The secret sauce to long term ministry success. It may not be what you think

What is the secret sauce to long term ministry success. It is not strategy. It is not brilliance. It is not the latest idea from a high profile ministry leader. It is not the ability to gather a large number of people. 

There are three components that make up the secret sauce of long term ministry success: The right people, trusting relationships and shared values. With those three ingredients there is no telling what can happen.

The right people are those who are good at what they do, team focused, kingdom minded and humble. That last descriptor is a non-negotiable because without humility there will not be team and collaboration.

Trusting relationships built over time are critical for long term success. Such relationships are built by time together, common objectives, a humble stance that values other members of the team and cares about the whole more than my part.

Then there is the key ingredient of shared values. This is one of the most absent ingredients in ministry organizations. Shared values are like cement in an organization. They also provide the non-negotiables that everyone is committed to. As Henry Cloud says so well, "Leaders get what they create or allow." Culture is created by shared values and where those are clear the secret sauce is present.

We often go after strategies and doing things before we create the environment or ethos that can make those strategies successful. The secret sauce must precede action. Where it does not one gets confusion and often ministry conflict. Get the sauce right and there is significant potential. 

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

Check out this map and article on Islam in Europe from the Economist

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IF can be a dangerous word

How often we think, "If I had...., If things had been different..., If I had known..." Or some variation on that. There are all kinds of ifs in life but none that matter much. They don't matter because we need to live in reality, with what is, rather than what might have been.

In fact, If can be a dangerous word because it allows us to live in the world of what is not rather than what is. As someone has wisely said, "Don't resaw the sawdust." It is a waste of time. What is not a waste of time is focusing on what is and how we make the most of what God has given us. 

This applies to leadership as well. "If that gift had come in...., If that individual had not done what they did....and the list goes on. Leaders don't deal in ifs but in reality whether good or bad. When we deal in reality we can focus our attention on what we need to do today rather than what we wish had been the case in the past. 

Wise individuals leave the ifs alone and deal with the present reality. They don't live in the what if world but in the current reality.

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

Every ministry architect needs a general contractor

If there is a secret to the significant change that the EFCA mission has walked through in the past eleven years it is that I did not attempt to do it alone but was joined at the hip with another - and then surrounded by a great senior team. Let me explain.

Like many leaders I am what I call an architect by wiring. God has given me the ability to see what can be and look five to ten years in the future. Like an architect I can envision what the ministry could be and the macro pieces that will be needed to see it happen. God has given the ability to think conceptually - which is what architects do. Many senior leaders have similar wiring. It is simply how God made me.

Architects, however have a different skill set than does a general contractor. Those who are wired as general contractors have the unique ability to take what the architect has drawn and ensure that it is translated into reality. Architects draw pictures while general contractors run process, hire sub contractors and make sure that the right thing is done at the right time so that things are done in order and properly. No architect is successful without a requisite general contractor and general contractors rely on the architect for the picture of what could be.

If you translate this into my world as a senior leader who paints the picture I need a general contractor who can help translate that picture into reality by finding the right people and running the right process to build what is on the picture one step at a time. If the skill of the architect is the picture, the skill of the general contractor is process. 

Ministry leaders like me need a general contractor like my sidekick Gary Hunter whose complimentary skills in running process can bring a ministry structure and strategy to reality. The partnership between myself and Gary were and are critical in building a fabulous senior team and running the change process we have been through. I could not have done it alone and I never ignore the counsel of my partner.

Senior leaders who operate without a partner to help build what they envision find themselves in trouble on a regular basis. The two skills are different but both are necessary to see success. It takes a non-threatened senior leader, however, because the general contractor's influence is found throughout the ministry. They may not be in front but they make it happen.

If you are a senior leader, do you have a general contractor beside you whom you work with, listen to and empower? If not you are missing one of the key secrets of long term success.

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

Taking the long view of ministry strategy and results

A key factor in ministry success is whether we take a short or long term view regarding our plans and strategies. Many leaders are impatient and reactive and in their pursuit of ministry success they chase strategies that yield quick results at the cost of long term success.

A long term view of ministry results recognizes that you must lay a strong foundation upon which to build for lasting results. This includes finding the right people (staff or volunteers) who can help you get to your destination and creating a healthy results oriented culture in which the staff works. A third component of the foundation is having absolute clarity about what you are about, what your goals are and how you intend to get there. The right staff, a healthy culture and ministry clarity take time but any shortcuts here will short change your long term success.

