Solid Advice for Young Leaders from Dr. Billy Graham
IN THE WAKE OF LEADERSHIP - by Andy Stanley
Related Articles:
How To Avoid Burn-out
"Evidence of a Vision"
Turning Points
Levels of Leadership
Showing posts with label Pastors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pastors. Show all posts
Friday, July 20, 2012
Some Articles Worth Reading - For Pastors
Related Articles:
How To Avoid Burn-out
"Evidence of a Vision"
Turning Points
Levels of Leadership
Sunday, July 15, 2012
How To Avoid Burn-out
A while ago I listened to an interesting lesson from Wayne Cordeiro,
a Pastor and teacher from Hawaii. He was sharing some of his
experiences with burnout and how to avoid it. This lesson is
particularly helpful for anyone in the people business - teachers,
health professionals, pastors, social workers, etc..., but also for
anyone in a high-stress job.Here it is in a nutshell. Each of us have a limited capacity emotionally. While we may think that we are superman or superwoman, life has a way of demonstrating how wrong we are. The landscape is strewn with many from the helping professions who have crashed and burned after pushing it too hard and too long. Each of us have to learn our limits, and ensure that we build in time and activities that refill us.
Wayne uses the analogy of an emotional fuel tank. It's something that we don't often think about, but keeping that tank full is important to our long-term success. None of us wants to become a statistic.
So, here's the question, what are the things that you do that feed you emotionally; that help you feel better about life; that recharge your batteries? For some that may be long walks, sports, reading, traveling, going to the beach, gardening or any number of things. Whatever they are, you need to identify them, and you need to make them a regular part of your routine.
This seems counter-intuitive for many "Type-A"personalities, who tend to feel that they have to always be on the go. The truth is, without recharging, you are likely hurting your long-term productivity. I know, in my experience, sometimes the schedule has gotten away from me and, inevitably, what ends up getting dropped is the "me" time. The tank is then depleted and, if it goes too long, emotional damage is done.
I experienced this a few years ago in my own ministry. The church was growing, I was getting busier; trying to launch new initiatives and keep the ball rolling. I was trying to help others with their problems. I had other stresses in my life that contributed to a mounting sense that I was losing control. It took me longer and used more energy to do what I used to do. All I knew was that I stopped caring - and that's not a good place to be in ministry.
Thankfully, I had an understanding Board and a caring church family that allowed me to take the time I needed to get myself right. I learned some lessons the hard way during that time. Here are some of the bigger ones.
There's only one God, and I'm not Him.
Pastors, in particular, can tend to fall into this trap where they feel that they have to save the world. The truth is that we're all only human, with very real limitations. I've had to learn that there are some situations that are beyond my control. I've preached on this verse for years, but learned through these experiences just how true it is: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) Remember, as well, that none of us are indispensable.
Build margin and stay away from the edge.
What this simply means is that you have to choose carefully where you will spend your time. There are two opposite temptations for pastors: one is to become a workaholic and never take time for themselves; the other is to be lazy and to neglect their ministry. Both are wrong and damaging in their own way. The key is balance. If you are going to take time for yourself you have to build that into your schedule and you have to learn to say no (something I have a hard time with). Learn to prioritize, remember the Pareto Principle: 20% of your activity will provide 80% of the productivity.
Know yourself.
You need to be able to tell when your stress level is rising and you need to know what to do about it. In this case especially, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When you sense the pressure building, offload the stressors if you can and do something to recharge. It's better to take a couple of days sooner, then be forced to take a few weeks or months later.
Identify what gives you energy and what takes it away.
There are some things in my ministry that I do because I have to - they're part of the job. There are other parts of my job that I love to do. When you find your energy level being depleted, do your best to focus on the parts that you love, where your passions lie.
We can be healthy, and we need to be healthy if we're going to continue to be of use to others. Ask yourself this, on a scale of 1-10, what would be the level in your emotional tank? If it's dropping down below 5, what can you do to get it back up in the healthy range? If you're running on empty, who do you need to talk to who can help you? Take care of yourself. Life is hard but God is good.
