Tag Archive - pace

3

5 Mistakes Experienced Church Leaders Make

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Experienced Church Leaders don’t mean to do it. Being complacent. Making mistakes. It “just happens” we tell ourselves. But does it have to happen? Not really.

After spending more than 22 years in full-time ministry this “experienced” Church Leader has committed every mistake on the list. We can chalk it up to complacency, over confidence, or a complete and utter lack of awareness. I know, you’re probably thinking…aren’t you a “successful” Church Leader and ministry consultant? Aren’t you supposed to stay on top of this stuff? Aren’t you supposed to lead without making mistakes? I wish it were that simple. I’m human. I make mistakes. Hopefully I can help you by sharing my blunders.

But what exactly is an experienced Church Leader? I’m sure you’ll answer that in your own way. If you’re reading this blog post, I’m betting the majority of you think you’re an experienced Church Leader. Or maybe you’re someone well on their way to becoming an experienced Church Leader who wants to avoid the blunders of us veterans. I commend your proactive efforts. So, let’s just agree that the term experienced Church Leader applies to all of us.

1. Moving too Fast

If you know me, you know that I love progress and results. In fact, I can be tempted to choose accomplishing the mission over people, even though people are the mission (weird huh). I’ve gotten myself into trouble a couple of times by moving too fast and leaving people in the dust or even worse mowing over people in the way. Both are bad. Yes, people are dying and going to hell, and someone has to do something about it…like right now…and that someone is you and me. But I’ve often underestimated what I can get done over the long haul and overestimated what I can get done this week.

2. Holding on too Long

Control is the enemy of growth, period. It’s the enemy of personal growth, professional growth, organizational growth as well as the growth of the Church and the spread of the Gospel. I’ve held onto things too long and told myself that others wouldn’t do it the way I wanted it done or as well as I could do it. Frankly I was wrong. The dirty little secret of Church Leadership that no one ever tells you is the higher you go in leadership the more you actually have to let go of and give away. If you don’t learn to let go, you will become the lid on the growth of the church.

3. Shifting Blame

Accepting personal responsibility is the first step that we take when it comes to real growth. This idea of “walking in the light” that the Bible talks about is the greatest personal and leadership challenge I believe we’ll ever face…and we’ll face it over and over and over again. I’ve been guilty of judging myself based on my intent and motivation and others by their performance. I’ve learned over time that blame goes up and praise goes down. Good leaders push praise down onto others and accept responsibility and blame for things that go wrong in the organization because ultimately, they’re in charge and have the power to change things.

4. Underestimating People

Have you ever underestimated someone? I have. More than once actually. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve underestimated what a volunteer can do as a volunteer. I mean there are fantastic, high capacity people in our churches that get paid a significant amount of money to do a job that they’re really good at and we cast the big vision to them of holding a door at church on the Guest Services Team. Ugh. We need to think differently. I’ve even underestimated young staff members. I forget how young I was once. I was 32 years old when I became an Executive Pastor at a church that was 2,500+…so yeah…start believing people and start giving them authority and space to lead. They might surprise you.

5. Trusting People Instead of their Performance

I’ve ignored people and refused to believe the truth about people. Even when they tell me who they are through their performance. I’ve chosen to trust and view them through relational trust that had been built up over time (friendship) instead of listening to them when their performance tells me over and over that they aren’t gifted to do a certain job, that their capacity isn’t as high as I thought, or that the job had outgrown them. Every time I’ve done that I’ve been guilty of hurting and holding the church back.

And that’s the list. It isn’t a list of ALL the mistakes experienced Church Leaders make, but they’re at the core of most of my leadership failures. Even though the list is short, there’s a lot of lessons that can be learned from my mistakes.

Posted in Leadership

0

Leadership and the Slinky Dog Principle

Sunday, July 6, 2014

It’s the simple things that are often times the most profound in life. True leadership principles are like this, simple, but not necessarily easy. Often times they are found in simple analogies. Other times they are found in simple statements compact with wisdom that transcends time, cultures, and industries. Believe it or not, much like those compact wise statements there’s much we can learn from child’s play toy. The slink dog toy is one such toy. In fact there are 3 things that you and I can learn from the slinky dog toy that will make or break our leadership.

Distance

When the head of the slinky dog gets too far in front, the wire that connects the two ends gets stretched to the point where it can create great strain and stress it to the point of breaking. When leaders get too far in front and lead from a distance, unnecessary strain & stress is created in the organization. Lead from a distance, refuse to be vulnerable, resist authenticity and you’ll lose your team.

Reaction

When the slinky dog is stretched to far, too often, it can lose its elasticity & flexibility. If a leaders reaction to stress is to become rigid, refuse to offer trust, and to drift toward policy and rules instead of principles you’ll erode your leadership.

Pace

If the slinky dog doesn’t keep the right pace injury can occur. If the head drags the rear along it’s easy for people to get their knees skinned. If the head gets too far out in front and then abruptly slows down to allow the rear to catch up you’re looking at a terrible collision. The pace of the leader is essential to success.

Photo Credit: bikesandwich via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership

0

How to Raise the Speed Limit at Your Church

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Everyone is going to spend eternity somewhere. And there is a moment coming when you and I will no longer have the opportunity to affect change on the world. Jesus will come back and set everything wrong…right. Until then we’ve been given a window of opportunity to join Jesus in a sacred mission of reconciling the people of the planet to the purposes of God. That’s why it’s rare that I ever meet a church leader that wants to slow down. Most have a white hot passion to see people far from Jesus come near to him. While as church leaders we can’t control the movement of the Holy Spirit there are things we can do organizationally to set the sail.

