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July 4, 2018
Coach Phil
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Christian Leadership Matters; Building Leadership Trust (Part 2 of 2)

Posted in Christian Leadership Matters, Coaching, Team, Team Building, and Trust

 

Part 1 of this blog HERE.

Trust is the foundation of leadership. It is difficult to imagine that anything good or lasting could happen in your church, school or organization without an environment of trust. Trust is the foundation of great ministry teams, congregations, families, and societies. “Teams that lack trust waste inordinate amounts of time and energy managing behaviors and interactions within the group (Patrick Lencioni from his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team). [This book is a “must have” in any leader’s library!]

Last week I listed the first three steps toward building leadership trust. They are: 1. Lead By Example, 2. Trust Others, 3. Consistently Communicate. You can access part 1 of this blog here.

Now, (as Paul Harvey use to say) the rest of the story. . .

  1. Build substantive relationships outside the Boardroom. Christian leaders don’t lead in a vacuum. People want and need to know the “real you;” they want to know your motivation for life and leadership. People are anxious to see how you talk with your spouse and kids or how you act when things go terribly wrong. Leadership is tough because a good leader is always acting in the role of a leader, even on the golf course or at the restaurant. Want to be considered a great leader, a leader that engenders high-level trust? Dine with people as friends and colleagues, have coffee “just to chat,” go to a ball game and don’t always talk business. Be genuine. Allow people to know the “real you.” Get to know your people as people; know their kids, their likes and dislikes, what motivates them.
  1. Provide Honest Feedback. For many people in ministry, this is very tough. But learning to provide honest feedback — even negative feedback — is critical to establishing organizational trust. When you have an underperforming Board member (or Elder, Youth Volunteer, Parent helper, etc.), it is the leader’s great privilege and responsibility to help the organization succeed by providing honest feedback. If someone or some group is NOT performing adequately, others on the ministry team will learn and imitate the “acceptable” behavior. If the leader accepts poor behavior (or bad attitudes or substandard work) you will inadvertently set a new LOW standard for everyone else and your ministry will suffer. Honest feedback doesn’t have to be harsh or particularly confrontational, but it does need to occur. Check out The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard for help in providing honest and effective feedback. Much more fun and perhaps even more important is to celebrate good behaviors, excellent performance, and stellar attitudes. Your ministry team will, over time, avoid what the leader reprimands and imitate what the leader celebrates.
  1.   Orchestrate Success.  It is not possible in our sinful world to always and only experience “success.” (We do have the ultimate success in Jesus!) To orchestrate success in this world means: lead intentionally, using well-thought-out plans, so that milestones can be celebrated. There is nothing more de-motivating for a ministry team than a leader who ignores their sacrificial efforts merely because we’re not “there” yet. A good leader orchestrates success; Orchestrating success creates energetic teams who trust their leader who led them to those successes. For example: Let’s say you want a hugely successful VBS this year. OK, create realistic goals but make sure you build in some “successes” such as: Fully Staffed (doesn’t happen every year); Best worship in VBS EVER; three Baptisms resulted; 15 kids from the community we’ve never before met; . . .  Build into your VBS planning the high likelihood of successes you can celebrate as a ministry team AND that you can celebrate with the whole congregation or school or ministry. This builds leadership credibility and engenders trust in you as a leader.
