Vision demystified - the first 80%

In talking to pastors, one of the frustrations I often hear is - how do I determine vision for my church? We go to conferences and hear the importance of vision, we read the tomes of successful pastors who tell us how important vision is and we look at our church and say, "what do I do about that here?"

The good news is that all of us can have and communicate vision. But, we need to be clear about what vision is. Vision is primarily about what we want our church to be - missional, healthy, a place where we grow people into fully devoted followers of Jesus and where we are releasing people into active, meaningful ministry.
In fact, I would argue, that is 80% of what vision is all about. It is NOT the spectacular plans we have for the future - it IS about leading our church in a way that produces healthy Christ followers who are making an impact for Him in their neighborhoods, schools, places of work and community. The church is about transformation of lives into the image of Christ and when lives are transformed it starts to impact our communities.

How do we determine and put into practice this 80% of our vision for our congregations? There are four areas we need to define, articulate and constantly monitor. If you can clearly articulate these four areas, you can then work on annual plan to ensure that the congregation is growing in all four - and you will be moving intentionally toward greater health and spiritual vitality.

Mission - Why are we here?

We often underestimate the importance of a clear mission statement that articulates why we exist. It is critical because we often wrongly assume that the folks in our church are clear as to why the church exists. I can tell you with certainty that many are not. In fact, many church attenders have never even thought about it, they just enjoy being part of a good church. Yet everything about the church is missional if we take the great commission seriously.

If a mission statement cannot fit on the back of a t-shirt it is probably too long. 80% of your people ought to be able to tell you what the mission statement is and explain it. If they cannot, whatever you have as a mission statement is not going to make much difference in what actually happens.
Mission statements are not about a line to put into the bulletin but a commitment on the part of all of our people to be lived. Don't underestimate the power of a well crafted, constantly articulated and leader championed mission. It is a powerful tool to help point the whole congregation in the same direction of "more believers and better believers."

Guiding Principles - what are the core principles by which we will all live?
These are the principles by which we agree to do ministry, relate to one another and conduct ourselves as believers. These principles ought to actually guide behavior and in guiding behavior it actually shapes the kind of culture you want to create in your church . A carefully crafted set of guiding principles, if constantly championed by leaders and intentionally lived out allows you to intentionally create a healthy culture rather than simply settling for what is.
With guiding principles, one can intentionally create a culture of relationships, practices, spiritual dependency and commitments that are God honoring and designed to maximize the ministry opportunity your church has. They are powerful teaching opportunities to help your people understand how He wants us to relate to one another, to Him, to unbelievers and to the world. If we got that right in the church we would be an amazing transformational force in our communities.
Central Ministry Focus - what do we need to do all the time to maximize our spiritual impact as a church?

The central ministry focus is the one thing that your church needs to do day in and day out in order to maximize your ministry effectiveness. For the church I believe Scripture has already given us that focus - in Ephesians 4:12. The job of leaders is to equip people for works of ministry so that individuals become mature, the body is built up and the Kingdom is expanded.

The very reason the church has so little impact in our world is precisely because not enough believers are serious about using their spiritual gifts for the advancement of the kingdom. And not enough church leaders are truly serious in helping their people understand their God given gifting and then releasing them in meaningful ministry - not simply in the church but in the community at large that the church has been called to influence and transform.

Ephesians four is clear on three counts. One that the job of leaders is not simply to do the work of ministry but to equip everyone to be involved in meaningful ministry. Two, that no Christ follower is mature who is not actively using their gifting for the cause of Christ and three, that our congregations will only be mature to the extent that the whole body is involved in using their gifts. Those three truths explain why most churches have so little impact and why some churches have enormous impact. Our impact is directly related to the seriousness with which we develop, empower and release our people in meaningful ministry.

Culture - Developing a culture of spiritual vitality The culture we must grow in the church is a culture of spiritual vitality.

Wise leaders take the time to determine what a mature believer looks like and then they create intentional teaching, experiences and opportunities for people who want to grow into Christ's likeness to do so. Rather than simply hoping people mature they are deeply intentional about seeing transformation happen.

The church I attend identifies five marks of spiritual vitality:
Grace: Understanding God's grace to us and extending it to others
Growth: Having an intentional plan to grow our relationship with Christ
Gifts: Using our gifts for the advancement of His kingdom
Generosity: Being generous with God as he has been generous with us
Gathering: Growing and ministering in community with others

Those five marks of spiritual maturity or vitality become the target we have for all in the church. Lived out, these five practices will, through the work of the Holy Spirit bring transformation to our lives.

