Prime The Pump

There's an old story about a traveler who hiked for many miles across the Desert Mountains. His water supply was gone, and he knew that if he didn't find water soon, he would surely die. In the distance, he noticed an abandoned cabin and hoped to find some water there. Once he made it to the cabin, he discovered an old well. Then he noticed a tin can tied to the pump, with a note inside.

The note said:

Dear stranger: This water pump is in working condition, but the pump needs to be primed in order for the water to come out. Under the white rock, I buried a jar of water, out of the sun. There’s enough water in the jar to prime the pump, but not if you drink any first. When you are finished, please fill the jar and put it back as you found it for the next stranger who comes this way.

This parable is really about giving back, or paying it forward, if you like. What kind of a leader are you?

Are you the kind of leader who thinks only in the short term, or does your vision extend beyond perhaps even your lifetime? What can we learn from this parable?

1. There are risks to take in leadership. It's not easy investing precious resources in something that can potentially give you a return. It's very tempting to look at that water and think about all of the "what ifs." What if I use this water to prime the pump and the pump still doesn't work - then I'm stuck with no water? What if this is just some cruel joke?
2. Real leadership takes faith. It takes a lot of faith to pour out water that could save your life. Sometimes leadership requires stepping out and doing something that risks our very survival, simply because it's the right thing to do.
3. Real leadership cares about those who follow after. The easiest thing to do here would be to drink deeply from the bottle, slake your thirst and then go happily on your way. But there will be another weary traveler crossing those mountains someday. Without your conscientious effort, they will more than likely perish. Someone cared enough to make provision for you; will you return the favor?

It's believed that Isaac Newton was the first to popularize the phrase: "If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." It speaks well to the subject of leadership. Each of us in leadership have learned what we know from leaders who have gone before, whether in person, by recording or in written form. And each of us then decide what kind of leader we will become.

Many years ago I attended a conference in which John Maxwell spoke of his desire to add value to everyone he met. That thought has stuck with me through the years. Will you leave people better off than when they first met you, or will you simply take advantage of what they have to offer and move on to the next client (victim)? What difference could you make if you made a commitment to add value to every person with whom you come in contact? It seems to me a better option than leaving a legacy of very thirsty people. Don't neglect to prime the pump!

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"Team Morale"

Guest blog by Dan Reiland

When I walk through the offices in any church, it doesn't take long for me to have gained an accurate sense of the staff's morale. Volume is usually my first clue. Ok, I'm kidding, but only a little! Teams with high morale don't behave as if they are in a library or museum! When I walk through the halls at 12Stone® Church where I serve as Executive Pastor, some days you'd think there's a party going on! And in some ways there is! I love it that way. Don't get me wrong, the 12Stone team works hard. But there is no reason it can't also be fun.

Warning signs of low morale:

(If you check three or more, even if "mild" circumstances, you need to work on improving the morale of your team. If you check either of the last two, please take action immediately.)

[ ] The team develops a critical spirit.
Faultfinding, complaining and negativism in general find their way into day-to-day work life.

[ ] The team exhibits an uncooperative attitude.
There is a lack of a servant's heart. Some are territorial and protect their own turf, and even have a political edge.

[ ] The team loses sight of the vision.
The big picture has been lost to individual agendas.

[ ] The team displays a lack of enthusiasm.
There is little passion and low energy. The teams are comfortable. For a few, it's "just a job."

[ ] The team reveals a lack of commitment.
Initiative is not strong. There is little risk in play. Meeting only the minimums and cutting corners is noticeable.

[ ] The team lacks spiritual fervor.
It seems more about work and less about prayer and God's favor. Momentum is probably lacking.

[ ] The team begins to cause more problems than they solve.
They function the opposite of the reason they are there! Most churches explode from the inside and this is how it happens.

[ ] The team shows a disregard and lack of respect for top leadership.
This is one of the most dangerous. Trust is in jeopardy and trouble is brewing. Ignore this and potentially lose your church.

