I love organizational leadership as a subject and I am happy to serve on a healthy team. It’s amazing how many church leaders I know that say their team is not healthy.  Recently I started wondering why it is that I claim our team is healthy and it led me to this post.

Here, in my opinion, are 10 elements of a healthy organization/team:

• A shared vision is held by all team members.
• Team members and their individual ideas are equally valued.
• Leadership development is a part of the strategy.
• The organization readily embraces change and risk taking is encouraged.
• Team members are continually energized and encouragement flows freely.
• It’s a fun place to hang out…people enjoy their work and relationships are deeper than just the professional environment.
• Mistakes are considered part of the learning process.
• The structure doesn’t limit growth, but provides healthy boundaries.
• There is a freedom to offer constructive criticism, even of top leadership, without fear of retribution.
• Conflict is not discouraged, but used to make the team better.

What would you add to the list?

Do you serve on a healthy team?

Yesterday I posted about the principle that letting go of responsibilities, even for the control freak leader like me, actually improves the organization.  You can read that post HERE.

Obviously, when you address the principle of letting go, which could also be called delegation, it opens a huge question for those wired as completers.  The question is: HOW? How do you let go of responsibility when you are wired so heavily towards not doing so?

With that question in mind, here are 4 “Easy” Steps to Delegation:

Identify – Find something that would be better delegated, either because you aren’t as skilled as others, don’t have adequate time to commit to it, or have lost interest.

Match – Find the right person/s for the responsibility based on passion, experience, and follow through capabilities.  This can be volunteer or paid, but pick people that will do what they say they will do and that you trust, otherwise you will constantly be looking over their shoulder. (Please don’t say there is no one to trust in your organization. If that’s the case, you either need to change organizations or change the leader…just saying.)

Release – This is the “letting go” part. Few leaders really do this well.  Knowing this is the difficult part, you should read THIS POST and THIS POST and THIS POST for more on this process.  You must give up your right to control.

Follow Up – If you are the overall leader, even when you delegate you have some responsibility.  Set a reminder on your calendar to periodically follow up with the person, but stay out of their way as they complete the assignment.

I realize it’s not easy for some to let go of (delegate) responsibility.  It comes with discipline and practice.   One way to improve at this is to consider the overall purposes and goals of the organization, recognizing that they can better be attained through delegation, and allow accomplishing them to be the leader’s principal responsibility.  When the drive towards completing is aimed towards a bigger vision goal that includes delegating, letting go to achieve greater success receives more motivation.

How are you at delegating?  What tips do you have to be better at letting others take over some of your responsibility?

 
Letting go of responsibility is not something that comes natural for me.

I score high on Command in the StrengthsFinders assessment.

I have to discipline myself to let go…

And still…if no progress is taking place…I will make something happen…I promise.

The problem is that when I take over and refuse to let others in the organization lead…even at the risk that they will not complete it on my time schedule or the way I might have done it:

• I keep myself from doing other things
• I fail to provide growth opportunities for others.
• I limit the organization from reaching it’s full potential

Leaders, if you believe in the concept of teamwork…sometimes you have to let go and let others take the lead.

What do you need to let go of and quit trying to control?

I know…I know…it’s hard to do. Leave me a comment…It will help hold you accountable.

(To read my StrengthsFinder, click HERE.  For more on the subject of delegation, click HERE AND HERE.)

Yesterday I started a conversation about ministry evaluation. I was making the point that because of the rapid growth we have experienced at Grace Community Church the last 4 and half years, we may not know it if there were problems within our structure. (You can read and discuss the content of that post HERE. You probably need to read that post to understand this one.)

I think where I have landed, at least for now, is that bigger than the issue of evaluation, is the issue of continuance. The fact is that I really do believe growth is occurring in individual lives, not just in the total numbers of people. We are accomplishing our objective to “make growing disciples of Jesus Christ”. I still want to consider ways to validate that belief, and I have some ideas I’m working on there, but the key word for me now is sustainability. I want us to be able to continue doing what we’ve been doing.

This week I emailed the staff this question:

If you were to disappear, how would your ministry continue to thrive at the level it is thriving today, and even improve? What is your plan for sustainment?

My first thoughts are that as the church continues to grow we may need to learn to:

• Delegate faster – To spread the workload
• Broaden our information base – Get more ideas on the table…more thinkers.
• Take even greater risks – in people and resources…
• Prepare more leaders – Through leadership development in the church, not just among the staff.

These are just initial thoughts. It takes me weeks to work through thoughts most times. I will encourage us to discuss these thoughts as a staff in the weeks to come. Thankfully, we have an amazing team of leaders and they are better thinkers than me most days. My personal goal is to see that the energy, vision, and momentum they have brought to our church continues.

What do you think? Do you see the issues here for us as a relatively new, fast-growing organization? I would love your input. What thoughts does yesterday’s and today’s posts trigger about your organization?

How does your church or organization plan for sustainment? Or does it?

If you serve on a well-organized team, then your role is vital to the success of the organization’s mission. If you do not pull your own weight, the entire team suffers because of it, and ultimately the entire organization suffers. Healthy teams are dependent on every member of the team.

For example, Ben Reed is director of our small group ministry at Grace Community Church. His position is critical to realizing the vision of Grace, which is to “make growing followers of Jesus Christ”. The church’s strategy for accomplishing the vision is three-fold. We attempt to attract people to a weekly worship service gathering, then connect them to a small group for Bible study and fellowship, and finally to send them out to serve others. Ben Reed is responsible for implementing the second part of that strategy. If he doesn’t do his job well, the entire vision is in jeopardy. (Thankfully, he’s doing an excellent job!)

Frankly, if you are part of a team and your role is not critical to its success, you are most likely just an expense and not an asset, and you are either bored or lazy, depending on your work ethic. Are you honestly doing your part well?  Would your team agree?

