Effective Peer Leader-shift: Creating Collaboration

by: VRcurator

0

Tweet

Leaders, by definition (if not practice) have followers. Leaders find, recruit, and train followers for specific tasks. While this is an important task in any organization, a leader who can only lead followers is limited. To make it to the next level of leadership, a leader must be able to lead other leaders – those alongside them.

Leading peers is a unique challenge, no matter what organization a leader is part of. A highly competent leader who is seen – rightly or wrongly – to have considerable influence with his boss is often at a disadvantage when it comes to peer-to-peer relationships.

To succeed at leading alongside your peers, you must work at giving your colleagues reasons to respect and follow you. You do that by helping them win, and in doing so, you will not only help your organization but you will also help yourself.

THE QUICK SUMMARY – The Power of Peers by Leon Shapiro and Leo Bottary

Birds of a feather flock together. We’re all in the same boat. Great minds think alike.

While just figures of speech to some, they reflect a simple truth–it’s the company we keep that often determines the level of personal growth and professional success we achieve in life.  Business leaders exchange information and ideas. They network to make deals and build partnerships. They work together to optimize best practices, and they reach out to leaders outside their companies to accelerate growth. Simply put, CEOs and business leaders provide value to one another that they can’t find anywhere else.

In The Power of Peers, authors Leon Shapiro and Leo Bottary introduce peer advantage, a concept that transcends peer influence. This is what CEOs and business leaders experience when they are more selective, strategic, and structured in the way they engage their peers. Peer advantage gives CEOs the insights to compete and the courage to act.

The Power of Peers features stories of business leaders from a range of industries to illustrate the five essential factors for peer advantage, how it impacts personal growth and why it has proven so effective in helping leaders identify future opportunities and challenges. It’s what top, growth-oriented executives have relied upon for decades to be successful in business and in life.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION – Create valuable team interaction

A gathering of peers often provides a rich environment for discussion leading to potential solutions to a problem. However, these types of skilled discussions require a framework of safety and the firm belief that everything that happens in the room stays in the room.

When repeated often, these skilled discussions can lead to creating close ties among the members of the group, leading to a high-performing team who excel in pursing perfection.

A well-defined, proven process with specific rules of engagement is essential for fostering the sense of efficacy required to bring serious matters to a group of peers.

Consider valuable interaction in terms of a conversation where all the participants are engage. They understand precisely what’s being talked about and are prepared to ask insightful questions that inspire focus and clarity of all the participants.

A skilled discussion is designed to fully examine a situation and separate good ideas form bad ones in the hope that the best ideas or solutions will rise to the top. A discussion lacking a process or discipline can easily devolve, so members end up simply sharing information, tossing out ideas, and selling those ideas. In a free-flowing discussion, it’s not uncommon for the group to reach decisions that are either based on incomplete information or are influenced in a particular direction by and individual in the room who has a strong personality. In these instances, the nod goes to the best advocates, not necessarily to the strongest idea.

These rich, skilled discussions don’t happen by accident. Skilled discussions are possible when participants use a framework to optimize and accelerate conversations from simple sharing to meaningful dialogue and action.

Leon Shapiro and Leo Bottary, The Power of Peers

A NEXT STEP

To utilize the concept of skilled discussion, use the following fishbowl technique with your leadership team.

Take the lead in demonstrating this technique by choosing an issue in which you would like feedback from your team.

Divide the team in half. Ask half the team to join you in a small circle in an active discussion about the issue. The other half of the team remains outside the circle, listening and gathering data, but not interacting with the inner circle. In each half, designate one individual to be a “smart guide” (see below).

After a period of time, switch the outside group with the inside group, so the “outsiders” take what they heard and interject it into the process. Because they have had time to observe and process the first discussion, they often have better questions and insights.

After another period of time, switch the groups a final time discussion.

The person in the middle – the smart guide – has been given the opportunity to engage in deep conversations with a smaller group in stages, rather than working with the whole group at once.

During the inner circle discussions, from time to time have the smart guide ask this question: “If you were the one who had to solve this problem, what recommendations would you give yourself?” This additional step often interjects a unique and valuable contribution from a different perspective.

Excerpt taken from SUMS Remix 79-3, issued November 2017.

This is part of a weekly series posting excerpts from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix book excerpts for church leaders.

SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; each solution is taken from a different book. Additionally, a practical action step is included with each solution.

As a church leader you get to scan relevant books based on practical tools and solutions to real ministry problems, not just by the cover of the book. Each post will have the edition number which shows the year and what number it is in the overall sequence. (SUMS Remix provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

>> Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

Tags: Peer Leaders, SUMS Remix, The Power of Peers

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

You’re Too Busy to NOT Develop Leaders

by: Mac Lake

0

Tweet

You’re busy. Very busy. So busy that you can find no time in your schedule to invest in developing new and existing leaders.

