LET ME TELL YOU WHO WE'RE NOT

One of the smartest things you can do in leadership is to find people, heroes, and role models that are ahead of where you want to be and emulate them. But as we take notes on who we are or who we want to be, we must do the same with who we’re not. 
 

Here are 10 things to consider not allowing within your leadership:

1. WE’RE NOT BIG TIME

  • It is often so easy to get caught up in things like positions, titles, etc. Leadership is not about us and it never will be. 

  • The grass isn’t greener on the other side - the “big time” is where you’re at. The biggest platform I get the honor to step onto is ZOE’s. 

  • WE ARE leaders that have a pure, humble, and simple devotion to Jesus. 

2. WE’RE NOT INTO OURSELVES, WE ARE INTO OTHERS

  • Leaders are people-obsessed. A leader's words about others reveals whether or not they are about people or about themselves. 

  • Everyone’s favorite topic to talk about is themselves. People could go on and on about their life and what they are going through. However, a leader can’t lead others if they only talk about themselves. 

  • WE ARE leaders who ask questions about others, want to learn about people, and want to hear about how they’re doing. 

3. WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR THE EASY WAY OUT

  • A minimum effort will always produce medium results. 

  • I’m not saying you can’t work smart. I love things like Postmates that make my life easier. I have nothing against convenience; there is no sense in making things harder than they need to be. 

  • WE ARE leaders who do everything for Jesus and give our best. 

4. WE’RE NOT TAKING OURSELVES TOO SERIOUSLY

  • My dad used to always say, “Everybody is laughing at you - join them.”

  • I take my calling from God seriously. I take the church seriously. I take my family seriously. But I also live within the tension of seriousness and fun. I take things seriously in an appropriate measure and live with levity and joy. 

  • WE ARE living with an appropriate measure of taking our call seriously while not taking ourselves too seriously.

5. WE’RE NOT TRYING TO BE ANYONE ELSE

  • We all have people who inspire us. We all have people we want to be like. But we’re working to be OURSELVES. 

  • Don’t be a copy! Be the contrast. Be you!

  • WE ARE secure and confident in who we are! 

6. WE’RE NOT TRYING TO BE DISCOVERED

  • In the church, you don’t need to try to be discovered. So many times we see people trying so hard to make a name for themselves and get the attention of others. This isn’t what leadership is about!

  • Narcissistic leaders drain the value out of an organization because they make everything about them and their agenda and not about the team and the organization. 

  • WE ARE only concerned with building His kingdom!

7. WE’RE NOT BAD AT GETTING BACK TO PEOPLE

  • Not getting back to people (something as simple as not replying to a text) could open up a wound of abandonment. We don’t always know people’s situations. Not replying to a text may cut deeper than we think. 

  • If you’re bad at getting back to people, you create a narrative of mistrust about you. 

  • If you have offended someone by not replying, don’t make excuses. It’s important to just simply just apologize. 

  • WE ARE good at getting back to people.

8. WE’RE NOT MASTERS OF MANIPULATION

  • There’s a difference between encouraging people towards something and the act of manipulation: motive. 

  • We ought to always be checking our motives and intentions - are we encouraging people towards reaching their full potential or to do something that we want them to do?

  • WE ARE leaders that have pure hearts and have people’s best interests in mind!
     

9. WE’RE NOT USERS OF PEOPLE...OR LEADERS THAT LEVERAGE

  • We value people, we don’t use them.

  • We have to be careful. We can often use people to accomplish a vision or goal and not care about them in the process. Sometimes we can completely neglect to lead them, build them up, invest in them, etc.

  • WE ARE leaders that add value to people, we don’t use them!

10. WE’RE NOT LIVING IN DYSFUNCTION

  • The classic saying goes: “What you are willing to tolerate, you are willing to live with.” We have to be careful and diligent as to what we are okay to live with.

  • We need to have a desire to grow. We want accountability. These types of measures are how we have a strong life and strong leadership.

  • WE ARE striving to live a healthy life.

