How To Get Buy In From Your Staff – Part Two of Two January 28, 2010

Continuing my thoughts from yesterday…

#3 – LISTEN TO THEM!

One of the greatest mistakes I’ve ever made as a leader is to make a decision that impacts a group of staff members without allowing anyone from the group that was being impacted any sort of input on the decision.  We do this as leaders because it is easier and faster…but what is easy is hardly ever what is right!  (AND…if you are always obsessed with the quickest and easiest way to get something done…the “end” is a lot closer than you think!)

Today there is hardly EVER an instance where a decision is made around here that someone from that area isn’t allowed the opportunity to dialogue with our leadership team through the decision.

• Why would I make any sort of decision about youth or children’s ministry without actually talking to our youth or children’s ministry team?
• Why would I make any sort of decision about programming without actually talking to the people who serve on our programming staff?
• Why would I make any sort of decision about our volunteering process without talking to people who serve with volunteers?

I could go on…but you get the point.  When a staff member feels like they had an opportunity to be involved in the conversation and ask the questions that were on their mind they are WAY more likely to buy into the decision that was made, even if they don’t agree with it.

(By the way…some people call people who want to be listened to “disloyal!”  I call those who want to be listened to “leaders!”  You can have leaders or followers around you…and only a secure leader is willing to answer questions from his staff that will clarify the vision!)

#4 – Say “THANK YOU!”

One of the things I have realized is that MOST staff members aren’t looking for a ton of recognition and/or huge monatary rewards…they just want to be told, “thanks!”

Reality is this…if we are not careful as leaders we can CRUSH the enthusiasm of a staff member…because…we all have people on our staff that ONLY get recognized if they screw something up.  (Sort of like an offensive lineman in football!)  BUT…if they show up, get their job done and do it well, then for some reason a leader thinks he can just allow that to go unnoticed…and this is an incredible de-motivator to a staff team.

Leaders…trust me, we CANNOT underestimate the power of saying “thank you.”  I’ve heard leaders say, “well, I’m not going to thank them for something they are supposed to be doing.”  That statement is both foolish and irresponsible.  A leader who is QUICK to recognized “the bad” in a staff member but never stops to recognize “the good” is irresponsible.  (Or maybe he/she is unaware!  Trust me…”thank you” is HUGE!!!)

#5 – Lead With Integrity

If you want your staff to buy into your leadership then integrity HAS to be valued, pursued and encouraged.  Because once a person sells out their character it undermines the platform that God gave them to stand on.

AND…leaders…if we do not make integrity an issue…then one day it WILL BE AN ISSUE!

Staff member cannot buy into a liar.  At the end of the day they’ve GOT to know that you say what you mean and you mean what you say.

• This means when we screw up…we admit it.
• This means that when we don’t do our part…we admit it.
• This means that when we are struggling with something…we admit it.
• This means that when we declare direction…we are the first to step in that direction.

Leaders…at the end of the day all we really have is our integrity.  Either people believe what we say or they think we are full of crap…the latter will always result in shattered dreams while the former will always result in a team of people who are on FIRE and CONSUMED about the reality of what could be and should be, and will never stop short of the vision that has been declared.

Eight Things To Keep In Mind When Leading A Team–Part Two August 21, 2009

Continuing from yesterday’s post…

#5 – Don’t Be Afraid To Set High Standards – One of the problems I’ve discovered when it comes to leadership in the church is that some people are perfectly fine with setting the bar of excellence really low…and then allowing the people they lead to crawl under it.  I know leaders who literally fear that if they set high standards that people will get offended; however, the thing I’ve learned around here at NewSpring is that if we DON’T set high standards people do not feel challenged…which leads to boredom!  (BTW…I said “high standards,” not “unrealistic ones!”)

#6 – Beware of the All Star - One of the things that cripples any team is when it has an all star who believe ministry simply cannot take place without them…and when a leader begins to believe that about an individual on the team then they will often fear what might happen if the all star left rather than what would happen if the presence of God left!!!  Every “star player” who truly has an intimate walk with God understands that it’s the TEAMWORK that makes the DREAMWORK–period.

#7 – Each Team Member Is A Human Being – The leader who views the team he leads as people who are assembled to do what he wants them to do and that’s it sucks as a leader!  A leader MUST care about the people he leads and NOT just the tasks they perform.  If a team member sees themselves as merely a tool in the leaders hand rather than a valued team member…they will soon be looking to join another team.

#8 – Ask Questions – One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is assuming that they have to have the answer to every question that comes their way.  (BTW…NO leader is that good!)  One of the things I am realizing more and more is how incredibly gifted and talented the people around me are…and over the past several years I’ve asked this question in so many meetings when someone presents an issue to me, “So, what do you think we should do?”  Often times the person already has the solution planned out…which saves me (and everyone else on the team) all kinds of time and energy!  The reason God blesses a leader with a team is so that leader can harness the collective wisdom of everyone involved and make the best decision.

Beside…people ARE going to share their opinion somewhere…a leader might as well be the first to hear it…because it can save a lot of problems in the future.

One more thing…the only reasons a leader might not ask questions is because he is insecure (thinks doing so will show weakness), full of pride (thinks he is better than everyone else) or fear (because he knows the answer he is going to hear from the team is the right one–but not the one he prefers!)

Eight Things To Keep In Mind When Leading A Team–Part One August 20, 2009

I had the privilege of sitting down this past Monday with all of our worship leaders here at NewSpring Church for two hours…it was seriously an amazing series of conversations.

At one point, Lee McDerment, our worship leader at the Anderson campus asked me, “What are some things all of us need to keep in mind as we lead teams.”  I gave a decent answer…but after I got back to my office I began to write my thoughts down…and here are seven things I believe that every leader needs to keep in mind when leading a team.

#1 – You Will Never Effectively Motivate Someone With Feelings Of Guilt – I’ve made that mistake as a leader before, thinking if I could just get someone to feel bad that they would do a better job…WRONG!  No one has ever brought about significant change in the world because guilt propelled them to do so.  AND…if a leader finds himself always motivating by guilt…he will also soon find himself without anyone to lead.  NO ONE likes going on a guilt trip.

#2 – People Don’t Respond To Need–They Respond To Vision – When a leader talks about a need SOME people will respond.  BUT…when a leader can cast a compelling vision about what SHOULD BE…and with God’s grace and our participation WOULD BE…CHANGE HAPPENS!  Many times a team leader will drift off course…NOT because they are lazy and/or pathetic…but because maybe they have forgotten why they do what they do…and a shot of vision will cure that every time.

#3 – A Person Cannot Be Held Accountable For Unspoken Expectations – Another mistake I’ve made in the past as a leader is assuming people could read my mind…and so when they didn’t do what I thought should have been done I would get angry with them.  After some very confusing looks and some really tough conversations I began to realize that I was expecting things out of people that I hadn’t clearly explained!  Our job as leaders is to give clear, realistic expectations and then resource the people to make those things happen.

#4 – Keep Short Accounts – The Bible says in Ephesians 4:26-27 that we are to not let the sun go down on us while we are angry…in other words, we should act with URGENCY when it comes to conflict among the teams we lead.  Unresolved conflict is like cancer that begins to eat away at the body…it must be dealt with OR its destruction will bring about death.  Many leaders RUN FROM conflict because it is uncomfortable…but I’ve learned the hard way that we must embrace a little discomfort now…or A LOT of it in the future!