As a result, you’re multiplying the number of hours it takes to get important things done. You’re multiplying the anxieties. And you’re multiplying the number of missed opportunities due to being the bottleneck in your area.

You’re busy. Very busy. But you spend 20% or even 30% of your time developing new and existing leaders.

As a result, you’re multiplying the number of people serving your mission. You’re multiplying the talent level of your team members. You’re multiplying the number of people who know how to identify and recruit potential leaders. And you’re multiplying the number of potential successors who can do what you do.

You’re busy. Very busy. And you’re multiplying. The question is: What are you multiplying?

Dig Deeper:
Video: How to Develop Leaders When You’re Too Busy

> Read more from Mac.

Learn more about multiplying leaders – connect with an Auxano Navigator!

Tags: Developing Leaders, Mac Lake, Multiplying Leaders

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

Your Phone Battery is Not the Only Thing that Needs Recharging

by: Dan Reiland

0

Tweet

You may hear “comments over coffee” about who has jobs that are easy and who has jobs that are hard. I have. They often seem to get quickly connected to levels of fatigue.

I think there is more to it than that.

Most jobs are not hard or easy by themselves; it’s context and perspective that makes the difference.

You can name teachers, plumbers, sales associates, pastors, and business owners that work very hard and some who barely work.

Each of us has a unique context and perspective that makes all the difference.

Your unique context is about your environment and circumstances.

For example, do you work at a healthy place for a boss that cares about you? I don’t mean a perfect workplace, there is no such thing, but a place that you enjoy. Or do you work in an organization (church or business) that is toxic, difficult, and drains you more than fulfills you?

Your unique perspective is what you bring to the mix, and how you see things.

For example, how well do you handle stress? How’s your family life? Are you generally a glass-half-full and grateful person? Are you in the right job? How’s your health? Do you consider yourself self-aware and secure?

These kinds of things have a significant impact on your level of energy and ability to rest and rejuvenate for the next day, next week, etc.

We need a brief set of definitions:

These are not meant to be comprehensive or clinical level definitions, but only to give a comparative framework so this post is practical and helpful.

Level 1 – Natural fatigue
This is a normal and healthy response to a day’s work. With a little chill time and a good night’s sleep, you are fresh, re-charged and good to go in the morning.

Level 2 – Over-tired
You are consistently drained more than energized, often feeling stressed, work is starting to be no fun, and you have difficulty starting your next day fresh and ready to go.

Level 3 – Approaching burnout
You almost always feel exhausted and experience little joy. You have difficulty maintaining a healthy perspective, and relationships are beginning to suffer.

This post focuses on Level 2 – Over-Tired.

So, let’s look at examples of unique context and perspective for the over-tired leader.

Your context may be pretty healthy, but your perspective is off.
For example, you work at a church you love and respect, but you try to do too much yourself, and you struggle with people pleasing.

Your perspective may be in good shape, but your context is problematic.
For example, your general self-awareness is mature, and you and your family are happy, but you work for a micro-managing boss in an environment that lacks trust.

Either one of these two examples can drain you and can cause you to be consistently over-tired. Of course, if you are in a difficult situation and you have personal struggles, that will significantly impact your ability to rest and recover.

The basics of a healthy balance for work and rest are the same for everyone. But because each person’s situation is a little different, each solution is a little different.

So rather than giving you a one size fits all list, I’m offering some options that you can choose from according to what may help you most.

The last thing I want to do is give you a list of 10 things to do when you are over-tired, so choose the options that are right for you.

The good news is that rebounding from being over-tired is very doable! And the important thing is to arrest being over-tired before you hit soul level exhaustion and burnout.

10 options that will help you prevent and recharge from being over-tired:

1) Build in some margin.

If you are like me, your days are full, and there always seems to be more to do than time allows. The solution? Pack the day even fuller! Wrong. That’s a mistake.

Instead, create some margin, a couple of short breaks during your day that allows you to catch up. And block one four-hour space during the week to handle the unexpected or get some time to be quiet and think.

2) Take a complete break from your work on your day off.

If we are honest, it isn’t always practical to completely shut down for your whole day off, but usually, a full day off needs to be a regular experience for you. This doesn’t mean you do nothing, but your day off is different.

You probably have a few errands and a to-do list of some kind. Most of us do, but that’s a different feel and rhythm. It can help energize and recharge you! Make sure to include some chill time, maybe a hobby you enjoy.

3) Raise up more volunteer leaders.

This is indeed not the primary purpose of developing volunteers, but it’s a real and needed benefit.

Even recruiting just one or two new key leaders can make a big difference. Don’t make this a chore, but part of progress and moving forward toward your vision, which also adds breath and energy to your life.

4) Empower and delegate to your volunteer leaders.

