Tag Archive - leader

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Is Your Church Ready to Go Multisite?

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Currently there are more than 8,000 churches across America that consider themselves to be multisite churches. These multisite churches vary in denominational affiliation, theological persuasion, size of attendance, physical location and facilities, teaching (video or live), ministries, and style of worship. Churches are proving that there are a lot of ways to do multisite. Many churches are just jumping into the deep end of the pool and figuring this multisite thing out as they go. While you can do that, I’d suggest a better way to ensure a successful launch is to develop your strategy ahead of time. If you church is considering going multisite this next year I’d encourage your Senior Leadership Team work through these 10 multisite readiness checkpoints.

1. Healthy Culture

Does your church have a culture worth replicating? Do you know what makes the culture of your team and culture distinct? Is there clarity and alignment of mission, vision, and values?

2. Buy-in

Does the Senior Leadership Team at your church have buy-in from the staff, board, volunteers and church body? If there is not a deep level of trust that’s been built it’s going to be difficult to lead into a new and different future.

3. Growth

Is your current location growing? Do you need to go multisite? Is your current facility reaching capacity? If you’re not already growing and reaching new people going multisite will make it worse.

4. Staff Capacity

People replicate culture, not ministry programs, strategies or policies. Do you have a deep bench on your team? Do you already have people who could serve as campus pastors at the new site and the original site? If you went multisite who would go and be on that team, and what would that do to your existing team?

5. Staff Health

Is your staff team healthy? Unhealthy people make unhealthy choices and build unhealthy things. Is there a high level of trust on the team? Is there healthy conflict on the team? Do team members hold one another accountable to outcomes?

6. Volunteer Strength

Are high levels of people who attend your church involved on a volunteer team? Launching new campuses requires a deep bench. What volunteers will go and lead and serve a the new campus? Who will step up and fill the void left at the sending campus?

7. Ministry Model

Does your church have a clear, simple, and proven ministry model? Do you know what is driving the success of your church and can you replicate it? To multiply your church in future locations, you must define how you do church in a scalable way at your current location(s).

8. Systems & Strategies

Do you know how you do what you do? Have you written that down anywhere? You cannot replicate what is not clearly recorded. Clearly defined systems allow ministry leaders to easily interact with administrative processes and teams. Documented strategies for each ministry will allow the new campus to hit the ground running, not having to recreate the wheel.

9. Financial Strength

Do you have cash on hand to fund a new campus? How much will it cost to start the new campus? When will the new campus be financially viable? What is so special about that date?

10. Weekend Experience

Can you replicate your weekend worship experience in a new location? Will the technology, teaching, worship music, and other creative elements be on par with the original location?

If your church is considering going multisite or if your church is multi-stuck (you’ve gone multisite and now your stuck), I’d encourage you to engage the Unstuck Group. We have been developing a new one-of-a-kind process to help multisite churches get unstuck. Follow this link to learn more!

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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Why Wise Church Leaders don’t Say everything they See

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Ever say something you wish you could take back? Sure. Everyone has. Whether it’s something we regret saying to a spouse, to a child, to a friend, or in the workplace to a coworker. Everybody has said something they wish they could go back and say differently…or…not say at all.

Many of us are not aware of how powerful our words are and how they affect the people around us. The best church leaders I’ve ever been around understand this and they exercise discipline with their words.

Wise church leaders understand the power their words have to shape culture and as a result craft them carefully.

Leaders don’t Say Everything they See

Just because God has allowed you to see it doesn’t mean you need to say it. You may see things that need to improve. You may see where the church needs to go in the future. You may see team members that need to change. But wise church leaders don’t say everything they see. They say what people can handle. They say what people need to hear in order to help them move in the direction they need to go.

Leaders understand their Whisper is a Shout

The words of a leader have an inordinate amount of weight to them. If you’re a leader then your whisper becomes a shout very quickly. Similar to the power a father’s words have to a family. Wise church leaders understand the power and weight of their words and they are selective about how they use their words.

Leaders Kill Hallway Conversations

When leaders get in the habit of having passing hallway conversations they unintentionally build a culture of misalignment, competition, and create a bottleneck for decision making. Hallway conversations train your team that every decision needs to go through you. Worse hallway conversations create an environment where people go to you for a decision before a meeting and then walk into a meeting and say, “well I spoke to the leader and they said this…” Wise church leaders redirect hallway conversations to the right people and the right environments for decisions to be made.

Leaders don’t Speak to Everyone the Same Way

If you’re a parent you get this. Just like you don’t talk to each of your kids the same way you don’t talk to everyone on your team the same way either. Leaders also don’t speak to every audience the same way. A wise church leader learns to say the same ideas out loud to different audiences such as the church Board, their Sr. Leadership Team, the church Staff, Volunteers, and the whole church with a different voice.

Posted in Leadership

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Tearing Down Leadership Idols in the Church

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

A quick Google search on “Church Leadership” will turn up literally over 170 million links. That’s a lot of content to dig into on church leadership. For all of the talk about church leadership out there today it sure seems that the church is pretty leadership poor. I know some folks down in Texas that would say that churches have a bad case of “big hat, no cattle.” Another way to say it would be that churches are all talk and no action when it comes to leadership.