How does one communicate these four areas to the congregation and keep them in front of them all the time? I use a SANDBOX (hence the title of this blog site) to illustrate the four sides of our ministry - mission (top side), guiding principles (left side), central ministry focus (bottom side) and culture of spiritual vitality (left side). Thus in one picture I am able to illustrate these four areas which make up 80% of the vision for our churches or ministry organizations. Then we ask people to play inside the sandbox and use the sandbox as a teaching tool throughout the ministry.

If you are interested in more information on crafting these four key areas for your church or ministry organization - and therefore defining the key elements of your vision, the book, Leading from the Sandbox: Develop, Empower and Release High Impact Ministry Teams provides a road map for you. If you click on the book to the right of this posting you can order the book.

Leaders and followers

The first step to leadership is followership. Until we can follow well and respond well to those who are over us we will not be able to lead well. Followership demonstrates an appropriate willingness to place ourselves under the authority of others. If we are unwilling or unable to do that, what right do we have to expect others to do that to us?

Followership and leadership are not simply different phases of life: first I follow and then I lead. For the vast majority of us, leadership and followership are constant realities and to lead well we must continue to follow well. As a leader, I am responsible for a large organization. As a follower, I am, like those I lead, under authority. I am a follower and a leader and it is my responsibility to do both well.

I believe that ministry leaders must pay special attention to the discipline of following. I have watched leaders who followed well and those who have followed poorly. For those of us who lead others I think there are several temptations that we must resist if we are to lead and follow well.

The temptation to think we no longer need to listen to the authority above us

After all, we are leaders and leaders lead. There is a subtle difference between doing what our leaders ask us to do and truly honoring our leaders with respect, lifting them up and taking their advice and counsel seriously.

A pastor or ministry leader who does not respect his or her board - assuming that they know better - has chosen not to be a good follower. I have often watched ministry leaders simply ignore what the board has said. In one case I was a board member of a ministry and regardless of what the board decided, the leader simply did his own thing. I resigned. He did not need me,or the rest of the board. He did he want to follow his authority.

I am often amazed and saddened by the number of people in Christian ministry who call themselves leaders who really want no authority above them. At its worst it results in narcissism where leaders start to not only ignore the authority above them but to mistreat and violate those who report to them. There is a connection between respect for authority and respect for those for whom we are the authority.

The temptation to be cynical of those above us

OK, leaders have opinions. Some think their opinions are better than those of their leaders and develop an attitude of cynicism toward those above them. Even if their leaders make mistakes, and who does not, cynicism is a sign of poor followership, not great leadership. In fact, those who harbor cynical attitudes regarding their own authority are actually undermining their personal leadership because good team members do not trust leaders who distrust their own leaders. Why should they?

People do not want to follow those who cannot follow others. I will never elevate an individual to leadership in our organization who is a cynic of those above them. What it tells me is that we have someone who is a poor leader and an untrustworthy leader - regardless of how competent they are. cynicism is about followership - or lack of it, not leadership.

The temptation to develop loyalty to us as leaders but not to the organization as a whole

This happens all the time (see my post on "Leadership Default"). This is a subtle form of the first two temptations because what it communicates is that "I want you to be loyal and cooperative to me as a leader" while at the same time not communicating that "we are a part of a larger whole and together we must be loyal and cooperative to those above us."

Thus, pastors sometimes develop loyalty of the staff but don't insist that together they are loyal to the board - dividing staff and boards. Mission organizations see mid level leaders develop good teams but do not create an ethos where that team is cooperative with or in synergy with the larger organization. In these cases, leaders have not led well because they are not following well.

The "us/them" mentality that pervades so many ministries is actually nothing other than poor followership on the part of leaders.

Leaders are followers. As the Executive Director of ReachGlobal I am a leader. As a member of the senior team of the EFCA I am a follower. My ability to follow will directly impact my ability to lead. And, I will not follow someone who will not follow!

If you are a leader, what matters first is how well you can follow. How are you doing?

Should church staff serve on the elder/leadership board?

I am often asked in church consults, "Who other than the senior pastor should serve as a member of the elder board (or senior leadership board of the church)?

