Category Archives: Leadership

All things concerning my personal study and application of the principles of leadership.

It’s About People, Again.

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I was encouraged this morning by the new motto on my desk that I wrote about yesterday HERE. “It’s About People, Stupid!” A thought struck me. Why is it that I have such a hard time keeping my focus on people? I read an amazing blog post by a brilliant young man that I believe pinpoints the issue.

Joseph Dieterly wrote in his post “The Farmer and the Dishwasher” that we as Christians have many, many seeds to sow into the lives of other people. Each time we share about the hope that we have for the future because of Jesus, it’s as if we are planting a seed in that person’s heart. Our prayer is that the seed will grow and produce fruit in the form of that person embracing the hope of Jesus.

The Farmer never has to worry about running out of seeds! We have opportunities to share God’s love every single day. However, Joseph points out that it is in the amount of time and energy necessary to care for the person in whom we’ve planted the seed that we get weary. When we don’t see results right away, we’re tempted to stop caring about people and start caring about tasks.

You see, tasks can be accomplished. I can check tasks off of my to do list. I can do something now about them. People take too long. People are risky; who knows if fruit will ever come from my seed? We begin to care for our seeds more than the ground in which we plant them. Check out what Joseph says here:

And the sower cares for all seeds he plants.  And by care, I mean that he tends the soil.  If the soil is hard packed dirt, he tills it.  If the soil is full of thorns, he clears the land.  And if the soil is rocky, well then he carefully removes each stone.  Until finally, that soil resembles the neat straight furrows of a farm.

It is this caring that often trips up Christians.  Sowing the seed is pretty easy, giving it the care it needs is harder.

Today, I’ve got a lot of administrative stuff to accomplish, and a meeting tonight for which I need to prepare. I know that as soon as I get into the swing of things, I’ll be lost in the thick of the work and not want to think about people and all the relational work that needs to be done. How do I keep my focus on people with all of this stuff to do? Here’s how I plan to resolve that.

  • As I prepare our mailing today, I will pray for the names I’m putting on the envelope. 
  • As I write our monthly e-letter, I will pray for the recipients. I will make the letter relational and ask for people to partner with us in our work in the field of souls. It won’t be chock full of mindless facts; it will be stuffed with love and meaning.
  • As I prepare the room and materials for our meeting, I will pray for those attending. This meeting is about fanning the flames of passion in our hearts for preaching the Gospel! It is ALL about people.
  • As I write this blog, I am thinking of you and all of the amazing things God wants to do through you to accomplish His beautiful plan for your life. This is a letter from my heart to yours.

Don’t let this blog stop here! Help me keep my focus on people, on you. How can I pray for you today?

It’s About People, Stupid!

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This is my new motto.

I’ve printed it out on legal size paper with a colorful, elegant border. Soon, I will have it hanging in my office for all to see like a mission statement. In fact, it may be even more powerful than a mission statement.

President Bill Clinton’s campaign manager, James Carville, made this slogan popular after hanging it in Clinton’s Little Rock campaign headquarters during the 1992 race. The words he used were: “It’s the economy, stupid.” This sign kept all of the campaign workers razor-focused on their strategy despite the complex political process. It worked.

In the complex Kingdom process of preaching the Gospel and discipling believers, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s really important. The Kingdom of God is established in human hearts and built through human relationships, not office work and tasks.

In his book The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, author Hans Finzel gives this test to determine if you value people or not in your leadership: When you’re working on something in the office and someone comes in to talk to you, do you view them as a distraction or an opportunity? Unfortunately with my personality, I often think of people as distractions to my work instead of opportunities.

Thus the motto. I am determined to change. I am intent on making people my utmost priority in my work as pastor. Here’s how:

  1. I’ll include relational “to-do’s” into my workflow. Tasks like writing thank you notes, making phone calls and visits yield high relational value.
  2. I’ll make margin in my calendar for connecting with people. You make time for what is important to you, and if you don’t make up your schedule, someone else will.
  3. I’ll do a personal attitude check each day by looking at my cool, new motto. It’s like a spiritual kick in the pants.

