Pretend for a moment that this is your scenario…

You are a leader.  You worked hard, experienced some sense of success and now you like where you are in your career. You have finally figured out the system, got the right staff or team, and there are no current problems.  Life is comfortable.

My advice:  Now may be the best time to consider a change.

The fact is that if you are comfortable now, you will likely be bored soon.  Leaders need change, stretching, and an opportunity to improve something to stay excited.

You don’t necessarily have to leave your organization, or even your current position.  You may already be at the top, but you may need to expand your responsibilities.  You may need to dream a new dream.  You may need to challenge yourself outside your comfort zone again.

It’s what keeps leaders motivated!

For more on this thought process, read my previous post: One Contrast Between a Leaders and Managers.

Part of growing an organization is delegating, or getting more people involved in the process of accomplishing the overall goals and objectives of the organization. It cannot be overemphasized that if you want to grow the organization, you must learn to delegate. The part of delegation, however, that many leaders have the hardest time doing is letting go of his or her right to control the work being delegated.

Keep this in mind as you delegate responsibilities to others:

• The work may not happen exactly when you want it to…
• The work may not be done exactly as you would have done it…
• The work may not look exactly as you had envisioned it looking…

If the person you delegate to understands and believes in the overall vision and is willing to carry the project through to completion, letting go of your right to control the outcome of the project may be necessary for delegation to occur.

The best leaders realize he or she can never accomplish everything personally, so he or she is willing to delegate. Ultimately though, there is no delegation without some release of ownership.

For a similar post on this topic, click HERE.

Credibility is important in any leadership position.   If a leader desires followers to willfully work with passion to reach an established vision, then he or she must be trusted.   Credible leaders have followers that share the organization’s values and work hard to achieve them.  When a person’s leadership is not credible, followers are less likely to be team players and will be disloyal to the organization.

Credibility in leadership is primarily established in one of three ways:

Gifted – For a brand new leader, there is sometimes a “gifting” period for credibility, at least by some in the organization.  These people are willing to trust the leader until proven wrong.  This period does not last long.

Borrowed – When a credible leader validates a new or existing leader it can often transfer the trust earned by the credible leader. A retiring pastor, for example, can often validate the incoming pastor who in turn receives instant credibility.  This period of credibility is also temporary.

Earned – Lasting credibility cannot be demanded. It doesn’t come with a title or position. The best type of credibility is gained through time and experience by a leader that has earned it.  This is the kind of credibility that excellent leaders aspire to gain and work hard to protect. It is developed through integrity, consistency and servant leadership.  The truly credible leader spends time investing in others and considers the good of the entire organization when making decisions.

Are you aspiring to be a credible leader?  What characteristics build credibility in your mind?

For more thoughts on organizational leadership, click HERE.

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

…While leaders love chaos…

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

The truth is leaders love fixing a problem…

Leaders love leading a charge through adversity…

Leaders love a challenge…

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 strategy…

Leaders love shaping a team…

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

Leaders love to lead…

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

Do you agree? (Feel free to disagree.)

Over the next few days I will share some of the results of the Leadership Perception Survey I posted recently on my blog. Just so you know, there is no hidden agenda here. Several have asked. I simply believe perception of a situation matters, sometimes as much as reality. In leadership, we must always be aware of another person’s perception and realize that not everyone thinks as we do. That doesn’t mean perception has to alter what we do, certainly not if we are doing the right thing, but perception can play a factor in success and may alter the strategy we use to accomplish our vision. Have you ever heard of marketing? Successful marketing revolves around perception. Understanding other people’s perception is a part of successful leadership also.

Without commentary, here are the first few graphics.

Question: Are you currently a leader?

• Yes 76%
• No 24%

How many total people report to you:

• 0  22%
• 1-10 52%
• 11-25  9%
• 26-100 15%
• 100+  2%

Should the leader be entitled to more vacation or other benefits that the people he or she leads, just because of position?

• Yes  27%
• No  73%

Should a leader have a bigger office than the people he or she leads?

• Yes   30%
• No   70%

Stay tuned for more results.

A friend of mine called recently to discuss his business.  He wants his employees to assume more ownership for their work and take more initiative on their own, without having to be asked to do something.  He wants to lead an organization that produces innovative leaders, not a bunch of managed followers.  Knowing a little about his workplace, I asked him an important question.  “Have you created an environment conducive to produce the kind of employees you say you want?”

The way an organization is structured (often called the DNA of the organization) determines the type of employee it attracts and retains.  An atmosphere that produces innovative leaders, for example, has more to do with the culture of the organization than it does specific programs or activities the organization does. Leaders determine, therefore, whether they will create an environment that can produce innovative leaders or whether they will be an environment that merely produces managed followers.  Here are some general characteristics of those two environments:

One that produces innovative leaders

• More rewarding
• More entrepreneurial
• More freedom
• More encouragement
• More open-minded
• More creative
• More informal
• More changeable
• More risk-taking
• More trusting

One that produces managed followers

• More oversight
• More corporate
• More rules
• More controlling
• More closed-minded
• More defined
• More formal
• More static
• More penalties for failure
• More critical

I realize there are not clear-cut divisions between the two types of environments.  Obviously “more” is a subjective word, but if you apply these broad characteristics to most major corporations you can probably tell which ones attempt to encourage innovation and which encourage a more compliant environment.  If you are a leader, ask yourself which of the two descriptions fits your organization best. Then ask yourself if this is the environment you want to lead.  (If you really want to know the correct answer, let your employees answer a survey anonymously.  You may be surprised at their response.)