,

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A GREAT CHURCH CAMPUS LEADER

,

What it takes to be a GREAT Campus Leader

BIG IDEA: Campus Leaders have Hustle + Intensity about the Total Guest Experience

  1. Hustle = Self-Led

  • CHASES Jesus on their own with passion

  • INITIATIVE - Does not need constant motivation
    Jon would rather REIGN IN a STALLION
    than MOTIVATE a MULE!

  • Secure as a Son of the House (Old Testament Idea)

    - Son of the House > Hired Hand
    - As the House spreads out, the Sons have to protect the UNITY of the House

    - Heart of an Heir; Understands their role in the House
    - What we can do TOGETHER is GREATER than what we can do APART!

    - A Son is not focused on their title or accolades.
    - A Son understands their inheritance is in the future.

    - A Son works HARDER because they are a Son, not a Hired Hand
    - Hired Hands wants a paycheck; Sons sacrifice for what’s best for the House.
    - Sons have the right HEART Attitude

  • Campus Leaders are not trying to build their OWN thing because they are HEIRS to the WHOLE thing!



2. Hustle + Intensity = Able to Gather More People to the Cause

  • Sons draw MORE people into the House; Employees draw people to themselves.

  • Charisma -- You gotta be likeable + Plant yourself where the Guests are!

  • Become Intensely Hyper about what Guests FEEL when they arrive.

  • We want every Guest to feel like a million bucks!

  • You must be the SPARK that inspires your teams to love + serve Guests!

  • Law of the Lid = YOU are the Lid of your campus. If you are only a 7, expect your volunteers to rise to 5’s or 6’s.

  • Humor Over Hammer -- Leverage a fun personality to connect with Guests and in High Touch during the weekdays. People are attracted to fun-loving people!

  • Make The Ask -- Many people are just waiting for YOU to DIRECTLY and CLEARLY ask them to join in!


3.  Hustle to Empower People

  • You can have Control or Growth, but you can’t have BOTH.

  • Give away ministry -- Ephesians 4:12: “Equip the Lifers for ministry!”

  • It takes security to let go -- Success is having MORE volunteers on the team!

  • Make sure your new team members FEEL equipped -- double-check/over-communicate training resources and that YOU are cheering for them!

  • Empowered people have OWNERSHIP and are ALL IN!

  • Empowered people meet new friends and develop relationships. Every first-time guest wants to feel known, first by YOU and then by OTHERS.

  • Guests need 7 new friends in 6 months in order to STAY at your campus.


4.  Reproduce Yourself

  • You are a Paul, recruit a Timothy (Ready Now) and a Titus (Ready in 6 Months).

Developing Leaders

Listen, nothing is going to work in your church if EVERYTHING has to go through you.

 

Like sands sifting through an hourglass, you will become the middle squeeze that slows everything down.

 

In Numbers 11, Moses grew frustrated in leadership. He even started to see his people as a BURDEN instead of a BLESSING!

 

If that's you, it's time to develop more leaders:

 

  • Carve out strategic time to take out an emerging leader for coffee and pour into them.

  • Film a quick 2 minute video on one big idea and post it in a private Facebook Group for your invite-only leaders.

  • Remember that when I do a job for others, I take a job from others!

If you're waiting around for "the right people" to appear in your church, well, keep waiting.

Because the nasty little secret is that "the right people" are actually FOUND and DEVELOPED!

 

You can do it, I can help.

 

Hit me up at https://ChurchGrowth.Network and see what God can do through you!

3 WAYS TO BECOME AN INSPIRATIONAL LEADER

Are you an inspirational leader?
There are three steps you can take right now to become more inspirational:

#1 = Lead with the why
People need to know the purpose behind the work. Particularly over the past few years, team members have determined that they want to give their lives to something that matters.

#2 = Celebrate progress
Look back. Make sure everyone on the team knows that you see what they’ve done well.
It’s easy to point out flaws (and, for certain, we should coach our team and help make everyone better at what they do), but true leadership entails so much more.

#3 = Encourage the team
That is, breathe life into them. Be the wind in their sails.
Remind them that you are for them— both personally and professionally.

,

4 THINGS WE OWE OUR TEAM

,

We often think about what our team owes us -- what we expect from them.

But there are four things we owe them, as well:

1) GRACE: Not expecting them to be perfect.

2) HONESTY: Shooting straight and being transparent.