Empowerment is important enough to list separately from raising up new leaders. It’s important to trust your leaders with real responsibility, train them, communicate expectations and let them lead!

5) Establish healthy boundaries.

This is a tough one. Learning to say no at the right times to the appropriate people can be difficult.

Lack of boundaries is not always about fear, people pleasing, or insecurity. Sometimes a large number of relationships in most church leader’s lives can be too much. And occasionally specific requests are unreasonable.

Saying no can be difficult, but it’s necessary.

6) Invest “fun” time into your family and meaningful relationships.

Friends and family are core to a healthy and rested lifestyle. You can increase your skill level at work to get things done faster, but you can’t rush a heart level connect with family and friends.

Make some time for the people you love the most.

7) Reduce the number of ministries the church carries.

We who are church leaders can be our own worst enemies. We can create our over-work situations by starting more ministries than any one church can do.

No single church can do every ministry. That’s not possible or smart.

So be wise and discerning about the ministries you choose for your church. Eliminate ministries that are not effective and add ministries very slowly if at all.

8) Take care of yourself physically.

I’m not going to “preach” at you about proper nutrition and exercise. You know what to do. But if this is a need for you, I do want to encourage you to take small steps in the right direction toward better overall health.

Do something that you enjoy. Do something simple like take a brisk walk after dinner. You’d be surprised at how big a difference a modest but consistent effort makes.

9) Lighten up some and laugh often.

I have a little rock on my desk that has the word “laugh” painted on it. It’s a good reminder for me.

Sometimes I get so consumed in solving problems and focused on “serious stuff” that I can go too long without lightening up, smiling, and laughing!

The good news is that I work with a bunch of awesome people who make sure there is plenty of laughter going on! That’s important!

10) Invest consistent and quality time in prayer.

We know that prayer is life-changing. The Holy Spirit brings peace, joy and rest for your soul.

Don’t make prayer a job or a task to do, sometimes all that’s needed is to sit quietly with God. Just thank Him for who He is and listen for His voice. Ask God to give you peace and rest at a soul level.

God answers that prayer if we take the time needed to slow down in His presence.

> Read more from Dan.

Tags: Dan Reiland, Recharging, Work Balance, Work-Rest Balance

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

3 Ways to Take the Temperature of the Environment You Lead

by: Michael Kelley

0

Tweet

My family will tell you that I’m a thermostat control freak. I have a day marked on my calendar when I have arbitrarily determined it’s acceptable to flip on the air conditioning or the heater, depending on the season. And even when those systems come on, they’re never set quite how my family would prefer.

They’d sure like the AC to flip on before it gets to be 76 degrees, and they’d probably enjoy the heater coming on before it gets to 65. Thing is, though, I like it just fine. I actually get quite a bit of satisfaction when I’m sweating in our living room, or when I’m bundled up at the kitchen table. It makes me feel tough; it makes me feel frugal (Notice I said frugal. Not cheap. Can I get an amen from the dads out there?)

But even as I write this, I’m realizing that those under my care don’t have the same sensibilities I do. I have created an environment in the home that I like, appreciate, and enjoy, but those within the environment I’ve created might not be having the same reaction. Sure, I can simply dismiss their feelings and keep the thermostat the way I like it, but as a leader in the home I would do well to “take the temperature” of my family to see how they’re responding to the temperature of our home.

It’s a bit of a silly illustration, but the principle is strong I believe. When you find yourself in a leadership role, whether in an organization, a small group, or a home, there is a certain temperature you have created in that environment. As godly leaders, we are not only responsible for setting the temperature; we are responsible for knowing how the temperature we have set is affecting those who have to live inside of it.

When you take the temperature, you are making sure that you have not done something detrimental to the people living in it. You are humbly acknowledging that the culture you have intentionally created is having its desired effect, which is moving people closer and closer to Jesus. And you are also acknowledging that you are not the ultimate authority, and that like any other human, you might have made a mistake and created an environment that is having unintended consequences.

So how can you take the temperature inside of the environment you lead? I would suggest at least three ways:

1. Listen.

Most of the time, people who sit in your environment are talking. Many times it’s the easiest thing in the world to become so convinced that you’re right, your decisions are valid, that you purposely choose not to listen to those who are speaking. But if you really want to know the temperature of the environment you’ve created, you’ve got to make sure your ears are open.

Of course, when you’re listening to others, you must also be listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. That’s because not every voice you hear will be right or even helpful. So through the wisdom that only God will provide, you and I must learn who and what to listen to, and when is the right moment to take heed.

2. Observe.

Let me go back to the illustration of our home. It’s possible that my sweet wife knows by now that I like the thermostat set at a certain temperature. And though she might not like it that way, she has decided in her godly heart to not press the issue; instead, she has decided to wear a scarf and gloves to the dinner table.