  1.  True Love DOES Say Sorry. The saying (from 1970 movie Love Story) “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” never made sense to me. I love God and I’m always saying “I’m sorry!” I suppose that if we were perfect leaders among perfect people in a perfect world, that saying would be true. But we’re NOT and it ISN’T. A leader, when wrong, MUST be able to apologize. Apologizing is NOT a sign of weakness, but it IS a sign of strength. Nothing breaks trust faster than wronging a person (or a group) and NOT humbly owning up to your error. If you expect other people on your ministry team to apologize when appropriate, you must do likewise. It is not possible to establish a community of trust if the leader cannot be honest with him/herself and with the community.
  1.  Coach. Number eight is near and dear to my heart! Coaching is about: focused conversations that support, encourage, and empower those you lead toward high-performance achievement. When a leader invests him/herself into those they lead with the goal of helping that person reach their highest potential in Christ, high-level trust is created. Help each person on your leadership team become the best they can be; help them become THE expert in their area of ministry or service. Empower those you lead that they might more fully embrace their own calling and become all that God has blessed them to be. That will make you a leadership superstar! For (a LOT) more information about Coaching and/or if you would like to try out Coaching for yourself or your team, visit the website: www.thehighercallingcoach.com.
  1.  Create Synergy. Ministry should never be siloed. An extreme example of ministry siloing too often occurs when a congregation has bilingual services and neither “congregation” knows anything about “them.” This can even happen when the first service is “traditional” and the second is “contemporary.” One can legitimately ask whether there is ONE congregation or two (sometimes more). Is God’s Word not God’s Word in every part of His Church? Is the Church ONE or are there many “bodies” in the Church (please read 1 Corinthians 12). The leader creates higher level trust when he/she creates ministry synergy; the Adult Bible Class ministers to the primary students. . . who sing in the Traditional Service . . where the contemporary band plays the offertory and leads the closing hymn. . . then leads the contemporary worship in the traditional hymn during second service. . . where the Spanish-speaking service gives testimony via a translator about great things happening at the bilingual Saturday morning men’s fellowship, etc. Synergy is “together energy,” or “shared joy.” A leader will create higher-level trust when they can demonstrate leadership in the Grand Divine Plan rather than “just” a small subset of that plan. God’s plans are always bigger than ours; our opportunity is to share the BIG picture of the great things God is doing!  Use real-life examples of what God is doing in the lives and families of the Sunday School. . . Retell a story told by one of the mid-week attendees. . . create an atmosphere of community wherever possible.
  1. Be Consistent. Few things can destroy trust faster than being inconsistent. Even if you are the GREAT AND MIGHTY LAST HOPE for your organization, inconsistency will be your undoing. We’re not talking about “perfection” or times when mistakes are made. This is about emotional maturity. If you run GREAT and productive meetings but lose your temper when you aren’t getting your way, you will break every bond of trust very quickly. If you are excellent in the public execution of your leadership but have moral failure, you WILL ultimately fail in your leadership role. If you are sometimes kind and forgiving BUT other times harsh and critical, your unpredictability will prevent you from establishing the kind of trust you need for Christian ministry. I knew a leader of a rather large Christian ministry that would, for no apparent reason, blow-up at one of the employees for minor infractions (and do so publicly). But that same person would allow others to get away with consistently unprofessional behavior. He ultimately lost his leadership. To be consistent means to act like the adult in the room even if others are not. Consistency means being the non-anxious leadership presence, being the “reliable one” who inspires confidence in those you lead as they live out their calling.

