • Your leadership reach will be determined by your ability to empower others
  • Test it: take a long vacation and see what happens
  • Focus on building their character before you empower them
  • Empowerment happens through the context of relationship
  • Agree upon the outcomes and measure results along the way

“Empowerment is not about control or the lack of control but changing what you control. Outcomes not people.”

#3 Embrace Risk

  • Without taking risks it is impossible to please God
  • Western society is all about eliminating risk
  • Eliminating risk moves organizations towards preservation and protection
    • Learn to see risk as your friend to love not your enemy to be feared
    • Learn to see comfort and safety as your enemy
    • Learn to increase your pain threshold: your leadership capacity is directly connected to your pain threshold
  • Don’t let earthly practicalities overshadow heavenly possibilities
  • Don’t take your dreams with you to heaven when you die, heaven doesn’t need it. It was put in you for now.
  • Make a list of all the dreams and visions that you have not taken action on
  • Put a time-frame next to them
  • Write the name of the person who is going to hold you accountable

Posted in Leadership

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The Difference between Preparation and Planning

Do great organizations prepare for the future or do they plan for it? The answer is, “yes.” To be clear preparation and planning are not the same thing, and great organizations become great by doing both.

Great organizations prepare for opportunity. Preparation is all about positioning. Making decisions today that position you for opportunities that may come tomorrow. The Roman philosopher Seneca is credited with saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” In other words luck favors the prepared. Lucky organizations are prepared organizations.

Great organizations plan for the future. In fact they plan their work and then they work their plan. Planning is all about inflicting your will on the future, and the best way to have a preferred future is to plan for a preferred future. Great organizations have an uncanny ability to build a clear strategy and exercise laser focused discipline as they execute the strategy.

So what is your church doing today to prepare for opportunities that may come your way tomorrow? What are you uniquely doing to position yourself to be able to say yes to opportunities that Jesus brings your way? At the same time what is your church doing to build a clear strategy that, coupled with disciplined execution, moves you towards the vision that Jesus has given you for the church you’re leading?

Fortunately the Unstuck Group has experience helping churches build a clear strategy that aligns the church and provides steps to move you towards the vision Jesus has called you to. You should really check it out!


Posted in Leadership
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