[ ] The team uses low morale as a rally point.
This is a lethal warning sign! When the team uses low morale as a point to discuss, rather than specific issues to solve, it's past time to take action!! Jump on it. Confront the issue. Call a consultant. Do something!

Let's continue in the diagnostic mode. The next list includes a number of the top things that will lower your team's morale. Which ones do you need to work on?




Morale Busters
• Unclear responsibilities and expectations.
Even well-written job descriptions are often unclear. Wordy paragraphs filled with philosophical and theological overtones leave the staff member wondering what they are being asked to accomplish. It's better to have a short and very "net" bullet list of measurable expectations. Review that list at least twice a year.

• Inconsistent or unavailable leadership.
There is nothing worse than a moody leader and one that is hard to get to. Even the best of staff need leadership! This doesn't mean you need to provide an "open door" policy, but being available and quick to respond is important.

• Top leadership not willing to confront problems.
From end-runs to gossip to poor performance, many church staff teams suffer from some level of dysfunction including immaturity. While it may not be pervasive, it can begin to erode good morale. Facing problems quickly, honestly and with integrity goes a long way to improve morale.

• Under-staffing and over-staffing.
Prolonged under-staffing causes stress and frustration. Over-staffing allows a team to get comfortable and lazy and doesn't help to attract eagles to your team. Lean staffing is best. Lean staffing means hiring the best, but running the team a little light because the leaders can handle more.

• Poor Communication.
This is the most common on the list. In fact, I've never been to a church that didn't struggle to achieve good communication. This isn't meant to excuse the issue. In fact, it's more to acknowledge that we all have to work on it, and the better the communication the better the morale.


• The absence of professional evaluation and constructive feedback.
People want to know if they are doing a good job or not. They really do! Regular and written evaluations are vital to a healthy and growing organization. For a sample system, go to my blog at http://danreiland.com/ and click on Resources. Check out MAPs and "7" Coaching Conversation.

• Lack of initiative for leadership development.
Simple and consistent investments of leadership development are essential for a healthy and happy team. If the staff are not growing and getting better at what they do, the church can't achieve the Great Commission success it desires. I'll give an idea of what you can do in "Morale Builders" under "Invest in your leaders."

• Absence of a clear vision.
You know I couldn't leave this off the list! It's obvious I know, but without vision, and without clear direction and a strategy of how to get there, the morale of your team will decline.

Morale Builders
• Generous amounts of encouragement and gratitude.
Nothing lifts the human spirit quite like sincere encouragement. You really can't over encourage someone! Consistently expressing gratitude to each individual on your team goes a long way to increase morale. It's amazing what a simple thank you can do!

• Maintain high receptivity to change.
Growing organizations are changing organizations. Your church is no exception. If you have been doing the same things over and over, I can promise this causes an ebbing away at the morale of your team. Ask the hard questions about what needs to change, not for the sake of change, but to get better at what you do.

• Embrace risk and creativity in order to realize the vision.
Leaders take risks. Yes, it can raise your blood pressure but it also increases your faith and keeps the team alive! Prayerfully ask God where He wants you to be pressing against the edge. Experimentation is also needed to achieve the vision. This kind of creativity lets you try new things in an environment where it is hopefully ok to make mistakes.

• Cultivate positive and faith oriented attitudes.
It is surprising, but nonetheless true, that church staff teams can "sour" quickly. When the culture of the team goes toxic, you have a mess to clean up. Cultivating a positive spirit and sustaining strong faith doesn't happen automatically. You have to work at it. It requires intentionality. It requires honesty and confronting the issues. It's not a pie-in-the-sky attitude, it's a choice to see even the difficult things with a positive solution-oriented bias.

• Insist on results.
The team needs to know that results matter to God. It's not just about what the "boss" wants. The Kingdom is at stake. Teams get fired-up when they know everyone is kicking in on all cylinders and making things happen. When everyone is digging in and working hard to achieve success there is a wonderful kind of chemistry that gives a big boost to the morale.

