Empowering Leaders Part 4

A number of years ago I learned from then FLGA District Mission Executive, Jerry Seaman that there are three ingredients to expanding the number of people serving the Lord in meaningful ways. I don’t think we called it empowerment back then but it made a lot of sense and it shaped my thinking ever since. It was a simple formula but powerful if you actually put it into practice:

1.  Give people meaningful things to do.
2. Support and help them along the way.
3. Celebrate the results.

Sound too simplistic? Well it is simple, but not easy. Let’s look at them one by one.

1. Give people meaningful things to do. Meaningful to whom? To them! People are not satisfied with folding bulletins. They want to make a difference in people’s lives. Interview them (see above, part 3) and find out what that means to them. Then give them the opportunity and don’t get in the way. In fact, get out of the way! (Was that too strong?) But I’m not in the way! Are you sure? Check again. You are perfectly designed to get what you are getting. So if people are not engaged and growing, “Houston we have a problem.” Change begins with you.

2. Support and help them along the way. People are reluctant to step up because they don’t want to look foolish in front of their peers and/or they don’t want to fumble the ball when it comes to serving the Lord. They also know that often they feel like they have a target on their back in the church when they try to do something. Too often in the church our actions toward servant leaders feels like dumping it on them and sending the message – “sink or swim” it’s now on you. I wouldn’t step up in that environment either. So counter that by creating a culture of support and help. This is servant leadership at its core that constantly asks, “How is it going and how can I help?” While at the same time not taking the responsibility from them. Why? Because you believe in them! You believe that God has created them with great capacity to do great things! Keep in touch, call them, write an encouraging note, stop them at church, and be interested in their success for their sake – even when from your perspective it is a small thing. See what happens!

3. Celebrate the results. This is one area I would miss. I would often be looking down the road at the next thing but had to learn that celebration is crucial, even when things went bad. That’s where debriefing comes in. What worked, what didn’t, what did we learn, how can we improve next time? But celebration is crucial even when things go well. Stop and smell the roses! Rejoice at what God has done through even you and especially the laity! Thank them! Give God the praise. After all, God did it anyway, right?

Coaching Questions:

• Which of these steps do you already do?
• Where do you need to grow and be more intentional?
• How well do you “give away the ministry”?
• How can you put into use the three steps? Who, what, when, how? Name it.
• What’s stopping you? How will you overcome that barrier?
• Celebrate the results with God!

Empowering Leaders Part 3

Ministry doesn't have to
feel like you are spinning
plates all by yourself

So, how are you leading yourself? How clear are you regarding the mission and your place in the mission? Tired of plate spinning? Are you ready to engage others? Exactly how will you do that?

I know you may feel impatient and in a rush to get the task done but it’s not about the task is it? It is about growing people. Begin by getting to know people. What are their passions? Rather than pigeonhole people to fill in your gaps in what you want done, or try to put them on the ministry or discipleship merry-go-round, ask them what passions the Lord has given them? Co-create something or somewhere where they can explore and step into that which ignites their passions all the more and serves the greater kingdom of God all the while being aligned with the mission and vision.

What’s the ministry or discipleship merry-go-round you ask? Well, that’s when you tell them to attend worship and Bible class and “just get involved” in hopes that at the end out will come a fully formed disciple. It might come out of an “I don’t want to be pushy” concern, it might come from a “this approach has worked for centuries” kind of thinking, and it might come from a “I don’t really know how else to do it” place. Yet isn’t that the reality? We hope people will find their way and over time maturity in serving and being a disciple will happen spontaneously or it will rub off on them from some of the other members/disciples. But how is that working for ya? Not too well I presume. It is a merry-go-round because it doesn't get you very far. The real answer is being intentional with Christ followers.

That means customization vs. the cattle call of “ya’ll come” to this or that program or activity. It is a new approach. It is more work. After all, people are people and not functionaries. Spend time with them. Get to know them. Honor them and the gifts God has given them. Don’t see any? Keep looking, keep talking, and keep asking. If God has them in the body of Christ, no doubt there is a valuable place for them. Their gifts and passions may not seem valuable to you and your point of view, but no doubt they are valuable to God and a kingdom point of view. When that gets named and honored in people, growth begins to soar. The ministry multiplies. People are empowered. More come to faith in Jesus.

I like Reggie McNeal’s story of one church told in his book Missional Renaissance (pp. 123ff). He speaks of intentional interviews with people. What do you enjoy doing? Where do you see God at work right now? What would you like to see God do in your life over the next six to twelve months? How would you like to serve other people? How can I help? How can I pray for you? Perhaps I like it so much because it looks a lot like coaching which is my passion.

Yes it means a whole different approach. Yes it means some vacancies will continue to exist in current ministry structures (but don’t you have those anyway?). And yes it may even mean that the structure and how and what you do will shift, maybe even dramatically. But if it means more people engaged in kingdom work and growing as disciples, then that is a sacrifice worth taking.

