Developing a Book of Knowledge

Think back to a time when you came into a new organization - perhaps your current organization. How long did it take you to figure out what was really going on, understand what the culture was, or get up to speed on issues they were dealing with? The discovery process can be frustrating and disorienting.

There is a way to shorten the process for new folks who come into your organization. It is to develop a comprehensive "Book of Knowledge." A Book of Knowledge is a compilation of every key document, policy, powerpoint, key meeting minutes, videos, white papers and so on - going back at least five years. It is all those things that those who have been around for a while already know but what a new individual has no clue about.

With a Book of Knowledge for your organization or team, one of the first responsibilities of a new staff member is to take a week or so and simply immerse themselves in that information. Coming out of that homework they then have context to ask questions of their supervisor and dialogue in depth over issues that are key to their success in their new role.

Not only will they get up to speed faster but the frustrations of trying to understand their new organization will be significantly alleviated. Do you have a Book of Knowledge for your organization?

Listening with our eyes

Recently one of my colleagues was spending time with his grandchildren while their parents were dealing with an emergency situation with another of their kids. My colleague was constantly on his cell phone (who of us is not?) dealing with his own work issues.

After a while one of his grand kids came up to him, turned his face with his hands so my colleague was looking him in the eyes and said. "Put that phone away. I want you to listen to me with your eyes!"

That was a profound statement from a youngster. He wanted his granddad's full attention, not distracted attention. He wanted him to hear him with his eyes - meaning that he was truly listening, truly paying attention, truly interested. And he knew that his granddad was not listening with his eyes.

On our second trip to Israel some years ago, we were eating breakfast in a hotel we had been in some years earlier. One of the waiters came up to our table and said to my wife, Mary Ann, you were here before! Why would he remember? Because Mary Ann looks people in the face and gives a wide smile when she greets them and she listens to them with her eyes. They don't forget.

One of the interesting comments in the gospels about Jesus is that He looked directly at people. He was fully engaged. He listened to them with His eyes. In doing so, he honored them and made it clear that he cared about them and connected with them.

How often do we only half engage and half listen. I for one am going to do better at listening with my eyes. From the mouths of little ones.....great wisdom.

Distraction Management

Distractions are the leaks in our commitment to intentional living. They cause us to leak time, energy and influence. Someone has said that if the evil one cannot convince us to sin he will tie us up with distractions. Distractions either manage us or we manage them. And unless actively managed, they will manage us.



Managing distractions is the realization that our attention can easily be diverted from what we really need to do. And, distractions can be a secretly welcomed diversion from doing more difficult or important things. In fact, some people will go find a distraction if one does not find them first. Managing distractions is not about avoiding people or being unresponsive to real situations that may demand our attention. It is about having a plan to manage what otherwise becomes a deadly leak to the priorities we must fulfill.






Cell phones have voice mail


For many of us our primary number is our cell number. Few people call my office number (only those who don’t know me) and no one calls my home number (I don’t have a land line). Welcome to the efficiency of communication and one of the greatest distractions of all.


Fortunately, we have voice mail and caller ID. When spending focused time, avoid answering the phone unless the person calling is on your “can disturb” list (I have about 20 of those). Chances are that when you listen to the VM you will be glad you did.


Schedule phone appointments


I am accessible to anyone who has a valid reason to talk to me. What I am not available for are random phone calls (unless one is on the “can disturb” list). I intentionally set aside time in my week for phone appointments which are scheduled by my administrative assistant, Rene, for a specific time and a specific amount of time. That way I am accessible but I have control over the time of the appointment and how long it lasts.


Use a gate keeper


Not everyone has this luxury but if you have an assistant, use them to vet the calls that come in or the requests for appointments. Here is the truth: many people want a piece of a leader but not everyone should get the face time. If someone calls, Rene will find out who they are and why they are calling. She will often know whether I should take the call or someone else. If someone else, she will route them to the right person. If in doubt she will talk to me and then schedule either a personal or phone appointment accordingly.


Because my assistant knows my personal priorities I give her permission to push into me if she thinks that I don’t need to be in a meeting or say yes to a request. I have always been blessed with confident, assertive and helpful assistants who speak their mind and “manage up” very well. I am far better for each of them.


Schedule email


I receive in excess of one hundred emails on a given day. Since I am committed to responding to any email from my world wide staff I need to schedule specific time when I pay attention to email and times when I ignore it in order to get something else done. I also give my assistant access to my email account so that she can respond to issues that don’t need my response. Generally I will schedule email time during the periods of the day when I will not be as productive – afternoons – so that I save the best hours for the most significant activity.


The “open” door


Sometimes my door is not open! I may be in a meeting, or, engaged in something that requires my focus. Open door policies are nice but not very effective – if the result is that there are constant interruptions. I am always available to my senior team if they really need me but scheduling appointments is usually the way we meet. It can be a five minute appointment or an hour or longer but scheduling them helps.


Skype


Travel is a time killer and I travel a lot. But, I am also realizing that there are times when an Internet meeting will be as effective as when one is physically face to face. On the Internet one can be face to face and it saves money, energy and time. That money, energy and time can be invested elsewhere. I still travel but I now ask the question, is there an alternative way to have this meeting?


The coffee shop


For many of us the “office” is the last place where we get our work done. I schedule days when my assistant, Rene, can put appointments on my calendar. When I am in the office I am pretty accessible. I then schedule blocks of time, entire days and sometimes a set of days when I work either from home, the coffee shop or a remote office. It allows me to concentrate on issues that I need to concentrate on.


Block scheduling


Block scheduling is a simple tool that can help us manage distractions. Rather than doing five things at once and allowing phone, email and people to constantly interrupt, blocking several hours (or longer) for one task that allows us to focus without interruptions. Block scheduling takes more discipline but it is far more productive than juggling numerous issues at once.


Communication with your team on what works well for you


As part of playing to your strengths is it always helpful to have a dialogue with your team on what works best for you in terms of your productivity. I have found that teams I led have been very flexible and even encouraging of those things that allow me to lead better, use my time wisely and serve them well. They will help you if they know what you need in order to be effective.


Schedule proactively and ahead


Our calendars are the way we connect the compass (our priorities) with the clock (our own time management). There are a number of components that make up our schedules. First, there are ongoing obligations that we have. These would be set meetings that are part of the rhythm of the organization or team you lead. They go on first because they are non-negotiable items. For me this includes my key leadership meetings and the monthly meetings I have with those who report to me. The last are usually scheduled on “non-travel” days at the beginning of each month.


