#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.

I am looking for two people who are…

• Incredibly positive
• Radically dedicated to Jesus
• Have a servants heart
• Organized
• AND who have a GREAT attitude!

If you are interested in applying for one of these positions then please email Lindsay Taguba (Lindsay.Taguba@newspring.cc) to request an application–the deadline for turning those in is Wednesday, January 13th.

#2 – Choose to trust them to make decisions that matter without having to run every minor detail by your for your approval.

#3 – Choose to believe that when they ask particular questions that they aren’t being disloyal but rather seeking clarification.

#4 – Choose to believe that they really do love the church and want to see it thrive.

#5 – Choose to lead through inspiration and revelation–NOT intimidation, humiliation, condemnation and manipulation.

#6 – Choose to listen to them before making a decision that will directly impact them.

#7 – Choose to value them as a human being and NOT just a person who can perform a task.

#8 – Choose to take a few extra minutes to coach them through the “why” of a particular decision so that they are equipped/empowered to make the decision on their own the next time.

#9 – Choose to allow them to present the solution to the problem they are telling you about.  (A great leader will always have a solution to whatever problem they are bringing to your attention.)

#10 – Choose to point out all of the things they are doing well instead of just focusing on the areas they are messing up.

#1 – Should I Go Into Ministry? Great question…if you are even considering it…read this!

#2 – Eight Things I Think Every Worship Leader Should Know!

(Our receptionish actually got a phone call from a lady somewhere in the midwest who yelled at her for the above post!!!)

#3 – Seven Things Worship Leaders Wished Their Senior Pastors Knew! (I had my favorite worship leader, Lee McDee, write a response to my post above…EXCELLENT STUFF!!!!)

#4 – What Every Youth Pastor Wishes Their Senior Pastor Knew – seriously…pastors…read!

#5 – Superficial Sunday in the South!

#6 – Four Types of Staff Members…Which Type Are You?

#7 – Five Things You Should NEVER Hear From A Staff Member! EVER!

#8 – Seven Reasons Jesus Could Not Have Been A Pastor In Many Modern Day Churches!

#1 – They begin to use the church to support their vision and agenda rather than doing all they can for the church to support the vision and agenda of Jesus.

#2 – They view themselves as “experts” and are always seeking to be consulted rather than diving into the thousands of opportunities that are available for growth and maturity.

#3 – They begin to view “good enough” as something that God is pleased with.

#4 – They force change in the organization out of boredom rather than from a connection to Jesus.

#5 – They begin to do ministry to impress other churches and ministry leaders rather than to serve the people that are in their immediate community.

#6 – They are willing to spend other people’s tithe money…but are unwilling to tithe to the church themselves!

#7 – They get to the point where they can do their job without depending upon the Holy Spirit!  (This is one of the most dangerous places to be in the church…if you can do what you do without HIS leadership…repent!)

#8 – They refuse to deal with obvious problems that God brings to their attention for fear that it may mess up the comfortable routine they have established.

#9 – They think that God owes them something for all of the hard work they have done.

#10 – They view gossiping about other people on staff as “venting” or “just sharing their feelings.”

#11 – They believe that serving in the ministry will cover over the character issue that God is constantly bringing to their mind and won’t let go of!

#12 – They believe they are entitled to special treatment because of the way they are “gifted.”

#13 – They don’t understand II Corinthians 4:1…that it is because of HIS mercy and not our ability that we are even in ministry!!!

#14 – They view themselves as a part of a particular department more than being a part of the church!

#15 – They lose sight of the fact that they do not start a move of God–they steward it.

#16 – They think they have the corner of the market on Jesus…and that everyone who isn’t doing it just like them are wrong!

#17 – They are always identifying problems but never bringing any solutions.

#18 – They believe they are irreplaceable and that the ministry could not go on without them!

I’ve got to say this…because someone will ask OR assume…

I love my staff!!!  I have a dream team!  I would not trade one single person on our staff for ANY person at another church!!!

So…this was not a blog post to them!  :-)

BUT…it was a blog post based on mistakes that I have made and our staff has made over the past 10 years.

Felt like I needed to say that!

#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!)

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!

#1 – Do We Have A Culture of Greed or Generosity?

A staff that has a heart for Christ and His church are always looking to what they can give in order to help others (both in time and money) rather than take from them!

#2 – Are We Being Attentive to the Details?

When a staff member begins to say that certain things that were once viewed as important no longer matter–that is usually evidence of laziness and/or apathy!  Details matter!!