Think for just a moment…if you don’t do your part well, what hole will it leave in the organization? What changes do you need to make in the way you are performing your work to become critical to your organization?

On a similar note, do you feel you serve on a healthy team?

People typically tend to hire someone they can easily get along with, relate to, etc. While that is a good practice in many ways, often that intent translates into hiring clones of the person doing the hiring. Before long, as the organization grows, it is full of similar interest people attempting to reach the vision. While that may sound good in principle, it actually becomes a very limiting system. It is actually variety on a team that stretches the team to reach new heights.

Personally speaking, while hiring people like me may have been my tendency in years past, the older I get the more I am concentrating on my weaknesses.  I know my strengths. I need to know what’s holding me back from being all God wants me to be. These days I want to surround myself with people that stretch me.

Leaders, as you are building your team, look for people that are not like you. Don’t hire yourself…hire someone who completes you. Hire people that take you out of your comfort zone, maybe even conflict with your personality a little. In the end, it will make your organization better.

We are not a very formal organization at Grace Community Church. As our church and staff have grown, however, we have recognized the need for more structure. I wrote about that fact HERE and HERE. I try to keep an open door policy of leadership and frequently ask for input and try to provide feedback. I realize, however, that communication is one of the areas I continually need to improve upon, especially as our church grows larger.

In December, I introduced a more formal evaluation process for the people that report to me. My intent was not to fill out an official form for a company record. I understand the need for that at times, especially in disciplinary actions, but currently our staff is functioning well. We are working hard, practicing healthy teamwork, and accomplishing much. Someday we may be forced to a more “corporate” environment, but for today, the informality seems to work.

My goals with this year’s evaluations were to encourage the team, understand where we are going in each area of ministry, offer challenges and areas for improvement where needed and get feedback on the expectations for my role in each person’s success next year. I gave each person the questions I would be asking 10 days in advance and then allotted 2 hours for each person. I closed the meetings by sharing some of the things I am personally excited about in the new year.

Here are the questions:

• Do you like your job?/Do you enjoy what you are doing?
• What are your major objectives for next year?
• Review major expenses for the coming year in your area.
• Do you have the systems in place to accomplish the objectives you have set for your area?
• What can I do to help?   How much do you need of my time this year?
• What is missing from our structure to help you or the church continue to grow as a healthy church?
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
• What questions do you have of me about the church…or about my current thought process?

I then told them I would be sharing individual encouragements and challenges about their area of ministry.

This is not at all a perfect system or one that I even recommend. It’s a start for us towards a more structured evaluation process, without becoming too formal.

How does your organization do it’s evaluation process? Would you prefer a more formal or more informal process?

I am a macro-manager. I like to lead leaders, so I try to paint the big picture for a team and release team members to do their work carrying out the mission of an organization in his or her own way. You can read some of my philosophies HERE and HERE.

There are times, however, where more micro-management is needed by the senior leadership. This does not mean the senior leadership should take over management of the team or bypass the team leader, but it does mean the senior leadership needs to be more attentive to the team or team leader during these times. More coaching, encouraging or correction may be needed for a time. (I am using the terms team and team leader, but that could be committee, department, or area, depending on your organization’s terminology.)

Times such as:

1. When the team or team leader is new to the organization
2. When a team or team leader has been severely crippled by injury or stress
3. When a team leader leaves the team suddenly or unexpectedly
4. When a team is tackling a new objective, critical to the organization and the team leader is overwhelmed or unqualified
5. When a team is in a state of transition or change
6. When the team leader’s continuance with the organization is in jeopardy or question
7. When the team is underperforming in relation to other teams in the organization

The important thing is that the end goals and objectives of the organization must be reached, so at certain critical times in the life of an organization, a leader must step in and insure the vision is accomplished. When life returns to normal, the leader can return to being a macro manager.

Have you had to alter your leadership style for a specific time-period or circumstance?

For more thoughts on leadership, click HERE.

A couple times a year we do an extended weekend staff retreat at Grace Community Church.  This weekend we are headed to Nashville for an all staff planning retreat.  An added twist is that our spouses will join us on Friday night for fellowship and then on Saturday morning for a special brainstorming session.  (We think they may have better ideas than we do!)

I was reminded in planning for this retreat of an important leadership principle:

Some of the best ideas for your organization…

Are probably not at a conference…

They are not in a book…

They are not even at your competition or sister organization…

While these are great places to learn new ways of doing things…

Some of the best ideas for your organization…

Are with the people who know your organization best…

The people already on your team…

Your challenge is to draw those ideas out of them….

(The fact is they may have learned their new ideas from a conference book, or from someone in another organization, but the collective knowledge is critical to moving your vision forward.)

How are you capturing the best ideas for your organization?

For more thoughts on innovation click HERE.

One contrast between a manager and a leader is that good managers enjoy stability…

The best managers love systems that work…

…While leaders love chaos…

They may not admit it, because it sounds somewhat morbid, but leaders love when things are just a little messy…

The truth is leaders love fixing a problem…

Leaders love leading a charge through adversity…

Leaders love a challenge…

It’s not that leaders don’t want things that work well…

Leaders just thrive on change…on adrenaline…

Since, leaders are heads up more than heads down…

…And tend to see the big picture over the details…

Real leaders thrive best when everyone else is looking for a leader.

He or she loves figuring out solutions to different situations….

Leaders love forming a new strategy…

Leaders love shaping a team through rough waters…

Leaders love attaining those things everyone else said couldn’t be attained…

Leaders love to lead…

In fact, if things get too comfortable…well…I wrote about that concept HERE.

Considering this observation, are you more of a leader or a manager? (Read THIS POST for more on this subject)

Be honest leaders: Do you agree? (Feel free to disagree.)