POST UPDATE: I answered questions about this post HERE.

We announced today that Grace Community Church will become a multi-site church early in January 2011.  We will be one church meeting in two locations.  We are excited about what God is doing through us to reach people with the message of the grace of Jesus Christ.   (If you missed this message, be sure to check it out online HERE.  It should be up by Monday morning.)

Our second location will be at Kenwood High School.  Kenwood is ideally located in the center of an even larger population base than our current location.  In addition, Kenwood has an identical footprint to the school in which we currently meet.   It is closer to the military base, so has a larger presence of soldiers and families.  The principal is anxious for us to begin. We couldn’t be more excited about becoming a part of the Kenwood community.

If your church is currently doing multiple locations, we would love to learn from you.  What’s something you have learned that we need to be aware of before we begin?

Will you pray for us in this important transition?

If you are leading a team or organization, I have some simple advice for you. This is based on years of experience. I have been guilty of trying to lead on my own. I once had the false idea that I had to lead independent of others and that if I shared my struggles with other leaders, somehow I would be less of a leader. I felt like a sign of strength was to prove that I didn’t need help, but, as many of you know, this is never true for any leader.

Even still, I have been in organizations where there was no one on my team I felt I could confide in with a weakness. If this is your case, or especially if you are the only leader:

Always have a group of people you trust ready to assist you; to be your sounding board.

This isn’t just a leadership principle…this is a good life principle…

Here are a few things to look for in a person for a group like this:

• One who has been where you are…
• One who is going where you are going…
• One who will not judge you….
• One who can keep a confidence…
• One you would follow their leadership

Are you leading alone? Be careful…you may want to find someone who can be there at the appropriate time…Don’t be afraid to recruit those people into your life. Chances are good they equally need that connection.

Does this post resonate with your story? Is there a time that it did?

Winners of these two books:

Joshua L. Henry

Andrew Long

Email me your address and I’ll send you the book.

Attend any leadership, management or business school and you will likely hear the name Peter Drucker.  Drucker is considered one of the leading influencers of millions of business, political and church leaders.

Today I’m thrilled to give away two copies of The Drucker Lectures.  (You can read more about this book by clicking on the name.)  This hard back book features more than 30 talks from one of management’s most important figures.  These speeches contain some of his most valuable insights, but had never been published in book form—until now.

Do you want to improve your leadership?  Then you should have this in your library.  Today I’m giving away two (2) copies.

For a chance to win:

1. Retweet this post.  Make sure you use @RonEdmondson and the post link in your Tweet so I can insure you did this step. You could Tweet “Free Friday’s Peter Drucker Lectures from @RonEdmondson http://bit.ly/9BZc3m “
2. Comment on this post with your name.  Make sure you use an accurate email address and/or leave your Twitter name.

I will choose two (2) winners tonight using Random.org.

Best wishes and happy leadership!

When I was in school I had a love-hate relationship with math. I loved doing math, working to find an answer to a problem, but I hated having to solve it with the teacher’s methods. On tests I would do poorly if the teacher made us “show our work”. I could get the right answers, but using my own systems. I realize the teacher’s need to make sure I wasn’t cheating and that I knew how to think through a process but I wanted to invent my own process. The years I was on the math team and did best were when I had teachers who allowed me the freedom to do it my way.

Successful leaders understand this principle as it relates to organizational success. If you want creative team members to be energized towards progress the leader must allow team members to develop their own systems and strategies for attaining them. When you allow people to script the “how” they are more motivated to complete a task. Creative people especially need space to create.  They need to have input into the process of completing the vision of the team or organization.

Is your team stalled? Perhaps the system is too defined; too restrictive to allow changes and creativity. Try handing out some freedom passes. Hold team members accountable for progress, but allow them freedom to choose the process.

What about you…do you desire more structure or less structure to do your best work?

