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Category Archive: Leading Change

5 Critical Mistakes Church Leaders Should Avoid In The Post-Covid World

Posted by on March 31, 2023

I wrote the book Church Scattered just prior to the pandemic. It clearly addresses all the issues that the pandemic forced on the church. In talking with church leaders, there is this powerful desire to just go back to the way things were before. Im sorry, that is no longer possible.

The good news is that you can create a new normal that will keep the sacred truths of the past and leverage what we have learned the last year about reaching more people for Christ. Carey Nieuwhof has been writing on this issue for months and this is his latest thinking:

“Finally, it seems like the post-COVID world is finally coming into view.

While different countries, regions, provinces and states will emerge out of COVID at different times, 2021 appears to be the year we will be able to move into a post-pandemic world.

So, as you get ready to embrace the new reality, what should you be focused on?

It’s obviously a tough question to answer because neither in-person church or online church is a panacea. Each has its unique challenges, promises and limits. In-person church attendance has been declining for decades before the pandemic, and online church hasn’t solved all the issues the church is facing either.

That said, here are some guidelines that can help moving forward.

Here are 5 critical mistakes it would be so easy to make right now as a church leader.”

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7 Things That Changed in 2020 That Make Leadership Harder

Posted by on December 7, 2020

Just when you think all this chaos is about to stop, something else happens and it even gets worse. It is extremely difficult to develop a leadership plan when the crisis continues to change. However, there are some trends that are beginning to develop that are probably not going away and we must deal with that reality. Carey Nieuwhof has some great insights:

Your head likely hasn’t stopped spinning in 2020. Same.

Maybe on one or more occasions you’ve done what I’ve been tempted to do as well: bury your head in the sand because it’s just so discouraging to see what’s actually happening.

As much as it’s healthy to unplug for a day (or a week) to catch your breath, refresh your soul and tap into hope, ignoring reality isn’t a great long term strategy.

Leaders who ignore the culture have a hard time influencing it because they no longer understand it.

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Pastors How To Lead 3 Different Groups Back To Church

Posted by on May 26, 2020

Just to get one thing said that is very important, the church never really closed. The buildings did but the people have been living on mission the entire time. This messaging is important in speaking to all of the people who will be coming back to live worship. Some can’t wait to come back and will deal with all the necessary changes. Others will be more cautious and it may take them several months to return. Dan Reiland as always is very helpful:

“If you are truly leading, that means you are guiding those you lead somewhere that you and they together have not been before. That “place” is a better life through Christ. The foundation of that premise never changes, but culture has changed, so we must adapt as needed.

The purpose is that people may continue to say yes to the person and message of Christ and mature in their faith.

So, why do you need to lead people back to church?”

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4 Ways To Quickly Stop Your Innovation Curve And Miss The Future

Posted by on April 29, 2020

As an executive coach I have worked with the leadership of companies who are fighting disruption every day for survival. Disruption is so dramatic it really means that you cannot go back to the way things used to be. You absolutely have to change by keeping what is valuable from the past but radically adopting what will work best for the future. This excellent post by Carey Nieuwhof will help you navigate this transition:

“Sure…the world has changed almost unbelievably since mid-March 2020, but stop for a moment and think about how much you’ve changed.

You’ve led through the biggest crisis in a generation, or perhaps a century. And as a result, you’ve innovated.

You went from

Meeting in-person to meeting online
Leading your team in-person to leading your team remotely
A stable financial plan to a completely new financial plan
A predictable org chart to redeploying staff in brand new areas they weren’t trained for
Having no idea how to do what you needed to do to making it work”

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Major New Research On Declining, Plateaued, And Growing Churches

Posted by on March 10, 2019

The reality that the North American church is in serious trouble is not new information. However, the continuing downward trends should cause even more concern than in the past. It is clearly time to admit we need dramatic change in methodology and passionate prayer for God to move again. This post by Rainer is a must read:

I am grateful to Exponential for engaging LifeWay Research to discern current levels of church health according to a number of factors. While worship attendance trends over a three-year period were a primary indicator of health in this study, the Exponential research also included conversions, income, and staffing in the data.

In addition to the categorization of churches as declining/subtracting (Level 1), plateauing (Level 2), and growing/adding (Level 3), the study looked at two other supplemental categories. A Level 4 (reproducing) church places a high value and priority on starting new churches. A level 5 (multiplying) church takes church planting to multiple generations of congregations.

It’s Time To Regain First Generation Faith

Posted by on January 8, 2019

Over the years I have served in many different churches. Some small and some very large. Some long term and a couple of church plants. As in any organization, the ability of leaders to maintain the vision and passion of the founders over time is an incredible challenge. This post by J.D. Greear is a must read for all church leaders:

“Many years ago at The Summit Church, there was a group of people who said, “Jesus and his mission will be first.” But here’s what happens: When churches like ours get big and “settled,” so to speak, they experience a natural inertia. Within a generation, they move from mission to maintenance. They go from being reckless in the mission to being comfortable in the institution.”

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The Critical Role Of Leadership Development During Organizational Change

Posted by on June 6, 2018

I am not working with any company that is not either going through significant change or actual disruption. The pressure to cut costs can be fatal, especially if it is the area of leadership development. If you don’t cast a hopeful vision for the future and develop everyone on your team the results will be disastrous. This Forbes post is comprehensive:

Most business leaders today would agree on two things: (1) organizational change is constant, and (2) leading change is one of the most difficult burdens of a leader’s command. In last week’s article I focused on the seven mindsets necessary for successful leadership development. In this article, I want to take it a step further and look at the role leadership development should play in organizational change.

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The 4 Kinds Of Leaders Who Create The Future

Posted by on January 5, 2018

I have noticed one very dramatic change within the last year of working with coaching executives. In the past they were constantly looking for strategic innovation when they were not squeezing every ounce of productivity out of their process. Today, they are all in some way having to respond to the powerful forces of disruption. This HBR post is excellent:

“Alan Kay, the educator and computer designer, famously declared, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” But what does it take to invent the future in such a turbulent and uncertain world? How do successful organizations build on their history, even as they craft a new point of view about what comes next?”

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How To Ensure Change Translates Into Culture

Posted by on January 3, 2018

Leading change is one of the most challenging leadership assignments period. The pain of the present must be greater than the fear of the future for most people to even be open to change. The hard part though comes after all the communication of the new vision and now its time to embed the new process into the culture. This Forbes post will give you a good framework:

“Power dynamics are shifting. And though change brings a sense of liberation for some, for others, it brings angst, fear, stress and discomfort. Change is a scary or frustrating process for many.”

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Leaders Prepare For A Period Of Constant Transformation

Posted by on December 6, 2017

We have all known and said for years that change is constant and we must continue to be innovative to improve. What is new is that disruption is now becoming the major threat and without constant transformation we are always at risk for a total failure. There is obviously a major difference in leading innovation and transformation. This Forbes post helps us understand whats at stake:

“According to his firm, at any point, about a third of large U.S. companies endure a severe, two-year decline in their ability to create shareholder value. And of those companies, about a third fail to recover within the following five years.”

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