Some suggest that all pastors meet the qualifications of elders so they should be on the board. Others believe that only the senior pastor should serve on the board. And then there are those who have several but not all staff members on the board.

From a governance perspective I would argue that the senior pastor is the only member of the staff that should be a standing member of the board even though other staff members may attend board meetings on a regular or periodic basis. When other staff members are members of the board the church runs several risks.

First, the only "employee" of the board is the senior pastor. When other staff members are members of the board, there is often confusion as to who is responsible to whom. Do other staff members report to the board or to the senior pastor? It should be the senior pastor but when other staff sit on boards it is often the case the boards start to manage them as well. In good governance all staff report to the senior leader and the senior leader both sits as a board member and is accountable to the board.

I have seen a number of situations where staff were always at board meetings and the senior pastor was unable to deal with problematic issues of performance of these staff members because they were "members" of the board. This tied the hands of the senior leader to lead and caused significant pain. There are cases where staff will use their "proximity" to board members to do end runs around the senior leader and if they are board members this becomes very easy if they are so inclined.

Second, remember that the job of boards is to govern, set policy, direction and provide oversight. The job of staff is to deal with the day to day ministry issues and to ensure that the policies, direction and ministry initiatives of the board are carried out. These are two very different responsibilities. One does not want board members doing management and one does not want staff members doing the job of the board. When staff members are regularly at board meetings it often confuses the responsibilities of board and staff or policy and management.

Now in larger churches where there are positions like executive pastors, it makes sense for these individuals to be regular "attenders" of the board since they must carry out the directional decisions of the board with staff. However, they should not be members of the board and the board should reserve the right to meet without them. They are there by practice and invitation but not as members of the board.

I have encountered situations where because of an incompetent senior pastor a board has brought other members of the staff on the board so that its directives are actually carried out. This is a "work around" to good governance and the board should deal with the competency issue of its leader rather than to confuse roles and violate good governance.

You may say, your staff are an exception and they should be members of the board. Remember that the next senior leader may not agree with you and you may have saddled him with a situation where he cannot lead because of a structure you set up. Exceptions to good governance practice have a way of coming back to bite the organization in the future. It is a bad idea.

Connecting the compass with the clock

In my prior blogs, "What spells success for you," and "Your annual roadmap," I talked about the use of Key Result Areas and Annual Ministry Plans as a way to maximize our calling and live with great intentionality.

The world is filled with good intentions. And that is all that Key Result Areas and Annual Ministry Plans are unless they are intentionally connected to how we use our time. If KRAs and AMPs are our compass, our schedule is our clock. Once we have defined success, the most critical element in living intentionally is to actually connect our intentions with our schedules.

Apart from Scripture there is no document more important to us than our schedules. The one asset that we cannot get back is our time. How we spend our time (activity) has a direct impact on the results of our life and work (success). Wise individuals do not live by the seat of their pants, or on the fly. Many people do but wise people do not. They don't settle for accidental living.

It has been said that one can tell a lot about a person's priorities by their checkbook. The same can be said for schedules. I often ask my senior leaders to share their schedule with me. I can tell from looking at their schedule what their true priorities are. My own schedule is available to all my key leaders. They can look any time they choose. It is my way of setting an example of how I connect the compass to the clock and it makes me accountable to those I hold accountable. I cannot ask of others what I do not practice myself.

Schedule your priorities

Our priorities are our Key Result Areas, and the Annual Ministry Plans are the annual roadmapKRAs. Either we schedule time in our month to work on our AMPs or life and others will schedule us instead. Either we control our time or others will control our time.

A simple way to do this is to schedule your week with blocks of time carved out for your priorities. Blocks of time allow you to focus your attention on specific issues which are in line with your Annual Ministry Plan. Once you have scheduled your priorities you can fill in the rest of the schedule with the meetings, administration and other activities that are a part of your life.

Control your interruptions

Focused individuals develop tools to control interruptions to scheduled time. There are blocks of time when the phone should not be answered and when email should not be read, when we are not accessible to others except in case of emergencies. Most of us are good at keeping appointments that we have with other people. My approach is that an appointment on my calendar for focused work is as sacred as an appointment with a person. And I work hard to keep both of them.

Schedule thinking, reading and planning time

Strategic individuals set aside time in their schedule to think, read and plan. They put into their schedule specific days or even weeks during the year when they will be out of the office, away from distractions with time to let their minds connect the dots in ways that they never would have if they had not taken the time.

