Many Christian leaders have no training or experience of running a project and that in itself can be an enormous stress factor. Whilst natural organisational ability is enormously helpful, in itself it is no guarantee of any project being both successful and low stress. This article lists 7 key tips to help you negotiate the journey of bringing your project to a successful conclusion and reducing your stress on the way. The factor that causes more project failure than any other is, not knowing with clarity, what is the goal of the project. If you don’t know this, how can you deliver the outcome? How will you know when the project is finished? Think through all the aspects that need to be addressed or will be affected. Identify what you need to achieve for each of these. Take time to work this out with everyone who has a say – the stakeholders. Write it down and agree it with signatures. You may think this to be overkill but if nothing else it is about protecting relationships. Memories fade and misunderstandings arise. These lead to disputes which can be terribly damaging for the individuals as well as the organisation or church involved. If it’s written down and agreed many such problems can be avoided. Writing down your agreement it is a golden rule. I have seen friendships destroyed because agreements were not written down. What you want to achieve and how you will achieve it are two related but very different things. They can be easily confused, which is important for larger, more costly projects or when there may be several options available. A trivial illustration: your church garden is in need of a make over. The goal is to have an attractive and tidy garden that is easy to maintain. How many ways might there be of achieving that? Workout the solution to the need and be clear and precise. Be careful not to get caught in tramline-thinking that forces you to the “obvious” solution. It may not be the best solution. Think it through creatively. You may need to call upon others with expertise to help. Remember again that golden rule for survivable relationships: write the solution down and get the stakeholders to agree it. Now comes the most obvious part of managing a project: setting out the plan. Having decided what the project goal is and how it will be achieved the next steps are: Projects go wrong. That is a fact of life, a stressful one at that. One of the secrets of excellent project management is identifying things that could go wrong and preparing for them before they do go wrong. It’s called risk management and it’s a major tool in reducing the project manager’s stress levels. Having made your first plan, stop and workout what might possibly go wrong with the project and what the consequences might be. Identify how likely it is that each risk will arise. For the most probable risks with the highest impacts, simply workout in advance how the project can avoid, minimise or deal with the issue if it happens. Then revise your plan building in the actions. Repeatedly review risks throughout the duration of the project. You will never get them all but you can reduce the likelihood of things going wrong and with that your stress levels will be lower. It is an obvious recommendation to know what your project will cost in total, but this is not enough. The smart project manager knows how his costs build up and what he expects to have spent each week. This is closely allied to how much effort will be expended each week of the project. These enable him to have the following vital metrics with which he can compare progress and steer the project. 1) Total Budget 2) Cumulative spend to date on a week by week basis 3) Forecast spend to complete the project The combined values of 2) and 3) should be the same as 1). If not then the project is under or over spending. Either way the project manager needs to understand why and take any action required to maintain course. Project management is a bit like sailing a yacht. The captain sets his course and steers the craft but must constantly monitor and take account of his metrics – the location, changing conditions and progress. Responding to and sometimes pre-empting situations, he makes the necessary alterations to the trim of the boat and its course. The things that the project manager monitors are: Dependent upon the outcome of these things the project manager will adjusts the plan to keep on track. It may be that he can change the sequence of the tasks but he may have no choice but to re-plan the project for a later and more expensive completion. What is most important is to engage in this as an active process and to monitor the effort and the money required to finish the project, responding to deviations from plan by “changing the trim” of the project. One certainty in any project is that things change. The situation may change, new information may come to light, risks emerge, the target solution doesn’t do the job as expected, the “customer” may realise something he had forgotten, the unforeseeable happens. By definition a change is anything that was not included in the agreed goals, solution, costings and plan. If they were not written and properly agreed the project manager has little ground on which stand when change is required or occurs. If left unmanaged change will blow the project way off course and the project manager might not even realise until it is too late. This is why written and agreed plans are important. They provide a definition of the project deliverables, cost and timing. Nothing should be allowed to change these things without the impact and cost being assessed and the solution agreed. For instance, the project’s end client may request some enhancement to the deliverable. This could be easily accommodated at a cost. If the change request is not properly considered and agreed but just included the customer may have a surprise when the project over runs and costs more. Had he understood the implications he may have decided not to go ahead with the change. More insidiously, the team working on the project may happily incorporate lots of small changes. No single change is costly in itself – but a whole bundle of them? Well that is a different matter; together they may be enough to cause the project to run out of money before it’s completed. One oversight in many plans that causes problems are undeclared assumptions. These are things that were anticipated but not declared. Often change affects these and because they were about things which were uncertain anyway and because they were not written down disagreements arise. Another golden rule is always declare your assumptions at the outset and include them in your solution statement and plans. It is essential to keep change under control; that means reviewed and agreed before it’s allowed to happen. For obvious reasons this is another great stress reduction strategy. If you are in the process of planning or starting a project right now, “take 5” and ponder these 7 key tips. How can you apply them to your project. If you are running a project and these tips make you hold your head in your hands, “Don’t