What has God taught you about building and maintaining organizational trust? Please share! What was your favorite of the ten I shared? What would you like to add? I would LOVE to hear or read your stories of successes as well as those times where you learned a powerful lesson (and would love it even more if you give me permission to share your story with others).

And, if you would like help in establishing trust with your ministry team, contact me, The Higher Calling Coach.

Until next time. . .

______

Dr. Phil Pledger is The Higher Calling Coach and writes a blog entitled Christian Leadership Matters each week. Through his blog and coaching practice, Dr. Pledger seeks to help Professional Church Workers discover and enhance the leadership skills needed to make positive changes in their lives and in the ministry they serve. The goal is to find new ways to meet challenges, overcome roadblocks, and to find joy in serving Christ and His Church.

Click TheHigherCallingCoach.com to sign up for Christian Leadership Matters.  If you would like to set up a no-cost/no-obligation consultation or would like to ask a question, email Dr. Phil at: Phil@TheHigherCallingCoach.com.

June 13, 2018
Coach Phil
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No Matter WHAT, Know your Why!

Posted in Christian Leadership Matters, Coaching, Professional Church Worker Experiences, Purpose, and Values Clarification

Have you ever asked WHY?

We spend a LOT of time asking What and Where and How. Those questions deal with workload, deadlines, specific answers to functional tasks. Yes, they must be asked and answered or little would get done, but there’s an important question we often forget, Why.

The question Why is an inspirational question. It forces us to think about the motivation of our actions, about what drives us, what makes us want to get up in the morning and meet the challenges of the day.

I scheduled a meeting with an author of 32 Christian books a few months ago. My question was “how do I write my first book?” His first question was “Why do you want to write a book?” Leith Anderson in his book “Leadership that Works” says there are only six questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. The most important question, he writes, is WHY. “He who knows how will always have a job; he who knows why will always be the boss.” [Page 193, Leadership that Works]

Have you ever asked yourself Why? Why did you enter the ministry? Why are you: a Pastor? Parochial School Teacher? Director of Christian Education? Church Administrator? Deacon/Deaconess? College and Seminary are great at helping us with the What and the How and the Where. But from your prayer and devotion, from an intense commitment to our Lord, from an exhaustive search of The Word do we discover the Why of our Call.

One Pastor with whom I worked (many years ago) said that he would honestly prefer to be the custodian of the school than the Pastor of the congregation. Another Pastor confessed to my father (who was an Elder at the time) that he didn’t have any idea what Pastors should do all day. A young man and his wife came into my office saying that he would like to become a Pastor. I asked the obvious question, Why? His response, “Because I like to read.” He thought Pastors spent most days just reading (that was in the 1980’s, so today, some might think we spend our time on Facebook!).

Yogi Berra said: “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up somewhere else!” Being a custodian is an honorable and noble vocation. But for your own sake and the sake of your congregation don’t hold the office of Pastor when you have the heart of the custodian. If you don’t know how to spend your time as a Professional Church Worker, you must be exceedingly frustrated! Find a trusted mentor who can disciple you toward a more rewarding sense of ministry or vocational purpose. If you love to read, great, but find a God-given purpose for whatever you do (Professor, Librarian, Researcher), and with the blessing of God, pursue that vocation with all your might.

“Why” is where our heart is. Perhaps you have seen the Golden Circle popularized by Simon Sinek. At the center of everything valuable in our life is “Why.”  (Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk on the Golden Circle.)

Christian Leadership Matters; it matters SO MUCH that we MUST know our Why. If you know Why, you can endure any What. Are you stressed in your ministry? Too many irons in the fire? Being pulled in too many directions at once? Are you having difficulty dealing with frustration. . . lack of immediate results. . . dealing with difficult people. . . are your most valued relationships suffering?

If so, take some time, as much as you need, and renew your sense of the Why of your Call. Take time, pray, search the Scriptures, talk with trusted mentors, confide honestly with your spouse, reconnect with your God-given Why.

Then — and this is quite important — WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU DISCOVER. Map out your Why as completely and as detailed as possible. Over time, edit, revise, rewrite, rethink, continue in prayer, ask God for clarity, ask your trusted partners and mentors for honest feedback. Make your written Why a foundation for the renewal of your Call. Find a certified and professional Coach (your District or denominational leadership will have a list of qualified Coaches) and if you like, contact The Higher Calling Coach for a free consultation.

Then, no matter What, your Why will empower you to complete that for which you were called heavenward in Christ.

Until next week,

Blessings in Christ,

–P

__

Dr. Phil Pledger is The Higher Calling Coach and writes a blog entitled Christian Leadership Matters each week. Through his blog and coaching practice, Dr. Pledger seeks to help Professional Church Workers discover and enhance the leadership skills needed to make positive changes in their lives and in the ministry they serve. The goal is to find new ways to meet challenges, overcome roadblocks, and to find joy in serving Christ and His Church.

Click TheHigherCallingCoach.com to sign up for Christian Leadership Matters.  If you would like to set up a no-cost/no-obligation consultation or would like to ask a question, email Dr. Phil at: Phil@TheHigherCallingCoach.com.