Second, there are big rocks (our priorities) that must be accomplished over the course of the next months or year. Because these are the things that must be done in order for you to be effective as a leader, they get blocked out next on your calendar so that you know you have the time to pay attention to them. Because one of my five priorities is writing, I will block days or even weeks when that is all that is on the schedule (knowing that I still need to keep up with day to day issues).


Included in this second category should be the time we need to think, read, and consider issues important to the organization, team or ministry we lead. Unless we specifically schedule think time, we will probably not get it. And this time is perhaps some of the most important time we need to be leaders of deep influence.


Just as think time is so important, those things that recharge us emotionally, physically and spiritually are also key components of a healthy life and those times need to get scheduled in so that we don’t lose our edge. For me that is time for rest, reading, chainsaw therapy on some acreage we have and fly fishing. For many years, we have simply kept the month of August completely free for rest.


Third, there are times when we just need to be available for our team or for appointments – phone or in person. I block “office days” on my calendar so that my assistant (gate keeper) can schedule those I need to have face time with. These are days or blocks of time when I am available to meet.


Fourth, comes everything else but notice that the key is scheduling is to schedule in order of priority – the most important gets scheduled before the least important. The alternative is that the less important will often crowd out the more important, to the leakage ultimately of our effectiveness and influence. While this kind of scheduling limits our options (we cannot live by the seat of our pants) it helps us use our time with greater discipline and intentionality.


Factored into our schedules should be enough margin to deal with the unexpected issues or emergencies that arise. With some margin, schedules can be rearranged when necessary without losing time for the four categories above.


Prayerfully consider your calendar – it is the checkbook of your most important resource – time.


Because our calendar is the checkbook of our time and because every time check we write is an investment, it pays to be highly intentional about what we put on the calendar – and to prayerfully consider the time checks we write. Like you I receive more opportunities and requests than I can adequately fulfill. I know that God does not want me to live a frenetic life and that He gives me the time to do what He has called me to do. It is up to me to be wise about the choices I make so that I play to my strengths, fulfill my responsibilities, lead well, set a good example to my team and live intentionally.


That is why I give my calendar so much attention. I will often think grey about requests or opportunities and pray about them as I consider the next three to six months of my schedule. Thinking grey (not making a decision) allows me to think through the ramifications of the time check I am thinking of writing and whether it is the right thing for me at this time, given the other obligations I have.


If I sense a green light I move forward and schedule it, if it is a red light I am free to decline and if a yellow light, I continue to think grey. My nemesis is saying “yes” to quickly and writing the time check too fast. When I do that too often I end up tired and depleted and what usually suffers are the most important things. Thus I am constantly looking at my calendar in order to make the very best time investment decisions possible because that is tied directly to my ability to have deep influence.


Because I know that each opportunity is an investment, I will often include my trusted colleague Gary, and my wife Mary Ann into the discussion. They will bring wisdom and perspective that is very helpful.


When present be fully present


Intentionality with our calendar means that we are not always available for everyone. This is a reality of leadership, especially as our responsibilities grow. One way to compensate for this and to continue to be seen as available and approachable is to find times when you can be present and available. For instance, a pastor of a large church whom I know stays around after the Sunday morning service until everyone who wants to see him has done so. While it may be hard to schedule a meeting with him during the week, anyone who wants to talk to him on Sunday can do so.


As the leader of a large international ministry I will never get to all the countries we work in or be able to visit all the teams we have. But I can attend meetings like the Divisional Conferences and during those days be available for anyone who wants to interact. It is an intentional way to be accessible even with a very disciplined schedule that is necessary in my leadership role.

Who does God want us to be?

God wants us to be the person he designed and made us to be. He wants you to be the person he designed and made you to be. Paul says in Ephesians 2:10 that “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The word “workmanship” literally means “a unique work of art” indicating that each of us is a uniquely designed work of art by God of which there are no others like us. God designed a unique me, never to be repeated, and a unique you never to be repeated. We are one of a kind!



And in his creativity he wired and gifted us for a unique purpose that only we can fulfill, for we were “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God created me to lead the organization I lead. He created me to write books. He created me to be a husband of a wonderful woman and two wonderful boys. And he created me for a unique work in his kingdom that I am uniquely wired to fulfill and the same is true for every one of us no matter what our occupation or circumstance.


Finally you and I were created for relationship with Christ and in Christ we have the two desires of every heart: the desire for relationship (I experience that in Christ and His people); and a desire for significance (the unique work God created just for me for).


When I come to Christ and invite him into my life, the unique me that God created me to be does not change. I was hard wired with gifts of vision, strategy and communication. Everything else I was not hardwired for! In coming to Christ, he takes His creation and infuses it with His Holy Spirit empowering the wiring he gave me at birth, forgiving my sin and launches me on a journey that the New Testament calls sanctification – the life long journey of my lower and sinful nature being taken off piece by piece and His holy nature being put on, piece by piece. That journey of sanctification or spiritual transformation is not complete until we meet him face to face in heaven but it is an amazing and wonderful journey to be on.


Many people have the thinking that God wants to change our lives 180 degrees when we come to Him. That is a misunderstanding of God’s intentions. Many of our behaviors will change and need to change 180 degrees but God wants to take His unique creation and complete that creation which was marred by sin entering our world so many eons ago by helping us become the us He made us to be. The process of us realizing the full potential for which we were created is the process of spiritual transformation.


Many people fear the process of spiritual transformation and never embrace it, believing erroneously that it will cost them too much. This fear is the essence of our old sinful nature that craved autonomy. The prophet Isaiah put that autonomy from God this way: “We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Autonomy from God leads away from God and toward our shadow side. Engaging with God in ongoing life transformation leads us toward His life and character – and His impact on others.


Many others simply do not pay enough attention to this aspect of their lives and end up living at a shallow spiritual level (even many in ministry) substituting activity for true life change. It is a trap that prevents many from realizing their full potential or having the kind of deep influence God designed them for. Shallow spiritual lives lead to shallow influence even if masked by impressive achievements. There simply is no substitute for going deep with Christ!


Christ’s vision for our life is very simple: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). There is a direct connection here between the transforming of our lives, the renewing of our minds and our ability to understand “God’s good, pleasing and perfect will!” The ongoing transformation of our lives as a life priority is directly connected with the influence we have and is a prerequisite for being a person of deep influence.


One of the temptations for ministry leaders who live and work in full time vocational ministry is to substitute work for God (our ministry) for the work of God in our hearts and lives. Not only does this substitution hurt the individual involved as they do not become all that God designed them to be but it hurts those that they influence as their model is one of doing rather than one of becoming. This has led to countless Christ followers who have spent their lives focusing on either doing or modifying behaviors to meet the standards of their church or leader without significant transformation of the deepest core of their lives.