Related Articles:
Book Review: "The Me I Want To Be"
Caring Enough to Confront
The Pareto Principle
Authentic Leadership
Book Review: The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Recommended Link
Here's a blog I ran across that I thought would interest many of you. It's called Church Relevance and deals with topics to help to create relevant, effective ministries. It was started in 2006 by Kent Shaffer who helped with LifeChurch.tv for a time (Another great site, by the way). "It is not about copying what works for other ministries. It is about gaining
a clearer understanding of both the spiritual and scientific laws God put in to
place and how they can be leveraged to help you best fulfill your calling."I hope that you find it helpful.
Related Articles:
Resources: Top Ten Lists For Canadian Christian Leaders
Cool Link of the Day #5
Cool Link of the Day #6
Cool Link of the Day #4
Cool Link of the Day #3
Thursday, November 10, 2011
"Young Leaders – Start Smart"
by Dan Reiland
Are you heading to your first church? Maybe your second? You probably feel a combination of passion and uncertainty. How you start out in your church matters greatly.
Olympic coaches and runners have taught us that how a sprinter comes out of the blocks is a significant factor in how well he or she runs the race. The same is true for a leader in a local church. If you get off on the wrong angle, or wrong foot – it may be a difficult race at best.
There is no one formula that fits every person, but there are guidelines that can help you get out of the blocks strong, swift and sure-footed. The guidelines offered here work best based on the assumption that you have prayerfully chosen the right church.
• Transition from leading person to leader.
Some young leaders I talk to consider their first church the fifth year of college – and their real education! Just saying. When you make the transition from preparation, (from college or an internship or whatever it might have been), to your church, there are several adjustments to be made.
The most crucial of these adjustments is a change of mind-set from one that focuses largely on moving (growing) yourself from point A to B, (graduation), to moving an entire congregation from point A to point B. It's a huge difference. The transition is from being a leading person (one who does things well) to being a leader of persons (one who leads others to do things well.) A leading person may excel in what they do personally, but has no track record in leading others to excel together. It's a gigantic transition from being a good student to a good leader. Don't let it overwhelm you. Just knowing you need to make the shift is half the battle!
• Learn as much as you can as fast as you can.
Learn the history of the church. The past will give you great insight about to how to lead into the future. Spend time getting to know the leaders. Find their heart and learn what they think. Ask about the strengths and weaknesses of the church, but not like a consultant conducting a survey, ask like a parent who cares about their kids.
Still on learning, but from a different angle, I encourage you to find a mentor or two. Very specifically, find a pastor whose church attendance is just one step above yours. For example, if your church averages about 200, find a mentor who leads a church of 400. You want to learn what he knows!! Find a church as close to yours as you can. There is no secret to proximity. It's only for practical reasons. If you need to travel a couple hours to find one, then get your Starbucks on and start driving.
• Gather some change before you make change.
Change will always cost you as a leader, so you need "change in your pocket" before you make changes. This comes by earning trust, building strong relationships, and getting some wins under your belt. The good news is that the church will loan you some change upon your arrival. If you spend it well they will give you more. If you spend it unwisely, they will charge you interest that will kill you.
One young pastor used his borrowed change to announce from the platform on his first Sunday, without discussing this with anyone, that the choir would no longer be wearing robes. He said it was about time they caught up with the 21st Century. He didn't last long.
Another and wiser pastor, a United Methodist in Georgia, not a week on the job, saw that his church of 200 plus desperately needed a win. It was a plateaued church with little money and even less hope. They really wanted new choir robes but couldn't afford them. The pastor knew that choir robes had little to do with the success of the church in the big picture but was wise enough to know they needed a win. He told the congregation that God was big enough to provide the money for the choir robes – $2400. He stood beside the pulpit and lovingly challenged the people to give. He took a risk and God blessed. Over $2500 came in and you never saw such a pumped and enthused church. They thought, "If we can do that" what could we really do? The pastor gained serious "change in his pockets" that morning!
• Be yourself.
People like you best when you are yourself. Not everyone will like you, but people like you best when you are genuinely you. When you are yourself people can connect with you. When they connect with you they can trust you. When they trust you they will follow you. It's not easy, but it is that simple. Just be you.