May 31, 2018
Coach Phil
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Move over, Moses, Jeremiah Has Something to Say

Posted in Christian Leadership Matters, Coaching, and Professional Church Worker Experiences

Coaching Professional Church Workers is one of the most rewarding careers on the planet! I’m profoundly inspired by the deep dedication Christian leaders have for God and His people. I am also amazed at the selfless determination Christians have to fulfill their call to bless people for whom Christ died. Although Christian ministry is rewarding, it is also often stressful.

My question is this: Can we do ministry better? Is it possible to serve Christ and be filled with optimistic hope at the same time? Is it possible to work in such a way that our efforts produce a crop “yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matthew 13:23)?

I say “Yes!”

Moses was one of the most important and impressive people who ever lived. He was the one through whom God communicated His Ten Commandments; Moses led Israel from the enslavement of the Egyptians to the Promised Land; Moses was the one that wrote down the words of the Torah; and Moses demonstrated greatness in other countless ways!

Yet Moses, at one time, tried to do everything himself. He was the one-man educational and judicial system for a community of millions. He would listen to every single issue, complaint, and problem a wandering nation of millions ever had. And Moses was at the edge of his ability to cope. If things didn’t change, Moses would soon become so emotionally and physically depleted he would be of no use to anyone.

Along comes Jethro, his father-in-law. “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone” (Exodus 18:17). Moses, one of the greatest figures of the Old Testament, was being taught by this Priest of Midian how to multiply his ministry. In business and in non-profit organizations, this is called delegating.

Jethro said: “select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied” (Exodus 18:21-23).

OK, so we’ve heard this before. Delegate, raise up additional leaders, recruit and train and deploy. Great. Frankly, it’s easier to do the work myself!

Jethro is NOT teaching Principles of Organizational Management

What’s really going on in Exodus 18 is the start of a reformation of the way God and His people interact. If we fast-forward to the time of Jeremiah, we read the prophecy that promises what God will yet do (31:33-34), ““I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.”

Delegating is GREAT!

When we delegate as we should, great things happen for leaders AND among those we lead. As with Moses, when we learn to effectively delegate, our capacity to fulfill our call becomes possible. And, the people to whom we delegate find joy and fulfillment. Afterall, people were created to contribute and make a difference. When we can’t for whatever reason, we are slightly diminished as a person. Additionally, by delegating, more gets done, more people are served and we realize greater advancement toward our goals. All good!

Delegating isn’t enough!

Delegating is exceedingly powerful, but there’s something even better. Partnership.

Which is better, being given responsibility or being asked to join a partnership? A partner has “ownership” in the organization. A partner transitions from someone to whom we delegate labor to a stakeholder, someone who has ownership. That’s a very powerful transition!

God calls His people into partnership, an infinitely powerful relationship. Christian ministry is best built in partnership with people in the Church. Effective delegating empowers people to greatly expand the ministry. But God calls us into partnership with His Son. He makes us heirs, co-workers with Jesus. God refers to us as His children; sons and daughters in the family business, co-heirs with Christ, partners in the Gospel, fellow laborers (along with Paul, Peter, James, John, and the other Apostles, Disciples, Evangelists, Teachers, every first-century Christian through whom God established His Church).

When Christian leaders lead by inviting people into partnership with themselves as leaders and co-leaders in Christ, they are leading as Moses learned to lead and they are fulfilling, in part, the prophecy of Jeremiah 31: “they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” Moses’ activity of delegating was the prelude to what God was fleshing out in Jeremiah (which reached its greatest expression at Pentecost). This is the foundation of God’s earnest desire for all His people, partnership with Christ.

By empowering others as God has empowered you as leader, you deeply impact those you lead. Your investment in their lives will create a ripple effect throughout their lives that will continue into the next seven generations (at least). This is the ministry to which the Christian leader has been called.

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Dr. Phil Pledger is The Higher Calling Coach and writes Christian Leadership Matters blog each week. Christian Leadership Matters is a weekly blog that seeks to help Professional Church Workers discover and enhance the leadership skills needed to make positive changes in their lives and in the ministry with which they are connected. As “The Higher Calling Coach,” Dr. Pledger helps Professional Church Workers and the ministries they serve find new ways to meet challenges, overcome roadblocks, and to find joy in serving Christ and His Church.