It is a matter of priority. If my priority is that of seeing authentic spiritual transformation take place in my life, I will bring all of life under His lordship and will engage in His business and will modify my life in many areas to bring it into alignment with His. But if I focus instead on doing things for Him and modifying my behaviors rather than that of spiritual transformation I will end up frustrated and with a substitute transformation that is more about me than about Him. Too many Christ followers have settled for the latter rather than committing to the former. The first brings real life change while the latter is often little more than legalism. One ministry I work with actually has a guiding principle called “Intimacy before Impact” to remind themselves of the proper priority!

Simplicity and Complexity

Remember that last strategic plan you did for your organization? How much of it was ever implemented? Can you remember the details of what you decided? Or what about those things called ministry philosophy, values, preferred future or ministry outcomes? Do you remember what those are for your church? Would your leaders or staff remember? Are they helpful to you?

All of the above are good I am sure. But they often look like the jumble of paperclips in the picture - they are there somewhere and they can be helpful - if you can remember them when you need to or make sense out of them when you want to.

Consider this

Ministry is always complex

Complexity is confusing

Therefore complexity must be communicated with simplicity

Simplicity beats complexity every time

Most ministry leaders have a hard time remembering core documents or core missional commitments - let alone three year strategic plans. And if leaders don't remember those things, certainly those down the communication chain are even more challenged - if they care at all.

Despite the title of the book, "Simple Church," few churches are truly simple - nor are other ministries. The world is a complex place filled with complex problems that require complex solutions. Even the four basic Questions every leader must ask for their ministry requires a level of complexity:

1. What is our mission?

2. What are our guiding principles?

3. What is our central ministry focus - the thing we need to do well all the time?

4. What results do we want to see?

Rarely can I get a quick and clear answer to those questions even from the most senior leaders of an organization. That is not a criticism as much as it is an admission of the complexity inherent in even those four answers. Any good organization must ask and answer those questions - to say nothing of others that may be important.

The problem is that complexity creates confusion. Or, just as problematic, people deal with complexity by simply ignoring it (it takes too much energy) which is a worse fate than confused complexity! Is it any wonder why mission and vision drift take place so easily?

One of the best ways to simplify complexity is to tell stories. Jesus was a master at this. Stories grip the imagination and are remembered. Just think of the complexity of grace and the ways in which we respond or don't respond to grace and then think of the story of the prodigal son! So simple, so profound, so easily remembered and so full of content.

You may have a philosophy of ministry or uphold a certain value. Telling stories of those who have lived it out will be remembered even if the specific wording of your value is not. Stories are powerful simplifiers.

Metaphors do the same thing. The baseball diamond used by purpose driven churches takes complexity and simplifies it. I lead from a sandbox (hence the title of this blog) which takes complexity and simplifies it. A metaphor is something that can be repeated and remembered which is the goal!

Sometimes just a phrase, intentionally and often repeated does the trick. A friend of mine, pastor of a large church always tells the congregation that "We always must have a seat for the next person who is looking for a church home." He has said that for twenty five years and the church now has over 7,000 people in multiple worship venues. The value of always having a seat for the next individual has been owned by the congregation.

You can actually create an intentional church or organizational culture around those things that your care about and which are important to you but in order to do that one must take complexity and bring meaningful, rememberable simplicity. That takes great intentionality but those who do it find that their values, direction, mission and culture are understood implicitly or explicitly by their organization or congregation.

But complexity must be simplified. How do you simplify complexity and does your church or organization get it?

Complacency or urgency?

One of the deadliest threats to any ministry, be it a church, mission, mission team or some other ministry is that of complacency.

Complacency is defined as self satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies (Webster).

I am struck at how often when talking to ministry leaders and asking them about how the ministry is doing that the answer is overwhelmingly positive.

There is often little urgency among those I interact with that things need to be different, that not all is well or that they need to do things differently. I contrast that response with those who are business owners who give me a very realistic answer regarding the challenges they face and the difficult issues they are wrestling with.

When I talk to ministry leaders and the vast majority of their report is positive and I don't hear the critical analysis of what should be different, what real deficiencies or threats exist, I know that I am talking to someone who does not live with a sense of urgency, tends to gloss over deficiencies and likes to put a positive spin on situations - rather than do the critical analysis needed to understand reality.

And, I can safely assume that their own teams or reports live with the same complacency they do. Perhaps it is the fact that ministries have so little accountability generally and that we just assume that Jesus will do what He wants to do that we don't ask and answer the critical questions and live with such complacency. Unlike those in the business world, many Christian leaders don't have to live with a profit or loss statement and thus live more easily with contentment with where things are.

The sad thing is that the state of the church and the effectiveness of much of what passes for missions is woefully inadaquate and ineffective. That is a result of complacency and lack of urgency.

That self-satisfaction comes from a lack of critical analysis of what could be, or ministry fruit left on the table because of our satisfaction with what is.

Companies that become complacent and self-satisfied die or go into bankruptcy - so General Motors and Chrysler and a host of others who have disappeared in the last decade. Ministries simply move into decline, seemingly oblivious that anything is wrong or that things could be different.

Good leaders are never complacent or satisfied and they do not allow their teams to live in complacency either. They are always asking critical questions about priorities, strategy, opportunities and dangers. They celebrate wins but they never camp on the wins or the success of the past but are always looking at the untapped opportunities of the future.

This is about a way of thinking and living and leading.

Urgency is not about doing more or doing it faster or creating more activity. Leaders who live with a sense of urgency often engage in less activity than others but do far more critical analysis and ask harder questions and focus their attention on those things that will push the missional agenda the farthest. They are also not looking for swift wins (nice when they come) but long term ministry fruit.

The apostle Paul lived with a sense of urgency that was evident in his life and his teaching. He constantly exhorted in his epistles to the churches to never be content with their spiritual life or their ministry but to work while it is still day for the night comes.

Good leaders do less, focus on the most important and constantly communicate with their priorities and communication their sense of urgency to see the ministry they lead (or the team they lead) maximize their potential.

And they communicate their sense of urgency to their staff who easily fall into a mode of comfort (we all gravitate there) and live with a deep sense that we must always be looking for better ways to fulfill our mission.

Their calendars reflect that commitment! Their priorities reflect that commitment. Their communication reflects that commitment and their meetings reflect that commitment. The focus of their lives reflects that commitment.

Where are you living on the complacency/urgency continuum?

For a great read on this subject, take a look at John P. Kotter's book, A Sense of Urgency. Our senior team is reading it right now. I deeply desire that our ministry live with urgency not complacency.

