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Category Archive: Leadership Development

Worship Wars Are Not Glorifying

Posted by on February 19, 2017

This is a subject that really breaks my heart because the pain that has been suffered by so many good people is so unnecessary. If this issue is not dealt with in a thoroughly biblical manner most of our current churches will stop reaching the next generation and will eventually die.

To be sure our people should be spiritually mature enough to not insist on their own personal musical preference so that others may come to Christ. However, poor leadership has caused far more problems than “older adults” that only want their hymns.

For at least 50 years or longer one basic musical style was enjoyed by both the World War II and the Baby Boomer generations. Large choirs and orchestras were the preferred choice that could lead a primarily performance style of service that was a blessing to many.

Today the emphasis has shifted to participation styles of music that involve the people in worship and praise. In our current services it is no longer come sit, watch and listen as it is get involved and enjoy.

I think every generation has its own heart language when it comes to music in worship. The problem comes when we try to force everyone into one box and demand they like it or leave.

I think the days of building one massive worship center are over. As soon as your church grows large enough for multiple services you are already multi-congregational. At that point if you are reaching different age groups you can choose to be multi-generational.

Then when you plan a service ask yourself one simple question, who is in the room and what do they need from the music and the message to help them move into the presence of God?

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5 Keys in Setting Goals

Posted by on February 15, 2017

All of us have experienced the frustration that comes from really wanting to accomplish something important and thinking we are really committed to it only to realize several months later it did not happen. When I evaluate personally and professionally where the breakdown occurs it usually centers on the disciplines involved in effective goal setting.

These are the five critical things I have learned over the years:

Write it down—if it is not important enough to write down in your personal planner or enter into your cell phone list then it will almost always never get done.
Check your resources—do you realistically have the time, energy, knowledge, skills and commitment to make this happen?
Make it clear—you must be very specific about what you want to accomplish. It cannot be I want to lose weight; it needs to be twenty pounds over next six months.
Develop your plan—strategy is the realistic intersection of resources and commitment. There is a big difference in walking twenty minutes five days week and training for marathon.
Evaluate your progress—this is where the rubber hits the road. Do it often until you know you have sustainable momentum and most important celebrate every win.

The old expression if you don’t measure it then it probably doesn’t matter still rings true to me.

Categories: Goal Setting Leadership Development | Comments Off on 5 Keys in Setting Goals

The Power Of Listening To Resolve Conflict

Posted by on February 9, 2017

Most of us are not very good listeners to begin with much less when conflict arises within the team. We immediately start listening to respond instead of listening to understand. If things get worse, then we will interrupt to try to transition the momentum back in our direction. This HBR post provides very practical help:

“Our review of research and company examples suggests there are three things you can do to avoid communication breakdowns like this. Whether we’re walking into a meeting, drafting an important proposal, or sitting down face-to-face with a colleague, our attention can easily be hijacked, especially when our mind wanders 50% of the time, as research suggests.”

4 Commitments Leaders Must Make

Posted by on February 1, 2017

One of the most successful executive coaches in the country is Marshall Goldsmith. He wrote a great book that I would highly recommend What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

The simple thesis of the book is your competency and skill set is what has got you to where you are now as far as promotions are concerned. What it will take to get you where you need to be in the highly participative leadership culture of the future will be your people skills. This area is where the overwhelming majority of executive men and women hit the wall.

A key tool in helping people with people skill problems is to use some form of 360-degree feedback. This should involve superiors, peers as well as subordinates and sometimes even clients.

If you are one of the executives that clearly sends the message that I don’t like bad news and you consistently shoot the messenger who delivers it then you are probably in the dark about all your serious blind spots.

Everyone involved in the process must commit to the following four things:

Let go of the past-forgive.
Tell the truth-even if it hurts.
Be supportive and helpful-not cynical or negative.
Pick something to improve yourself-so everyone is focused more on “improving” than “judging.”

Feedback will tell us what we need to change. Then the moment of truth, Are we willing to do it?

Categories: Career Development Leadership Development | Comments Off on 4 Commitments Leaders Must Make

The Chemistry Of Great Teams

Posted by on January 27, 2017

I have probably learned more from Pat MacMillan on this subject than from any other writer. His book The Performance Factor is still a must read if you want to fully understand all the dynamics involved in leading a successful team.

When selecting team members you must have the right combination of competency and character. You really need people who are experts in their area of responsibility that can bring great factual accurate information into the discussion. However, the ultimate success of the team in my opinion will be even more driven by how people interact with each other showing mutual respect and humility.

I want everyone engaged and passionate about their contribution to the discussion but I do not want anyone attacking another person rather than debating their ideas. I have found the following list to be helpful for setting the right tone:

Treat each other with dignity and respect
Listen for understanding
Don’t take things personally; don’t mean things personally
Ask, but do not assume motives
Avoid degrading language; do not attack each other credibility
Everyone has input, regardless of position
We will not take ourselves too seriously

There is a big difference in being professional vs. being negatively personal toward another person. We must separate their ideas and comments from who they are and even though we may disagree we always value the individual.