If you don’t want to miss his blog posts, sign up for his newsletter at:  www.TheHigherCallingCoach.com. Email Coach Phil at: Phil@TheHigherCallingCoach.com if you would like to set up a no-cost/no-obligation consultation or would like to ask a question.

May 17, 2018
Coach Phil
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Christian Leadership Matters — How to Lead Like Fred Astaire!

Posted in Christian Leadership Matters, Coaching, and Consulting

I use to think (and even taught) that I would never ask anyone in my ministry to do something I wouldn’t be willing to do. There is (almost) nothing in Church work that I haven’t done at one time or another. More than once, I vacuumed the sanctuary at 6 am on a Sunday morning. I’ve washed windows, been responsible for taking out trash, been the musician on Sunday morning, preached, taught the Adult Class, and, at the end of the day, the one who locked all the doors and set the alarm.

Although the principle might sound noble or even spiritual, I was cheating a lot of people by being the one-man-show.

Ministry is an “us” event. And a leader that isn’t willing to equip, deploy and trust others as partners in ministry isn’t doing their job. But in order for that to happen, the leader needs to understand his/her unique role and know when to step in and when to step aside. Leadership is like dancing a waltz not a military maneuver (or a one-man-show).

The Duet Dance Studio in Chicago provides great lessons in ballroom dancing. [You can find their website here: http://duetdancestudio.com/blog-dance-lessons-chicago/leading-following-ballroom-dancing] Their front page not only gives good dance advice, but also good leadership advice by providing the answers on “HOW TO LEAD LIKE FRED ASTAIRE”

 

  1.    Maintain a Strong Frame

Szewai, the author of the article, states: “The dance frame is the most important thing in lead and follow as it helps you maintain the connection between you and your partner. Your frame should be firm and steady at all times.”

As a leader, know your strengths, take the lead. Your “dance partner,” the one(s) you are leading, need to have confidence in you and what you are trying to accomplish. Good dance leaders engender trust with their partner. For that to happen, you must know who you are, where you are going and have confidence in yourself.

  1.    Take Decisive Steps

“Accidents often happen when the driver isn’t sure where he/she is going and is being hesitant with his/her moves” writes Szewai. Good leaders know their organizational direction; they know their objectives and take strategic steps toward accomplishing those objectives.

  1.    Lead with Your Body

Leaders must be “all in.” Good leaders, like good dancers, don’t have the luxury of merely telling others what to do; leaders lead by what they do, not only by what they say. People may not be able to articulate why they know their leader is completely committed, but most people do know that a leader is committed. Good leaders (to use a cliche) “walk the walk.”

  1.    Be Gentle

Leadership, like dancing, should be enjoyable, rewarding, and even fun. Good leadership is also enjoyable, rewarding and fun for those we lead. If not, there’s something wrong. Too many Christian leaders don’t lead like Fred Astaire, but mandate like Genghis Khan or “fiddle while Rome burns.” Being gentle doesn’t mean you have low ministry standards, but neither does it mean we throw someone off the dance stage if they step on our toes now and again.

  1.    Listen to Music

This is the most important part to Christian leadership, listen to and follow the music. Every Christian has a copy of The Score, God’s Word. God’s Score is conducted by His Holy Spirit, and Christian leaders keep their ears open and closely follows the conductor’s lead. When we dance to a different tune, we’re out of step with God’s Spirit and the people we are called to lead become confused, and toes are mashed and people trip and fall — including the leader.

Jesus certainly danced well, even better than Fred! His dance moves were innovative and for the casual spectator, often unexpected. Here are some of the ways Jesus taught by example how to “dance” the leadership dance:

  • He Chose unlikely partners, some with poor resumes, even those with poor people skills; but Jesus invested Himself into the lives of these unlikely characters and grew His Church.
  • Though God-in-the-flesh Jesus still washed His followers stinky feet. He loved His people and demonstrated true Christian leadership.
  • Jesus always had laser-focused vision; He encouraged His people to do the same.
  • The disciples were partners in the Gospel; they were co-heirs with Christ. His disciples were given great responsibility as well as ownership and trust.
  • Jesus constantly spent time listening to The Music; praying and listening to His Father and doing His will.
  • People were more important to Jesus than human traditions, rules, customs and regulations.
  • Jesus expected a lot from those who followed Him, but He was also eager to forgive and trust again.