Many times observation is an even more helpful method of taking the temperature than listening. That’s because people always communicate even when they’re not speaking. They communicate through their body language, their gestures, and even the indirect questions they ask. Watch; observe; take note; people will tell you what the temperature is even when they don’t tell you what the temperature is.

3. Ask.

Of these three, this is the most obvious, but it’s also the one I think we do the least. We can actually, verbally, ask the question. Why don’t we do this more?

I would posit it’s because we already know what the answer is, and we don’t want to really hear it. That’s because when we do, we have to react to what we suspect but are unwilling to admit to ourselves. This is a humbling thing; it means we may have to adjust the “perfect plan” we had in place, and it means we have to admit that we, too, make mistakes.

But in those moments, we would do well to ask ourselves whether we would rather live with an illusion or pursue a better future? We can actually find someone we trust, someone we know will tell us the truth, and actually ask the question.

If you find yourself in a leadership role, friends, be it of an organization, church, group, or something else, don’t be afraid to take the temperature of the environment you are stewarding. Don’t be so married to your good intentions that you fail to embrace reality.

> Read more from Michael.

Want to know more ideas about how to develop as a leader? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Leadership Environment, Leadership Temperature, Michael Kelley

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

Measuring Up: Discern Your Gifts

by: VRcurator

0

Tweet

Your divine design, as expressed in Ephesians 2:10, is more knowable than you realize. You are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He has prepared in advance, that you should walk in them.

With the right tools, courageous dialogue, and an experienced guide, you can accelerate progress in articulating your life vision and aligning your life vocation.

Auxano Founder Will Mancini and pastor Dave Rhodes have developed those tools.

The books referenced in this SUMS Remix are just a taste of what possibilities exist as you explore what you were created for.

Once you read through this “appetizer,” read more about how you can and should know your Life Younique: your God-given identity and your God inspired dreams. Then, you can discern and design the practical next steps to get there.

THE QUICK SUMMARY – The Person Called You by Bill Hendricks

“I can’t stand my job anymore.”
“I feel like I have no direction.”
“What should I do with my life?”

Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. Barna Group finds that 75% of Americans are seeking ways to live more meaningful lives. And among practicing Christians, only 40% have a clear sense of their calling.

But there is a way to find and follow your purpose.

For over twenty years, Bill Hendricks has been helping people of all ages and stages find meaning and direction for their work and for their lives. The key is harnessing the power of human giftedness. Every person has their own unique giftedness—including you! And the best way to discover it is not through a test or gift assessment exercise, but from your own life story. Through this book, find out what you were born to do and the profound difference that insight makes for every area—your work, your relationships, even your spirituality.

The Person Called You is a celebration, exploration, and explanation of human giftedness. Bill describes what it is (and isn’t), where it comes from, how you can discover your own giftedness, and, most importantly, its potential to transform your life.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION – Determine your giftedness

When we hear someone speak of another as “gifted,” we often conclude that giftedness is an uncommon thing, reflected in a few superstar athletes or maybe in the brilliant thinking of Nobel Prize winners. While such people are amazing, giftedness is not for a fortunate few. It is part of the human condition.

Giftedness is not just what you can do, but what you are born to do,  enjoy doing, and do well.

Giftedness is the unique way in which you function. It’s a set of inborn core strengths and natural motivation you instinctively and consistently use to do things that you find satisfying and productive.

Giftedness is not about what you can do but what you were born to do, enjoy doing, and do well. People can do all kinds of things. But they only enjoy doing certain things. Everyone has something they gain energy from doing. The giftedness is not in the activity itself, it’s in the person, in their sense of joy or fulfillment or accomplishment.

Giftedness is fundamentally about your behavior. It is found in what you do and how you do it. Not so much why you do it. Giftedness is a phenomenon; it just is. Your behavior – the consistent pattern of what you actually do and how you do it – tells me what your giftedness is.

Giftedness is about behavior, but not just any behavior. You many do any number of things, but certain activities have a way of focusing your energy in a highly engaging way. If you examine those moments carefully, you’ll discover a consistent intertwining of strengths and motivation in your behavior.

If giftedness is about motivation combined with ability, it follows that it is also about satisfaction combined with productivity. When you get to do what you’re motivated to do, you feel satisfaction. And if you do what you’re actually able to do, you tend to be productive. You actually accomplish something.

Your giftedness never fundamentally changes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t develop as a person. Your giftedness is your most powerful tool for personal and professional growth in two ways: 1) you can develop your gift yourself; and 2) you can use your gift to acquire skills and cultivate competencies that you did not come by naturally.

Bill Hendricks, The Person Called You

A NEXT STEP

Find time in your schedule to spend a few hours disconnected from your job and other responsibilities. Turn off your mobile phone, and any other distraction.