panic”. Remember Paul’s injunction in Philippians 4: The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (ESV) This statement is a vital and continual guide for any Christian project manager. The next steps are: Claybury International publishes an eBooklet entitled “Project Management: A Practical Guide for Christian Leaders” This booklet looks in further detail at setting up and running a project. You can obtain a free copy. Simply complete the form below. You can also browse Christian-Leadreship.org to learn about some of the other leadership skills and outlooks that you need to be an effective Christian project manager. If you feel that you need some help with your project then contact Claybury International at info@claybury.com or call +44 (0)1462 600143. Image: Kevin Dooley Flickr.com Confused or suspicious of personality questionnaires. This simple overview will help you make sense of them. These sort of issues within teams, even Christian teams, aren’t really due to the differences that exist between people but the rigidity with which they hold on to those differences. Each has their own way of thinking and working. More than that, they are unable to understand the other’s perspective and are unwilling to change their behaviour to help solve their differences : “I need to understand the detail and until you’re able to give it me I’m not prepared to make a decision about this” Increasing self-awareness of all the team members, their awareness of how each other “works” and the elements of their personality that drive their behaviour, can dramatically improve compatibility between them. Dramatic improvements in how the team relates together and fulfils their responsibilities take place when individuals understand that there are different ways to think about and approach an issue. Often individuals assume that everyone else in the team does, or should, think the way they do. The understanding of difference is essential to solving your people puzzles and the use of questionnaires to raise awareness and provide a language to discuss issues that arise is a huge bonus. Using questionnaires to increase self-awareness and create an understanding of personality differences can help team members understand what is happening. Armed with this knowledge, and a little guidance, they can adjust how they work together. Understanding that Mark is a person who needs detailed information to make a decision means that George can now understand that he is not just being “plain awkward” but that Mark just needs more information than George does. Understanding this need, both of them can work with the situation to get the best out of each other by discussing the level and type of information that is needed. Perhaps Mark felt George was being rash in his decision making as he might have felt he wasn’t aware of all the facts? These questionnaires provide insight and information so that you can tackle your people puzzles in the same way you would tackle theological or financial problems. Labelled “psychometrics”, they are designed to measure various aspects of a person’s skills, abilities and personality, giving you additional information to incorporate into other insights that have been built up as you relate to people. So many people run a mile when psychometric tests are mentioned. Maybe they think it’s all hocus pocus or perhaps they are concerned that to rely on their results takes away from spiritual discernment and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in decision making or perhaps they simply are not sure how the results will be used. There are some simple principles to help with these concerns. Generally these tests are not hocus pocus. The good instruments have been used for a long time, have a large body of data behind them, have been used in Christian contexts and have been rigorously scrutinized for years. The set for which the British Psychological Society provides training is a good guide as to their credibility. For example Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is used on many Christian training courses to raise individual self awareness e.g. CWR’s Understanding Yourself, Understanding Others. Claybury use it as part of ministerial training workshops to help ministers understand how their personality impacts their approach to leading others. With any such test, confidentiality is essential, particularly in small church communities where it is difficult to keep any information confidential. If they are to be kept in personal records then the individual concerned should be made aware and Data Protection Regulations must be complied with. If the outcomes are shared in a team setting then the team must agree to maintain confidentiality. Psychometrics tests should only be used to inform and guide decisions and be an additional source of information in discerning what God is saying to us. Decisions that affect people’s lives should never be made on the strength of psychometrics alone and should always be surrounded by prayer. The reports from psychometrics can be very powerful and provide excellent input to help individuals work out how to develop themselves and to personalize their learning. Claybury use various personality trait questionnaires in supporting various Christian organisations. They are used to assess potential recruits and help them explore elements of their personality during interviews e.g. If the results suggest an introverted personality type is applying for a youth worker role, the interviewer might want to ask for examples and an explanation of how the individual builds new relationships. Such tests are best only used with a trained and qualified practitioner. This goes a long way to ensuring that they are not abused and it enables the individual to receive appropriate tailored feedback and guidance. Look for a British Psychological Society Level B qualification (or your national equivalent). This last point is why it’s best to avoid the “Do It Yourself” on-line tests to be found on the internet. Many of these tests do not have a large body of data behind them nor have they been rigorously scrutinized. That means that you need someone to help sift out the ones that are hocus pocus and some guidance on how best to use them. You will also need help to understand exactly what the results mean for you, without that you could end up following an inappropriate course of action. Our experience is that the danger is in the misuse of these questionnaires rather than the nature of the questionnaires themselves e.g. Organisations who have excluded individuals from certain roles based on the results of a questionnaire or where the results of reports have been shared in a team context in isolation from any other information and without consultation with the individuals concerned. Questionnaires and tests come in various shapes and sizes and it’s important that you choose the right tool for the job – Use a plane not an axe to take off that bit of wood from the door that keeps sticking! Research from 174 studies and 36,000 people reviewed in the American Psychologist journal