1. The Speed Limit goes Up as Clarity goes Up

The clearer you can be with the vision that God has given you the easier it is for people on your team to make decisions to organize behaviors, strategies and ministries to get you there. In fact the decision rate of people is directly related to vision clarity and defining the playing field for your team.

2. The Speed Limit goes Up as Trust goes Up

As trust on the team goes deeper the speed limit goes higher. The more trust that exists on a team the faster that team has the ability to go. Trust is the fuel that leadership runs on. Everyone wants to be a part of a winning team and when the team believes in where it’s going that pace goes up.

3. The Speed Limit goes Up as Development goes Up

The more people you develop to grow into assuming responsibility and leadership roles the faster your church can move. When you delegate, empower, and provide young leaders with the opportunity to exercise their leadership gift the pace increases because you are no longer leading alone. Your ministry impact is directly related to the amount of leaders you develop.

Photo Credit: Lucas Stanley via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership

0

3 Ways Leaders Lead at their Best

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Over the last 15 years I’ve been blessed to lead worship with many talented musicians and singers. I’ve led at camps and retreats. I’ve led for different generation, for different gatherings, for different churches. I’ve led in large venues and small venues. And through it all I’ve discovered three principles that allow me to lead at my best…truth is, these principles apply to anyone who leads a team.

1. Trust Your Teammates

If I’m focused on whether or not the drummer is staying on time or if the bass player is playing the right notes then I’m not focused on leading the church and engaging the crowd. As leaders we need to equip and empower our teams and then trust them to do what only they can do so we can do what we’re called to do.

Key Question: Do you have confidence in the people you lead with?

In worship ministry, we audition. Then we train and equip. I provide whatever the musician needs in order to set them up for success. When they feel confident I feel confident and I can set my attention to leading the crowds.

2. Like Your Teammates

I’ve noticed that when there are people leading with me that I genuinely like to be around it is more fun to lead the church. When it’s fun I do better. There are certain people that I connect with more so than others. These are the people I want to do ministry with. Chemistry is a must in order for me to be at my best. This sometimes means I’d rather lead with less talented people in order to lead with people I like.

Key Question: Do you look forward to leading with the people who are on your team?

When working with volunteers this doesn’t always happen. There are certain roles to fill and we can’t always fill them with people we instantly connect with. But, when possible I try to have someone I consider a friend on every team I lead.

This leads me to the third principle…

3. Know What Gives You Energy

In order to lead with people you like you can’t surround yourself with people that drain you of your energy. I don’t care how talented they are.

In addition, like most artists I’m an introvert. Standing around making small talk with strangers sucks the life out of me. If I do that right before I go on stage I might not have the energy I need to lead worship. This is why artists have “green rooms.” It is being intentional about preserving energy for when it is needed the most.

A green room should be stocked with food, coffee and anything else that combats the early call times and the energy drainers. It is a safe haven that needs to be protected.

Key Question: Do you have a plan for gaining and maintaining energy?

When all three of these principles are aligned I know I’m getting the best out of me and that usually means a great experience for everyone else. As goes the leader, so goes the team.

Photo Credit: alexcoitus via Compfight cc

 

 

This is a guest post by Matt Thompson who serves as the Worship Pastor at the Tempe Campus of Sun Valley Community Church. To keep up with Matt you can connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.

Posted in Creative Arts, Leadership

3

4 Things to Remember when Leading from “Here” to “There”

Monday, April 29, 2013

Simply put the purpose of leadership is movement. To move a people or organization from “here” to “there.” This past week Lisa and I moved into our new home. Better put, we moved everything into our new home…now comes the fun part of unpacking and settling in. During the move I was reminded of four leadership principles about moving people from “here” to “there.”

Preparation can Make or Break You

Once you get into the fray of executing a plan you only have what you brought with you to work with. Once the bell sounds it’s too late to practice harder or prepare better. The preparation of the move isn’t very exciting. Taking apart furniture, boxing up our stuff, patching holes where pictures used to hang and cleaning aren’t necessarily my idea of fun. Neither is acquiring boxes, tape and the like. I actually ended up spending money on the move before we actually did any real moving!

You can’t get from “Here” to “There” without a great Team

If you can lead from “here” to “there” by yourself then you’re not leading far enough or taking enough people with you. Simply put, you’re risking too little if you can do it by yourself. Fortunately I had some great guys help me in this move. It really is true…”many hands make light work.” There is no way this move would have happened as fast as it did without the help of some good friends.

Don’t Forget to Pace Yourself

When you’re moving from “here” to “there” you’ve got to understand that there are times to let off the gas and other times to step on it. There were a few moments we pushed through some really heavy lifting and got into a good rhythm loading up the truck. At other moments we sat and had a sandwich, took a break, and looked at the furniture as if it were somehow going to move itself.

Delayed Gratification Leads to Discouragement

In other words you’ve got to get there. People have to experience wins and progress or they eventually give up. The Scriptures put it this way,

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”  Proverbs 13:12

A buddy of mine was gracious enough to let me borrow his truck for the week of the move. Each day I would come home from work and move more boxes and furniture over to the new house. It felt like the move would never end and that we would never get “there.” When the day came for the “big move,” renting the U-Haul & my friends helping me move the big stuff I couldn’t move in the pick up, I was already exhausted.

What other leadership principles have you run into when leading people from “here” to “there?” Leave a comment!

 

Posted in Family, Leadership
Page 1 of 212»