Think back over you life to a time when there were certain moments or activities that captured your interest in some compelling way. Perhaps you found yourself lost in the activity you were so involved in it.

You accomplished something – maybe not anything impressive to others, but something significant to you. When you think back to that activity, you recall it as an energizing and satisfying event. You might even want to do it again.

That activity had two important criteria: 1) you were actually doing something; and 2) you took satisfaction from the activity.

The satisfying activities of your life described above hold valuable clues as to what your giftedness is all about.

To more fully understand what you are doing when you’re in the sweet spot of your giftedness, complete the online version of the author’s “Discovering Your Giftedness: A Step-by-Step guide found here.

Excerpt taken from SUMS Remix 80-2, released November 2017.

This is part of a weekly series posting excerpts from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix book excerpts for church leaders.

SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; each solution is taken from a different book. Additionally, a practical action step is included with each solution.

As a church leader you get to scan relevant books based on practical tools and solutions to real ministry problems, not just by the cover of the book. Each post will have the edition number which shows the year and what number it is in the overall sequence. (SUMS Remix provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

>> Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

Tags: Bill Hendricks, Giftedness, SUMS Remix, The Person Called You

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Vision >

The Ministry Benefits of Weekly Downtime

by: Eric Geiger

0

Tweet

“Why do you take a day-off during the week? The devil doesn’t take a day off!” said one cranky old man to a young pastor.

“Because I am not trying to be like the devil” quipped the pastor.

Well done, pastor. Well done.

Ministry leaders must take a day off each week or they lack the moral authority to encourage those they serve to rest. Ministry leaders must take a day off each week for the sake of their own health, both physical and spiritual health. Without a time to rest, leaders will burn out or implode. Churches that make it difficult for church leaders to take a day off are harming the leaders and the church. Thankfully I have always served in churches that value the ministry leaders having time to rest. Thankfully the people who thought negatively about “days off” for ministry leaders weren’t in positions of decision-making.

If you are one of those people who think ministry leaders only work on Sundays, God loves you in the midst of your foolishness. But you are really, really foolish.

I had always taken Fridays as my “day off” before leaving the local church and serving as senior vice-president at LifeWay Christian Resources. Other friends of mine took Mondays off. Those seem to be the most common days off for ministry leaders. When I left local church ministry to serve at LifeWay, I learned what an actual weekend was. I had no idea what that word “weekend” really meant till not being on staff at a local church. Now that I have gone back to the local church, my current “day off” is Monday but I am going to experiment with Friday again too.

I have asked others which day is the best “day off” for ministry leaders and here are the best arguments I have heard for each day:

Take Mondays off:

• Sunday is the end of your week. Take Sunday night and Monday off and rest before you start a new week.
• The “Monday blues” can be real for ministry leaders. You are more susceptible to making bad decisions and express frustration to others. Take off and come back in a better place. You will have fewer regrets for your decisions and your interactions with others.
• If you take Fridays off, you will be tired the entire week in the office. Rest up on Monday and you will enjoy the week more. And you will be more productive.

Take Fridays off:

• On Mondays, you will not be able to resist problem solving from the weekend services, so you won’t really mentally be “off” on Mondays. On Friday, there is a better chance your task list is more complete
• You put yourself behind on sermon prep if you take Mondays off.
• You are exhausted on Mondays. Don’t give that time to your family. Give them Friday.

Which day is best? I recently polled church leaders on Twitter and 70% of those who responded chose Fridays over Mondays. It likely depends on the rhythm and the personality of the leader. You can experiment and see which works best for you. Or you can stick with what you have always known. The most important thing is that you are actually taking your day off.

> Read more from Eric.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Leader Health, Taking Time Off

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

3 Signposts on the Road to Discovering God’s Vision

by: Rick Warren

0

Tweet

I’m often asked, “Is there any single common denominator that you can find in every growing church?”  I have studied churches for many years, read about them, and visited them. I’ve discovered that God uses all kinds of churches, in all kinds of different ways, all different methods and styles.  But there is one common denominator that you can find in every growing church regardless of denomination, regardless of nationality, and regardless of size.

That common denominator is leadership that is not afraid to believe God.  It’s the faith factor.

Nothing starts happening until somebody starts dreaming.  Every accomplishment started off first as an idea in somebody’s mind.  It started off as a dream.  It started off as a vision, a goal.  If you don’t have a goal for your church, your default goal is to remain the same.  If you aim at nothing, you’re definitely going to hit it.

A church without a vision is never going to grow, and a church’s vision will never be larger than the vision of its pastor.  So you as a leader and as a pastor, must have God’s vision for your church.  The very first task of leadership is to set the vision for the organization.  If you don’t set the vision, you’re not the leader.  Whoever is establishing the vision in your church is the leader of that particular church.  A church will never outgrow its vision and the vision of a church will never outgrow the vision of the pastor.