• Invest in your leaders.
Leadership development is near and dear to my heart, and I hope it is to yours too. There are so many things you can do to help your leaders grow, but it's important to keep it simple and consistent. You can start by simply taking a group through a good leadership book asking two questions. 1. What are you learning? 2. How are you applying what you are learning?


• Lean into trust and the benefit of the doubt.
When your team has a high degree of trust in each other the morale gains an automatic boost. One of the best ways to cultivate trust is to establish within your culture a commitment to grant each other the benefit of the doubt. This includes in everything from email to group meetings. Assume the best! And if you are not sure, ask!

• Promote a sense of community.
Even in the midst of hard work, the team needs to play and take time to care about each other. Above all the job descriptions rides the truth that each one on your staff is a human being with their own hurts, struggles, joys and questions in life. It's so important to acknowledge and embrace this truth. Take time to talk, pray and play together!!

This article has been kind of a "lists on steroids" edition of the Pastor's Coach. I encourage you to take some time with your team and look at the lists. Talk honestly through them. Share some fist-bumps about what you are doing well, and work on the areas that needs improvement!

ABOUT DAN

Dr. Dan Reiland serves as Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He previously partnered with John Maxwell for 20 years, first as Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, then as Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at INJOY. He and Dr. Maxwell still enjoy partnering on a number of church related projects together. Dan is best known as a leader with a pastor's heart, but is often described as one of the nations most innovative church thinkers. His passion is developing leaders for the local church so that the Great Commission is advanced. As a communicator, Dan has a down-to-earth style that combines humor and strategic thinking. Each year he "coaches" many pastors and speaks to several thousand people, impacting lives and strengthening the local church. Dan and his wife Patti live in Dacula, Georgia with their two children Mackenzie and John-Peter.

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First Follow - Then Lead

Some people have the mistaken idea that leadership is simply mastering a group of skills. It's much more than that. True leadership, at least Biblical leadership, is about helping people become what they were intended to become, and accomplishing together what we couldn't do by ourselves; it's about fulfilling potential. In other words, Biblical leadership is other-centered. It's not about tasks, but relationship. While it is about results, those results aren't necessarily numbers.

For all of these reasons, one of the most important things a leader can do is to learn how to follow. Jesus didn't say "obey these rules," He said, "Follow Me." It is in the following, not just in the lesson, that the relationship is developed. Let's look at this lesson from the perspective of a follower: what do followers expect from leaders?

Followers expect leaders to have their best interests at heart.
If I'm going to follow someone, I want to know that they care about me. I want to know that what happens to me, matters to them. As some wise person once said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Followers expect that leaders can get them safely to the right destination.
When a leader is confused, it spreads quickly. When a leader knows where they're going and how to get there, it inspires confidence. If and when the journey gets challenging, followers want to know what's going on. When problems arise, they want to see the leader dealing with them; not running from them.

Followers expect honesty and integrity.
When a follower sets out on a journey with a leader, implicit in that commitment is trust. People generally want to believe the best of their leader. The cynicism of our age has largely come about as a result of leaders who say one thing to assume the role of leader and then do another. A leader with integrity will see to it that their actions match their words; that they are, in fact, what they say they are.

It is in the process of learning how to follow that a leader can appreciate the qualities necessary to lead effectively. This walking with and observing ought not to be rushed nor short-circuited, it's a necessary part of leadership development. I believe that's what Paul meant when he wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:22 - "Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader." (NLT)

Some of the best leaders that I've ever seen were those who were servants first. They simply did what needed to be done, regardless of how menial the task may be. As a Lead Pastor I've cleaned my fair share of toilets. If someone is not willing to do those kinds of things, when necessary, how can they expect others to do them? Conversely, when a follower sees his leader rolling up his sleeves and getting dirty once in a while, it makes their own work more meaningful.