I know ministry isn’t always fun and games. Serious and difficult work needs to be done and there will be times when we we will cry out as did the Psalmist and ask: “How long, Oh, Lord, How long?” At the same time, however, no matter what happens, God has given each of us something that no one can ever take away from us. In Christ, we have forgiveness, His continued presence and Divine Hope. And no one and no thing can ever take that away from us.  

I encourage you, dear reader, to lead with that joy no one can take away, fully confident in who you are in Christ, and proceed forward in your ministry full of faith in the One who has redeemed you and has entrusted to you the opportunity to bring about that same joy in those we are called to serve. May God grant each of us grace in Christ Jesus!

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Dr. Phil Pledger is The Higher Calling Coach and writes Christian Leadership Matters blog each week. Christian Leadership Matters is a weekly blog that seeks to help Professional Church Workers discover and enhance the leadership skills needed to make positive changes in their lives and in the ministry with which they are connected. As “The Higher Calling Coach,” Dr. Pledger helps Professional Church Workers and the ministries they serve find new ways to meet challenges, overcome roadblocks, and to find joy in serving Christ and His Church.

If you don’t want to miss his blog posts, sign up for his newsletter at:  www.TheHigherCallingCoach.com. Email Coach Phil at: Phil@TheHigherCallingCoach.com if you would like to set up a no-cost/no-obligation consultation or would like to ask a question.

May 7, 2018
Coach Phil
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Christian Leadership Matters — Introduction

Posted in Christian Leadership Matters, Coaching, and Consulting

Introduction

David Kinnaman, a “Preacher’s Kid” and the President of the Barna Group writes:  “I came away from my childhood with a pretty accurate slogan for church ministry: Where you control nothing and are responsible for everything.” (Page 7, The State of Pastors.) The statement is obviously not literally true, but for every Professional Church Worker, it certainly feels true at least some of the time. All the more so as we struggle to make sense of a rapidly changing culture and frustrating trends of Church attendance and general attitudes about commitment.

Complicating the issue? Barna’s The State of Pastors reports (page 9):

  • More than one-third of pastors are at high (11%) or medium (26%) risk of burnout.
  • Two in five tally high (27%) or medium (16%) on the risk metric for relational problems.

I don’t have hard data on other Professional Church Workers, but it stands to reason that if the organizational leaders are at high risk, those serving in that same organization are also at risk, perhaps even more so. Do you sometimes feel as though you are responsible for EVERYTHING but control NOTHING? Do you feel as though you are at risk of BURNOUT? Are the people closest to you encouraging or depleting your reserves and effectiveness?  There are steps you can take that will make your life better, reenergize your Call as a Professional Church Worker, and help you grow in your leadership effectiveness. That’s the goal of Christian Leadership Matters!

Christian Leadership Matters is a weekly blog that seeks to help Professional Church Workers find leadership and ministry clarity and enhance the leadership skills needed to make positive changes in their lives and in the ministry with which they are connected. It is my intent to provide relevant and practical leadership principles that can be used personally, shared with your leadership team (Church, School, Non-profit Organization), or discussed at various leadership forums in which you participate.

