Becoming a purveyor of hope

Our world has a hope deficit. Or to make it more personal many of our friends and colleagues struggle from a hope deficit, and maybe we also do. That deficit is fueled by life circumstances that overwhelm us, the suffering of others that we cannot do anything about, situations that we cannot fix, perhaps depression that we suffer from and which colors all of life. All of these and more can bring about an absence of hope and in its absence our hearts and the hearts of others can grow sad, lonely and even despairing. No one is spared either public or private pain. We live in a world that is not fair and all of us have the stories to prove it.

One of the greatest gifts we can give one another is that of encouragement and hope. Whether through a kind word, a helping hand, showing understanding and empathy or praying with someone who is hurting each of us can be purveyors of hope to those whose circumstances have caused a deficit of hope. All it takes on our part is the intentionality to be present and take the opportunity to encourage.

All of us have times when we must live on borrowed hope. Times when circumstances are so overwhelming that there is more hopelessness than hope. It is at those times when the faith and hope of others sustains us or we them. When we offer hope and faith to those in need of it, we become Jesus to them. Think about that!

All of us have things we can complain about. But far more powerful is a conscious decision to become a purveyor of hope to those around us. And if Christ is in us, why would we not? He is the ultimate purveyor of hope - read the Psalms or the Gospels. People love to be around purveyors of hope because they bring an eternal perspective to the situations we face. God is still on the throne and He is good all the time.

TJ Addington of Addington Consulting has a passion to help individuals and organizations maximize their impact and go to the next level of effectiveness. He can be reached at tjaddington@gmail.com.

The power of clarity in focusing and retaining good staff

In the busyness of everything we do in any organization, it is easy to lose sight of the real reason we exist and the mission that we have. But no matter what kind of organization you are a part of, clarity about who we are and why we exist becomes a far more important catalyst (if present) or hindrance (if absent) in ways that we might not realize.

Consider three ways that clarity or its lack impacts the organization you are a part of.

Clarity focuses all staff around the central mission of an organization while a lack of clarity produces a scattered focus with a great deal of energy being dissipated in activity that is unfocused and ultimately unproductive to the organization's mission. In fact, one way to help staff focus their efforts and work is to ask them how their work contributes directly to the actual mission of the organization.

Clarity allows for accountability of results, while a lack of clarity makes it difficult to evaluate results. Unproductive staff flourishes in an unclear environment, while productive staff flourishes in a context of organizational clarity. The more clear you are on your mission, the more evident it will be as to who is productive and who is not.

Clarity of mission allows you to attract and retain the best talent. Your best employees want to be a part of something larger than themselves. Larger than the next deal or strategy. They want to contribute something significant through the work they do. A clear and compelling mission that contributes to those we serve is a very strong glue for both loyalty and longevity. If our work matters to God, it must transcend how many people attend (say, a church) or what the profit margin is in a business. It needs to count and matter. But none of that is possible without clarity.

Always remember that "clarity leaks," if it is not constantly focused on. We get busy; people forget; the critical gets lost in the urgent. The most successful organizations are highly focused on what really matters - all the time.

Don't allow divisive politics to cause conflict in your congregation

The election season is upon us with its typical vitriol, charges, counter charges and of course the whole destiny of our nation is at stake, never mind we've seen this all before and it is repeated every four years. What is true is that with the 24 hour news cycles the differing visions of governance get raised to a new level.

I have often observed that the conflict in the nation over its elections has a spill over into the church especially when different sides claim God's blessing on their party - as if God is a card carrying member of any party other than His own.

It is at times like this that we have an opportunity to remind our congregations of some central truths.

First, what brings us together in a common community is nothing less than a vision of Jesus who is the ultimate hope of the world, our nation and our community. Politicians come and go but Jesus remains the same yesterday, today and forever. The more we focus on Him the fewer divisions we have over politics or a host of other issues.

Third, any time we align the church with a political party we do a disservice to the Lord of the Church and set ourselves up for grave disappointment. The concerns of Jesus are far broader and overreaching than the interests of any political party: righteousness; justice; fairness; seeing that all people are treated as made in His Image; truthfulness; compassion; care for the poor and needy and the least of these and the list could go on. Political ideas matter for any nation but ultimately our highest priority must be the values that emanate from the character of God.

Fourth, the vitriol of campaigns has no place between believers who are to treat one another with kindness, respect, patience and the Fruit of the Spirit. I expect the kind of behavior we see in campaigns - it is the nature of political clashes but they have no place between believers in the church where the standards for relationships are higher.

The political season is a great time to remind people of some deep spiritual truths.

TJ Addington (Addington Consulting) has a passion to help individuals and organizations maximize their impact and go to the next level of effectiveness. He can be reached at tjaddington@gmail.com.

"Creating cultures of organizational excellence."

Three counterintuitive practices of wise leaders

There are three practices of wise leaders that are not instinctual to most leaders but which if practiced build incredibly strong and loyal teams.

First is the practice of holding staff with an open hand. When we hold on to staff and make it difficult for them to move on or to explore other opportunities we breed resentment. On the other hand if we always tell them that we want the absolute best for them whether with our team or on another you breed loyalty. Those who are willing to let go find that people actually stay longer!

Second is the practice of encouraging people to speak their minds even when it disagrees with your ideas. The ability of others to engage in robust dialogue where any issue can be put on the table with the exception of personal attacks or hidden agendas actually brings the best thoughts to the table. Leaders must get over their own insecurities to encourage robust dialogue but when they do they get the best from their people. Letting others speak their minds even when it contradicts our ideas is powerful, and counterintuitive.