Simplifying Spiritual Gifts

My son Chip's spiritual gift is that of the "pied piper." Really! Just watch him. Everywhere he goes kids, young people and animals follow him around and he engages them and befriends them and talks to them (the human ones) about God. So it stands to reason that on summer break he leads inner city kids in the wilderness of northern Minnesota and ministers to them physically and spiritually. He is after all, the pied piper.

Then there is my wife Mary Ann who has a radar for hurting people and extends practical help and grace better than anyone I know. She sees a need and she meets it. She obviously has a gift of help and mercy.

Another friend is one of the most strategic thinkers I know. He can make sense out of almost any problem, think of solutions, and like a chess player, anticipate unintended consequences to those solutions. His gift is strategy and generosity and you put those two together and it is a powerful combination as he strategically funds Christian ministries.

His wife has the most awesome gift of hospitality and can make anyone feel at home from any walk of life. That with a gift of prayer combines to influence huge numbers of people over the course of a year.

We often complicate the spiritual gifts when most often they are pretty obvious if you just watch people, see where they are most effective, watch how they are wired and then encourage them to use those gifts and skills for Jesus - in their neighborhood, circle of influence, workplace and church. Notice that the church is just one place we ought to be joining Jesus, not the primary place.

Jesus wired us a certain way in order to accomplish a certain task. He wired me for strategy, leadership and communication. Everything else is, well, a weakness. What he wants me to do is to use the wiring he gave me for his purposes where he gives me influence.

I love to watch people to see how God uniquely wired them - God's creativity in that regard is amazing. Even with pied pipers. And then I love to encourage those I watch to use that wiring for His purposes, wherever God has placed them. If we all did that, and encouraged one another we would see small pieces of God's character unleashed in a million corners of the world.

Ministry and Team Alignment

How aligned or in sync is the team you lead or the team you are a part of? Many ministry teams look like the picture above with everyone doing their own thing or going in their own direction. Or, various teams going in different directions. While it may be convenient that way - one can do their own thing - it is not a prescription for maximum ministry impact.

Many ministry leaders believe that they are aligned if people have collegial relationships. It is alignment around relationship. One ministry leader I worked with believed that if only people prayed together, their hearts would come into alignment and therefor all would be well. It was alignment around spirituality. Many church staffs believe that alignment is about communication - making sure everyone else knows what each ministry is doing. Now collegial relationships, spiritual fellowship and communication are are great for a team but they are not the true basis of alignment.

In fact, the first two alignment strategies above, an emphasis on close relationship and fellowship, actually complicate true alignment because it takes the emphasis off of missional success and puts it on everyone feeling good about each other. Frank, honest, robust dialogue around missional issues rarely happens where the highest priority is that we are "best friends."

Real alignment means that the directional, value, and missional arrows are all pointed in one direction. That is, we operate by the same values or guiding principles, we are passionate about the same mission, we understand the central ministry focus of our organization and we are committed to the same outcomes. Very few ministry organizations can claim that kind of alignment but it is the key to maximizing our ministry's potential.

In order to get that kind of alignment it is first necessary to clarify the core principles by which one is going to operate, the mission one has and the outcomes one desires. Without clarity on those issues alignment is not really possible.

It is precisely because most ministries have not defined these that they end up trying to align around relationship, fellowship or communication. But these will not get the arrows all pointed in the right direction. It may give an illusion of alignment but it is not true alignment.

Once one has clarified what we call the "sides of our ministry sandbox" one can then ask every individual and each team to align themselves around those core commitments or in our terminology, play inside the same sandbox. The larger a ministry is the more critical it is that everyone is working off the same play sheet. The phrase in the book of Judges that "everyone did what was right in their own eyes," was not a commendation but a criticism.

If you were to ask the team you lead or the team you are a part of, "What really aligns us and keeps us in sync what would they say? You might want to ask the question. At best, lack of alignment causes leaks in ministry impact. At worst, it causes misunderstanding, lack of clarity and lack of objective ways to measure success.

If you need help in getting to alignment, the book, Leading from the Sandbox can help. It is all about how to build and maintain an aligned team or organization.

Self-understanding and dealing with personal weaknesses

The senior leaders of our organization recently went through a very helpful exercise designed to help each of us think honestly and accurately about our strengths and our areas of weakness.

Specifically we asked each leader to give a synopsis of their strengths (we do a lot of testing to help individuals understand their strengths). We then asked them to identify areas of weakness and how those weaknesses impacted their ability to lead well. Finally we asked them to share how they compensate for those weaknesses because weaknesses have an impact on ourselves and on those we lead.

After each one shared we invited colleagues to ask questions and make observations from their perspective.

An exercise like this requires a great deal of trust because it only works with a high level of self-disclosure about those areas we struggle with - areas we often try to hide from others in our desire to look strong.

I will not share the analysis of others but will share my own for purposes of illustrating how this kind of exercise can help us grow as leaders, in self-knowledge, in honest disclosure and in having a plan to compensate for known weaknesses.

We know, by the way, that weaknesses will never be a strength so trying to make our weakness strengths is a non-starter. God blessed each of us with areas of strength and it is up to us to figure out how to compensate for weaknesses so that our leadership is not compromised by it.

My strengths revolve around communication, strategy and vision, building teams and releasing other good leaders and envisioning the future. In many ways, my greatest value to an organization is helping determine the needed architecture, spiritual, organizational and strategy wise in order to meet our desired objectives. I am then the chief evangelist or communicator of that direction.

Not that is all well and good, but almost everything else are weaknesses that need to be "managed" so that they do not hurt the very organization I lead.

For instance, since it is easy for me to envision the future, it would also be easy for me to push the organization into that future at a pace that is not sustainable or healthy and which would create a backlash to what otherwise is a good direction. So it becomes important for me to have beside me an expert in process and I have that in my co-leader of the mission. If I am the architect, he is the wise contractor determining the pieces, the timing and the key subcontractors, (other leaders) that we need.

In my personal desire to get things done for maximum ministry impact I face two real challenges: the temptation to say "yes" to too many obligations which dissipate the power of my strengths and to not be as discriminating as I should be as to what I agree to take on. Now the strength of maximizing ministry is great but the shadow side described along with it is not.

Thus I almost always run significant opportunities past my wife, who is impacted by my schedule, and two colleagues who work closely with me and know me well, Lindsay and Gary. And they tell me what they think, sometimes without my even asking. And it is a blessing because it helps keep me in the most productive place possible rather than getting into good things at the expense of the most critical things.

As a matter of practice, I never make key decisions by myself without talking them through with key advisers and the senior team of the organization I lead. I am thoroughly convinced that the collective wisdom of a group of wise leaders is far better than the solitary wisdom of any one leaders.