I was talking with a 25 year old pastor recently. He is frustrated with the church where he serves. He was brought to the church because they wanted him to help the church grow again, but they see him as too young to make decisions on his own. They won’t take his suggestions. They consistently undermine his attempts to lead. They expect him to speak each week and visit the sick, but they won’t let him make any changes that he feels need to be made. It has made for a very miserable situation and he feels helpless to do anything about it. He’s ready to quit and the situation is negatively impacting every other area of his life.

It wasn’t the first time I have heard a story such as this. I hear it frequently from young leaders in churches and the business world. I didn’t want to be the one to tell him, but I didn’t want to mislead him either. The bottom line in this young pastor’s situation:

He is the pastor of the church but not the leader.

(Of course I’ll get kickback from those who want to remind me that Jesus is the leader of the church. I couldn’t agree more, but He does use people to lead His work and this pastor is not the one.)

Perhaps you share this young leader’s dilemma. If no one is following your attempt to lead it could be because:

• You haven’t been given authority to lead…
• You haven’t assumed the responsibility you’ve been given…
• No one is leading in the organization…

If this is your situation, you have a few options as I see it:

• You can live with the power structure in place and complete the role within the authority you’ve been given…
• You can fight the power structure, lining up supporters, building a coalition in your corner…and be prepared to win or lose…
• You can figure out how to “lead up”…build a consensus for leadership, confront where needed, win influence and the right to lead…even sometimes learning to lead people who don’t want to be led…(read THIS POST)
• You can leave…

Think through these options and see which feels best in your situation. Every situation is unique and this post is not an attempt to solve your problem; perhaps if anything it can help identify what the problem is in your unique circumstance. I would say, however, that if you are miserable now and things are not improving that you shouldn’t wait long without doing something. Life is short and many have left the ministry because of situations like this. Don’t be a casualty. Address the problem!

One final thought, don’t handle a situation like this alone. Reach out to someone you trust, probably outside the church or organization; someone who has more experience in situations like this than you have. And, don’t let the stress from this destroy your family or personal health. If you need additional help processing next steps send me an email.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were given the responsibility to lead without the power to do so? What did you do?

(I might suggest some of these church leaders read THIS POST or THIS POST.)

I’m exploring options…thinking through some ways that I can invest in the current and future leadership of the church.  One of the most common themes these days among leaders I admire is to start a coaching network, basically as a way to “coach” a small group of leaders for a determined period of time.  I’ve never been one to copy what everyone else is doing, but I don’t want to miss opportunities either.

So I’m curious…would you help me by answering a few questions?

Have you ever been part of a coaching network?

If so, was it beneficial?  How?

For what reasons would you most want or need coaching today?

What do you think is missing now in the world of coaching networks?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions, comments, etc.

Thanks for your assistance.

It’s a strange phenomenon…I’ve seen people serve in leadership roles who I didn’t think were the most qualified to lead, yet they are leading well and people are following. And, many times, they are achieving great results…

The reason is not their abilities as much as the way they have positioned or presented themselves to a group of followers.

The opposite is equally true. I have seen people who have positions where they are to be the leader but no one seems to be following.

That’s because of one principle of leadership:

Leaders posture themselves as leaders…

• They seem to be in control or they take control…
• They aren’t afraid to take a risk…
• They are willing to go first…
• They have battle-scarred hands from life experience…
• They are still dreaming, when everyone else is settling for mediocrity..
• They have the latest information…
• They appear to have a plan…
• They have impeccable character and integrity…
• They hold a big vision…

You may not have all the answers, you may even be fooling yourself at times, but if you are postured to lead…others will follow…

Consider your leadership posture…would you want to follow you?

What do you look for in a person you will consider following?

I realize there is room for debate and even disagreement on this Friday discussion post. I decided when I began this series that I would not shy away from issues only because they may appear controversial. My criteria is really issues I’m wrestling with personally or have a special interest in the discussion. Today’s post fits that category.  I put this off for a couple weeks before I posted it, because I’m not trying to encourage division in the church, but this is really something I’m wrestling through.  I’d appreciate your input. (I think we can disagree on this issue and still be partners in Kingdom-building!)