3) PROPER PLACEMENT: A place where they can thrive.

4) PRAYER: This opens our hearts to them and provides wisdom and insight to love them.

 

, ,

IMPROVISE - ADAPT - OVERCOME

, ,

Marines get stuff done.
They face impossible missions yet always prevail.

2 Timothy 2:1-6 tells leaders to think like a Marine.

During a recent Leadership Coaching Session, I shared 8 Leadership Lessons from the Marine Corp: Common Sense Principles for Success.

I hope these 8 Leadership Lessons encourage you and your team to fearlessly lead your church to grow!

KEEPING IT R.E.A.L.

KEEPING IT R.E.A.L.

I recently learned this acronym from a leader I’ve looked up to for as long as I can remember. He says that everything he does, he does through the lens of R.E.A.L. It stands for Relationship, Equipping, Attitude, and Leadership. Let’s explore how to lead and live life through this lens.

R - Relationship
VALUE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
All of life flows from relationships. You can’t do life RIGHT if you do people WRONG. Protect your relationships, treat everyone with kindness, and make it easy for others to be your friend.

E - Equipping
LIVE A LIFE OF EQUIPPING OTHERS
Your values must be aligned with your behavior. You can say equipping people is your value, but how are you showing it? Remember, you are equipped to resource people!

A - Attitude
SURRENDER YOUR ATTITUDE TO JESUS
We’ve heard it before, but it’s so true - your attitude determines your altitude. Ask yourself today: am I known for having a great attitude?

L - Leadership
BE A LEADER THAT EMPOWERS OTHERS
Everything rises and falls on leadership. Work to build leaders, not followers. Leaders are built when they are empowered and given authority. Successful leadership says more about the leader when they are gone than when they are present.

Ask yourself: how am I doing in these 4 areas?
I know I have work to do in each one, but I’m making the choice to lead from the lens of R.E.A.L.!

, ,

LEADING THROUGH CHANGE - WHEN STAFF MEMBERS AND CHURCH MEMBERS LEAVE

, ,

WHEN STAFF MEMBERS AND CHURCH MEMBERS LEAVE

  1. STAFFING IS A KEY DECISION

  • 1 Timothy 5: “Do not lay hands on a man suddenly.” Any staff hire is a very important, sobering decision. Be slow to hire.

  • You want to hire someone who is focused on the TOWEL, not the TITLE. You are here to SERVE.


2. HAVE A PROCESS IN PLACE FOR EVALUATING STAFF AND KEY VOLUNTEERS

You are giving people significant responsibilities; have a system for evaluating:

  • Character — Not just about morality. Look at their work ethic, faithfulness, integrity.

  • Competency — Are they all hat, no cattle?

  • Culture — Do they fit well within your existing culture?

  • Chemistry — Likeability Factor. Do you enjoy being around this guy?

  • Calling — Look for the fingerprint of God on the hire of that person.

  • Capacity for Leadership — Can they grow with the role and the growth of the church? Can they reproduce themself and become a multiplier, not a maintainer?

3. UNDERSTAND + ACCEPT THAT SOME STAFF + CHURCH MEMBERS WILL HAVE TO TRANSITION

  • Understanding this will save you a lot of heartache.

  • Think of your church like a bus with stops along the way. What happens at a bus stop? Some people get on and some people get off.

  • There will be significant transition points as your church grows.

  • When this happens, remind yourself that this is just all part of the process of church planting.

  • Don’t lose perspective. Your “loss” may actually be a huge win!

  • Some folks need to get off the bus.

  • Why do people leave your church?

  • Sometimes staff will leave you because the responsibilities have grown beyond their capacity to grow with the role.

  • They may outgrow the responsibilities. Your job is to always make sure your staff are being challenged.

  • They may lack the character / competence / chemistry required to stick with it.

  • They may not want to do the spiritual and emotional work in order to grow.

  • Unexpected circumstances arise in life. Think seasons. Life happens in seasons.

4. REMEMBER THAT ALL STAFF AND MEMBERS NEED TO BE HELD LOOSELY.
Anything you hold tightly you suffocate.

5. PROMOTIONS TO KEY LEADERSHIP ROLES SHOULD BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED THROUGH PRAYER.

  • Faithful in the little before being faithful with much.