Relationships are always important, but especially in the first three to six months. Invest time with the people, not to be their pal but their leader and friend. Let people get to know you as you get to know them. Don't try to make everyone happy and don't lose sleep worrying about what everyone thinks. Remember that while you lay awake at night thinking about it, they are snoring. Find the key leaders and care about what they think, but remain true to yourself.
• Develop leaders. This is obviously a much larger topic than a paragraph or so can cover in one article. But I can at least make the point. If you want your ministry to be larger than you, you must develop leaders to help you realize the largest possible Kingdom impact. It's not about numbers and size, it's about impact. I don't care if your church is 100, 1,000 or 10,000 as long as it's growing and people's lives are being changed. You need more leaders to help you do that.
If you are already doing leadership development, great! Skip this paragraph. If you are new at it, let's get started in a simple doable pattern. Here it is. Gather up a small group of leaders. They can be paid staff, volunteer or a combination. It's OK to have rookie leaders with potential and veteran leaders if they want to grow. Pick a great leadership book and meet twice a month to learn leadership together. Hit a chapter or two each time and focus on two things: 1. What are you learning? 2. How are you applying it? That's it! The key is simplicity and consistency. Leadership development is a lifelong commitment not an event. Stay at it. Leadership development can get much more involved than what I just said, but those two things work very well. Just keep doing it and you'll expand your process naturally.
If you'd like several good book suggestions to develop leaders with go to my blog at http://danreiland.com/ and click on the "books" button.
• Chase God.
This may be the most obvious of all, but curiously it gets left out more often than you might think. Young leaders are so eager to lead, build and succeed that it's easy to crowd out that which really matters. Don't get me wrong. I applaud the zeal, energy and hard work. But God is the one who adds the favor, blessing and true power to make anything of eternal value happen.
The two things that will keep your heart hot for God are prayer and evangelism. Stay close to God and never lose a heart for people who are far from God.
Yes, you and I could make this list longer. But if you make it much longer you'll get lost in the list. The idea is just to get started on the right foot. Start smart and the rest will come in time.
Olympic coaches and runners have taught us that how a sprinter comes out of the blocks is a significant factor in how well he or she runs the race. The same is true for a leader in a local church. If you get off on the wrong angle, or wrong foot – it may be a difficult race at best.
There is no one formula that fits every person, but there are guidelines that can help you get out of the blocks strong, swift and sure-footed. The guidelines offered here work best based on the assumption that you have prayerfully chosen the right church.
• Transition from leading person to leader.
Some young leaders I talk to consider their first church the fifth year of college – and their real education! Just saying. When you make the transition from preparation, (from college or an internship or whatever it might have been), to your church, there are several adjustments to be made.
The most crucial of these adjustments is a change of mind-set from one that focuses largely on moving (growing) yourself from point A to B, (graduation), to moving an entire congregation from point A to point B. It's a huge difference. The transition is from being a leading person (one who does things well) to being a leader of persons (one who leads others to do things well.) A leading person may excel in what they do personally, but has no track record in leading others to excel together. It's a gigantic transition from being a good student to a good leader. Don't let it overwhelm you. Just knowing you need to make the shift is half the battle!
• Learn as much as you can as fast as you can.
Learn the history of the church. The past will give you great insight about to how to lead into the future. Spend time getting to know the leaders. Find their heart and learn what they think. Ask about the strengths and weaknesses of the church, but not like a consultant conducting a survey, ask like a parent who cares about their kids.
Still on learning, but from a different angle, I encourage you to find a mentor or two. Very specifically, find a pastor whose church attendance is just one step above yours. For example, if your church averages about 200, find a mentor who leads a church of 400. You want to learn what he knows!! Find a church as close to yours as you can. There is no secret to proximity. It's only for practical reasons. If you need to travel a couple hours to find one, then get your Starbucks on and start driving.
• Gather some change before you make change.
Change will always cost you as a leader, so you need "change in your pocket" before you make changes. This comes by earning trust, building strong relationships, and getting some wins under your belt. The good news is that the church will loan you some change upon your arrival. If you spend it well they will give you more. If you spend it unwisely, they will charge you interest that will kill you.
One young pastor used his borrowed change to announce from the platform on his first Sunday, without discussing this with anyone, that the choir would no longer be wearing robes. He said it was about time they caught up with the 21st Century. He didn't last long.