Don't do what others can do.

There are things that only you can do in your role. There are many things that others can do as well or better than you. Be ruthless in delegating to others those things that you do not need to do.

Identify your top three priorities each month.

None of us can concentrate on everything. On a monthly basis, identify the top three priorities that you are going to concentrate on. These should be directly connected to your KRAs and AMPs.

Foster a culture of execution and results

Execution, the discipline of getting things done, is a focus of strategic individuals. It is not about activity but about results. Many people and ministries do not have a culture of results.

Few things are more satisfying than knowing that we have accomplished the most that we can accomplish with the time, gifts and opportunities God has granted to us. Connecting the compass to the clock is a way to ensure this happens - not perfectly - but intentionally.

Friends for life

There is no greater joy than to have deep friendships that withstand the test of time - fellow pilgrims in life who walk with us, and we with them, through all the stuff that life serves up.

It was about ten years into our marriage, that Mary Ann and I reflected on the fact that so many 'friendships' are so shallow. There is a conflict in the church and people who have long been our 'friends' get mad and it's over. Some slight happens and what we thought was a solid relationship is finished. We grew tired of such shallow relationships and decided that we would cultivate what we call 'friends for life.'

A friend for life is a friendship that will withstand the test of time, withstand distance when circumstances move us away from one another, people who will be transparent and allow us to do the same, and fellow pilgrims who can provide mutual encouragement through the inevitable tough periods of life. We knew there would not be many but we knew we needed a few.

Relationships are perhaps the most important investments we can make in life. People who are in our corner, who know us best, who love us even though they know us well, who spur us on in our faith are more precious than gold. If you have a few of those you know exactly what I am talking about. I would give up all my material possessions before I would give those relationships up.

As investments, the quality of those relationships will depend on the time, care and intentionality that we put into them. Which is why time with our 'friends for life' is always a high priority for us. Apart from our relationship with Christ and our marriage and family, there are no more important investments for us. We know that we cannot do the journey of life well by ourselves. We need others and they need us. There is a deep satisfaction and richness to these relationships which nourishes the soul and encourages the heart.

There is a wonderful accountability in such friendships. Not the kind one has in an 'accountability group' which is often rather artificial but the accountability of deep friendships that will not let a friend stray and if they do will gently bring them back. It is the mutual modeling of followership of Christ that is a living encouragement to both parties to stay on the path and to finish the journey well.

There is also great security in knowing that the curves that life throws are not dealt with alone. When I was gravely sick and in the hospital for 42 days (35 of them in ICU) earlier this year, Grant and Carol dropped everything to be at the hospital supporting Mary Ann and the boys, Ken and Barb came each evening they were home, mom and dad nearly lived at the hospital, Arthur and Wayne flew in from Tennessee and Pennsylvania, my nine siblings each came from around the country. My prayer partner Naomi could not visit (99 years old) but prayed fervently for us. We were surrounded by unbelievable love and care that sustained our family through the darkest days of our lives.

Do not neglect your 'friends for life.' Treat them as a special blessing and your most special investment. Nurture them and they will nurture you. The cool thing is that they will sustain us in life and we will have all eternity to enjoy them. If you don't have the gift of 'friends for life,' ask God to grant you some. It will make all the difference.

Your annual roadmap

In my last post I talked about identifying those Key Result Areas that spell success for our lives. These KRAs do not necessarily change from year to year unless the focus of your job changes. KRAs are the broad definition of success. What does change is the Annual Ministry Plan (AM), which describes how one is going to fulfill each of the Key Result Areas in a given year.

Annal Ministry Plans (AMPs) are the specific steps one is going to take in any given year to fulfill one's KRAs. Before the beginning of a year all members of a team should have determined both their KRAs as well as the specific plan they intend to drive to fulfill those KRAs. These plans are developed by the individuals who must drive them and are then endorsed by their supervisor. They are specific enough to be measurable and form the basis of a monthly meeting with supervisors.

At the heart of intentionality is a commitment to thoughtfully and prayerfully think through what needs to be done and how one should do it. It is the difference between accidental and intentional living. This may be a stretch for those who are not used to planning, but they will get used to it and the results of their work will be measurably better.

Intentionality is about understanding what the end goal is (KRAs) and how one should best get there (AMPs). While the secular world has long stressed such planning, the ministry world has been significantly behind, especially when it comes to focusing on results. Good ministry is impossible without good planning.