Categories: Leadership Development Strategy Teamwork | Comments Off on The Chemistry Of Great Teams

3 Must Do's Before Termination

Posted by on January 25, 2017

There may be nothing harder to do as a leader than make the decision to terminate an employee. To be honest we feel to some degree we have failed and that is hard to accept.

This is especially true if we hired the person in the first place. Not only have they failed but now our performance as a leader may be in question also. We cannot let our own emotional need for personal success stand in the way of doing what is right for the organization.

There are three critical things that I must do as a leader before I feel that my responsibility has been completed prior to any termination. The first is to provide clear expectations of what is required in their job description. It is impossible for someone to meet your expectations if they have not been clearly communicated early and often.

The second important thing is to make sure the person has had adequate training and resources to complete their job successfully. It is not fair to ask someone to grow a particular area and not give them the financial and manpower assets they need to be effective.

The last issue for me is a comprehensive and ongoing feedback system that lets a person know exactly where they stand in the area of performance. It is not right to see someone make mistakes day after day and stick your head in the sand hoping it will go away only to drop a bomb on them at annual review or even worse an unexpected termination. If you do not have the leadership skills to positively confront someone about what they are doing wrong then you may be the one in the wrong job and not them.

If you have done all of these three things well and given this person every opportunity to improve and they don’t then you should feel no guilt or sense of failure. Never obsess on the five to ten percent of your staff that may need to go every year. What is extremely important is to remember the ninety to ninety five percent who are doing their jobs well and are watching to see if you have the character as their leader to pull the trigger.

Categories: Leadership Development Pastoral Leadership | Comments Off on 3 Must Do's Before Termination

Being A Strategic Leader Is About Asking The Right Questions

Posted by on January 23, 2017

By now, I have lived through four major leadership theory transitions that have all shaped my effectiveness. One of the single greatest advancements today is that key leaders are no longer seen as the answer person but the one who can ask the great questions. Great questions force everyone to think deeper and provide better outcomes. This HBR post is excellent:

If you asked the world’s most successful business leaders what it means to “be strategic,” how many different answers do you think you’d get? Consider this number: 115,800,000. It’s the number of unique links returned when I searched online for “strategic leadership.” There’s a good reason for all of those links: Strategy is complex.

Effective Leaders Value Their People

Posted by on January 20, 2017

Leaders have always been evaluated based on the two extremes of the tasks that must be done compared to the relationship skills involved in motivating the people who will actually do the work. The theory was some leaders are born project managers and others are great in customer service.

In the old industrial age model of the last century based these either high task or high touch leaders were placed in jobs that maximized their strengths and overlooked their weaknesses. So if someone could always hit their numbers but had higher rate of turnover they were viewed as someone who was not too good with people but they could always get the job done.

Today in the more highly participative style of leadership that is required to be successful in the 21^st century it is an absolute necessity that all leaders prioritize their people skills so they can positively interact with a wide range of constituencies.

Marshall Goldsmith is one of the top Executive Coaches in the market. His greatest book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There is a great read for all leaders who want to reach their maximum potential. He identifies twenty habits that can completely destroy your influence as a leader.

The amazing thing that he confirms for all of us is that the most critical problems related to executive leadership have very little to do with core industry specific competency or even the expected qualities of productive leadership.

The overwhelming majority of smart, disciplined, experienced and passionate leaders are failing in the one major area of basic people skills. They do not relate well to their superiors, peers, subordinates and sometimes even customers.

They do not listen, make negative comments about people when they are not in the room, and always tend to punish the messenger when bad news is delivered just to list a few. Almost always these potential fatal flaws are obvious to everyone but the leader who does not even see them as an issue.

An absolute priority for any effective leader today is to establish a culture within their organization where the truth can be told and they will get the relational feedback they need or these extremely negative blind spots will never be revealed and the organization or team will fail.

Categories: Leadership Development Servant Leader | Comments Off on Effective Leaders Value Their People

The Self Leadership Secrets Of Extreme Athletes

Posted by on January 9, 2017

I am convinced that the greatest leadership challenge you will ever face is the ability to consistently lead yourself. Leadership theory several years ago would stress identifying your weaknesses and then work on them until they are significantly improved. Today even though you must be competent in every area, the emphasis is upon knowing what you do extremely well and maximizing that. This post by Michael Hyatt has some practical tips:

“Sometimes leading a business can feel like running a marathon. That’s especially true when our goals seem ambitious, daunting, and a long way off. What could the sport of running teach us about reaching the finish line?”

Core Values For The Church

Posted by on January 6, 2017

If you are going to accomplish anything important in life then you must identify your core values that will determine all of your priorities and goals for your personal life or the organization you lead. If you are a church then here are some values that you might consider.

Authentic—We believe the role of the church is to help represent the biblical truth about God to the world.

Relevant—That truth is to be shared so that people can apply it every day in their real world

Significance—Every person is important and we want them to find value and meaning in life through a relationship with Jesus Christ

Transformation—We want to help everyone grow in that relationship with Christ so they can reach their own unique potential

Community—Connecting with other people in genuine relationships is where personal fulfillment is found

Involvement—Moving beyond ourselves and serving others is what produces lasting contentment

Missional—Every day we can change the world one person at a time through meeting their needs and sharing our story about what Christ has done in our lives

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