Should churches be comparing numbers of attendance with other churches?

Recently I’ve read controversy over the recent “fastest growing” and “largest” churches article published in Outreach Magazine. I admit, I read the article and I was encouraged by it and the stories of some of the churches. To this point, I have chosen not to submit our numbers, even though we would easily qualify in the fastest growing category. (I share that now only to illustrate that this is not an issue of bitterness…one of the counter arguments I have heard people say.)

Recently I tweeted that we had our largest non-Easter attendance and instantly people wanted to know the number. Most conversations with pastors start with a discussion of number. Keep in mind, I’ve posted before that the spirit of competition is not always a bad thing, even in the church. (Read those posts HERE and HERE.)

I’ve heard counting attendance numbers compared to 2 Samuel 24 where David wrongly counted the fighting men. At the same time, I’ve heard others counter that there is a whole book named “Numbers” and that most churches count their offering. (True that!)

So, my question remains: Should churches be comparing numbers of attendance with other churches?

What’s the value? What’s the harm? Is it good or bad? What’s your opinion?

I’d love for you to add to the discussion.

Here are 10 random things you should know about pastors….these are true for me, but I suspect they may be for your pastor too:

The temptations you face…I face…

The larger the church gets…the less I know about anything…

If you tell me something on Sunday morning…you probably should back it up with an email to remind me…

Pastors, does this list reflect you in any way? What would you add?

I get lots of emails asking how we do certain things as a church. I usually figure that when several people are asking the same question that it represents a larger audience wanting to know the same answers. This post is an example of that thought.

Recently I was asked what suggestions I have for a church planning to start meeting in a school facility. Grace Community Church has met in our high school for three years now and it has been a blessing to us and the school, from feedback I have received. Here are 7 suggestions for churches meeting in a school. Most of these are more philosophy than actions, but with them as our paradigm it helps direct our actions.

Grow volunteers – Being in a borrowed facility forces the church to rely on lots of volunteer labor to set up and tear down each week. This can be stressful on people, but it also creates an opportunity to raise up new volunteer leadership. Our church would never happen without the countless hours of donated time, but in the process volunteers have sharpened their leadership skills and realized the joy of investing in God’s Kingdom and seeing the results it brings.

Love the school – We support the school we are in more than just on Sunday morning. We support their activities, we attend their ballgames, and we try to meet needs the school has as we are made aware of them.

Realize it’s not a rental situation – You may be paying rent, but more than renting a space you are borrowing a facility that has another intended purpose. We realize that the school building’s primary purpose is to educate children during the week. We know we are an added burden to the facility. We see it as a win/win for our school, but we don’t take it for granted that we are secondary in importance at the school.

Be a blessing – At the end of our time in the school, whenever that may come, our goal is that we will actually be missed by the school…and not just for the money we bring to the table. We have as a goal to be a blessing to the school. With that as a goal and mindset, it forces us to find ways to help the school outside of the money we pay for usage.

Don’t interrupt school – We respect the facility as a place for education and we never try to use our influence at the school to trump a school activity. We know we are a secondary use and so we gladly bow out if a school situation arises. Our school doesn’t do much on Sundays, and if it did that may create problems, but the few times there has been a Sunday conflict we have tried to be accommodating to the school’s needs more than our own. We would rather be inconvenienced than for them to be because of us.

View your money as a contribution - It changes the perspective of our staff and key leaders when we see our money going to make the education process better, not just as a rental line item on our income statement. Schools are always struggling to fund adequate resources and we think our money helps. That makes writing checks so much more pleasant!

Acknowledge critical players – The relationships you have with school officials is critical to making any agreement work. There are some people who make meeting in a school a positive or negative experience. That may include school district officials, the school administration, teachers, and custodians. We especially are sensitive to the teachers who teach in areas where we meet in the school, because we realize we are sharing space with them. Our experience is that the custodian plays a large role in our success in the school, so we try to respect and show appreciation to them.

Have you been a part of a church meeting in a school? What did you do to make the arrangement work?