Empowering Leaders Part 2

Are you under the gun to make the project happen? Are you caught up in the press to produce? Does that make you too busy to identify and cultivate new leaders? What do you want more?

In the short term you feel the need to accomplish the task but you know you can’t keep this up for the long haul. You may believe that you are the best one to do it but if no one else ever gets involved then no one will learn. On top of that, you know in your heart that being the chief doer on whom people depend isn’t the best way to do things - for yourself, for other people, or for the long-term viability of the ministry or organization.

The hard truth:

Certainly there are priorities that have deadlines and you are the one who by default has to make sure it happens. Yet we are not nearly the victims of our circumstances that we like to complain that we are. The present reality that you have is exactly what you are currently producing! So what are you doing, intentionally or unintentionally as the leader, to produce what you are getting? Want to quit? Go somewhere else? Seeking to leave and serve somewhere else will not change the “you” that was a vital ingredient in producing your uncomfortable circumstances. No, the change has to begin with you. Nothing will change unless you change. Besides, the only one you have control over is yourself. Sometimes even that is sketchy! Nevertheless, your focus needs to be taking responsibility for leading yourself.

So how and where do I start?

Have you experienced “mission drift”? It may sound basic but often where you start is taking the time and effort to become really clear about who you are with your strengths and gifts and role, clear about your mission, and then prioritizing what you do. It may sound basic but it is hard work to do it well.

An exercise that helps:

One exercise that helps is to list everything that you do. Everything. Then write down who you are along with your mission or purpose and the dream or vision of where you and your organization would like to be some day. Next, divide a piece of paper into four parts labeled with the following four categories:

1. Urgent & Important
2. Urgent & Not Important
3. Not Urgent but Important
4. Not Urgent and Not Important

Now put everything that you do into one of the four categories based upon who you are and your clear mission and vision.

Now ask yourself:

After you have done this to the best of your ability, what did you discover? What sticks out for you? What did you learn? What new awarenesses are coming to you? What next steps are you going to take? How are you going to be different? What are you going to do more of? What are you going to do less of?

Make the tough choices and create some margin in your life. Intentionally decide what you will do and not do. Now you may finally be in a good position to begin to empower others.

In part one and now in part two, perhaps you noticed that the questions are asked of you, the leader. That is intentional. Empowering others begins with leading yourself well. (Would you follow you as a leader? Why or why not? Oops – that’s for another blog entry…)

Empowering Leaders Part 1

Pastors and churches are always clamoring for leaders. “I can’t get anyone to do anything. “We need leaders.” “How do I train leaders?” “It’s hard to get people to join boards or committees.”

Have you heard this stuff before? Right. Now what do we do?

First, while there are many very helpful definitions for leadership, at it’s core though, leadership is about taking responsibility and creating change. I often provide the book, Leadership Coaching by Tony Stoltzfus when I lead coach training events. Stoltzfus says, “A leader is someone who sees a problem and says, ‘someone needs to do something about that, and I’m that someone.’” In this way they enter into a leadership posture. They are taking responsibility. Also related to this is the truth that the capacity that someone has for leadership is directly related to their capacity to take responsibility. Notice this has nothing to do with positional power. Notice also that taking responsibility, no matter how small, is the starting place. From there people grow in taking larger and larger portions of responsibility. We see it all the time as people are promoted at work or even as children grow from infants to adulthood and move out on their own.

So a critical place to start in empowering others is by asking ourselves some very simple yet profound questions:

• What am I doing that takes responsibility away from people? (Are you sure? Think about that again. A related question is: How am I creating a dependency upon me? Why or why not? What am I getting out of that? What's that about?)
• What can I do to introduce people to noticing problems? (Does that make you squirm? Why or why not?!)
• What can I do to help people to take responsibility for those problems? (What just happened inside of you when you read that one? What was that about?)
• How can I find, invent, create, small first step places for people to take responsibility?
• How can I best support people who take on these responsibilities, however small?
• How can I help them without relieving them of the responsibility?
• How can I celebrate the results of what they have done, no matter the outcome?

How you answer these questions and what you actually do will have tremendous ramifications.

Why a blog?

When a coach is at their best as a coach, they help people to change without telling them what to do. When I train coaches I stress this very much, because the default for many of us, who want to help others, is to tell them what to do. That means that a good coach will self-manage their inclinations to tell people what to do and instead ask a lot of good questions. Good questions mean being self-aware and not asking leading questions or making statements that are in the form of questions.

That doesn't mean though that I have nothing to say. Over the course of the last few years of coaching and even more years of pastoral ministry I have come to some thoughts and determinations about coaching, leadership, ministry, revitalizing congregations and so on. I wondered if there was any value in letting those thoughts fly and inviting people to dialogue about them. The goal would be another venue for exploring, learning, affirming and growing in effectiveness to the glory of God.

So this isn't the final word of course, but my prayer is that it will be helpful in "moving the ball down the field" for growth and productivity in coaching, leadership, ministry, revitalization and missional living.