I could list many other weaknesses and my strategy for dealing with them but I think you get the picture. Understanding both the up side and down side of our wiring and abilities is critical to the self-knowledge necessary to lead and the ability to find ways to compensate for weakness which have the potential to hurt our leadership.

It is an exercise you might think about trying with your team.

Subtle Disempowerment

Contributing Writer

Lindsay Norman, ReachGlobal

I have heard it said, “We want you at the table.” I have heard it said, “Your voice and input are significant here.” I have heard it said, “We can’t move forward here without you.” I have heard it said, “Stick with us Lindsay. You are key to helping us make necessary changes.”

Yet some of those same good-hearted, well-intentioned leaders don’t realize that while their words say one thing, their actions say another. As a female in a ministry setting, I am frequently taken aback with how male leaders in the organization do not see, hear or understand how they subtly disempower women, minorities or young, up and coming leaders.

I recently read an organizational communication piece by a leader in a Christian organization. This leader is a dear friend and advocates hard for minority and women’s voices to be heard in our ministry setting. However, this leader was about to send out a piece of communication that reinforced men as leaders and women as cooks and mom’s, largely significant for the food dishes they prepare for male leaders. With some suggestions by coworkers, changes were made and it read much better. In the initial draft, there was subtle disempowerment.

I have been in situations time after time when I am one of a hand full of females during ministry seminars, meetings and prayer times. As men pray, they pray for all the “guys” in the room. References such as these are often defended by male leaders as references to the whole group. However, in my experience as a woman and in my education in social sciences, I can attest that language supports the kind of culture and ethos that is instilled. If language remains the same, culture remains the same. Every time I am referenced as a “guy,” I feel subtly disempowered.

I have been invited to the table at significant meetings in my organization. Many times I am the only one, or one in a handful of women, who can speak into issues. However, I often feel guilty if I speak too much or offer too strong of an opinion. Here are the words of another young, female leader from a Christian organization: “There needs to be freedom for women to be the dominant voice and/or face in a meeting. That experience is very rare in our culture. More often we are strong influencers, before and after the meeting, but rarely at the table itself.” When I feel guilty for being a dominant voice, when I feel pressure to give input before or after a meeting instead of in the meeting itself, I feel subtly disempowered.

This post is not meant to put down men (since I know the audience on this blog is largely male J), but to educate, inform and remind people of the subtle ways sexism (and racism as well) can be embedded in our culture, attitudes and organizations. I am, once again, deeply grateful for T.J. Addington who cares about my voice, deems it significant and allows me to use it to reinforce positive change.

Evaluating and Coaching Leaders

Many churches, ministries and mission organizations do not have an adequate coaching and evaluation tool for leaders. In the absence of such a tool, expectations can be vague and evaluations more subjective than objective. This is not helpful to those being evaluated or to those doing the evaluation.

Nor is the typical job description the answer. Job descriptions are typically a list of activities rather than results. Thus an individual can stay very busy on activity and actually not accomplish the necessary results.

Key Result Areas
Far more important than defining activities is that of defining the necessary results of a leaders job. We call these Key Result Areas (KRAs) and they define what we want success to look like. Thus, both myself and the many leaders in our organization (ReachGlobal) are clear on what we must accomplish in order to be considered successful. It becomes our personal roadmap and the basis on which we are evaluated annually and coached monthly.

The five responsibilities of every leader
Anyone who leads a team, from the senior leader through all levels of leadership really must accomplish five things if they are going to be successful. We use these five Key Result Areas with all of our leaders.

KRA One: Personal Development
Summary: Ensuring that I live intentionally in my spiritual, family and professional life.

KRA Two: Strategic Leadership:
Summary: Providing strategic leadership to ReachGlobal values, mission, and vision for the future, and through annual strategic initiatives.

KRA Three: Strong Team
Summary: Building a strong, unified, aligned, strategic, and results-oriented team

KRA Four: Leadership Development
Summary: Develop current and future leaders

KRA Five: Mobilizing Resources
Summary: Mobilize key resources necessary to flourish and build for the future

These KRAs do not change from year to year but the plan for how a leader accomplishes the plan changes annually.

An Annual Ministry Plan

If these areas spell success for a leader, the next step is to put feet to each of the areas so that there is a clear annual plan for how they will accomplish each of the KRAs. This plan is developed by the leader and agreed to by the board or supervisor (with modifications if necessary).

Here is an example of my own plan for 2008 for KRA 2.

KRA Two: Strategic Leadership
Summary: Providing strategic leadership to ReachGlobal values, mission, and vision for the future, and through annual strategic initiatives.

-Review and finalize all current key documents of RG to ensure a common voice and proper alignment
-Drive intentional diversity in RG domestically and internationally
-Help RG move toward greater multiplication in all of our ministries
-Champion the ReachGlobal Sandbox
-Provide maximum clarity to the leadership and personnel
-Ensure the smooth launch of LIVE0
-Provide regular communication to personnel of vision, opportunity, and strategy.
-Work with the chair of the ReachGlobal Board to ensure the board contributes the greatest value possible to the ReachGlobal.
-Realign schedule for less activity and more “think time”
-Ensure that the benchmarking of new metrics
-Develop relationships with national movement leaders
-Complete a book on “Missions in the Color World” by June 2009

Each of my other four Key Result Areas have a similar annual plan. Because I have my plan in place I know exactly what my priorities are for the year, as does my supervisor (the president of the EFCA), my board, colleagues and staff (because I make them public for the sake of example and transparency).

Monthly coaching meetings
Our organization has a commitment to a monthly meeting with one's supervisor. Because the roadmap for the year is clear through the KRAs and Annual Ministry Plan, this meeting is designed to ensure that things are on track, that barriers are removed, that relational health is maintained with others and that problems are resolved. We see it as a coaching/mentoring meeting.
Annual Evaluations
With Key Result Areas defined along with an annual ministry plan, annual reviews are really simple. How well has the leader done in accomplishing their plan? All one needs to do is to examine each of the KRAs and the accompanying ministry plan to determine how well the individual has done in accomplishing what they said they would accomplish. It becomes an objective rather than subjective process.
Further, this paradigm removes the discussion from busyness and activity to results and focus.
For more information on KRAs, Annual Ministry Plans, coaching/mentoring meetings and intentional living, see Leading From the Sandbox: Developing, Empowering and Releasing High Impact Ministry Teams.

For those at half-time

In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), the master calls his three servants and tells them that he is going on a long journey. He divides up his wealth and tells them to invest it well so that there is a return when he comes back home.

