In an organization the unwritten rules are just as, if not more, important than the written rules. If you are considering making changes, implementing something new, adding staff, or any of dozen other decisions in your organization, you need to also consider the unwritten rules of the organization.

Here are a few examples:

The culture of the organization…How it responds to change…How it addresses problems…How it plans for the future…

The leader’s accessibility and temperament…Is he or she considered approachable?  Does he or she participate with the team normally?  Would he or she know if there was a perceived problem in the organization? Do team members trust the leader?

The relationships of team members to each other…Is there a friendship or just a working relationship?  Is conflict acceptable?  Do team members feel freedom to speak freely?

The sense of job satisfaction within the organization…Are there long-term team members?  Are team members generally happy with the organization?  Is there current unrest among team members?

The common and expected practices of the organization…Is there a way it’s always been done? Has change usually been accepted or resisted?

The way information flows…How does communication really happen?  What are the circles of influence?  Who drives discussion?  Who has influence with peers?

As a leader, it’s important that you not only concentrate your attention on what is easily measured, written in a policy manual, or even spoken as a value. Other considerations may be more important, even though they may have never been expressed formally.  When change occurs or is to be implemented in an organization, paying attention to these unwritten rules is necessary for success. BTW leaders, most likely you helped write these unwritten rules.

What are some of the unwritten rules of your organization?

According to a recent survey, 40 percent of professionals want to quit their job. I’m curious, is that higher than you would think? I’d love to know what percentage on our staff feels that way….(hopefully not that high!)

As one who studies and writes about organizational health, these numbers frustrate me. What can be done to improve job satisfaction? I love the interview Brad Lomenick did recently with Tony Hsieh of Zappos about their corporate culture. Check it out HERE. Zappos appears to be a place people want to work and one that is remaining very profitable.

According to the Nashville Business Journal, here is a list of reasons U.S. professionals cited for wanting to quit their jobs this year, accompanied by the percentage of respondents who cited the reason:

• Lack of communication and involvement by top management, 40 percent
• Lack of promotion despite good work results, 37 percent
• Overwork, 34 percent
• Lack of company “vision,” 31 percent
• Lack of belief in colleagues’ competence, 28 percent
• Lack of administrative support, 26 percent
• Rude colleagues, 21 percent
• Boss takes credit for their work, 20 percent

Read more: Survey: 40 percent of U.S. professionals want to quit – Nashville Business Journal

What do you think? Should the number be that high? Would you have thought it would be lower of higher? If you are brave, share which side of the percentage you are in today. Are you ready to quit…or loving your work?  If you did, which would be your reason for quitting?

(Be sure to read the recommended posts associated with this one.)

I tweeter recently a question. What is one non-negotiable characteristic of a leader you are willing to follow?

Here are some of the responses:

@JohninColorado Passion for the lost
@KevinDeShazo Honesty
@TN_SmartGirl Humility
@HireLianne Attentiveness to every rung of the ladder below him/her.
@John4Him Honesty
@Christfollower an integrity rooted in profound sense of dependence on God
@danscott smokes what he sells
@strategicsense Empathy
@RobertBlas ability to admit when wrong.
@TeriSWillis Healthy marriage
@dwaynehutchings Integrity
@Jill_Shaw Trustworthy
@taylors2belgium Integrity
@DistantLShaw Sticks close to God especially when it’s tough & when it’s good.
@elissekipe Integrity
@LAHSWORLD Integrity
@ericwschmidt Godly humility
@ YvonneMcLaren Integrity

@NoNameHere Must be a Twitterer (But he was just joking….see I didn’t sell you out…actually he gave a serious one above)

Keep in mind these were answered quickly, so answers may have been expanded or even changed had they had time to think about their answer more, but I think these are heartfelt responses.  I see a few trends and similarities in the answers…do you?

I think as leaders we should pay attention to things like this. Granted your staff may be different, but I suspect this is representative in many ways. As a leader, it’s important to know what is important to the people you want to lead. Sometimes we focus too much of our attention on things of lesser importance.

What do you think is one non-negotiable characteristic of a leader you are willing to follow?