Practical and Useful

So, to get started:  No matter how much formal education we have had, no matter how many years of experience, it never hurts to re-examine the basics. First, then, the question: “What is Leadership?” In less than one second, Google posted more than 339 MILLION web links to that topic. And, the web answers are all over the map! Being somewhat selective, here are a few examples:

  • Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. [Link]
  • A leader is the one in charge, the person who convinces other people to follow. A great leader inspires confidence in other people and moves them to action. [Link]
  • Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.
  • Peter Drucker: “The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.”
  • Warren Bennis: “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”

More central to Christian leadership:

  • Dr. J. Robert Clinton, Prof. of Leadership & Extension @ School of World Mission, Fuller; in his book The Making of a Leader, p. 197:  “A leader, as defined from a study of biblical leadership, and for whom we are interested in tracing leadership development is a person (1) with God-given capacity and (2) with God-given responsibility to influence (3) a specific group of God’s people (4) toward God’s purposes for the group.” p. 202
  • Henry and Richard Blackaby: “Spiritual leadership is moving people on to God’s agenda.”

I gravitate toward Blackaby’s definition because it is so succinct, but what’s practical and useful at the moment will be for the reader to consider and formulate a definition that suits you, that expresses your particular giftedness, attitudes and personality (and, of course, staying in bounds of Scripture). Become an expert in that to which you have been Called. As a Professional Church Worker, you have been Called to Lead. Exactly WHO you lead, how many, the age group of those you lead, direct lines of responsibility, etc., are determined by the terms of your Call, but by definition, a Professional Church Worker IS Called to Lead.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, a definition of a leader is more connected with his/her attitudes, adaptability, and actions (each of these three concepts will be a focus of a future blog). A true leader is in what a person consistently DOES, not the title printed on the business card. There are a number of great books and assessments that focus on what a leader consistently does as leader. In future blogs I will share additional leadership resources, tools, and concepts. Here’s one great resource:

Leadership Practices Inventory (referred to as LPI) by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner is a great place to start. Kouzes and Posner focus on: “The Five Practices” of Exemplary Leadership:

  • Model the Way
  • Inspire a Shared Vision
  • Challenge the Process
  • Enable others to Act
  • Encourage the Heart  

Kouzes and Posner believe that leadership is a skill that can be taught and (of course) learned. Their website is here. Their approach, though “secular” in nature, lends itself very well to the Professional Church Worker environment. You can take this inventory online. To make the most of these results, you will benefit from a certified and professional Coach.   [I just happen to be one; contact me via my website, thehighercallingcoach.com, or directly, Phil@thehighercallingcoach.com]

Becoming a better leader involves learning the basics of responsible Christian leadership and consistently putting these basics into action.  Here is my (still growing) list of leadership principles:

  • Christian Leaders lead from character and integrity.
  • Christian Leaders practice healthy self monitoring.
  • Christian Leaders are powered by the Mission.
  • Christian Leaders invest themselves in the lives of other people.
  • Christian Leaders empower others to reach their fullest potential.
  • Christian Leaders are action-oriented and results-driven.
  • Christian Leaders are lifelong learners.
  • Christian Leaders are adaptable.

With your help, these principles will be fine tuned. What are your leadership principles? What is missing? What is redundant? What is unclear? What do you suggest?

To lead people to the cross and to effectively lead the people of Christ, wise Christian leaders will seek to become Christian Leadership Experts. Christian Leadership Matters intends to be one of the tools that will help you find leadership and ministry clarity and enhance the leadership skills needed to make positive changes in your life and in the lives of the people you are Called to serve.

In the coming weeks I will post blogs on general leadership (and sometimes management) topics such as:

If there are topics you would like to include, please add to the Comment section below or email me: Phil@thehighercallingcoach.com.

Until next week,

Blessings in Christ,

–P

__

Dr. Phil Pledger is The Higher Calling Coach and writes Christian Leadership Matters blog each week. Christian Leadership Matters is a weekly blog that seeks to help Professional Church Workers discover and enhance the leadership skills needed to make positive changes in their lives and in the ministries they serve. As “The Higher Calling Coach,” Dr. Pledger helps Professional Church Workers and the ministries they serve find new ways to meet challenges, overcome roadblocks, and to find joy in serving Christ and His Church.

If you don’t want to miss his blog posts, sign up for his newsletter at:  www.TheHigherCallingCoach.com. Email Coach Phil at: Phil@TheHigherCallingCoach.com if you would like to set up a no-cost/no-obligation consultation or would like to ask a question.