Another advantage of AMPs is that supervisors and team members now have a way to measure progress. There is a plan and supervisors can use this plan to gauge progress. Because the team member developed the plan him or herself (with the supervisor sign off), they can be held accountable for its execution.

For individuals, the Annual Ministry Plan provides the roadmap for the year in terms of what they need to concentrate on. The hard part is done (knowing what to do) and now one can concentrate on executing the plan. This is a wonderfully helpful tool for self management. It puts the responsibility for ministry execution on individual team members rather than on the team leader. It empowers and provides for accountability.

There are people in the ministry world who believe that results do not really matter. I am told on occasion that "the only thing that matters is faithfulness." While faithfulness is a non-negotiable, results do matter because they matter to God. We are all about much fruit (John 15). Annual ministry Plans help us measure how much progress we are making according to the plans we have laid out.

The ministry world is notoriously lax in helping people know the success of their performance on an annual basis. With KRAs and AMPs, it is possible to have an objective annual performance review. How did the team member do in fulfilling their AMP and therefore fulfilling their KRAs? Even if it is not done perfectly (perfection is not the goal, intentionality is), the presence of an identifiable plan makes evaluation objective and easier and forms the basis of the next year's Annual Ministry Plan.

What spells success for you?

Fast-forward your life to the day of your funeral. Your family is there, as well as your friends and colleagues. What are they saying about your life? What are your children remembering? Your spouse! Those who knew you best? If there were a handful of things you would want to be known by, what would they be?

Assume that you have five years left in your current ministry. If you could accomplish three-to-five things that leave a lasting influence, what would they be?

What you have just identified are the big rocks of your life. They are the key results that you want your life and your work to have? Getting these big rocks right is one of the most important things we can do if we are going to live intentionally and focus on results. If we don't know the big rocks, we don't know where to focus our activity.

Now take another moment and answer this question for each of the big rocks above for your life and work. How strategically is my activity aligned with the few key results I want for my life and work? Be honest with yourself.

KRAs are Key Result Areas. Understanding of and commitment to KRAs is a major contributor in moving from activity to focused living (activity and results are two different things). Much of what we have been taught or seen modeled that is related to how we structure our lives, focuses around activity. For instance, most job descriptions are a description of the activities that the job entails. The message is that if one carries out the activities found in the job description they will have been successful in their work. But it is not true!

There is a major fallacy here because activity does not equal results. There are many people whose work lives are filled with activity but there is not much to show for it. All of us are busy with activity but activity is not the relevant issue.

Key Result Areas are the specific results that spell success for us in our job and life. KRAs do not spell out how we will achieve those results (activity) but describes the definition of success (results). KRAs define the critical areas of success that one must achieve if one is going to be successful in one's work.

Because KRAs define what success looks like, they cut through the clutter of activity and get to the heart of the matter - what our activity must lead to. They answer the question of success and are applicable in both our personal and professional lives. KRAs do not define activity, goals or methods. They define the end result of our work, the ultimate outcome that we want to see in any given year. Goals and methodology come after we have defined our KRA's.

Why KRAs? Key Result Areas allow us to focus on the critical rather than be driven by the urgent. They clarify the non-negotiable priorities and allow us to make decisions about our time and energy on the basis of a set of clear outcomes that will allow us to fulfill God's call on our lives.

Think of all the demands on your time. Some of those demands come from others who love to tell you what is important for you and how you should spend your time. All of us have options and opportunities as to what we could do with our time and we face regular pressures to fulfill the expectations of others. We face the challenges:

• How do we prioritize?
• How do we schedule?
• What gives us the confidence to say yes or no?
• Where do we focus?
• How do we deal with competing voices?
• How do we free ourselves from the tyranny of the urgent?

The answer is to identify your Key result Areas. They become your key focus and priorities and the grid from which you can answer these questions.

My Key result areas are these:

1. Personal Development: Ensuring that I live an intentional life in my spiritual, family, emotional, relational and professional life.

2. Strategic leadership: Providing strategic leadership to the organization or the part of the organization that I lead.

3. Strong team: Building a healthy, unified, aligned, strategic and results oriented team.

4. Leadership Development: Develop current and future leaders.

5. Mobilizing Resources: Mobilize key resources necessary for the ministry of the team to flourish.

Have you identified what spells success for you?