Third is the practice of empowering staff to accomplish their jobs in their own way (not the way we would do it) within specified boundaries. Empowerment means letting go and unleashing others to use their creativity and gifts in their way. It is hard for leaders to let go but when they do they get the best out of their staff - if they have chosen staff wisely. Micromanagement breeds resentment while empowerment breeds great loyalty.

If you lead, examine your own practices and ask if there is a counterintuitive behavior that will actually help you lead better.

When loyalty becomes a threat to an organization

We all want loyal staff, particularly to the mission of the organization we lead or are a part of. However, that very important element can become a problem when leaders choose staff members primarily on the basis of loyalty to them.

Recently I had a first-hand glimpse into an organization that does great work. But there was one key staff member who caused me puzzlement. He had poor interpersonal skills, did not empower others below him, made snap decisions, and created major consternation for about half of the staff who served at his direction. Don't get me wrong, he was a great individual but was in a spot that everyone seemed to know was not designed for him.

As I asked around about this individual and a few others the consistent answer I received was this: The leader of the organization values personal loyalty above all other qualities. And by this they meant loyalty first to him. Thus he would choose leaders based on their personal connection with him regardless of that individuals qualifications for their role. In doing so, he inadvertently disempowered those who had to work for these loyal but miscast staff members.

That loyalty also fostered a "yes person" culture as these staffers tended to not challenge the thoughts of the leader as loyalty to them was taken as agreement. Thus the concept of robust dialogue was not fostered at the top of the organization and subsequently throughout the organization.

What fascinated me was that this was a healthy organization overall, and the challenges it had internally almost always went back to one of these leaders who was chosen for their loyalty. Not because they were not good people but because they were in the wrong spot for their gifts and had been chosen for the wrong reasons - loyalty to the leader regardless of their qualifications for the role.

Competence for one's role needs to come first, along with loyalty to the mission and respect for leadership. But when personal loyalty or a long-term relationship with the senior leader is the primary qualification for leadership in the organization, this loyalty factor becomes a threat to the organization as a whole.

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Enjoying the Feast

This caught my attention. A friend who lives in the Middle East kept telling me about the feast they were attending, almost weekly. Finally I asked what the feast was about and the answer surprised and encouraged me.

The feast was not about food. Well it was and it wasn't. It was a time when the faithful got together and prayed. Yes, it was a prayer meeting but instead of calling it a prayer meeting, it is called a feast because it is the best food any of us could partake of, enjoying the presence of the living God.

What would it be like if we thought of our weekly prayer meeting as a feast with the living God rather than a chore to be endured? To enjoy the presence of Jesus is better than any other food we could choose. And to recognize it for what it is!

How long has it been since you have been to a feast? And to my Catholic brothers and sisters, this is from the Love of Jesus (LOJ) movement. I want to enjoy such a feast weekly. 

TJ Addington (Addington Consulting) has a passion to help individuals and organizations maximize their impact and go to the next level of effectiveness. He can be reached at tjaddington@gmail.com.

"Creating cultures of organizational excellence."

Missional and organizational clarity is like a fresh wind of hope

I meet many staff who love what they do and are committed to making a difference but who are deeply discouraged by the lack of direction within their organization. One such individual wrote to me this week, deeply frustrated. She indicated that while she has tried to convince her ministry partner of the need for greater clarity, the response is always, "If God wants us to have more direction, He will provide it." In other cases, good staff have left their jobs because of the lack of clarity around direction.

Ministry ambiguity is disheartening, demotivating, discouraging and disempowering. People want to know where we are going and why and how they can make the best contribution to the ministry. In addition, when there is a lack of clarity, different individuals make up their own clarity which results in competing definitions of clarity within the organization.

Healthy organizations have clarity around their mission, the culture they are building, their non-negotiable guiding principles as well as their central focus. The best organizations have clarity on everything that matters. Clarity gives you a clear target to move toward. When there is a lack of clarity, any direction works but with greatly diminished results. 

Providing clarity becomes a breath of fresh air, a fresh wind for any ministry. I worked this last week with a church that has not had clarity in a long time. By the time we were finished, there was a huge amount of energy in the room as participants realized that it was possible to create clarity for their church that was clear, motivating, healthy, Jesus-focused, and reflected his mandate for the church. One said I have not been this excited for a long time. Of course, a lot of hard work is ahead, but there is a target to work toward that is missional, God-centered and exciting.

My point is that getting to clarity - understanding where you want to go in ministry and knowing how you will get there, along with forging a healthy culture is not just a nice thing. It actually breathes fresh wind into the ministry. It motivates and excites, and most importantly, it gives people hope. Hope that we can make a difference for Jesus. Hope that we have a direction to follow. Hope that we can all be on the same page. Hope that we can develop a God-honoring ethos and culture. Hope that God can infuse us with His power to accomplish His work.

Clarity can help us move from discouragement to hope. If you want to understand how your ministry can make that move, my book, Leading From the Sandbox, can help you get there. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 are a roadmap to the hope of clarity. 

TJ Addington (Addington Consulting) has a passion to help individuals and organizations maximize their impact and go to the next level of effectiveness. He can be reached at tjaddington@gmail.com.

"Creating cultures of organizational excellence."