  • Make sure they have been tested.

  • This doesn’t always work: people fool you. Potential staff will lie to you to get a job.

  • Be very careful in giving out titles… You can’t take it back.

  • It doesn’t feed your ego, it fits your function.


6. CELEBRATE THE STAYS AND POSITIVELY RELEASE THE GO'S.

  • For some churches the only time the Staff has a party is when someone leaves. When is the last time you had a party with the people who STAY?

  • Sometimes God calls you to go but often God calls you to STAY!

  • Sometimes someone goes and it’s a good thing. Sometimes someone goes and it’s painful. Sometimes people go when they shouldn’t and you can see the truck that’s about to hit them, but they won’t listen to you.


7. BE PREPARED FOR + POSITIVELY PROCESS THE EMOTIONS THAT WILL ACCOMPANY THE EXIT OF PEOPLE.

  • Loss leads to Grief, which can confuse people. Be prepared for the grief. You love the person, you’ve invested in them for years.

  • When you feel grief, don’t beat yourself up about it. Allow yourself to experience and feel.


8. GIVE CLEAR GUIDELINES TO DEPARTING STAFF ON YOUR EXPECTATIONS REGARDING COMMUNICATION.

  • Information Void can crank up a church gossip grapevine: “What’s happening behind the scenes?”

  • This happens when there is too much of time that passes between their decision and the communication.

  • It is foolish to allow departing staff to announce their departure.

  • Provide information to fill any potential void. SOMEBODY is going to tell ‘the story.’ You need to protect the health of your church as it continues moving forward.


9. EXPECT EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO ANY STAFF MEMBER’S DEPARTURE.

  • Help them process, give them assurance.


10. LEARN LESSONS FROM DEPARTURES THAT CAN MAKE YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATION BETTER.

  • How can we improve for next time?

  • What can I learn from this?

  • How can this make me better?

11. AVOID PROLONGED DEPARTURES.

  • When someone says they want to leave, let them.

  • Don’t drag it out or they will drag people down with them.

  • When they say they want to leave, their heart has already left.

  • Be generous in their transition.


12. BE APPROPRIATELY GENEROUS TOWARD DEPARTING PEOPLE WHO LEAVE WELL.

  • Err on the side of grace, not pettiness.

  • Oftentimes people who leave will talk badly about you behind your back. Be gracious.


13. EXPECT A HONEYMOON PERIOD ON SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE DEPARTING PERSON’S NEW PLACE.

  • “This new place is amazing!” Which means your place wasn’t.

  • At some point real life will kick in and they’ll stop.

  • Weather their honeymoon. You don’t need it in your spirit.

  • If it’s getting to you, delete the app.

  • Social media can feed a failure mentality.


14. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED.

  • Don’t Think You’re the Only Person This Happens To.

  • This is the secret: don’t get discouraged. Fight it.

  • People WILL leave your church.

  • Staff members WILL betray you.

  • Don’t give air to fear.

  • Pruning leads to better fruit and a better future.

  • Get up and keep going by faith.

  • Sometimes you have to wait 11 years to see someone who left in a bad way come back in repentance.

WISDOM FOR DEPARTING STAFF

  • If you’re leaving a church, get planted somewhere. Don’t wander.

  • When you get planted somewhere, be a son or daughter of that House.

  • Be an honorable, loyal, ethical, trusting Christian. Integrity matters. Honor your former pastor. Don’t go bush-league.

  • If you’re leaving a church, do not play the “God told me” game.

  • Don’t run from your issues! Your next church won’t change things. Geography doesn’t fix your problems.

  • Remember whose spiritual platform you have been using and you have been benefiting from. You were LOANED a platform. Never take the power and trust.

  • Never steal sheep.

  • Never steal staff. That is unethical behavior.

  • Fulfill your commitments. Don’t cut and run. That only hurts God’s people.

  • Leave your assigned area of responsibility stronger, not weaker.

  • Encourage commitment and faithfulness to the House that you’re leaving.

  • Watch your words, non-verbals and your actions on the way out… …because God is.

Cart (0)