Seven suggestions for those in new leadership positions

New leadership positions are a wonderful challenge for leaders but they bring with them significant dangers. The challenges are obvious but the dangers often are not. They include moving too quickly, reading existing staff wrong, alienating people because we don't understand them and their concerns, violating a culture we are not familiar with and the list could go on. All of these are unintentional but they can cause new leaders to lose precious favor at the beginning of their tenure.

Thus I have several suggestions for new leaders.

Consider waiting a year to make major changes. We are often in a hurry but unless you are solving an immediate problem that must be solved, waiting a year to make major changes gives you valuable time to listen, develop relationships and get a lay of the land. The better one knows the organization and its people the less likely one will make a decision that they will later regret. 

Don't make promises when people lobby you. You are new and people are nervous about change. People will often jockey for your ear in order to secure their position or paradigm. Listen but don't commit. One needs to preserve their options as the picture unfolds.

Be realistic about staff. The only way to properly evaluate staff is to see them in action over a period of time. What you see when you arrive may or may not be what you are really getting as people will be on their best behavior with a new leader. Watch, listen, and evaluate with an open mind. People you might want to write off may be jewels and people who look good at the start may well not be.

Dialogue often and ask lots of questions. Before you tip your hand on where you desire to go dialogue and listen to people to get a true view of who they are and what their philosophy is. Many people will tell you what you want to hear. What you really want to hear is what they really think. 

Find some folks who will give you perspective. Organizations have cultures and you want to understand the culture you have walked into. If you can find some trustworthy individuals who can tell you why things are they way they are you have vital information about how you go about change and where the potential mines are. Some of those mines are people who if crossed can be difficult (or lethal). The more you know the better off you are.

Get advice from trusted advisers outside the organization. We should not fear making radical moves but we should fear doing it poorly. Talk to trusted friends or advisers who can give you perspective from outside your organization. They can be more dispassionate than those inside. They can also tell you things that an insider may not have the courage to share.

Seek God's wisdom constantly. Ask and you shall receive! Don't do this alone but always in a prayerful and listening spirit to the Holy Spirit who know all things. 

If we built our ministry today how would we build it?

Organizational structures often remain the same while ministry philosophy or methodology changes. It is a mistake since our structure should always reflect our current methodology and philosophy.

Why do we live with this anomaly that how we organize does not reflect our current needs, priorities and focus? Because we develop a deep blindness to how we do what we do as it has become second nature to us and we don't even realize that our internal organization is outdated and not designed to get us to where we want to go.

Here is an exercise that can help you determine whether your structure is designed to help you achieve your missional focus. On the far right side of a large whiteboard define with clarity what you are focused on as a ministry. To the left of that clarify the current strategies you use to achieve your desired results. 

Next, ignoring completely your current organizational structure ask the question, "If we were building our ministry today, how would we do it to achieve our desired outcomes?" What are the key functions we would need to help the organization achieve its outcomes. Then draw a picture of what it would look like. Finally, compare that picture to your current organizational structure and ask if you need to make changes.

Structures grow over time. Often we end up with structures that reflect an earlier day in our ministry and do not reflect current needs. Ask the questions and see where you end up.

Convictions that matter!

All of us have values or practices or beliefs that define who we are, who we become and how we lead. Our convictions define both who we are and what our organization becomes.  Here are a few of mine.

Nothing to prove, nothing to lose
If I have nothing to prove and nothing to lose I will not respond defensively when someone pushes back, will allow robust dialogue and will be open to ideas, feedback and opinions.

Walk toward the barking dog
When there are issues, I will appropriately confront them. We can run from the barking dog, hide from the barking dog or walk toward the barking dog and resolve issues. I choose the latter.

Robust dialogue
There is no issue that cannot be put on the table with the exception of hidden agendas or personal attacks.

KMS
It means "Keep mouth shut" and prevents me (usually) from saying too much too fast. Better to listen, ask questions than to react.

Ask questions rather than give answers
It is better to ask then to tell. Doing that helps the other party come to their own conclusions rather than I as a leader telling them what to do. It empowers and grows other leaders.

Reflect as much as I act
Leaders act but they do so out of deep inner thought and reflection. Acting without reflection is foolish. Reflection without acting is ineffective.

Nurture the core 
Who I am as a leader comes out of what I am inside. Nurturing the core is the first job of any leader who desires to have deep influence with others.

Live with clarity and intentionality
We can live accidentally, responding to life as it comes or intentionally with a plan. I always want to connect the compass (my priorities) with the clock (my calendar).

Say no often
No is a powerful word that allows us to focus on those things that God has called us to rather than be distracted by what others want us to do.

Autopsy without blame
Bad stuff happens. When it does, we will do an autopsy to understand what went wrong but not for the purpose of blaming someone.

SDR
Sh*t Disclosure Rule. Bad stuff happens. When it does, tell me or your leader so they are not surprised. We will help deal with it but we need to know.

Do not question my resolve
As a leader I am committed to leading the organization into missional waters. We will go where we have said we will go. 

No elephants
Elephants are only elephants when they are unnamed. When we name them they become mere issues that we can discuss. We want no elephants in our organization.

The 20 countries where Christianity is growing the fastest.

This article is definitely worth a look!

http://discipleallnations.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/the-top-20-countries-where-christianity-is-growing-the-fastest/

Pray for the Philippines

Take a look at these videos from the BBC. The devastation is vast. Please pray for the people of the Philippines and for the church there that will be ministering to one another and to their communities. ReachGlobal will be one of those channeling aid in the coming days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24887924

“ReachGlobal has teams on the ground, working to assess effective response strategies.

To learn more or to give, visit the Philippines Typhoon Response page.”“ReachGlobal has teams on the ground, working to assess effective response strategies.

Resource scarcity and its gift to ministries

I often work with ministries that have limited resources or that find themselves in place where historical resources are no longer available. The immediate thought is that we must prepare for the "worst possible situation." It is a message of bad news and frequently discouragement. 

I disagree! 

Let's start from a theological perspective. Ministry belongs to God so my assumption is that He provides what we need while not always what we think we need or what we want. There is a difference. Certainly we need to do our part but in the end what we have came from Him and I have to believe is what He wants us to have at the moment. There are also times when our constituents see flaws in our ministry and choose to give less or not at all which should cause us to look closely at our ministry.

Further, hard times bring out one of two responses in leaders. They get discouraged, beat up their congregation  (you did not give enough) or themselves and panic. The other response is to actually bring out the very best leadership because the financial situation requires it. 

Winston Churchill was at his absolute best in the crisis of the Second World War not before or after. Challenging times should focus leaders like never before to get to the core of their mission and ask the question, what would it look like if we did things differently with the dollars we have. In many if not most cases they realize in that process that they were not operating with all the right people and with the greatest inefficiencies possible. When money is good, we get comfortable, when it it scarce we must rethink what is truly necessary. It is in the lean times that we find the most leveraged ways to do ministry frequently pushing us toward effecient multiplication.

In working with one ministry short of funds I asked them to consider several questions:

One: What do we think God is saying to us?
Two: If we were to build our ministry today from the ground up what would it look like?
Three: Does our current structure lend itself to what is mission critical or doe it more reflect who we were in the past?

This caused robust dialogue and we started to see the organization in light of new paradigms. I don't see scarce resources as a negative but as a net positive. It is not the worst case scenario but a significant opportunity to do more with less and within what God provides. In lean times we are forced to be the best stewards and the best leaders.

A prescient analysis of what the church is all about from Francis Chan

What really is the church? Check out this video from Francis Chan!

http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/videos-for-pastors/171126-francis-chan-rethinks-church.html