5 Core Behaviors of Churches that get Unstuck

Tag Archive - humility

5 Core Behaviors of Churches that get Unstuck

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Churches all across America are stuck. Large churches, small churches, old churches, new churches, Baptist churches, Methodist churches, Nazarene churches, Presbyterian church and even non-denominational churches are stuck. Stuckness is no respecter of the “brand” or “flavor” of the church. It happens to all kinds of churches. Lead long enough in a church and it will happen to you. In fact Thom Rainer, President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources has stated in his research that:

“Eight out of ten of the approximately 400,000 churches in the United States are declining or have plateaued.”

Churches get stuck for all kinds of reasons but there are a handful of core behaviors that I see over and over again in churches get unstuck.

1. They’re Outsider Focused

They’re consumed with the idea that the need for the Gospel in their community is greater than their capacity to meet it. And so they’re willing to go to extraordinary measures to bring people far from Jesus close to Him. So much so that their posture is towards those outside of the faith rather than those inside of the faith. They consistently make choices based on who they’re going to reach rather than who they’re going to keep.

2. They have a Strong Organizational Culture

They are clear about their vision, they know where they’re going. But it’s not just that they have some aspirational idea about where they think God wants them to be one day they actually have a clear plan to get where they’re going and they methodically work the plan. They’ve done the hard work of defining their leadership culture, and values, and aligning every ministry of the church to move in one singular direction.

3. They Develop People

They don’t pay everyone in the church to do ministry, instead they typically have a pretty lean staff (a ratio of 1:100+) and pay those staff to invest in and develop volunteers. They identify young leaders and give them real responsibility to make real decisions and own the ministry. Actually be the church instead of just come to church.

4. They view Spiritual Maturity Differently than most

They don’t view spiritual maturity as something that happens in a classroom. It’s not about content but rather your behavior. In other words it’s not so much what you know, it’s what you do with what you know. Ironically enough, that’s the same way Jesus defined it. They’ve also mapped out a clear pathway for people to run on. The moment they say yes to following Jesus there is a series of clear next steps for them to take to move forward with Jesus.

5. They’re Courageously Humble

The posture of their leadership is a humble confidence. They’re life long learners and incessant tinkerers. Willing to learn from anyone from any industry and any size organization. They’re not afraid to ask for help, even outsiders. They lead in their area of brilliance and submit in areas of weakness. They’re willing to confront the brutal facts and listen to the truth, even when it’s not pretty.

Does your church need help getting unstuck in 2015? The Unstuck Group can help, follow this link to learn how.

Photo Credit: Lachlan Hardy via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership

10 Keys to Guarding the Gate to your Sr. Leadership Team

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

So who gets to be on the Sr. Leadership Team at your church? Is it based on who’s been there the longest? Is it based on who has the “in” and best relationship with the Sr. Pastor? Is it done, like Congress, by ministry representation so every ministry is represented? While all those things aren’t bad things in and of themselves, they aren’t necessarily strategic. And they certainly won’t move you any closer to accomplishing the vision that God has for your church. Here are 10 characteristics that you should be looking for when you’re thinking about adding someone to your Sr. Leadership Team.

1. Big-Picture Thinking

They think about the church before they think about their ministry. They understand that everything affects everything. If I’ve got a Youth Pastor who Youth Ministry is their first filter, they can’t be on the Sr. Leadership Team. The church has to be the primary filter before any one ministry.

2. Strategic

They naturally think about steps, movement, and alignment to vision. They’re strategic about how to get from here to there. They have a leadership intuition and can appreciate and move back and forth between the art and science of leadership even though they have a natural bias for one or the other.

3. Leadership

They have a leadership gift. While leadership skills can be coached and developed, the Scriptures are clear that leadership at its essence is a gift from God. I hate to burst your bubble, but everyone isn’t a leader.

4. Vision

They’re a stakeholder and vision carrier in your organization. They don’t allow the vision to be relegated to just the Sr. Pastor. They’re constantly asking themselves, “What did I do today to advance the vision of the church?”

5. Culture

They embody the culture of your church, or the culture you’re trying to create in your church. They embrace and live out the unique values of your church in their personal life not just their work life.

6. Team Builder

People are already following them. They have the ability to attract, recruit and develop teams of people to accomplish things that no one person could do alone. They are already moving people in a coordinated effort towards a destination. They don’t simply delegate tasks they empower people.

7. Execution

They actually get stuff done. They have demonstrated the ability to turn ideas into reality. They communicate action steps clearly, meet deadlines, and deliver on their promises. I’ve got to trust this person. I’ve got to know if I pass them the ball they’re going to catch it, turn up field and get a first down.

8. Likability

I put this one on the list at the risk of sounding shallow, but I’ve got to actually like the people that I’m leading with. If they don’t pass the “I like you” test, it’s not happening. Highly talented people can mess up a locker room if there’s not good chemistry between them and the rest of the team.

9. Biblical Requirement

They’ve got to meet the Biblical requirements for pastoral leadership. After all we’re not building a corporation, we’re shepherding the body of Christ. What we are doing is intrinsically spiritual and those leading the church need to meet the spiritual requirements to sit in that seat.

10. Humility

Humility is the context in which all the other fruit of the spirit thrive. They must have a teachable spirit and be a life-long learner. They need to be able to lead with the right questions, not just the right answers. Humility provides a pathway to access the true person and essentially is linked to trust. And the best Sr. Leadership Teams run on trust.