Even with these three components in place, any strong ministry strategy must be built carefully and systematically. All too often we tend to substitute action (lets get going) for the hard work of thinking through philosophy and strategy that will yield long term results. The better the thinking on the front end, the better the results in the end. This is particularly true when your work involves change from the past. The process you choose will determine whether it is permanent change or a blip on the screen.

What gets in the way of building a strong foundation? First, we are often way too impatient to see something happen and shortchange the work we need to do to ensure that what we are building is built to last. Second, the foundational work is frankly hard work. It requires time, thinking and dialogue with the right people to put in place the framework for what you are trying to build. It is easy to default to action without the requisite deep thinking and analysis that good strategy requires. Third, too often we are chasing quick wins and while nice, quick ends usually don't yield long term results.

There is an ironic twist to the many conferences we go to in order to learn the secrets of success - often put on by large churches. They got where they are in most cases by a deliberate process of moving in the same direction toward a strategic goal. They did the work to ensure it lasted which is why their success was years in the making. We want to emulate them so we quickly rip off their strategies - forgetting that it was not the program or specific strategy that got them to where they are but a deliberate journey of clarity, patience, deep thinking and a long term strategy to achieve long term results. 

Long term success takes longer than short term wins. It also yields way more fruit than the latter. It is harder, slower, more work but ultimately it wins hands down in ministry results.

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

If you want to know how healthy your leader is, check the health of the staff. It tells the story.

Because our own health as leaders spills out into those we lead a key indicator of a leader's health is the health of their staff. Is the staff culture healthy or toxic? Is it functional or dysfunctional? Are staff relatively happy and engaged or relatively unhappy and disengaged. If a leader has led for any length of time, the ethos and culture of their staff is a prime indicator of their own health.

I regularly talk to ministry staff members who describe toxic, fearful and unhappy staff cultures. What they often don't realize is that they are describing the dishealth of their leader. Church and ministry boards for the most part don't get this. They are all too willing to overlook unhealthy and toxic staff cultures as if all is well. The truth is it is not all well. Nor is the senior leader.

Staff cultures almost always reflect the health of the leader. This is why it is critical to have ways to ascertain the relative health of staff members and not to simply take the word of the leader. Controlling leaders control their staff. Dysfunctional leaders create dysfunction on their staff. Insecure leaders shut down candid discussion on their staff. Driven leaders create staff cultures where staff member always feel inadequate -  because their leader does. Grace filled leaders create cultures of grace and empowering leaders create cultures of trust and release people to use their gifting and intellectual capital. Staff cultures almost always reflect the health of dishealth of the leader.

This also means that where staff cultures are unhealthy, boards ought to pay close attention. Of course it presupposes that boards have a desire and way to monitor the health of the staff. Many don't. 

Every board ought to have a way to keep its finger on the health of staff because in doing so they not only protect the staff where necessary but they also get a read on the health of their leader. Good leaders create healthy staff cultures of empowerment, grace, candid conversation and trust. Unhealthy leaders create cultures of mistrust, control, lack of clarity and bureaucracy. There is a big difference. 

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

Leading in the hard times

Leadership is not always what it is cracked up to be. Especially in the hard times when knotty issues must be confronted, staff situations resolved and perhaps the most painful of all, personal attacks endured. Leadership is not for the faint of heart or the easily discouraged.

What separates those who lead well in hard times from those who don't? 

First, those who lead well in hard times do not tend to take the situations as personally as others. Not that it is easy or comfortable. It helps, however, to realize that we are often targets because people disagree with our decisions or don't fully understand situations we cannot be candid about. The price of leadership is that we will be misunderstood at times and that we will be a target because of decisions we must make. 

Second, leadership in hard times is easier when we keep our anxiety low. Anxiety is wasted energy. If we will take the time to gain perspective from others and from God we can usually respond with greater wisdom than when we respond on the fly - or out of anxiety and anger. That is a skill that can be learned even when it is not native to our skill set.

Third, leading in the hard times is easier when we take a long view rather than a short view. In the moment there may be uncertainty and pain and conflict. In the long term good decisions yield health and effectiveness. Thinking long term allows us to weather the short term discomfort. In fact, those who think short term often respond poorly to hard issues because they are not willing to live with short term pain for long term gain.

Fourth, leading in hard times is easier when we trust in God's sovereignty. Sure, not all things are solved this side of heaven. At the same time, God has a way of working things out when we respond in a measured and wise way rather than allowing our emotions to hijack our actions in unhealthy ways.

Leading in the hard times is actually one of the fundamental ways that leaders grow and mature: If we respond with wisdom rather than with emotion.

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.