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:

1. A shared vision is held by all team members.
2. Team members and their individual ideas are equally valued.
3. Leadership development is a part of the strategy.
4. The organization readily embraces change and risk taking is encouraged.
5. Team members are continually energized and encouragement flows freely.
6. It’s a fun place to hang out…people enjoy their work and relationships are deeper than just the professional environment.
7. Mistakes are considered part of the learning process.
8. The structure doesn’t limit growth, but provides healthy boundaries.
9. There is a freedom to offer constructive criticism, even of top leadership, without fear of retribution.
10. 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?

Many leaders live for years in a state of cluelessness about the real health of the organization they lead, perhaps for all their leadership career. They refuse to solicit feedback, they won’t challenge the status quo, and they believe they are on the top of their leadership game.

The best leaders, however, avoid what I call the leadership vacuum. I have heard the term leadership vacuum used to describe the need for more leaders, but I believe the biggest void may be within existing leaders today. The leadership vacuum is where the leader believes:

• Everyone on the team understands me…
• Everyone on the team thinks like I think…
• Everyone on the team likes me…
• My team is healthy…
• I’m healthy/self-sufficient/fully capable on my own…
• The organization is headed in the right direction…
• We don’t need to make changes…

When the leader is clueless to the real problems and needs in the organization, he or she is living in the leadership vacuum. The best leaders are aware of the vacuum trap and guard against it in their leadership.

Leaders, have you ever lived in the leadership vacuum? Are you there now?

Have you followed a leader in the vacuum?

(I realize I am not immune to the leadership vacuum. Tomorrow I will share some thoughts on how I attempt to avoid this in my leadership.)

As our staff and church has grown, my role is changing.  I spend much more of my day interacting with staff members about their particular area of focus.  Lately it seems I am saying a lot of, “Let me connect you with _________”, as I refer people to another person on our team.

It is a hard reality for me sometimes, but the larger our church grows the more I have to realize…and need others to realize…

I don’t have all the answers.

The good thing is that we have a children’s pastor to know specifics about children’s ministry.  We have a community group pastor who knows specifics about group ministry. Thankfully, in each of our critical areas of ministry we have an expert in that field of ministry who knows details of the ministry.

I frequently get asked very specific questions about certain ministries and my general nature is to provide an answer to people quickly, but the fact is I usually don’t have one anymore. I know generalities, but I don’t know specifics.  I can talk about the vision for a ministry, but not always about the specific elements of the plan to complete the vision.

As our organization grows and changes, so is my individual role within it.  As God stretches me with new responsibilities, I’m attempting to adjust accordingly.

Leaders, are you adapting to the changing environment in your organization?

One trend in organizations today that I am not sure existed even ten years ago is the freedom employees have to promote their personal identity on company time. Companies today seem to allow and actually encourage employees to brand themselves separate from the organization.  Whether it is with a personal blog or through authoring a book, employees can have a larger personal following and name recognition than the top leadership of the organization and at times even greater than the organization.  This is true in the corporate world and the church world.

There are obvious fears or concerns for organizations with this trend.  The more a team member becomes known the more likely it is that he or she will be recruited by another organization.  Also, a concern would be that the increased popularity of the individual could distract from his or her responsibilities to the organization.  Furthermore, though probably not admitted by most senior leaders, there could be a jealousy factor if a subordinate becomes better known and gets more recognition than the leader.

Personally I welcome this change in organizations.  When we started Grace Community Church our worship leader Daniel Doss already had some national recognition and we encouraged his continued growth and success independent of the church.  This sometimes meant we had to adjust schedules to accommodate his outside interests, but I always felt it was for the overall good of the church. Today I am excited about the potential several of our staff members have in creating their own personal brand through their blog and influence and I want to encourage their efforts to market their ministry on a broader scale, even independent of the church.

While I recognize the concerns and know I ultimately have the responsibility to see that the ministry of Grace Community Church is realized, I see several advantages for organizations in allowing personal branding:

It allows great leaders to stay with the organization longer.  If a leader has potential, he or she will naturally look for more opportunities to express his or her leadership skills.  Personal branding allows an avenue for personal growth, while the employee remains with the organization.