With that said, there really are some leadership idols that many church leaders buy into that need to be torn down.

“Leadership is Influence”

If leadership was simply influence than my kids are the best leaders in my house. They’ve influenced the kind of car (or land yacht) I’ve purchased, the house we live in, our grocery budget and so on. While influence is a part of leadership, it’s not leadership. The Bible doesn’t define leadership as influence; it defines leadership as a spiritual gift. Not everybody has it.

“We need to Hire more Staff”

The church of America has been lulled into this idea that they have to hire more staff to do the ministry at their churches. Hiring another staff member may be the worst thing you can at your church this year. Your church most likely doesn’t need more staff to do ministry, rather your existing staff need to learn how to delegate, empower, and develop your church body to stop just coming to the church but be the church. Your church is full of competent and highly talented people who actually get paid to perform complicated jobs. Chances are they have a lot to offer at your church too. 

“Preachers are Leaders”

Just because you’re a gifted communicator doesn’t mean you’re a gifted leader. It means you’re a gifted communicator. Young church leaders are taught (more by the prevailing church ministry model in the U.S. than by the Bible) that if you want to lead in a church then you have to do it from a stage, and if you’re not a gifted communicator then your not a gifted leader. That’s simply not true. Leadership is not just about inspiration and instruction (what happens from a stage). It’s also about being up close and over time with people and taking them from where they are to where they need to be. There’s more to that than stage. And frankly I’ve seen some fantastic preachers who can’t lead themselves or anyone else out of a wet paper bag.

“Leadership is Power”

Great leaders don’t simply amass and wield great amounts of power, rather they have the uncanny ability to share power and give it away to others. Barking out orders doesn’t endear people to you. You get more when you give, even in the economy of leadership.

What are other “leadership idols” you’ve seen in churches? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear your insights!

Photo Credit: Pondspider via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership

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How to Develop the Young Talent on your Church Staff

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

A lot of people are talking about a leadership crisis facing the church. Where are the next generation leaders going to come from to pick up the mantle of this movement called the church? While many are fretting and talking about it few are doing much about it. Most churches become paralyzed searching for the perfect, sophisticated, detailed leadership development box curriculum to help them chart a way forward. There is no perfect plan, and if you wait for one you’ll never actually do anything. So in that spirit here are 3 simple steps you can take to start developing the young talent on your church staff.

#1 Prepare them Ahead of Time

Give them plenty of practice! Create as many game-like repetitions as you possibly can before you throw them out there on the field and see if they can play. Set them up for success through training to hone their skills and develop their knowledge base. Help them come up with a great game plan (review the game plan with them ahead of time) and then send them out on the field to execute when they’re ready.

#2 Encourage them During Execution

Young leaders don’t learn to lead in a classroom but by leading. Let them get out there and run the play. Let them experience the thrill of winning and the struggle to overcome setbacks. Resist the urge to step in and micromanage. Unless what they’re about to do is going to significantly hurt the ministry then don’t rescue them. Let them figure it out. Resolve to simply cheer them on and support them while they’re on the field!

#3 Coach them After the Play

Review the “game film” together. Discuss how the game plan worked and where it didn’t (by the way there is no perfect plan and no plan survives contact with the enemy). Celebrate and reinforce what went right, correct what went wrong, and clarify what was confusing. Ask them what did they see and what they think they should do about it. Teach them to think and process through a leadership filter, not just mimic the play of others.

Rinse…and repeat.

Interested in learning more about developing young leaders? Check out these 10 Articles that will Help your Church Develop Young Leaders.

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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Are you a Perfectionist or a Leader?

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

There’s a big difference between a perfectionist and a leader. One draws people to a cause and the other repels them. While perfectionists may be adept at pointing out opportunities for improvement few people will want to join them in the process of improving things. I’m sure you don’t know any perfectionistic church leaders and I know you’re not one. But just in-case you ever come across one, here’s a few thoughts that may be helpful.

  • When you lead with handing out instructions you don’t put yourself in a position to be instructed.
  • If no one can do it as good as you then no one will be doing it but you. Perfectionism is lonely and is a lid to organizational growth.
  • You know who listens to a know-it-all? No one.
  • Perfectionism is the enemy of innovation.
  • You can’t play it safe and follow Jesus. The very essence of following Jesus is going somewhere you’ve never been before.
  • High control leads to low trust. By the way, you know control is an illusion right? The only thing you can really control is your effort and your attitude.
  • If you wait for the perfect plan you’ll never get out of the gate.
  • Good enough is good enough for good leaders.
  • Leaders care too much about results and progress to be paralyzed by waiting on the perfect next step (or first step).
  • Perfectionism is the low road and the easy way out. Leadership requires developing others, and allowing others to do it differently than you (maybe even fail, yikes!). It’s way harder!
  • Imagine if Jesus acted like a perfectionist with you. He doesn’t criticize you when you don’t do it perfectly. He really could do it better than you and He still invites you to join Him in shepherding His church.
Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation
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