#3 – Do We Communicate Well Between Departments?

Healthy communication is a MUST…and each department MUST realize that EVERYONE works for the same team.  When silo’s begin to develop and individual teams begin to matter more than the ministry–that is a dangerous problem!  We are called to serve WITH one another!

#4 – Do We Know It All…Or Are We Desperate For God’s Direction As To Our Next Step?

All to often we can become so wise with our ideas and concepts that we “plan God right out of what’s next!”  If a staff is going to accomplish all God wants them to do…they MUST DREAM BIG and then be willing to follow His leadership to accomplish that dream one step at a time.

#5 – Are We Authentic or Fake?

A staff cannot maximize the potential God has for them if they spend most of their time with one another trying to be someone that they are not!  Authenticity and transparency MUST be two key core values of any team that plans on working together for the long haul.

#6 – Are We Focused On One Vision Or Many Visions (which is DI-VISION!)

You’ve seen it…a church has a vision statement, the youth ministry has one as well…and the children’s ministry…and the…well, you get the picture.

In order to be successful each staff member must see themselves as a part of THE VISION God wants to accomplish through that particular church…instead of formulating their own vision and then attempting to use the church to make it happen!

The staff HASN’T been called to COMPETE with one another…but COMPLETE one another!

“Pastor P, what if I have a staff member who answered “no” to the question, ‘Would we even attend this church if we were not on staff?’”

In my opinion this is a pretty serious problem…if a staff member would not attend the church where he is working if he were not on staff…then how in the heck can they be fully entrusted with the vision?  BUT…the automatic “go to” answer is NOT, “fire them!”  (It’s the easy answer…but not the right one!)  If this were the case with a staff member at NewSpring Church then I would ask several questions…

#1 – WHO is this staff member? Are they a recent hire…or have they been around a long time?  The longer a person has been on staff the more serious this becomes.

#2 – WHAT is going on in this staff members life? Pastors–remember, we are called to lead people–NOT DRIVE THEM!  And quite often hurting people hurt people.  One of the things I’ve discovered is that sometimes people say things they don’t mean when their lives are seemingly hitting rock bottom.  MAYBE it isn’t a church issue…MAYBE it’s a personal issue that is spilling over into this area in their lives.

#3 – WHY is the staff member feeling this way? The only way you can answer this question is through a conversation.  If a person claims they would not attend the church if not on staff then they have GOT to have a reason (or reasons) why.  SO…ask them!  Sometimes leaders will avoid this because they fear controversy…or maybe because they might hear what they don’t want to hear…but…if we truly value the contribution the staff member is making to the team then we should pay attention to their concern.

#4 – Is the staff member being divisive? If the answer is “yes” then the issue must be dealt with as quickly as possible.  I have often told church leaders, “satan is way more passionate about dividing your staff rather than your church!”  Staff unity MUST be protected…ALWAYS!  PLEASE note I did not say, “Staff Uniformity,” people can have different opinions…but Jesus said something about a Kingdom divided against itself will surely fall!!!

#5 – Can the issue be resolved? Vision can NEVER be compromised…so…if I had a staff member that hated the fact we were seeing people meet Jesus, thus causing the church to get larger…then I would have to go NSYNC on them!  (”Bye Bye Bye!”  NOW that song is in your head–thank you!)  BUT…maybe, just maybe the staff member doesn’t have a problem with VISION…but rather the methods in which the vision is being carried out.  If that is the case then it is possible for the issue to be resolved…and…it is definitely worth a conversation.  BUT…if the staff member refuses to get on board then they have to be released to go elsewhere and be a part of something they believe in!

If you want to have a church that is on fire…then a staff FULL of Jesus, FULL of vision and FULL of love for HIS church is a MUST!  The church is too important to have people who merely perform for a paycheck but are not absolutely 100% sold out to the vision and direction the church is headed.

#2 – Is there anything that we are doing as a church that we would not be excited about if we were not on staff?

#3 – Would we even attend this church if we were not on staff?

#4 – Is our goal to really focus on what needs to be done…or to get the meeting over with as soon as possible so we can get on with our individual agenda?

#5 – Are we resisting anything that God is leading us towards because it puts us in a very uncomfortable place?

#6 – Are we moving towards complexity or simplicity?

#7 – Is there anything that is obvious to everyone else but we are choosing to deny it because dealing with it would force us to change things up?