BTW, this will give you a few more people to follow.

I love exploring Ted.com for exceptional videos. I don’t get to very often, but when I do, I find great stuff.

Here’s one you should consider watching. It’s about 17 minutes long, and honestly he rambles at times, but you’ll get some great wisdom and reminders from a great man. Here’s John Wooden on the subject “What is True Success?”

Do you agree with Wooden’s definition?

Someone used the term “expert” in regards to a person and social media recently. It sounded good at first, but then I started thinking. Is anyone really an “expert” in a field that is barely five years old and changes literally every day?

One definition of the term expert reads: a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area. I guess someone could qualify under that definition, but it also seems to me that as soon as one gains authoritative knowledge about the field of social media that everything changes. Everyone involved with social media must be in a constant learning mode.

It does seem, however, that we are living in a day where the term expert is coined much faster than in days past. I know people in ministry who have been serving less than five years who, mostly because of their online experience or because they wrote a book, are considered “experts” in ministry. I’m not saying this is right or wrong, I’m just questioning the meaning of the term these days. Has it changed?

What do you think? How do you define an expert? Whom would you call a social media expert?

This is a silly post with an important principle…

The other day I was on a Skype call with missionaries from Costa Rica. I serve on their ministry board and this was a board meeting. As with most meetings, I get bored easily, so I began to doodle on a piece of paper in front of me…actually the ministry budget. What started as doodling with no intended purpose turned into a masterpiece…as you can see from this picture.

Okay, so it’s not a masterpiece. It is cute though, don’t you think?

It did remind me, however, of an important leadership principle. Don’t quickly dismiss:
 

• Random thoughts
• Chance encounters
• Informal brainstorming
• Unformed ideas
• Impossible dreams

Some of the best long-term ideas for an organization originate outside the traditional and formal settings. Don’t shy away from ideas, which can’t easily be figured out or seem incomplete at the time. You may just stumble on a masterpiece.

BTW, what should I call my new character?

The way a leader handles correction is important if the desire is to keep quality people on the team.  All of us occasionally need someone to help us become better at what we do.  That should be the end goal of correction.  All of us make mistakes.  Avoiding the corrective procedure keeps the organization from being all it can be. Good leaders use correction to improve people and the organization.

Here are 7 aspects of healthy correction:

Relationship
Corrective actions should start here.  It’s hard to correct people effectively if you don’t have a relationship with them.  Using authority without an established relationship may work in a bureaucratic organization, but not in a team environment.  Relationship building should begin before the need for correction.

Respect
Never condemn the person.  As soon as correction becomes more personal than practical, the one being corrected becomes defensive and the leader loses the value of the correction. Focus attention on the actions being corrected and not the person.  (Even if the correction involves a character issue, if you intend to retain the person, you will accomplish more if he or she knows they have your respect.)

Reprimand
Make sure the action being correction is clear and the person knows what they did wrong.  Don’t wait until the problem is too large to restore the person to the team.  Even though protecting the relationship is important, the person doesn’t need to leave still clueless that there is a problem.

Refocus
In addition to telling the person what he or she did wrong, help them learn from their mistakes.   Spend time discussing how the person can improve in the area of performance being corrected.

Restore
Make sure the person being corrected knows you still believe in their abilities and that you have faith they can do the job for which they are responsible.  Correction is never easy to accept, but the goal should be to improve things following the corrective period.  People will lose heart for their work if they do not think their work is still valued.

Reinforce
Correction can be a valuable time for the team member and organization if used appropriately.  It should be a learning time for the leader and the person being corrected.  Use this as a time to remind the team member of the culture, vision, goals and objectives of the organization, as necessary to improve the team member’s performance. The leader should consider how he or she can improve to help the team member improve.

Replace
Some people simply aren’t a fit for the team. The problem could be them or the team.  Making the call to replace a team member is hard, but sometimes necessary to continue the progress of the organization.   The sooner this call is made the better it will be for everyone.  (If it reaches this point, the leader should spend time evaluating what went wrong with the relationship…was it the person, the organization, or the leader?)

Leaders, do you avoid correction?  Are you using it for the good of the organization and the people on your team?

What would you add to my list?

There is a big difference the way you lead someone who wants to be led and how you lead someone who wants to be a leader.

It requires a different approach.

The person who wants to be led desires structure. They want to follow the rules. They need someone to tell them how to do what you want done. He or she needs specifics and details, not ambiguities. They stress more during times of uncertainty.

The person who wants to be a leader needs space to dream, freedom to explore, and permission to experiment. He or she desires less direction and more encouragement. They continually need new challenges. They get bored easily.

There is nothing wrong with either person. Most teams need both types of team members. Know your team.

Do you see the difference? Which are you? What would you add to my descriptions?

Read THIS POST and THIS POST for similar thought processes.

I have found 7 to be a popular number with blog posts. This week I even did an experiment. I posted four posts in a row with 7 principles in each. It prove to be a very successful week, with more interaction than usual. Seven is a Biblical number of completion. I’m not suggesting there is something to that trivia here, but I do believe there is something at work here. What do you think?

Here are my 15 most popular “7″ posts:

7 Ways I Protect My Heart and Marriage from an Affair

7 Reasons You Need Social Media as a Christian Leader

7 Dangers of Leading in Isolation

7 Actions for the Times God is Silent

7 Pieces of Wisdom for the Disappointments of Life

7 Reactions to Fatigue (What Happens When I’m Tired)

7 Tips for Healthy Marriage Communication

7 Ways to Keep a Leader on Your Team

7 Reasons Leaders Quit Your Organization

7 Values Of Brokenness

7 Tips For Surviving The Terrible Threes Of Parenting

7 Ways To Recover After A Major Failure Or Mistake

7 Things I Should Have Taught My Sons

7 Top Needs of a Wife

7 False Beliefs of the Leadership Vacuum

The titles speak for themselves. Which do you need to read or read again?

Do you think there is any significance to the number 7 in a post?

BTW, Thanks so much for being a reader of this blog. You can always help by linking to this post on your site, adding it to your reader, or telling your friends.

So maybe “need” is too strong of a word. Perhaps you can do everything I will suggest as reasons to be involved with social media without social media (Although I would question how well you can these days) but I don’t think anyone could argue social media is not a large part of our culture today. Because it is such an influence, today’s successful leaders, including those in the church, must figure out how to make it work for them and make their ministries even more successful.

For me that currently means Twitter, Facebook and blogging. Not everyone has to do all three, but I have found them to each have unique benefits in my ministry.  (I have written about how I use these tools HERE and HERE.)

Here are 7 reasons you should be using social media:

Networking with people who are making a difference. I get to interact with and learn from church leaders who have already walked where I am walking. Most of these connections would never be possible apart from social media.

Go where people are. The number one way my church contacts me is through Facebook. The people I’m trying to reach and minister to spend more time on Facebook than they do in the church on Sunday.

You’ll meet great friends. I have met some of my closest friends in ministry these days through social media. No, we don’t keep the friendship to an exclusive online friendship, but the friendships did begin online.

Keep updated on breaking news. Although I have limited time to keep up with all the latest fads, by following the right people and blogs through Twitter, I know quickly what is taking place around the world in the fields of politics, technology, and ministry.

Wise use of time. People think the opposite is true, but the reality is that social media makes me more effective. I have a heart to influence people for good. As pastor of a large church I’m expected to minister to large groups of people. Social media allows me to make a difference more efficiently.  You are reading this, aren’t you?  (BTW, if my social media activity is influencing you, I’d love to hear about it.)

Breaks down barriers between people. It seems harder to get to know people today. They are more guarded and less trusting. When I Tweet (which updates my Facebook) People get a glimpse into the real me and I become more personal to the people in my church and online community. In turn, people are more likely to allow me into the deepest parts of their life when they see me as authentic and approachable.

Stay current with culture. Like it or not, culture determines much of how we are able to reach people. People are doing social media. To continue to allow culture to work for Kingdom grown rather than against it we must remain current with social media.

That’s some of my reasoning. Why and how do you use social media?