If I’m smart I can always compensate for my weaknesses.  I can always hire people to do things or delegate to volunteers the things that I can’t do.  If I’m not good at counseling, I can find people who are good at counseling.  If I’m not good at administration and details, I can find people to handle administration and details. But there is one thing I cannot delegate.  I cannot ask other people to believe God for me.  I have to set the pace in terms of vision, in terms of dreams, in terms of faith, in terms of what God wants to do in our lives and in our congregation.  You cannot delegate faith in God.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 11:27 (Good News translation) “If your goals are good you will be respected.”

So I want to challenge you to dream great dreams for God.  One nice thing about dreaming is that it doesn’t cost anything.  You can have great dreams and think through and pray through and it doesn’t cost you anything at all.  The Bible says  “God is able to do far more than anything we would ever dare to ask or even dream of, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes.” (Ephesians 3:20, Living Bible). God comes along and says, “Think up the biggest thing you think I can do in your life, in your ministry, in your church and I can top that.  I can beat it.”

So you need to ask yourself this question, “What would I attempt for God if I knew I couldn’t fail?  Let that expand your horizons.  Let it expand your dreams.  Expand your vision.  It starts with a dream.

There are three parts to getting God’s vision for your ministry.

The first thing God shows you is He shows you the What?  He shows you what He’s going to do.  The big mistake we make once we have a sense of what God wants to do is trying to accomplish it on our own. Inevitably we fall flat on our faces and come crawling back to God saying, “Oh, God.  I’m so sorry.  What did I do?  Did I miss the vision?  You told me what You were going to do and I went out and tried to accomplish it and fell flat on my face.  Did I miss the vision?”

And God will say to you, “No, you didn’t.  You just didn’t wait for part two.  I told you what I was going to do but you didn’t wait to find out How I was going to do it.”  When God shows you how it always seems to be the opposite way that you thought. And once you see the What and the How you’re still not finished.  There’s a third part of the vision.

God shows you When.  The longer that I’m alive and the longer I walk with the Lord and the longer I’m in ministry the more I’m convinced that God’s timing is perfect.  He is never a minute early, He is never a minute late, He is always right on time.  These are the three parts to getting God’s vision – What, How and When.  And you must wait for all three parts for God to work in your life.

When I started Saddleback church, I didn’t envision the enormous campus and the big building we now have.  In fact, I’m not a very visual thinker.  Some people can see it.  They’re like artists and they can visualize the church buildings when they’re all finished and they can see exactly what it’s going to look like in their mind.  I’ve never been that kind of person.  I have what I call Polaroid vision.  Have you ever taken a Polaroid picture?  You take it and the longer you look at it the clearer it gets.  That’s true in my life.  When I first started Saddleback I didn’t know what it was going to end up like.  All I knew was that God had called me to this spot and I had a bunch of ideas in a bag and I wanted to build it on the five purposes of God. As I have walked with the Lord and worked with the Lord over the years, the vision has gotten clearer and clearer.

You get God’s vision by saying “What do You want me to do?  How do You want me to do it?  And When do You want me to do it?”  You need to stop praying, “God, bless what I’m doing.”  And instead start praying, “God, help me to do what You want to bless.”  I get up in the morning and I pray a very similar prayer every day.  “God, I know You’re going to do some very exciting things in the world today.  Would You give me the privilege of just being in on some of them?  I just want to be in on what You’re doing.  I want to do what You’re blessing.”

God uses the person who has a dream.

Read more from Rick.

Connect with an Auxano Navigator to learn more about discovering your church’s unique vision.

Tags: Rick Warren, Vision

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Vision >

Effective Peer Leader-shift: Living in the Loop

by: VRcurator

0

Tweet

Leaders, by definition (if not practice) have followers. Leaders find, recruit, and train followers for specific tasks. While this is an important task in any organization, a leader who can only lead followers is limited. To make it to the next level of leadership, a leader must be able to lead other leaders – those alongside them.

Leading peers is a unique challenge, no matter what organization a leader is part of. A highly competent leader who is seen – rightly or wrongly – to have considerable influence with his boss is often at a disadvantage when it comes to peer-to-peer relationships.

To succeed at leading alongside your peers, you must work at giving your colleagues reasons to respect and follow you. You do that by helping them win, and in doing so, you will not only help your organization but you will also help yourself.

Live in the leadership loop

THE QUICK SUMMARY – The 360° Leader, John Maxwell

Don’t wait for that promotion! Start leading NOW…right where you are!

What’s the number one question leadership expert John C. Maxwell is asked while conducting his leadership conferences? “How can I implement what you teach when I’m not the top leader?” Is it possible to lead well when you’re not the top dog? How about if the person you work for is a bad leader? The answer is a resounding yes!