Interested about learning more about Sr. Leadership Teams? Check out my interview with Tony Morgan about his book “Take the Lid Off Your Church: 6 Steps to Building a Healthy Sr. Leadership Team”

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

Global Leadership Summit 2013: Dr. Brene Brown

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Dr. Brene Brown, Research Professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work did an incredible job speaking about the vulnerability of a leader. Dr. Brown is a groundbreaking researcher into the topics of shame, worthiness, and courage. Check out her book Daring Greatly.

I don’t study leaders, I study people
The 2 irreducible needs of people are #1 Love and #2 Belonging
In the absence of love and belonging there will always be pain and suffering
People have 3 basic needs in life:
- People need to be seen & loved
- To belong
- To be brave
Connection gives meaning to our lives
We have to allow ourselves to be loved.
Love is not something that we give or get but something that we nurture and cultivate between 2 people when they learn to love themselves.
Shame blame, disrespect, betrayal and the withholding of affection damage the root from which love grows.
Growth through connection: love is something that happens through connection with other people, it doesn’t happen alone by ourselves
You don’t have all the answers
We have too many problems, and if everyone who acted like they had all the answers actually had all the answers then why aren’t they solving all the problems?
Leaders aren’t supposed to have all the answers.
What a leader does is model the courage to ask the tough questions.
We can’t give what we don’t have (courage, sense of belonging, permission to ask for grace, etc.)
We cannot give help when we cannot ask for it.
When you feel self judgment for asking for help you are by default always judging when you offer help because you’ve attached judgment to needing help
Judgment shows up by deriving self worth through being a helper
Professing v. Practice
Love is a practice and when you engage in unloving practices your not loving
The space between how we behave and our aspirational values (love), that gap is where we lose people
People can’t navigate the gap between what we say and what we practice
People aren’t looking for perfection they’re looking for people who practice love
What kills love kills organizations
Shame: can only rise to a certain level until people disengage to self protect (humiliating and putting people down / gossip / favoritism / self worth attached to performance)
Blame: the simple discharging of pain and discomfort / the people who score the highest in the ability to hold people accountable have the lowest blame scores
Disrespect: #1 reason people leave jobs = lack of feedback / people feel unseen and disrespected / you can’t be good at feedback if you’re not willing to be vulnerable / it means sitting on the same side of the table as someone and looking at the problem together
Belonging: #1 barrier = fitting in / you have to make space in your organization for people to show up and be seen for who they are not who they could be
Be Brave: we never feel more alive than when we are being brave (love, work, etc)
You can choose courage or you can choose comfort but you can not have both the two are mutually exclusive
If you sign up for courage you are signing up to get your butt kicked
If you’re going to be brave you need: Clarity of values & someone who loves because of your imperfections
If you are not in the arena not getting your butt kicked I am not interested in or open to your feedback
As the world has grown the number of cheap seats has grown

Posted in Leadership

Why Comparison is a Church Killer

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Comparison is a Church killer, period. I think it’s ironic that we’ll preach messages in our churches about the body of Christ having unique parts, gifts and abilities but copy each other and chase after sameness. Comparisons are killing the movement of the Gospel and hurting churches and their staff. Healthy biblical leadership avoids comparisons and simply chases after following God and being the best you that God wants you to be. Below are 4 core issues that comparing your church to other churches directly affects.

Identity

You weren’t created or called to be anybody but you, and your church has been set in a unique community with unique issues at a unique time, with a unique leader who has unique gifts and abilities. God has called you to be uniquely you. Comparison will subtly lead you to move away from the unique identity God has called your church to.

Innovation

Comparison can thwart innovation. Many Pastors seem to value mimicking one another over prayerfully discovering and following the unique vision that God has for their church. It’s one thing to discover best practices and the wisdom that comes from transferring principles. But copying ministry is not only lazy but it short circuits innovations that will lead to the spread of the Gospel.

Generosity

Comparison actually fuels a spirit of competition and inward focus. Instead of thinking about others first you begin to think about yourself, your kingdom, and how your decisions can get you where you want to go. This kind of attitude is in direct conflict with a spirit of generosity that the Gospel compels us to move towards.

Humility

When we compare ourselves to other churches and begin to realize that God is doing something unique and special at our churches there is a tendency for pride to creep in and for us to begin to take a bit of the credit. Scripture is clear that God resists the proud. That’s not the side of things I want to be on, how about you?

What else have you seen comparing churches lead to? What would you add to or take off the list? Leave a comment.

Posted in Leadership

leadership and the lost art of humility

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

You’re probably familiar with the work of Jim Collins, researcher, speaker and author of the best selling book Good to Great. You’ll remember the 5-year research project exploring what turns a good company into a great one. You’ll also recall, much to all of our surprise, the findings that every good to great company had one thing in common. Every good to great company was led by what Collins labeled as a Level-5-Leader – that is, leadership marked by two characteristics: steely determination and an attitude of humility.

In this book Humilitas, A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership author John Dickson gets laser focused on one of those two characteristics that seemingly set Level-5-Leaders apart from the pack, humility and its unique relationship to leadership. An area that frankly many “leadership experts” avoid.

This was a great read and one that I would highly recommend to any leader interested in personal growth and development. In fact below are some of my favorite quotes and ideas from the book that had an impact on me:

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation