I was honored this week when Jesse Phillips with CatalystSpace blog called me a “seasoned leader”. I feel I still have more to learn than I have learned, but it did cause me to reflect on some of the experiences I have had and people that have influenced me in my leadership ability.

Here are a few of those experiences and people that quickly come to my mind:

When I was in high school I served as student body president of a large, new school. My principal gave me freedom to do things most students never get to do. We wrote the student government constitution, organized clubs, hosted assemblies, and had a load of fun doing so. (I saw my principal recently and thanked him again for his influence. He taught me to release responsibility to people early and be willing to take a risk on others.)

I worked full-time all the way through college. As a sophomore, I became a retail department manager of a large store. Most days I was in over my head, but one of my colleagues was an older, mature, retired businessman. Although he technically “worked” for me, he taught me more about leading people than I could learn in college. (I learned to listen to those with more wisdom than me.)

I remained in retail after college, completed a management-training program for Belk Stores Services, and then served in several positions over a few year period. When my family began to grow, I decided to look for better working hours and so I became an independent insurance agent for Farmers Insurance Group. I was extremely successful in this venture and learned the principles of building something from nothing, marketing, and managing cash flow. (Funny how much those skills are needed in church planting!)

An opportunity to buy a small manufacturing company came available, and I convinced my wife to join me. We closed out successful careers to chase a dream. If it could go wrong, it did, and we sold within 5 years to the first serious buyer to come along. Through that negative experience, however, I learned huge principles of taking risks, leading under pressure, managing stress, to not run when things are difficult, and ways to overcome obstacles.  (Failure sometimes teaches us our biggest lessons.)

When God called me into ministry, He had me begin with nothing, then quickly sent me to an old, historic church seeking to rebuild. That rebuilding experience led to my first church planting type environment and it was there God instilled in me a passion for church growth and ultimately the desire for church planting.  I left this church to become involved  my first church plant and, a few years later, God called me to plant the church where I am today. Today God is still allowing the experiences and people in my life to shape my leadership abilities.

Where did you learn leadership? Who are the people and what are the experiences that have shaped the leader you are today?

For some of my leadership principles, click HERE.

As a former business owner, I recognize and appreciate good customer service.  On our recent vacation to the Southwest, being free from the normal distractions of work, I was even more in tune with the good and bad of customer service we received.  Perhaps it was because I was looking more closely than normal, but I honestly believe we saw extremes.

One positive extreme was the customer service treatment we received during our Enterprise car rental experience at the Albuquerque International airport.  From check-in to the exit gate, we received exceptional service.  When we returned the car to the airport, we had an equally positive experience. The employee that waited on us actually remembered us from when we picked the car up over a week earlier and pleasantly asked specific questions about our trip.  Overall the staff was extremely quick and painless, but extremely efficient, and very friendly, yet highly professional.

I like to pass along compliments, so I said; “This is probably the best customer service I’ve ever received during a rental car process.”

He proudly responded with a quick smile, “Our agency was number one in customer service last year in the whole country!” Then he went onto say, “We have a reputation to live up to now.”

It made me wonder this question:

If you had to compare yourself or your team to others in customer service, efficiency or excellence how are you doing? What reputation have you created?

I certainly plan to consider that question to the customer service visitors receive at Grace Community Church

(As I was writing this post I discovered a great similar thought process in Brad Lomenick’s post 5 Points On Great Customer Service.)

For some of my own thoughts on how to accomplish excellence in service, check out THIS POST and the category Innovation.

Martha Edwards loves her job.  Martha is a funologist. That’s her title.

Martha was our concierge at the Sedona Real Inn and Suites in Sedona, Arizona during our recent vacation. She helped us pick a restaurant and gave us some quick travel tips, in between helping dozens of other people in person and on the phone, all within thirty minutes before her quitting time for the day.  It was obvious it had been a busy day, she was surely tired, but you couldn’t tell it from her disposition.   Everyone she helped received the same excellent service.

I am confident Martha is a competent, skilled, and efficient concierge, with a great natural bubbly personality.  She is a true professional in the hospitality industry, but I do not believe that is what makes her so good at what she does.  I really think her greatest asset is that she obviously loves what she does for a living.  She enjoys her work.

Do you?

I love the staff at Grace Community Church.  The truth is we are not always the most efficient group of people.  Sometimes we miss deadlines, forget schedules, miss opportunities, and probably even waste valuable time just goofing around, and honestly, that bothers me if I allow it to, because I’m wired for efficiency.  (Even though I’m sometimes the chief goof-ball.)  Unfortunately, there are times that I have to be the bad guy and call us to task; partly because of my wiring and partly because of my position in the organization, but the plain truth is that in the four years of our existence as a church, we have been very successful working together.

Watching Martha enjoy her work so much helped me understand one reason our staff is successful.  WE ENJOY WHAT WE DO…and we have fun doing it!  We actually like the people we work with (most days).  I cannot help, but think that plays a large part in our success as an organization.  Obviously I cannot and would not dismiss the God-thing that has taken place among us, but I think one of those God-things He has done was bringing the people together He has as a staff.

Again, do you enjoy what you do?  Do you like the people with whom you work?  If not, should a change be in your future?

(Okay, I know that’s a tough and perhaps tender question for some of you, but why not start finding and making hard decisions to improve the situation?)

I spent most of my career in the business world. I was always extremely active and in leadership roles in church and other civic activities, but I earned my living in a for-profit environment. During those years, as an outsider looking in, I believed non-profits had so much to learn from the world of business.

Having spent the last 7 years in full-time ministry, I realize my perception wasn’t completely accurate. I still agree most churches and other non-profits can learn business principles from the corporate world, but now I realize the for-profit world can equally learn from the world of non-profits.

From my experience in the two worlds, here are a few examples where we can learn from each other:

Non-profits can learn from for-profits:

• Business management
• Structure and systems
• Strategy
• Performance evaluation
• Marketing

When it comes to making a profit and producing results, the for-profit world has mastered the task…or at least attempts to do so. Survival and success in this world depends on balancing everything from cash flow to employee performance results in an effort to show a profit to the bottom line.

For-profits can learn from non-profits:

• Purpose
• Mission
• Values
• People-building
• Social responsibility

In the non-profit world, the emphasis is on achieving the purpose of the organization. The focus of attention is not necessarily (actually not usually) on business principles as much as human principles. Success is determined more in accomplishing a mission than on realizing a financial gain. Non-profits advance people over profit.

I see a win/win situation when these two worlds collide. For-profits can be even more profitable when they invest in people and work towards the vision, even sometimes at the expense of immediate profits. Non-profits can continue their mission more effectively when they practice healthy business principles.

My questions is: How do we get these two worlds together more?

Are you currently in the non-profit or the for-profit world? Have you experienced both? Do you see other ways we can learn from each other?

I love big vision. I love those who help accomplish big vision.  Recently I’ve been inspired by the energies of The Change Group.  They are true Kingdom builders.

If your organization needs help with financial management or with bookkeeping services, consider talking about outsourcing those needs with my friends at The Change Group.

For one monthly fee organizations can receive:

• Quarterly CFO Consulting
• Monthly Financial Dashboard
• Weekly Bookkeeping

I posted HERE about two things every organization must have.  The Change Group can completely take care of one of these two needs, allowing you to concentrate on accomplishing your vision without stressing over details that must be done.   This is not only a cost saving, but also an efficient way of handling your church, small business or non-profit’s financial needs.

Check out my friends at The Change Group today by clicking HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you bringing new ideas to your organization, church, or the place where you work?

You see things no one else sees…

You have experiences and connections no one else has…

You have a unique perspective on life…

You surely have opinions…

Don’t keep them to yourself…

Use them for the good of the team…

What could you be contributing that you’ve been holding back because of fear or lack of self-confidence?

Start sharing today…

I love Southwest’s magazine.  I always find interesting articles to kill time during flights.  This month was no exception.  I am glad that let you bring these magazines home. (They do, don’t they?)

Do you feel like you have a stressful career?

According to a survey by careercast.com highlighted in Spirit Magazine, here are the jobs that send workers home most exhausted:

1. Firefighter
2. Surgeon
3. Senior corporate executive
4. Police officer
5. Roustabout
6. Sailor
7. General practice physician
8. Psychiatrist

I don’t know that I qualify, but if I can be considered a “Senior Corporate Executive” with our church, then the article helps explain why I seem to have so much stress in my work these days.  I realize I am a pastor, but lately, with the growth of our church, I seem to do play administrative roles than spiritual roles.  Read posts about that change in my role HERE and HERE.

I know a few careers I was surprised were not on the list.  These jobs would stress me:

• Homemaker
• School teacher
• Lion trainer
• Daycare worker
• Soldier
• Small business owner
• Professional chess (or poker) player
• Santa Claus

Is your career on the list?  If not, do you think it should be?  I guess at any given time it could be our career on the list.   What do you think?

Do you harness the greatest power in your organization?  The best assets of your church, business or non-profit never appear on your balance sheet.

The truth is that any organization is only as good as the people within it.  Take the greatest idea and put the wrong people behind it and little progress will be realized.   With the right people, even average ideas can achieve tremendous results.

Are you taking the advantages of human capital?

Are you relying on the knowledge, insight and experience of everyone on your team to make the organization better?

Here are a few quick ways to capitalize on the people value of your team:

Brainstorm – Have assigned times periodically where everyone on the team gets to give input into the organization’s future.

Allow mistakes – Create an environment where team members are willing to take risks without fear of repercussion if things go wrong.

Ask questions – Genuinely seek help from those around you.  Recognize the fact that others may know more than you know about a particular subject.

Don’t pre-define – If you want help solving a problem or planning for the future, start with a clean slate.  If the leader always has the answer, team members are less likely to share their input.

Be open to change/new ideas – The leader must genuinely desire the involvement of others.  If team member’s suggestions are never implemented, they eventually will stop sharing them.

How are you currently taking advantage of human capital?

For more ideas on creating an environment of innovation click HERE.

There is one incredibly important characteristic of a successful team or organization. It is inherent and cannot be trained or programmed. With this trait a team can weather the storms of life together. When this is an attribute of an organization, regardless of the struggles it encounters, the vision can be accomplished.

Leaders need to understand the importance of SHARED VALUES…

It could be spiritual belief…it could be a cause…it could be a sense of well-doing…it could be an organizational philosophy or structure or simply the joy of belonging to a certain team, but there is a power of the heart connection among employees that cannot be overlooked as a reason for success in an organization. There is strength in believing in what you do and your role in accomplishing the vision that is more powerful than talent, skills, or sometimes, even product.

Identifying the people who can share the values of your organizational structure is a critical part in hiring and retaining team members. For those wishing to join an organization, an important consideration should be if you share the same values with the people on your team.

Do you recognize the shared values within your organization?

We have had a busy season at Grace Community Church.  Fall is the time of year when most churches ramp up their ministries, which tracks with back-to-school schedules and the change to cooler weather.  Our church has been in a fast growth mode since day one, but we seem to be in a unique place of extraordinary growth right now.  In addition to this growth we are launching new small groups, a college ministry, gearing up for our annual community outreach ministry, and adding a third service, along with numerous other changes occurring this fall, some that we are not ready to talk about yet.  Some days it seems we have just enough energy to get through another week and all our time is focused on the next Sunday.

At our most recent staff meeting, in the midst of making plans for our new third service, I reminded the staff of an important principle. (I hope they were listening.)  During times of significant growth, planning or workload, it is always important to…

…DISIPLINE YOURSELF TO DREAM….

During the busiest times in an organization, when all the team’s energies are focused on getting through a specific project or season, if the team is not disciplined otherwise, because habits form quickly, there is a tendency to continue operating in the day-to-day mode even after the busy season passes. I expanded on that idea in a previous post.  Read that post HERE.

Teams that want to experience long-term growth have to discipline themselves to build dreaming into the system.  Leaders should model innovative thinking during stressful periods within the organization.  Individual team members need to consciously pick their head up from the routines and strategically think further down the road for the organization.

Dreaming keeps momentum flowing forward.  The next great decisions made by the Grace Community Church staff will likely come from our time set aside to dream.

Do you need to set aside time this week just to dream?