Welcome to The 360° Leader. People who desire to lead from the middle of organizations face unique challenges. And they are often held back by myths that prevent them from developing their influence. Dr. Maxwell, one of the globe’s most trusted leadership mentors, debunks the myths, shows you how to overcome the challenges, and teaches you the skills you need to become a 360° leader.

If you have found yourself trying to lead from the middle of the organization, as the vast majority of professionals do, then you need Maxwell’s insights. You have a unique opportunity to exercise influence in all directions—up (to the boss), across (among your peers), and down (to those you lead). The good news is that your influence is greater than you know.

Practice the disciplines of 360° leadership and the opportunities will be endless . . . for your organization, for your career, and for your life.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

The middle of an organization is a great place to practice and build your skills while at the same time extending your influence in all directions. Leaders above you recognize your contributions to the greater organization. Followers below you are grateful for your leadership and influence in developing them.

However, people who find it difficult to lead alongside their peers are often individuals who don’t excel at building relationships. More so than leading up or down, developing and deepening relationships with your peers is critical to your success in leading alongside them.

If you want to gain influence and credibility with people working alongside you, then don’t try to take a shortcut or cheat the process. Instead, learn to understand, practice, and complete the leadership loop with them.

Take a look at the following graphic, which will give you an idea of what the leadership loop looks like:

You can see that it’s a cycle that starts with caring and ends with succeeding.

1. Caring – Taking an Interest in People

You have to show people that you care about them by taking an interest in them. People always move toward someone who increases them and away from anyone who decreased them.

2. Learning – Get to Know People

Take time to talk to your peers in the organization. Ask to hear their stories. Try to discover their best skills. Ask for their opinions on work-related issues. And as much as you can, try to put yourself in their shoes.

3. Appreciating – Respect People

We should strive to see others’ unique experiences and skills as a resource and try to learn from them. If you treat your peers with this kind of respect, appreciating them for who they are, then they will be more likely to respect and listen to you in return.

4. Contributing – Add Value to People

Few things increase the credibility of leader ore than adding value to the people around them. When you go out of your way to add value to your peers, they understand that you really want them to when with no hidden agenda of your own.

5. Verbalizing – Affirm People

Few things build people up like affirmation. When you affirm people, you make firm within them the things you see about them. If you want to influence your peers, become their best cheerleader.

6. Leading – Influence People

The things you’ve done up to know have served to build your relationship with them, give you credibility, and display that your motives are good. With that kind of history, you will have earned the opportunity to influence them.

7. Succeeding – Win With People

Great leaders don’t use people so that they can win. They lead people so that they all can win together. The wonderful thing about helping others succeed is that it earns you more opportunities to help an even greater number of people.

If you help others succeed, additional people will come into your life whom you will have an opportunity to help succeed, and the cycle will start over again.

John C. Maxwell, The 360° Leader

A NEXT STEP

Draw the leadership loop pictured above, and post it in a visible, but out-of-the-way place in your office or work area as a reminder.

Create a matrix on a spreadsheet listing your peer’s names in a horizontal column, and the seven leadership loop actions in a horizontal row across the top.

Over the next month, review the seven actions above on a daily basis, and intentionally schedule and follow through on these actions each day with your peers. At the end of each day, make a brief note in the respective place what action you have taken with each of your peers.

At the end of the week, review your progress, and consider how you will continue and improve in the next week.

At the end of the month, call your team together and debrief your experiment with them.

• Ask them at what point they realized you were doing something differently.
• Ask them what they thought about your actions.
• Encourage them to express what it felt to them as an individual.
• Ask them if they, in turn, began to do some of the same things with others.
• Discuss with the group how the actions you took increased the relationships of the team.
• Challenge your peers to work through the leadership loop in a similar manner.

Excerpt taken from SUMS Remix 79-2, issued November 2017.

This is part of a weekly series posting excerpts from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix book excerpts for church leaders.

SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; each solution is taken from a different book. Additionally, a practical action step is included with each solution.

As a church leader you get to scan relevant books based on practical tools and solutions to real ministry problems, not just by the cover of the book. Each post will have the edition number which shows the year and what number it is in the overall sequence. (SUMS Remix provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

>> Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

Tags: John Maxwell, Leadership Loop, SUMS Remix

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

Six Perspective Shifts of the Persevering Church

by: Thom Rainer

0

Tweet

God’s not done yet.

That is the subtitle and theme of my new book, Scrappy Church.

It’s a book about real churches that had real turnarounds when most people said it was impossible. Most had given up. Many were ready to shut the doors.

But when we interviewed the leaders of these scrappy churches, we noticed a pattern. These leaders at one time had been discouraged and despondent. Many were ready to leave the church. Some were ready to leave vocational ministry altogether.

Then God grabbed them powerfully and persuasively. In a myriad of different ways, He told them He wasn’t done with their churches yet. They began to believe Him. They began to have hope. And they began to have major attitude adjustments.

