Strategic Planning | Coaching Churches

Category Archive: Strategic Planning

A Simple Way To Test Strategic Alignment

Posted by on May 20, 2016

I am becoming more and more convinced that alignment is the number one factor in organizational health. Yes, everyone has a purpose and a strategy with lots of people and process. The real question is how does all of those moving pieces work together effectively. The HBR post is excellent:

“There is no universal or one-size-fits-all prescription for a winning business. But corporate leaders today seem to agree that strategic alignment is high on the list. Strategic alignment, for us, means that all elements of a business — including the market strategy and the way the company itself is organized — are arranged in such a way as to best support the fulfillment of its long-term purpose. ”

Categories: Strategic Planning Strategy | Comments Off on A Simple Way To Test Strategic Alignment

The Secret To Sustainable Results

Posted by on May 18, 2016

The concept of the flywheel was used by Jim Collins in his best selling leadership book Good to Great. The major point of the illustration is that significant change occurs when you do the right things repeatedly over time and eventually you will have a breakthrough that results in significant success.

We all would love to have the quick fix strategy work instead, we want instant culture change. For every company that moved from Good to Great there was no single defining action, no grand programs, no celebrity leader and no one killer innovation that produced the results.

“Good to great comes about by a cumulative process—step by step, action by action, decision by decision, turn by turn of the flywheel—that adds up to sustained and spectacular results.”

A great example that really makes the point is used is from the legendary coaching career of John Wooden at UCLA. Most basketball fans know that he won ten NCAA Championships in twelve years and at one point had a sixty-one-game winning streak.

What most of us do not know is that for fifteen years coach Wooden worked in relative obscurity at UCLA before he ever won his first national title. During that time he was building the foundation for the program of great recruiting, player discipline and refining his style of playing the full court press style of defense.

The real character question for leaders today is how many are willing to pay the price of not demanding short term success at the expense of long term sustainability for the organization? It may keep you off the front page of the business section of your local paper but in this economic environment that can be a very good thing.

Categories: Execution Strategy | Comments Off on The Secret To Sustainable Results

The Target Has Changed For Churches

Posted by on March 17, 2016

Any time you talk about some group of people being your primary target most people in the church get offended. It is if they are concerned that because they are not in the target group their needs are not going to be met. This of course should not have to be the case at all.

For over fifty years at least the same target group has existed from a demographic and psychographic standpoint. They were the adults that made up the World War II and the Baby Boomer generations. We developed programs and services to meet their needs and they would bring their children to church with them.

A typical adult conversation on the way home would be how did you like the message, music and the lesson? If both adults had a good experience, then they would deal with whatever issues the children had and bring them back the next Sunday.

Today the overwhelming majority of adults under the age of forty are not coming to church any more. They have a different world view about God and the need for role of the church in their lives.

When they do come because someone has relationally connected with them at work or in the neighborhood the conversation on the way home has completely changed. Now the major thing that matters is what type of experience did their children have and do they want to come back again?

If the answer is yes, the adults are now willing to make the adjustments and they will be back. If the answer is no, then regardless of what happened to mom and dad they are not going to give you a second look.

If your preschool, children and student ministries are not world-class in your church then you cannot expect to reach families in today’s culture. The conversations on the way home have changed and your target group must change with it as well.

Categories: Contextualization Missional Living Pastoral Leadership Spiritual Growth Staff Development | Comments Off on The Target Has Changed For Churches

Why Chemistry Trumps Competency In Leadership

Posted by on February 19, 2016

In the book Good to Great the author makes a big deal about getting the right people on the bus, in the right seat on the bus and also getting the wrong people off the bus. Hopefully by now everyone gets the importance of this concept to the success of any organization.

Another interesting point that often gets overlooked is that he also states the people who are on the team are more important than what they do together. This goes far beyond the truth that if you have the right people they will figure out what you need to do.

He even says that one of the keys to having a great life is to genuinely enjoy the team of people that you are working with on a daily basis. He uses words like love and respect to describe these relationships.

I spoke at a conference where a departmental group of employees were having an annual getaway event. As I watched them for over two days and listened how they responded to each other I was extremely impressed with the community they have developed over the years.

I left with the clear impression that the relationships within that department were far more important to them than the specific jobs they accomplished on a day to day basis. Oh by the way, because of their strong sense of community their performance metrics were outstanding.

Building a team spirit that highly motivates people because they care about and enjoy the people they work with should move to the top of any leader’s agenda. This also may be the key factor in attracting and retaining the top performers in any industry.

Categories: Leadership Development Organizational Culture | Comments Off on Why Chemistry Trumps Competency In Leadership

3 Ways To Respond To A Difficult Boss Who Resists Change

Posted by on February 17, 2016

I once spoke at an annual conference for the utility industry on the subject of change. The major takeaway was that long after this recession cycle is over we are never going back to the way things used to be.

The world has permanently changed the way we live and especially the way we work. The power of technology and the globalization of world economies are driving change in an unprecedented way.

At the end of both my presentations we had a question and answer session. The dominant question from everyone was what do you do when you know change needs to occur but your boss either does not see the need or simply will not give up on the status quo?

The first thing you must do is to continue to respectfully continue to tell the truth. The moment you give up and become a yes man you have stopped doing your job.

The second thing you must do is check your motives. At the end of the day if I have tried to be helpful and share my perspective in the right way then I can go home knowing I did it right.