When leaders remember what it's like to be a follower, indeed, when we continue to be followers, we are much better leaders. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

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Managing Expectations

I've learned over the years that a lot of the problems that leaders deal with are the result of unmet expectations. This is true of the leader - as sometimes things don't go the way they should. But it's especially true of followers, when reality doesn't quite match up with what had been envisioned.

Some of us leaders have a particular penchant for being overly optimistic. When all is well, this is not a problem, but when things go south... that's another story. The reality is that in every organization, be it a business, a church or a non-prof, there will be ups and downs. How we interpret those ups and downs is often dependent upon the expectations the leader has created.

Let's use some sports teams as an example. As a longsuffering Toronto sports fan, the beginning of every season brings with it the dawn of great expectations. The Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup in 1967 -  I was 5 at the time. When Brian Burke was hired as the General Manager in the Fall of 2008 he made it clear that winning was paramount and laid out a strategy to get back to the playoffs.

Regardless of what was said, the expectation was that it would take place sooner, rather than later. The knives are now out for the Leafs GM after yet another disappointing season. You'd be hard pressed to find too many people who honestly believe that the Leafs are any closer to the playoffs, let alone the Stanley Cup, than they were four years ago. Yet we hope...

Then you have the Toronto Blue Jays. They won the World Series in 1993 but, since then, have been perennial also-rans in the toughest division in baseball. Alex Anthopolous was hired to be the Blue Jays new General Manager late in 2009 as a relative unknown. Expectations were limited, and a conservative strategy for a long-term building plan was clearly articulated by the new boss.

Now 3 years later the Blue Jays are still hovering around the .500 mark, winning half and losing half. The difference between them and the Leafs is that Alex has done a far better job of managing expectations, I suspect partly because he has a better relationship with the media. In a recent trade, for example, Anthopolous was clear that it wouldn't put the team "over the top." It would help, but the Jays are still a few pieces away from contention.

Rather than putting off most fans, it rather has had the opposite affect.The average fan seems willing to give Alex more time, sensing that he does know what he's doing. Expectations are that the team is only a couple of years away from contending for a long time. These expectations are also being moderated by a friendly media, who have been an ally to Anthopolous from a PR perspective.

Compare that to Burke, whose prickly personality seems to have rubbed many members of the media the wrong way. While still reporting "fairly" they are not inclined to do Brian any favours or give him the benefit of the doubt. The Leafs may not be much different as far as their performance but, because of expectations, they seem to be light years apart.

How does this relate to your organization? Who are the people who help shape expectations for you? Most of us don't have to deal with the media, but we all have influencers around us. If they're favourable they can help greatly; if they're not, look out. As a strategy, identify the influencers in your organization. Win them over. If you can't, you'd better be more influential that they are.

Finally, learn how to manage expectations through whatever means you have at your disposal. When you overpromise, people will eventually stop believing in you. It's preferable to overdeliver - to have results that exceed expectations. Be sure that when you are projecting into the future that you are realistic. And take a lesson from Anthopolous - be likeable. Work on your people skills. People will be much more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt. 

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Some Articles Worth Reading - For Pastors

 

Here are three helpful articles that I wanted to pass on for all of the pastors and ministry leaders out there. There's nothing earth-shattering here - just good things to be reminded of. I hope you enjoy, and if you come across helpful links, please drop me a line at tdbok@rogers.com

 

3 Things Every Pastor Should Unlearn - by Pete Wilson

 

 

 

 

Solid Advice for Young Leaders from Dr. Billy Graham  - by Ron Edmondson

 

 

 

 

IN THE WAKE OF LEADERSHIP - by Andy Stanley

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Learn This Before You Lead

 

Here's a great article that I came across recently that deals with a subject I've been thinking a lot about lately - followership. We don't talk a lot about it. It's not even a word actually. But as a concept, it's vital for leaders. The basic idea is this: everyone follows someone, and before you can lead effectively, you must learn how to follow. I will let August Turak teach this lesson, he does it far better than I could. 

Click on this link for the whole article:

The 11 Leadership Secrets You've Never Heard About

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Cool Link of the Day #4

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.

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