It creates a win/win for the organization. As a team member grows personally and he or she receives recognition independent of the organization, the team member’s personal growth means he or she has more to offer the organization and brings more attention, insight, and expertise to the organization.

Allowing personal branding creates a healthier and more rewarding environment within the organization that allows it to occur, which can help the organization attract and retain better leaders to the organization.

Do you see this trend? Can you think of examples of organization where this is happening?  Do you agree or disagree with an organization encouraging personal branding?

I love continual improvement. I am one of those who actually enjoy change.  If things stay the same too long I get bored and begin looking for a new challenge.  I even stir things for fun sometimes just to keep life interesting around me.  (Sometimes this characteristic gets me in trouble with my wife.)

Personality aside, however, the truth is that not everything needs to be tweaked.  Some things are probably working okay, achieving great success, and are best left alone for the time being.  Change for the sake of change sake is not always good.  When Momma said “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and the other cliché about “the grass is always greener”, she was speaking from some life experience.

There is a fine line between making things better and messing things up.  One of the great challenges for the leader is carefully considering the balance between instigating change for the good of the organization or team and allowing progress to continue without interference.

There are some indicators that change could be a good thing:

• When energy is waning in the status quo
• When needed improvement is planned and purposeful
• When the change will result in greater efficiency, returns or profit
• When it is clear a change will be needed soon to remain competitive or relevant

Leaders, how do you determine it is time for change?

The call to leadership often requires making difficult decisions no one else is willing to make. Over the years I have observed people that call themselves leaders, but who easily give up when difficult times come to the organization. Leaders should strive to structure the organization to weather storms, but in any organization there will be times when hard decisions have to be made and a leader must be willing to make them for the good of the organization. This does not negate the need for servant leadership, but it is a reminder that leading often requires making decisions no one else is willing to make:

Times such as:

• When an employee is no longer a good fit…
• When difficult changes need implementing…
• When a current system is broke…
• When finances are strained…
• When a new opportunity or direction presents itself…

A person that seeks to be a leader should look deep in his or her gut before they accept the position of leadership to consider if they have the ability to make the tough calls. As momma used to say, “If you can’t stand the heat…get out of the kitchen.”

Do you have the guts to be a leader?

What is the most difficult decision you have had to make as a leader?

In every life situation involving people, whether among family, friends or co-workers, there will be potential for conflict.  In fact, if relationships are normal, conflict is inevitable.   It seems to reason then that learning to deal with conflict successfully should be our goal, especially those of us who desire to lead organizations.

Here are 10 tips for more effective handling of conflict in your life:

1. Understand the battle.  What is the real source of the conflict? Make sure you are addressing with the real issue.
2. Find the right time and place to confront the conflict. When emotions are high is not good timing for dealing with conflict. Personal conflict should not be handled in public.
3. Examine yourself first. Sometimes the issue is personal to you and you are only blaming others for your problem.
4. Consider the other side of the conflict. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and consider their viewpoint in the conflict.
5. Do not overreact to the issue or overload on emotion.  Stick to the issue at hand.
6. Do not dance around or sugarcoat the issue or disguise it in false kindness.  Sometimes we fail to address the conflict because we are afraid of how the other person may respond or we are afraid of hurting feelings.  The avoidance usually will cause more conflict eventually.
7. Do not allow the small disagreements to become big disagreements without confronting them along the way.  Minor conflict is always easier to handle than major conflict.
8. Be firm but gentle.  Learn the balance between the two.
9. Work towards a solution.  Never waste conflict, but use it to make the organization and relationships better.  The best-case scenario is a win-win situation, but ultimately the conflict needs to be resolved with the right solution.
10. Grant forgiveness easily and do not hold a grudge or seek revenge.  Healthy teams handle conflict and allow it to make the organization stronger.

Those are my suggestions.  How do you handle conflict?

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.

Every organization goes through life cycles.  These cycles can be natural or forced, but healthy organizations recognize them and adapt to them for continued health and growth.  The descriptions of each stage have huge overlap. Some things I have listed in one stage can easily happen in the previous or next stage. I am using standard organizational management terms and using Grace Community Church as my model. We will be four years old in September.

