Tag Archive - peter drucker

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Defining the Leadership Culture at Your Church

Organizational Culture is the squishy stuff that is often difficult for even the most experienced leaders to clearly articulate. But just because it’s difficult and forces you to have uncomfortable conversations, face the brutal facts, and do the hard work of mining out the best ideas doesn’t mean it should be avoided. In fact the best leaders have a crystal clear picture of the behavioral norms that both reflect and build the desired culture in an organization. If you plan on perpetuating your culture you’d better be able to clearly articulate it and get others to see it…after all as Peter Drucker famously said…

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker

Every organization has a culture – attitudes they want adopted, values they want championed, beliefs they want instilled and behaviors they want reproduced. Leaders are the cultural architects of any organization.  Eventually every organization takes on the character and priorities of its leaders.  As a result, leaders need to become intentional in creating culture.

At Sun Valley Community Church, there are a few things that make our staff culture unique.  There is a way of operating and a way of treating others that we expect from those who are in leadership.  We have been working diligently to try to capture them in a few memorable, clear statements. We’ve gotten it down to 7 clear and concise statements (with further explanation that’s been added in) that we believe capture the essence of our culture. Don’t be confused, these are not the same thing as organizational values. These are staff norms, distinctives, and behaviors that both reflect and build a desired culture. I’m not posting these here to copy or to mimic. You have to discover and be true to your unique identity as a leader and organization. However I am posting these here as an example and to hopefully encourage others to do the hard work of clearly defining and articulating your own culture.

#1 LeadershipWe choose to love first and lead second, but always do both.

The Bible describes Jesus as “full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14).  He knew when to be compassionate and when to be bold and he used the perfect mixture of both for any/every situation.  Jesus was the perfect man and the perfect leader.

We are not so fortunate.  Most of us lean to one side or the other.  Some are primarily grace givers, while others are truth tellers.  Grace givers believe the best about everyone.  They take people at their word and believe in a God of “second chances.”  However their weakness is that their trust is sometimes unfounded and at other times they don’t delve into problems and get to the root issue.  As a result, people may feel accepted but because of an unwillingness to confront obstacles to growth, they never become the leader God meant them to be.

Truth tellers have a different perspective.  They believe that “the truth will set you free” and so they willingly and consistently point out opportunities for improvement and change.  You never have to worry about knowing what is on the mind of a truth teller.  They are forthright and honest in conversation, whether confrontational or friendly.  However, very often truth tellers miss the relational side of ministry and as a result are seen as insensitive, abrupt and harsh.

At Sun Valley we expect our leaders to learn how to lead others with both grace and truth.  We believe that truth is best received when there is a strong foundational context that “we want something for you, not from you.”  We train leaders how to say the hard things in caring ways. Relationship is a key to receptivity. High trust paves the way for high challenge.

In our culture, the order of grace and truth matters.  Truth is spoken in the context of relationship.  When people know they are loved, accepted and respected, they will be more receptive to much needed change.  We also choose never to stop with only love.  It is never loving to leave out the truth. Love does what is best for the other person no matter what they get in return.  We love first, lead second, but always do both.

#2 RiskWe have a big God, so we take big risks and trust Him for big results.

Nothing is impossible for God.  He has commissioned His church to reach the world with the Gospel.  Therefore, God designed the church to be on the offensive in its dealings with the world.  In Mt. 16:18 Jesus states, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The only thing that can stop the church is the church.

And yet many churches take very few risks to reach those who are far from God.  Instead they house themselves in comfortable buildings and focus their resources on making the already convinced more comfortable.

This is not God’s plan for the church.  At Sun Valley, we encourage our staff to try big things to reach more people.  The world is rapidly changing which means methods need to change.   Leaders in the Sun Valley culture will experiment.  We are not afraid to try things and make mistakes.  We also understand that “new” is not necessarily better, “effective” is better.  We have high trust in our leaders.  This high trust leads to high expectations.  So we expect our leaders to key in on results.

Therefore when resources are limited and results are expected, evaluation becomes vital.  We evaluate everything, consistently trying to improve “what is,” to make it what “it could be” and “should be.”  We hire leaders who are willing to try new things and expect them to become “masters of midcourse correction.”  We have a big God, so we take big risks and trust Him for big results.

Yes…I know this is a long post…skim the highlights if you’d like. But I’ve put it all on here to help provide some kind of model for those interested in intentionally building a culture at their church. Keep reading if you want to learn more.