The third thing is to realize that it is not in your job description to change your boss any more than it is to change your mate at home. When we hit the wall is when we assume responsibility that was not given to us and become frustrated when the people above us don’t seem to get it.

After several months of respectfully communicating what you see from your perspective and nothing seems to be changing and you get the impression that they don’t want to hear it anymore. The you must realize that in the end you will either change the corporate culture you are working in or if you stay too long it will change you.

When I have reached this point the change that needs to occur is not in my boss but where I am working. I will not settle for a paycheck becasue the world is in a mess and I want to make a difference.

Categories: Leadership Development Leading Change Staff Development | Comments Off on 3 Ways To Respond To A Difficult Boss Who Resists Change

4 Things Successful Change Leaders Do Well

Posted by on February 8, 2016

It has often been said that the pain of the present must become greater than the fear of the future for change to really work. Although that may be true, it is an over simplistic assessment of the reality of just how complex leading change is both for individuals and organizations. This HBR post takes a much more comprehensive approach:

“We know that two-thirds of large scale transformation efforts fail. But that’s not a terribly helpful piece of information―unless we’re looking for confirmation that this is hard, really hard. What is useful is to understand what leaders can do to substantially increase the odds that their companies won’t be among the two-thirds of those that fail.”

Categories: Leading Change | Comments Off on 4 Things Successful Change Leaders Do Well

Leaders Effectiveness In Strategy Or Execution

Posted by on January 22, 2016

There are clearly two extremes in the leadership world today. Some leaders are incredibly creative and can translate that into a workable strategy. Others are wildly successful in getting the ball over the goal line and meeting expectations. This HBR post reveals some harsh reality about leaders that needs to be understood:

“In a 2013 survey of nearly 700 executives across a variety of industries, our firm asked respondents to rate the effectiveness of the top leaders of their companies. How many excelled at strategy? How many excelled at execution? The results are shown in the chart below.”

Categories: Execution Goal Setting Strategy | Comments Off on Leaders Effectiveness In Strategy Or Execution

The Power Of Storytelling

Posted by on January 19, 2016

Seth Godin has famously said that today with the rise of social media your customers are your sales force. There has never been a time if our customers were not satisfied that we could sustain the relationship. However, today by people talking to others about you in a positive way the message multiplies.

I just had a great experience last week speaking on character driven leadership for YP.com sales managers in Atlanta. They have effective leaders that are clearly in tune with the marketplace and are transforming a great organization.

Scott Hines one of their Regional Vice Presidents said: “Dan’s leadership presentation was right on target. His years of study and presenting leadership principles make him uniquely effective in influencing the audience.

He gets right to the key of leadership. His character driven leadership series is so relevant to today’s culture. Dan is a very effective presenter and leaves the audience with key takeaways to use to develop others.

Dan thanks for spending time with the team and we are already using the tools and putting the words into action.”

I love developing leaders and investing my life with people who want to do great things and really make a difference.

Categories: Storytelling Strategic Planning | Comments Off on The Power Of Storytelling

Change Management And Leadership Development Have To Mesh

Posted by on January 12, 2016

Operating in silos is always a dangerous thing in any leadership culture. This is never more true than trying to lead an organization through a major change initiative. It can feel extremely top down and in reality it’s a great opportunity for leadership development. Great HBR post:

Leadership development and change management tend to be top priorities for many organizations. In spite of this, a majority of organizations tend to fall far short of their goals for both. One major reason organizations struggle is because they treat both leadership development and change management as separate rather than interrelated challenges.

Categories: Leadership Development Leading Change | Comments Off on Change Management And Leadership Development Have To Mesh

In Search For The Silver Bullet

Posted by on January 11, 2016

In Jim Collins latest book How The Mighty Fall he talks about companies that start on a systematic downward spiral that leads ultimately to total failure as an organization. One common problem he found is that when they finally realize they are in serious trouble rather than dealing with real problems they search for the quick fix approach of finding the right silver bullet.

When full blown panic sets in there is a frantic search for several silver bullets that can be dramatic big moves such as game changing acquisitions or a risky new strategy or an exciting innovation or new leadership, anything that can save us. The following is list of several silver bullets observed:

Grasping for a Leader as Savior: The board responds to threats and setbacks by searching for a charismatic leader and an outside savior.
Panic and Haste: Instead of being calm, deliberate, and disciplined, people exhibit hasty, reactive behavior, bordering on panic.
Radical Change and Revolution with Fanfare: The language of revolution and radical change characterizes the new era: New Programs! New cultures! New Strategies!
Hype Precedes Results: Instead of setting expectations low—underscoring the duration and difficulty of the turnaround—leaders hype their visions initiating a pattern of overpromising and under delivering.
Initial Upswing Followed by Disappointments: There is an initial burst of positive results, but they do not last; dashed hope follows dashed hope; the organization achieves no buildup, no cumulative momentum.
Confusion and Cynicism: People cannot easily articulate what the organization stands for; core values have eroded to the point of irrelevance; the organization has become just another place to work.

There are no quick fixes or silver bullets for organizations that have complex long term problems that have built up for decades. The new realities of the global economy did not create these problems it merely acted as a catalyst to reveal them.

Categories: Leadership Development Leading Change | Comments Off on In Search For The Silver Bullet