Upon his return, two of the servants had doubled the money given to them to manage. To these two, Jesus said, “Well done, good and faithful servants. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness (Matthew 25:21).”

The third servant was preoccupied with his own life issues and frankly didn’t have time for his master’s investments so he merely buried it and offered a lame excuse for why he had not invested them on his master’s behalf. Jesus’ words for the third servant were harsh. He had not paid attention to his masters business but only to his own.

There is both a message of blessing and warning in this parable. Of course, the master is Christ and his servants are us. The talents (money) he handed out are the gifts, opportunities and unique work he has made for us to accomplish on his behalf. Our choice is whether we will faithfully steward what He has entrusted or whether we will live a life of self preoccupation and selfishness. Will we be like the first two servants who took their stewardship seriously or like the third who only took his issues seriously.

The amazing thing is that Jesus has entrusted to each of us a portion of his ministry and has gifted us with abilities and empowered us with His spirit. We have been invited by the Lord of the Universe to represent him and make a difference for His kingdom. All he asks of us is to be faithful in using those gifts.

For me, those ‘talents’ are gifts of leadership, vision and strategy and communication. God wants me to be faithful in using these gifts on His behalf. For my friend Naomi, he gave gifts of administration and faith and she used those gifts in representing Christ as a school principle and administrator and these days at 99 she uses her faith gift as she prays for people all around the world.

For my friend Doug, who was the classic entrepreneur, he gave the gift of making and giving money, extending mercy to people in need and evangelism. He used those gifts to advance the kingdom by funding many ministries, helping hurting people who came across his path and sharing the gospel with those he did business with.

His wife Susan, was gifted with the ability to mentor other women, teach and has an incredible gift of hospitality. Thousands of people from all walks of life have enjoyed her hospitality and their home is frequently full of friends, neighbors, and foreign students.

We often think that ‘real’ ministry is reserved for full time, trained ministerial types. That is a lie of the devil. The Master has given each of us gifts and has asked each of us to make ministry investments on His behalf. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things by simply being faithful with the gifts and opportunities he gives us.

This is one of the greatest blessings any of us could experience because these investments have eternal value. Those of us who take our opportunity seriously will be with many individuals in heaven who our lives touched – many whom we never met – because we used the gifts given to attain a lasting, eternal legacy.

But there is also a warning. There are many who are so consumed with ‘our own stuff’ that, like the unfaithful servant in the parable, they bury and ignore the responsibility God gave and have little to show for their lives when the finish line is crossed. They leave no eternal legacy.

The definition of the third unfaithful servant would be that of a wasted life that may have yielded temporal success but was an eternal failure. In the end it is a life of deep regret when the consequences of life decisions are faced and the picture of what could have been is seen.

Halftime is both an incredible opportunity and a major danger zone. Almost everyone who does not finish well fails in the second half of life. There are many - who like in the parable of the sower - allow their passion for God to be “choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature or live out their potential (Luke 8:14).” They cannot say with Paul, I have finished the race and have kept the faith.

It is the choice of using the opportunity God has given like the first two servants in the Parable of the Talents or simply burying our opportunity like the third.

In many ways, halftime is a decision time. We must decide whether we will take the experience, financial stability and increased disposable time for His purposes or focus instead on ourselves – allowing our passion for Jesus and His work to grow cold. The legacy we want to leave can be lost if we do not stay focused in the second half.

Too many people retire from both work and ministry, as if the latter is the same as the former – do our time and then relax. It is sad to see people who have so much to offer disconnect from what is most important for a life of empty leisure.

My heroes are those whose passion to know Christ and be used by Him grows as the years pass, knowing that the finish line is coming and wanting to finish well and leave an eternal legacy. We may retire from our job. But there is no retirement from the call of God on our lives or the work which he created uniquely for us. As long as God does not retire from ministering to us, why would we retire from ministering for Him?

When my friends, Bob and Judy, head to Mexico to their second home on the water, their days are filled with ministry with their Mexican friends and extended families (they are like family) and spending time on projects that give Bob and Judy opportunity to develop relationships and share the love of Christ. Bob may be retired from his full time job but he is permanently engaged in the work God created him for. That is how God designed us. There is no retirement from God’s work.

How are you doing in the second half?

Advice for young leaders

Contributing Writer: Lindsay NormanI often find that young leaders are enthusiastic to be mentored and to learn. There are books and materials for individuals already in leadership roles, but significantly less material that covers how young leaders can grow to their potential. Here is what I have found helpful as I intentionally walk the road to develop my full capacity.

Get a Mentor

Only after having a few mentors in my life can I look back and say this has been, and continues to be, one of the most pivotal elements to growing as a leader. I had mentors in leadership roles who recognized I was a leader years before I did. Feedback I received from one of my mentors was, “Lindsay, you need to be in a role where you are standing on your tip toes every day. Be in a role that is just out of reach the majority of the time so that you are challenged.”

Mentors listen, love and speak into your life. The best part about them is that the relationship is judgment free. The purpose of mentoring is to come along side and be a life coach. The assumption is already there that the “mentee” is learning and growing. It is assumed there will be bumps along the way to growth. That removes the judgment factor. It’s assumed we will mess up! The mentor is there, not to prevent you from messing up, but to help process through why and help you look to the future.

Consider yourself a learner

Every leader goes through an extraordinary amount of learning. Learning about the organization, about other leaders, former leaders, and most importantly, learning about yourself are all critical pieces to development. It is difficult to made effective decisions as a leader if you don’t understand the ethos, mission and vision of the organization.

It is equally difficult to lead well if you don’t understand how the other leaders lead. For the sake of optimal effectiveness as a young leader, I don’t want to be making decisions regarding circumstances that are the responsibility of other leaders.

Finally, and I believe most importantly, a potential leader must learn about themselves. As an upcoming leader, the question must be asked, “How am I wired? Where are my strengths? What am I passionate and really good at? What energizes me?”

This can be done through self-knowledge tools like executive testing or other tools like Myers-Briggs, Gallops StrengthsFinders, or the Firo-B. This can also be done by engaging with a life or work mentor/coach who you trust and who knows you well. There is a great deal of resources on the Internet and in books stores that are available today to help us learn about ourselves.

Learn from Mistakes

It is nice when others make the mistakes before we do, isn’t it? As a potential leader, it is critical to learn from the “dumb tax” others have paid. Believe me, you’ll pay your own dumb tax, you don’t need to pay the same tax as others. As you see mistakes or learn from others past mistakes, ask yourself these questions, “Why did that happen? What were the circumstances? What were the decisions that led up to that mistakes? Who was involved? How can I learn from that mistake?”