What other characteristics would you add to the lists above?

(My next few posts will have further thoughts on this issue, including some specific activities to help foster innovation among your team, but remember, it begins with culture, not activities.)

In any leadership position the leader will receive criticism at some point.  It is virtually impossible to do everything in a way that pleases everyone.  Even Jesus had critics.  It comes with the territory of leadership.

As a leader, I have learned that there are times with the criticism is dead-on and something I need to hear and other times when I need to dismiss it and continue in the direction I feel God has led me to go.  Knowing when to accommodate the critic and when to ignore the criticism is a careful balance leaders face often.  If I give into every critic I will never complete the mission God has called me to do.  If I never listen to critics I will become arrogant and prideful.

Here are some principles I try to remember so I can balance the two extremes:

Learn something from everything – There is usually something that can be learned even from the harshest criticism, if nothing more than better understanding people.

My ultimate calling is to honor and obey Christ – I try to make sure I am pleasing Him above everyone else.

Find my affirmation in the people to whom God has called me to minister – This is a new principle for me, but one I wrote about HERE.

Consider the person offering criticism – A person with a sincere heart for the Kingdom, my ministry and me personally carries a lot more weight with me.

Be willing to humble myself – The fact is I could be wrong and others could be right.  If criticism is warranted I must be willing to alter my position.

Leaders, how do you handle criticism?

I was talking with a friend the other day that is having to make some difficult decisions for his organization that he knows are right and necessary, but he also knows they will be very unpopular and he will most likely lose friendships over the decisions he has to make.  I was able to remind him of something all leaders need to know.

There is sometimes loneliness in leadership that cannot be avoided.  Don’t offer to lead if you are not willing to sometimes stand-alone.

Even in the best team environment there will be times when the direction the organization needs to go involves making decisions, which adversely affect the rest of the team. Consider, for example, some of the hard decisions the United States auto industry is being forced to make to remain viable.  The companies that survive that crisis may be the ones who are willing to make the hardest choices.

There have been times when I have to have hard conversations, correct people who are wrong, force my views on others or follow through on the plan I think is best for the organization, even though it is unpopular, all because I happen to wear the leader hat.  That responsibility should never be abused as an excuse for dictatorship or poor leadership, but loneliness sometimes comes with the territory of being a leader.

I believe in being friends with the people with whom I work.  I consider the people on our staff to be friends. I hope we never hire anyone I could not also claim as a friend.  Part of building a healthy team environment is getting to know team members and building close relationships…friends.

That is the disclaimer statement, because this post is not about working with friends.  Actually this post is the opposite. This post is a warning against working with friends; especially close friends.  Well maybe not a warning, but definitely a caution.

Here are a few cautions when working with or supervising friends:

• Sometimes leaders allow the vision to be sacrificed to protect a friend, but that approach is never good for the organization or the friend. Relationships should not get in the way of accomplishing vision.
• Friendships create a fine line between what is fair for the organization and what is fair for the friend.
• Close friendships within an organization can sometimes cause others in the organization to feel left out of private conversations or inside jokes, creating tension in the working environment.
• When a friend is disciplined or fired it can be difficult for the friend who stays with the organization to continue respecting leadership.
• When a friend is under performing many leaders have a harder time addressing the problem if that worker is a friend.
• Friends sometimes assume unqualified job security.  Some leaders are afraid to fire a person if that person is a friend, but again that approach is never good for the organization or the friend.  There are times when a friend is no longer a good fit for the position or even for the organization.
• If a friend no longer is a fit for the organization and is asked to leave, it can become more difficult to maintain the friendship.

As I said at the start, I love working with friends.  I would not want it any other way.  It is important, however, that friends recognize the risk of working together, knowing that the vision of the organization, at least in the work environment, trumps the friendship.  The bottom line is that doing the best thing for the organization often involves making hard decisions. Leaders should not be held back because of the level of difficulty.

I realize that even this post will create division among readers. Some readers will say that friendships are more important than the vision, but I would disagree.  If the vision is a worthy goal then the vision is worth protecting and friendships should not get in the way.

Have you seen close friendships affect the work environment in a negative way?  Would you rather you did or did not work with friends?

The best life, community and spiritual growth happens at Grace Community Church within the context of our small group ministry.  We have some amazing leaders of our small groups.  I’m always encouraged by their willingness to sacrifice part of them to invest in other people.  I know each of them would say, however, that they receive far more in return than they give up.   Serving others is like that.

Group life helps relationships become more authentic.  It connects people who would otherwise never meet.  It builds friendships for life.  In the three groups we have led since the church started we have found people we now consider family. I cannot imagine our life without them now.  In all my years working in ministry, as a layperson and as a pastor, there is no place where the Acts 2 model of church is displayed any better than within the small group settings that meet in people’s homes.

Group leaders thank you for investing in, leading, loving, encouraging, shaping people to become growing disciples of Jesus Christ.  You are true Kingdom-builders!  Your time and energy helps to make us a better church. Grace Community Church would not be the church we are without you!