Birth – This founding period usually involves a few people with a big vision.  This is the initial stage where a lot of learning that takes place and the organization begins to develop leaders fast.  Basically everyone on the team at this point has the potential to become a leader in some area. This is often done through on-the-job training.   We launched Grace with three staff members, our wives, and 11 couples who were excited about a new church plant.  Each member of our team was forced to lead areas outside their comfort level, but we gained some of our best leaders today that way and several people found a passion they did not know they had.  With the rapid growth we experienced at our start this stage lasted only about six months.

Childhood – A deepening and maturity process begins at this stage, but the organization still has few policies and procedures in place and everything is still fun.  New leadership develops and responsibilities spread to new people within the organization. Mistakes are still likely as the organization figures out its identity. The DNA of the organization begins to form.  The organization begins to recognize its need for more structure.  This was a fun stage and time for Grace and lasted about three years.

Adolescence – Greater levels of responsibility are handed out to more people and the weight of responsibility spreads within the organization. The organization has had some success at this point and so it begins to take new risks and dream new and bigger dreams.  This is a continued growth time and usually full of high energy. If the organization is not careful some of the initial leaders of the organization can begin to experience burnout. Structure becomes necessary at this point and the organization begins to think about maintenance. Grace Community Church began entering this stage as a church about at our third anniversary and especially during the last six months.  We have been forced to “grow up” and add more structure to our operation.

Maturity – At this stage the organization has many experiences of success and some failure and must begin to think through continued growth and health as an organization.  The organization needs constant renewal and regeneration to remain current and viable.  Leadership has been developed, but the organization begins to plan out succession of leaders.  The structure of the organization is usually well established by this point, but must remain flexible enough to adapt to changes outside the organization.  At some point Grace will enter this stage.  All organizations do. The goal will need to be that we continue to breathe new life into the church.  A lot of churches reach this stage and cease to change and grow, often steeped in their own traditions.

Renewal – This stage almost always has to be forced on an organization, either by leadership or for survival purposes, but must occur or the organization will eventually die or cease to be viable.   This does not mean the organization must leave its vision, traditions, or culture, but it must consider new ways of realizing its potential.  Some will say renewal comes at each stage of the organization’s life cycle and that may be true, but I contend there is a definite stage in a healthy life cycle where an organization improves and almost reinvents itself to continue to experience health and growth.  My prayer for the leadership of Grace Community Church is that we will always be willing to examine ourselves as church and make changes as necessary to insure that we remain vibrant, healthy and growing.

Another thing to remember is that the speed of an organization’s growth can cause life cycles to become much quicker.  Consider the child who has to face adult decisions early in life and is forced to “grow up fast”.  A similar thing happens to organizations.

What would you add as occurrences within each life cycle?  Have you seen this in your organization?

This morning, thanks to my Google Reader, I landed on an editorial story by Ed Wallace of Business Week Online. You can read the story HERE. Ed writes from an insider’s perspective about the reasons for the fall of General Motors. His insight is of a company who faced problems of arrogance and indifference, failing to meet the changing needs of its consumers. He saw a company that allowed the quality of their product to suffer while refusing to listen to concerns of insiders who were suggesting improvements.

I obviously have no personal insight into General Motors and their demise. Mr. Wallace is one man with an opinion, although certainly far closer to the issue than most of us, with his 10 years working for the company. I wonder, however, if there are lessons for all organizations in his story and General Motor’s current predicament. Is there something here from which we can learn?

Could there be similarities in Wallace’s description of GM’s major problems from his perspective, with other organizations in trouble, such as maybe some churches and denominations today? Could arrogance, failure to accept change and failure to recognize the needs of their constituents be causing injury to the organization of the church? Is there room for improvement in the quality of the product churches use to tell the world about the unchanging message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

I think we must ask ourselves tough questions, unless we are too proud to admit our own mistakes.

What are your thoughts? Do you see common lessons to be learned from General Motors with your organization?