As a potential leader, look at the mistake from every angle. Critically think through the situation. And most importantly, don’t judge! You will have your opportunity to make your own mistakes! Mistakes are good. The shape, mold, and sharpen us in our thinking, strategies and leadership. Mistakes by ourselves or others should not be dismissed before a thorough autopsy has taken place. The more learning that takes place early in your leadership development, the more effectively you can navigate leadership in the future.

Take Risks

At some point, the bird knocks the baby out of the nest! Why? Because they need to grow, mature and face the realities of the world. As a leader, in order for us to develop, we need to begin making decisions.

I would recommend making decisions after having organizational context (don’t jump into a leadership role and start making decisions with gaining context and playing the role of “learner”) and touching base with a mentor or supervisor. I don’t touch base with a supervisor because I want them to make the decision for me. I touch base with my supervisor or mentor/coach because I want to process my plan of action and decision-making with them.

By doing this, it allows them to speak into any other aspects I haven’t thought of. It allows me to practice decision-making before the decision actually gets made. After doing this a number of times, a potential leader should be learning about all the factors necessary for a good decision. Eventually, independent decisions can be made. This process also builds the trust of your supervisor that your judgment can be trusted.

Growth can’t be done without taking risks. Good mentor/coaches will also encourage you to take risks. How do you learn unless you try?

Ask Questions

As a potential leader, I don’t have all the answers. Yes, you heard me correctly. I can draw on my own experience and on my knowledge of the organization, but that only gets me so far.

Questions need to be asked for the purpose of further understanding and for information to make good decisions. Again, having a good mentor/coach or a supervisor who is intentional about your leadership growth is critical so you can ask questions without judgment.

Knowing where and when to ask question is equally important. If I am in a meeting with all organizational leaders and I am finding that I don’t understand something, I often make a note to myself and ask someone at a break, especially if it is evident that all others in the room are following the conversation. On the other hand, if I am “picking up” that others may have questions like I do, I will ask. If you want to grow as a leader, listening and asking questions is important.

EQ – So Important!

Where do I communicate skepticism about a process, policy or decision that has been made? When do I ask tough questions about other leaders or the organization as a whole? What is my role in the organization? Where do I vent? When and how do I support decisions even if I don’t fully agree with them?

Knowing how to answer and navigate these questions is a direct reflection on your emotional intelligence (EQ). As an up and coming leader, observing, listening, asking questions, and dedicating yourself to learning should help you get a feel for how to answer these questions. Many times, these questions should be directed toward your mentor/coach who can help you navigate the situation.

If you are going to create trust with other leaders and coworkers, how you navigate these questions is critical. The answers will differ depending on the organization or ministry you serve in, the communication process in place, the leaders within that organization, and the trust that is built into that organization or ministry. It is difficult to verbally ask some of these questions to others if you are not trusted or if you do not trust the leadership. More importantly than knowing when to ask these questions is knowing WHEN NOT to ask these questions.

Ripples in global ministry

You have seen the pictures. A pebble is dropped in a still pond and the ripples flow out from the center. Or raindrops on that same pond, each drop creating its own ripples and together the multiple ripples create a mass of energy - ripples against ripples until the whole pond is dancing with ripples.

When we think of mission strategies we need to think of ripples. All ripples count but the more and larger ripples we can create the more influence we have for the gospel. It is possible for missions to ripple on very large numbers of people globally - if they think strategically.Here are some ripples moving from small to large that together can create huge mission impact.
Ripples of evangelism
A small ripple but one that every missionary should be committed to. Every time we lead someone to Christ a ripple occurs and if they are healthy Christ followers they will ripple on others down through their lives.Ripples of church planting
God chose the local church as His means to reach the world. Every time a healthy church is planted it creates a ripple - especially if that church is committed to reproducing itself.Ripples of training/coaching/mentoring multiple national church planters.
Now the ripples start to get larger because instead of concentrating on a single church plant, mission personnel are seeing themselves as coaches and trainers of multiple 'national' church planters who are far more capable of planting and pastoring a church than from someone outside their culture. Here we move from addition to multiplication.Ripples of formal and informal theological education
Training pastors, twenty, forty, one hundred, multiple hundreds creates even greater and multiple ripples leading to even greater multiplication of influence. While formal theological training is vital, the informal training of lay bi-vocational leaders is critical if we are going to maximize our impact. In order to reach large numbers of people it is necessary to train far more leaders informally than through formal education.Ripples of holistic ministry
In a poor and needy world (54% of our world lives on less than $3.00 USD per day) bringing needed help through education, medical assistance, micro development, crisis relief, community development and any number of services opens hearts, opens conversations and becomes a wonderful, powerful platform for evangelism and church planting - especially among populations that would not otherwise be open to the gospel.Ripples of coming alongside movement leaders or entire movements
God has gifted the church with amazing movement leaders around the world who are missional, deeply committed to reaching their people for Christ but who are looking for partners who can come alongside them and partner with them. Think about this. When you partner with, help, encourage a gifted movement leader, all of a sudden you have multiplied your kingdom influence to touch all the people that this movement leader touches. This is huge multiplication!

In the same way, when we come alongside movements around the world, be they movements of 10,000, 200,000 or even larger to provide training, teams, specialized help - in order to help these movements be more successful and missional the influence one has is even greater. Again, huge multiplication.Ripples of mission movements
When missionaries can help other national movements become mission sending movements there is extraordinary opportunity to extend kingdom impact. Missions is about 'all people' reaching 'all people.' Every time we can partner with a movement to enable them to send missionaries and then partner with them in those mission efforts, together we create synergistic ripples that makes God smile.

There are many other kinds of ripples. I think of MK educators and service personnel who make it possible for others to be involved in the kinds of ministries I have outlined above. They ripple on more people than they know because their service makes possible the service of others.

We can think addition or multiplication in missions. The more we think multiplication, the more we think strategically, the more kingdom influence and impact we will have. Here is an amazing thought. Never in human history have there been more people on our planet. And with globalization, ease of travel and modes of communication, never has it been possible to reach more people for Christ more quickly than today. Not that it is easy in many places. But globally the opportunity is amazingly huge, if we will think strategically, think multiplication, think ripples.

Is your mission primarily doing addition or multiplication?

Characteristics of High Impact Teams

High Impact Teams are groups of individuals who are committed to the same mission. A team is not a team because it is called a team. Healthy teams are based on a clear, definable, well-articulated, passionately held, common mission. In fact, if there is not passionate ownership of a common mission you cannot have a High Impact Team.