Another and wiser pastor, a United Methodist in Georgia, not a week on the job, saw that his church of 200 plus desperately needed a win. It was a plateaued church with little money and even less hope. They really wanted new choir robes but couldn't afford them. The pastor knew that choir robes had little to do with the success of the church in the big picture but was wise enough to know they needed a win. He told the congregation that God was big enough to provide the money for the choir robes – $2400. He stood beside the pulpit and lovingly challenged the people to give. He took a risk and God blessed. Over $2500 came in and you never saw such a pumped and enthused church. They thought, "If we can do that" what could we really do? The pastor gained serious "change in his pockets" that morning!
• Be yourself.
People like you best when you are yourself. Not everyone will like you, but people like you best when you are genuinely you. When you are yourself people can connect with you. When they connect with you they can trust you. When they trust you they will follow you. It's not easy, but it is that simple. Just be you.
Relationships are always important, but especially in the first three to six months. Invest time with the people, not to be their pal but their leader and friend. Let people get to know you as you get to know them. Don't try to make everyone happy and don't lose sleep worrying about what everyone thinks. Remember that while you lay awake at night thinking about it, they are snoring. Find the key leaders and care about what they think, but remain true to yourself.
• Develop leaders. This is obviously a much larger topic than a paragraph or so can cover in one article. But I can at least make the point. If you want your ministry to be larger than you, you must develop leaders to help you realize the largest possible Kingdom impact. It's not about numbers and size, it's about impact. I don't care if your church is 100, 1,000 or 10,000 as long as it's growing and people's lives are being changed. You need more leaders to help you do that.
If you are already doing leadership development, great! Skip this paragraph. If you are new at it, let's get started in a simple doable pattern. Here it is. Gather up a small group of leaders. They can be paid staff, volunteer or a combination. It's OK to have rookie leaders with potential and veteran leaders if they want to grow. Pick a great leadership book and meet twice a month to learn leadership together. Hit a chapter or two each time and focus on two things: 1. What are you learning? 2. How are you applying it? That's it! The key is simplicity and consistency. Leadership development is a lifelong commitment not an event. Stay at it. Leadership development can get much more involved than what I just said, but those two things work very well. Just keep doing it and you'll expand your process naturally.
If you'd like several good book suggestions to develop leaders with go to my blog at http://danreiland.com/ and click on the "books" button.
• Chase God.
This may be the most obvious of all, but curiously it gets left out more often than you might think. Young leaders are so eager to lead, build and succeed that it's easy to crowd out that which really matters. Don't get me wrong. I applaud the zeal, energy and hard work. But God is the one who adds the favor, blessing and true power to make anything of eternal value happen.
The two things that will keep your heart hot for God are prayer and evangelism. Stay close to God and never lose a heart for people who are far from God.
Yes, you and I could make this list longer. But if you make it much longer you'll get lost in the list. The idea is just to get started on the right foot. Start smart and the rest will come in time.
Related Articles:
Book Review: The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham
Iron Sharpens Iron
Are You Teachable?
Levels of Leadership
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Friday, September 16, 2011
Cool Link of the Day #4
Here's another great link that I came across. This one is designed specifically for pastors, but any Christian leader will find helpful information here. It's from Catalyst. "Catalyst is a powerful gathering of young leaders, a movement of influencers and world changers who love Jesus, see things differently, and feel a burden for our generation. We seek to learn, worship, and create together with a momentous energy passionately pursuing God. We are Catalysts... Kingdom ambassadors, change agents, influencers, and cultural architects seeking to change our churches, communities, and cultures for God."
The following link is to the Catalyst Leadership Journal. It is a digital magazine with videos, interviews and articles that can help Christian leaders move to the next level. I hope you enjoy.
Related Articles:
Cool Link of the Day #3
Cool Link of the Day #2!
Cool Link of the Day!
Leadership Sites You Should Bookmark
Developing Great Habits
The following link is to the Catalyst Leadership Journal. It is a digital magazine with videos, interviews and articles that can help Christian leaders move to the next level. I hope you enjoy.
Related Articles:
Cool Link of the Day #3
Cool Link of the Day #2!
Cool Link of the Day!
Leadership Sites You Should Bookmark
Developing Great Habits
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