Here are the six major adjustments they made. They were all profound and life changing,

1. From excuses to ownership. The neighborhood is changing. The bigger churches are taking all of our members. The denomination is not helping us. Those are some of the excuses these leaders had. Then God gave them a new perspective, one of hope. He had called them to the church for a reason, and the reason was certainly not to make a litany of excuses. They took ownership of the call God had given them. Indeed, by taking ownership, they made a statement that they believed God was not done with them or their churches.
2. From obstacles to allies. You’ve heard the well-worn joke. Leading a church would be fun if it wasn’t for the members. The reality is we’ve all had those thoughts. Scrappy church leaders, though, saw the critical and difficult members as allies instead of obstacles. God brought them to the church for a reason. They became determined to help the members find those reasons.
3. From limitations to abundance. Scrappy church leaders got it. Their churches have enough money. Enough people. Adequate facilities. Enough people to reach. The right aged people in the church right now. They no longer complained about scarcity and limitations. They saw they were serving the God of abundance, the God who supplies all their needs according to the His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 4:19).
4. From despair to joy. Marcus served a dying church. He lost his joy. Then, in a study of Philippians, familiar words hit him with fresh conviction: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). He made a major attitude shift. He stopped focusing on the negatives. He made a commitment of joy and the church followed.
5. From fear to courage. Roger’s wife, Peg, was God’s instrument in his adjustment. “She told me I was living in fear,” he said. “I was disobeying God because I was not trusting in Him. I was more concerned about my paycheck than obedience. My security was my job, but not my God.” That was Roger’s paradigmatic moment. That began his attitudinal adjustment.
6. From impossible to possible. “I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). All things. Impossible things. Dying churches. Difficult church members. Every. Single. Thing. How did these scrappy church leaders do it? It began with six major attitudinal adjustments. They truly believed God is the God of all possibilities.

God’s not done yet.

That’s the story of Scrappy Church.

And I am convinced it is the story of tens of thousands of churches yet to be told.

The church revitalization revolution has begun.

The scrappy church revolution has begun.

> Read more from Thom Rainer.

Tags: Scrappy Church, Thom Rainer

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Vision >

The Unmistakable Value of Self-Awareness

by: James Emery White

0

Tweet

Dunkin’ Donuts has made a very astute move. They’ve dropped the “Donuts” from their name. From now on, they will simply be known as “Dunkin’.”

Why was this a strategic move? Because, as a business, they are more than donuts. In fact, much more. Most of their business comes from beverages and by dropping the “Donuts” from their name, they can now freely pursue being “beverage-led.”

And in just being Dunkin’, they leave their pivot foot in place for if/when they aren’t beverage-led anymore. Who knows what the future will hold? Right now, 58% of their sales are beverages. In years to come, 58% of their sales could be bagels. They just don’t know.

They are not alone in following this branding strategy. In 2011, Starbucks Coffee became just Starbucks. Then-CEO Howard Schultz noted, “It’s possible we’ll have other products with our name on it and no coffee in it.”

Precisely.

Even Weight Watchers is becoming “WW,” opening up a new mission that is less focused on dieting and more focused on health and wellness.

It reminds me of a historical lesson. In the late 1800s, no business matched the financial and political dominance of the railroad. Trains ruled the transportation industry of the United States, moving both people and goods throughout the country.

Then a new discovery came along – the car – but incredibly, the leaders of the railroad industry did not take advantage of their unique position to participate in this transportation development. The automotive revolution was happening all around them and they did not use their industry dominance to take hold of the opportunity.

In his video The Search for Excellence, Tom Peters pointed out the reason: the railroad barons didn’t understand what business they were in. Peters observes that: “… they thought they were in the train business. But, they were in fact in the transportation business. Time passed them by, as did opportunity. They couldn’t see what their real purpose was.”

So if Dunkin’ isn’t in the donut business but the food and beverage business, and Weight Watchers isn’t in the diet business but the health and wellness business, what about the church?

Well, you’re not in the Sunday School business, the Awana business, the Upward Sports business, the Men’s Fraternity business, the Catalyst business, or any other programmatic business.

Let’s go further: you’re not in the small group business, women’s ministry business, men’s ministry business or any other sub-ministry business. All of these may be well and good and helpful, but they are not your business and should not be treated as such.

Do you know what business you’re in? 

You are in the business of evangelizing the lost, assimilating the evangelized, discipling the assimilated and unleashing the discipled. It’s been that way for nearly 2,000 years.

Everything else is just donuts.

> Read more from James Emery White.

Sources

Vanessa Romo, “Dunkin’ Deletes Donuts from Its Name,” NPR, September 26, 2018, read online.

Tags: Dunkin' Donuts, James Emery White, Sel-Awareness

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Vision >