Leadership

I've begun leading a group of our ministry leads at church in a collaborative effort to improve how we do ministry. Rather than jump into the details of doing ministry, I decided to start with vision alignment.  The idea is to help us explore and improve how well our individual ministries fit within the overall mission of our church.  Momentum and growth are generated by having each ministry aligned as closely as possible with the main vision and mission of the church. To that end, I've started working with the ministry leads to define what a "win" looks like in their respective areas.  Our Mountainview mission statement is similar to many others: to reach unchurched people and turn them into fully devoted followers of Jesus. We understand what it means to be unchurched.  But what does a "fully devoted follower of Jesus" look like?  What does that mean on the…

If you are a leader who believes in coaching, here are three quick tips to help you add value to the people you lead: Be Consistent.  A good coach -- in baseball or in life -- knows that it takes multiple practices to master even the most basic skills.  Even then, the skills must be taught in a consistent manner.  A good coach values consistency and sticks to it. Make Relationships a Priority. We listen to those that we have relationships with.  If the person being coached senses that you don't care about their needs, hopes, or dreams -- that it's only about your needs, hopes, and dreams -- then the relationship will break down. Ask Good Questions. When it comes to helping an employee master a new set of skills or walking your child through a difficult conflict, ask good questions.  Help them clarify what is really happening.  A…

"My experience suggests that excellent execution of simple ideas will yield better results than great ideas executed poorly."  --  Tanmay Vora

I love this post from Will Mancini. "The System Down the Hall Trumps the Mission on the Wall" This line is from the stellar strategist, Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church. When my friend Caz McCaslin (founder of Upward sports ministry) first heard the “systems talk” at the Catalyst Reverb conference ( I think it was 2007), he called me and we discussed it for what seemed to be hours. As a piece worth pursuing, here is Andy Stanley’s flow of thought: God created systems Systems create behavior Our leaders and volunteers action are guided by the systems we inherit, adopt or create We overestimate our ability to guide change, when we are not thinking on the systems level Systems have embedded expectations, rewards (lack of), consequences (lack of), communication styles, and behavioral patterns of the people in charge The idea of integrating the mission and vision into the systems of…