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Posted in Leadership

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what every team wants from their leader

Do you know what your team wants from you? Do you know what they need from you? In this 4-part series of articles below we’ll unpack the concepts and principles behind what every team is looking for from their leader. Want to be successful as a leader, then give your team what they’re asking for.

Part 1 1.0 Leadership vs. 2.0 Leadership

Peter Drucker once said that, “The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.” While there is a time and a place for an autocratic style of leadership, a younger generation entering the workforce is longing for more than just direction and dictatorship from their employer. This new generation entering the workplace is demanding 2.0 Leadership.

Part 2 Building a Culture

“I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game—it is the game.” Lou Gerstner, former President & CEO of IBM. If it’s true that the culture of the church over time reflects the personality of the Senior Leader, than focusing on that first level of cultural transference from yourself to your Staff must be intentional and strategic.

Part 3 What is my Team asking of Me?

Through my experience of being on both sides of the desk, hiring, exiting, and leading a staff; there are 5 simple yet at the same time monumental questions that have continued to come up that are placed squarely on the shoulders of leadership to answer for the team.

Part 4 How to Train-Wreck your Team

Generally speaking people want to do a good job. Particularly when it comes to church world, your staff has submitted not only their soul to the Lord but their career as well. They are literally spending their lives for the sake of the Gospel. But your Staff is guaranteed to fail if as the Senior Leader you don’t provide them with the following…


Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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Asking the right questions about time management Part-2

Poor time management wastes everybody’s time but most importantly it wastes the time of the leader. Which means the leader is not spending time on moving the organization forward to its desired future. Getting rid of what wastes your time as a leader is essential if you plan on spending your time on what you need to. But getting rid of what wastes your time should not simply be limited to your personal calendar as a leader but occasionally needs to be looked at through the lens of the organization as well. Here are four more great categories suggested by Peter Drucker to take a look at when evaluating your time and the time of the organization you’re leading.

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Posted in Leadership

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Asking the right questions about time management Part-1

Most leaders will agree that the three major limiting factors to actually getting work done are money, people, and time. It is the primary job of every leader to give their teams as much of these three resources as possible to get their jobs completed. In fact when someone is failing to perform well in their role on the team, more often than not it has to do with one of these three resources not being in adequate supply to get the job done. Even in these tough economic times there is more than enough money out there to get a compelling dream financed and people can always be recruited and hired. But there is no sales pitch you can give, no manner to recruit, and no way to purchase more time. It is the ultimate limiting resource to getting work done. In his book, “The Effective Executive,” Peter Drucker put it this way.

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Posted in Leadership

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“1.0 Leadership vs 2.0 Leadership” What every Staff member wants from their senior leader Part – 1

Peter Drucker once said that, “The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.” If he had the opportunity to express this concept in today’s language he may have chosen to phrase it like this, “There is a shift in leadership that is taking place from 1.0 Leadership to 2.0 Leadership.”

1.0 Leadership

Autocratic Leadership has been the commonly exercised style of leadership used by most businesses and even churches of the past. The Autocratic Leader is typically only interested in results, or the right answers that get them to the desired bottom line. They bark out orders and directions to their employees with the goal of maximizing the return on investment. Their interest in their employees has more to do with their productivity and what they can contribute to the organization than it has to do with the employee themselves.

2.0 Leadership

Collaborative Leadership by its very nature is an invitation to ownership and the development of the people in the organization. The Collaborative Leader is more interested in asking the right questions that drive the right conversations. They are skillful at bringing people along with them through engaging conversations and allowing them to come to the right answers. This leader is after buy-in, ownership, and the heart of their team. Collaborative Leaders invite their team to the table and are genuinely interested in relationships, developing and investing in their people, and engaging in dialogue that is not merely about getting greater productivity out of the work that is being accomplished, but also about the work itself.

While there is a time and a place for an autocratic style of leadership, a younger generation entering the workforce is longing for more than just direction and dictatorship from their employer. This new generation entering the workplace is demanding 2.0 Leadership. And while it’s true that each leader does have a style that comes most natural to them, the best leaders have the ability to assess the needs of the organization and its employees and then adapt by setting aside what may come natural to them. In essence setting aside their own preferences and natural inclinations for what is best for the needs of the organization and the team.


Posted in Leadership, Staffing
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