One of the key reasons teams do not function well is the absence of a clearly defined mission that all are committed to. Many churches and ministries do not have a clear mission. In the absence of clarity of mission, a team will find some other glue to hold it together but it will not be very effective because it does not have a central focus. Whatever your team, the glue that holds you together if you want to see significant results of your work must be a well articulated mission that you are passionate about. Mission is everything!

High Impact Teams are committed to alignment around a common mission. A common dysfunction of ministries is the lack of alignment between various departments. It is not unusual in church staff meetings for members to spend time reporting the happenings of their respective ministries without any concrete alignment between them. They essentially operate in silos, doing their own thing, oblivious to what others are doing in their ministries and while all the parts may be 'good' they are also 'isolated' and not part of a whole. Staff member are focused only on their slice and are not interested in doing the hard work of ensuring alignment.

Healthy teams reject that kind of silo mentality because it keeps the organization from being great and from maximizing its God-given potential. It takes more time and energy to be aligned than unaligned but the results of alignment around a common mission are a quantum leap from the outcomes that results from disparate, unaligned ministries. Good leaders and teams take the harder road because it yields greater ministry impact. A characteristic of good leaders is that they insist on ministry alignment around common mission.

Healthy teams commit to common values, practices and commitments of the organization at large. Integration means that all members are committed to a set of common factors. In the mission organization that I lead we have a common mission, a set of ten guiding principles, a central ministry focus and a defined culture. No one gets into leadership in the organization today without complete buy-in with these four areas. In fact, a person cannot join the organization in a ministry position without agreement in these four areas. Healthy teams commit to common ownership of the organizational values, practices and commitments.

Healthy teams believe in the complimentary use of gifts. Why bother with team? A central reason to care about team is that healthy teams get far more done in a more creative and synergistic manner than any one person could ever do alone. I am fascinated that God designed the senior leadership of the church (elders, overseers) as teams and not as a single individual. When the early church sent missionaries, they sent a team (Acts 13). When the early church designed a ministry to take care of the widows and the poor (deacons) it created a team. This is a recognition that God gives various gifts to different people and when they work in concert with one another, the team is at its strongest.

Good teams are not simply a group of people indiscriminately thrown together for the sake of 'team.' They are carefully made up of people with differing gifts that, when combined, creates something far more powerful than any one of the individuals could accomplish on their own.

Healthy teams think strategically and are execution oriented. Healthy team members focus on developing the best-possible strategies for the organization at large so that its mission is fulfilled. While there is an important element of simple communication and coordination in team meetings, the real work of teams is that of strategizing together on the best way to move the organization (or their part of the organization) forward. Team meetings should have a significant portion of time devoted to current problems that need solving, opportunities that can be leveraged, and planning for the future. This is always done in the context of the mission, values, and preferred future of the organization.

While some organizations are high on planning, they are often short on execution - or getting things done. The bottom line for good teams is that they are results-oriented. Team leaders must ensure that discussion regularly comes to concrete proposals with accountability for who is responsible for doing what.

Healthy team members allow others to speak into their ministries, methods and results. This is a logical extension of the descriptions we have given for teams. Because it is all about mission! Because all that we do is in alignment. Because we believe in the complimentary use of gifts, and because we care more about the whole than we do our piece of the ministry, we are ready and willing to allow others to speak into our area of ministry involvement without being defensive or protective.

Many talk team but do not live team. And the strongest reason not to live team is the cost it incurs. It demands our time, a commitment to a common mission, commitment to one another and alignment with others, a release of our independence, a focus that is wider than our personal ministry, and a submission of our gifts for the good of the whole.

Healthy teams have healthy leaders who love to develop, empower and release team members. Healthy teams are not possible without a healthy leader who has enough self confidence to bring around him or her other highly competent individuals without being threatened by their strength. Healthy leaders are not defensive or threatened. They have developed an attitude of 'nothing to prove, nothing to lose.' They are empowering rather than controlling. Good leaders hire good people, clearly define the boundaries of their work, and empower and release them to get the job done.

Healthy leaders are not autocratic but believe in and practice collegial, collaborative leadership. They allow robust dialogue and debate and help the group come to common conclusions and commitments. For those of us who lead teams, there is no substitute for continuing to grow as healthy, effective, empowering leaders. Others love to work for leaders who have those characteristics and will be exceedingly loyal to them.

Healthy teams are made up of individuals who are emotionally healthy. Beware of who you put on your team! Healthy individuals will make team work a joy. Unhealthy individuals will kill an otherwise good team. There is a growing awareness of the need to hire people who are competent, who have character and who fit the culture of our organizations. However we pay too little attention to the EQ of those we recruit to be members of our teams.

Healthy teams are deliberately created. They are created to maximize the effectiveness of the team through the right set of gifting and need in order to create the synergy, alignment, energy, wisdom and skills necessary to carry out the team's mandate.

When you consider adding people to a team consider a number of questions:

• Does this person have good EQ (emotional intelligence)?
• Can this person play at or above the level that the other members of this team play at?
• Do they have a skill(s) that will complement the team?
• Is this person a team player?
• Can they contribute to the whole rather than simply guard their turf?
• Do they fully embrace the mission and values of the organization?
• Do the other members of the team think they will fit well?
• Do they have the expertise needed for the ministry in which they will participate?
• Do they understand the implications of joining your team and the expectations for them as a member?

Healthy team meetings are carefully planned and executed. There are few things more irritating than to be required to attend meetings that are carelessly planned and poorly led. Leaders effectively set the tone for their team by the care they model in designing meaningful agendas, keeping the meeting on target and ensuring that the time is well spent. When this is not the case, the message to team members is that 'this is not that important,' and they will not take their part seriously.

Too many leaders under-prepare for team meetings considering them a distraction from more important issues. Team time is not an ancillary part of a leader's priorities. It is central. Team time is where leaders remind people of mission. It is where they plan, solve problems, dream, and whiteboard around the preferred future of the organization - or the slice of the organization represented by the team they lead.

Healthy teams encourage robust dialogue between members. One of the reasons team leaders must have a healthy EQ is that healthy teams encourage honest, frank dialogue about all issues with the exception of personal attacks. In our organization we constantly say we want no elephants in the room, and where they may exist, they need to be named and put on the table.

This does not work for insecure leaders who easily become defensive. One can judge the relative health of a team by the number of elephants in the room - the number of topics that are instinctively known to be out of bounds. The ability to have honest and frank discussion without personal attack is a sign that trust has been established between members allowing them to evaluate one another's areas of responsibility without taking umbrage of one another.

Robust dialogue is the ability to freely discuss any issue of organizational or ministry importance with candor while refraining from personal attacks or driving hidden agendas in order to further the effectiveness and mission of the organization.