Where are you at when it comes to relating to people? Do they interrupt you or encourage you?

Is Church Work Boring?

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I just read two very interesting blog posts this morning. The first was called “Fulfillment Is a Right, Not a Luxury” by Simon Sinek and the second “Quit Boring Your Volunteers” by Matt Steen. I follow Simon because he wrote a landmark book entitled Start with Why that changed the way I thought about everything in leadership or organization. I follow Matt Steen because he’s a cool guy whom I met on Twitter who knows a lot about a lot.  Here’s my summary of these posts:

Sinek

  • The sense of fulfillment isn’t something that only a few fortunate individuals can enjoy. We are all meant to live fulfilling lives.
  • Fulfillment in what we do is our right. We have the right to choose an occupation or employer who gives us work that serves a higher purpose than ourselves.
  • We should demand this emotional fulfillment from the place in which we work.

Steen

  • Volunteers work hard, sometimes tedious jobs when not volunteering. Leaders should appreciate this fact and strive to make volunteer work rewarding, fun and fulfilling.
  • Leaders should listen closely to their volunteers for signs of boredom.
  • Leaders should keep all red tape and repetitive work to a minimum for their volunteers.
  • Leaders should communicate the vision for the work and their appreciation for the volunteers often.

Although I don’t agree with Sinek that fulfillment is a right, I do believe that fulfillment is a gift from God to all of us. He meant for us to find this gift of fulfillment in our relationship with Him, with each other and through the work that we do. One of my biggest mistakes as a leader has been that I’ve taught people how to find fulfillment through their relationships, but I didn’t strive to create a fulfilling environment in which they could work.

It is to this end that the leaders of Tabernacle of Praise and I are pushing. Our vision is of a church in which volunteers love to serve because we know them so well that we place them in ministries that fit them, we take care of the detail work before they show up, and we over communicate the noble cause behind their labors and our gratitude for their contribution. This is a church that will grow!

My question for you, dear readers, is this: What can we do to make church work even more fulfilling at Tabernacle of Praise?

Super Leaders

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…are super readers.

My son loves this PBS show called SuperWhy (Actually, I like just as much as he does, but I normally have something to do at 9:30 in the morning.). It’s about a group of superheroes called the “Super Readers.” They solve their daily problems by jumping into the world of the books in their book club and helping the characters of those book solve their problems. Each problem they solve in a storybook shows them the answer to the problem they have in life. Their motto: “When we have a problem, we look in a book!”

I hope my son gets this. It’ll make him more influential than he could ever imagine.

As a leader, when I have a problem, I look in a book. For example, right now I am in the middle of reading a book about running non-profit boards. Exciting, right? I think so too! Imagine how much further Tabernacle of Praise will go if leaders are consistently going to fun, focused and productive meetings! We’ll make wiser decisions faster, ensure the work gets done every time, and measure the amazing results and pass them on to you.

I’ve learned that the atmosphere and outcome of a meeting is the responsibility of the leader. I realized that my meetings are only so-so. So, I looked in a book, and I can’t wait until my meetings are the most anticipated event on my leaders daily calendar.

Which kids show have you learned from lately? Read any books lately?

Getting Things Done

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…is the key to unlocking many answers to prayer. Prayers for people to come to salvation, for poverty to go bankrupt, for hunger to starve, for thirst to be quenched, for money to flow into the economy.

Could it be that as we’re looking to the sky for results, God is looking to the earth for the same?

Perhaps He is waiting for people brave enough to try new things and get them done despite the challenges. Perhaps it’s those people who get things done who find the miracles for which we are praying.

People who get things done are the ones who get the promotion we want. They’re the ones who get the funds we’re soliciting. They’re the ones who see the results we dream about.

May we be the people who get things done aided by the miracles of answered prayers.