concluded that higher ability test scores are commonly associated with higher levels of performance in any given role. The key is selecting a test that is appropriate to the role the person will be fulfilling and the context: If you are recruiting for a youth worker you don’t want a test designed for a Treasurer. Often using models developed by leading psychologists such as Raymond Cattell or Dr. Reuven Bar-On, these questionnaires assess the personality that drives the way individuals behave: Some questionnaires help you understand individual behaviour and others how a team works. As a Christian leader there is no need to be scared of psychometrics: Psychometric or personal inventories are useful in Christian situations. The secret is to remember that they are simply providing valid insight into people (often ourselves) just as medical measurements give insight into our bodies. These insights are useful, informative and helpful, but as with everything else, the Christian leader should never use them in isolation. The insights they provide must be considered prayerfully and any decisions must be taken in submission to God, seeking to fulfil his plans and purposes. more » How far around your neighbourhood would that queue stretch and how long would it take you to see them if you saw them one after the other, even without a break? Perhaps you feel overwhelmed by the demands you and others place on your use of time? Maybe the full weight of the issues you face in making the best use of your time are masked by the technology you use to manage your problem or perhaps you are working far too many hours to cope with all these demands on your ministry? The writer of Ecclesiastes 3 v1-6 tells us there is a time for everything, describing the endless ebb and flow of actions that can sweep us up in an endless flurry of activity that leads to stress. There is a time for everything, but that does not mean we have to do everything NOW, as much as we or others might want us to do so. Nor should we simply succumb to all the demands others place on our time. Although we cannot manage time, as we are not in control of its passage, we can manage the way we and others use our own time. As a servant leader we need to role model a healthy use of time for our own benefit and for those to whom we minister. Spend a week keeping a diary of your use of time, (including coffee breaks, telephone calls, travel time etc.) and with whom. Then review the diary, looking for recurring patterns and highlighting where you have not used your time as you would have liked and/or as effectively as you could. E.g. if you split your day into morning, afternoon and evening: do you regularly work all three sessions? Would it help if for all or part of the week you only worked 2 of those sessions per day? Discuss the various areas in and then agree to take steps to address a couple of the issues it highlights. Populate each quadrant of the diagram with your view of what fits where. Next decide, and agree with others what are the important but none urgent issues for you to be an effective leader and resolve to spend most of your time on these. Where would regular hospital visits or home communion come? What about the article for the church newsheet? Personal retreat? Set expectations about response time and considerations of urgent and none urgent issues. My experience in working with ministers is that when people use the phrase “this needs doing urgently”, this can mean anything from in the next 10 minutes to the next 3 days”. When we and others understand what we all mean we can respond appropriately and prioritise our time effectively. Talk to your co-workers about your joint use of time and the challenges you each face and how you can support one another e.g. do we all need to be copied into emails about the redecoration of the church hall? Sifting through which emails to read or not all takes time when we have large numbers of them. Do meetings have to happen the way they always have? Do you have to be there for all of the time or just the part that needs your input or when you need to hear vital information? Can other technologies help reduce the time and frequency of your regular meetings? Can you have an on-line discussion of some agenda items before the deacons meeting? Take control of the technology. It is easy to respond to the ring of the telephone or the bleep of the mobile phone or the ping of the email arriving in the in box. Turn off the bleep of the email and only check your emails twice a day (see also “Taming the Email Dragon” ). Turn off mobiles during meals, use an answer machine or call divert on a mobile phone when you should not be interrupted. Would we pause in the middle of a conversation with a bereaved couple to respond to a text message? Why do we then allow other situations to be interrupted by the call of technology? Research suggests it takes approximately 8 minutes to recover from being interrupted when you are in the middle of a task. Be ruthless with time, but gracious with people when handling interruptions and try to keep interruptions to a minimum. Find a time and a space where you won’t be interrupted, use technology or another “gatekeeper” to help e.g. your wife. Often when we are struggling with the task we find our own interruptions to distract us from the difficulty of the task e.g. that third cup of coffee, social chat with a colleague. Procrastination: “putting off the doing of something that should be done—intentionally, habitually and reprehensibly”. (John Adair). Do the worst jobs first – once you’ve got them over with you will feel a sense of relief and won’t be dreading them for the rest of the day/week. If it’s a big job that you are putting off, break it up into bite size chunks: it’s easier to think of repainting one room in a house than having to repaint the whole house. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking “If I don’t do it, it won’t happen or be done as well”. Allocate some of your tasks, meetings to others. Might some of them be a development opportunity for others? It may take longer to do this at the outset as you have to explain what is needed but is a worthwhile time saving in the long term. How much of your use of time is driven by your personality and that of others? Do you thrive on being with people generally and certain people in particular? Does sermon preparation get crammed into your remaining time? Do you have to push yourself to leave the solitude and preparation time spent in the study for pastoral visiting? Whatever your personality, time spent with a coach reflecting on how our personality impacts on our use of time, supported by the completion of personality inventories that highlight our own issues, can be extremely helpful. Image: Alan Cleaver 2000 Flickr.com Often as Christian leaders we look to Jesus only as a spiritual role model and then we look to the world for our models of leadership. Whilst the world’s models are not always bad, many aspects of them are poor from a Christian perspective or need to be tempered with the Gospel. Because Jesus, amongst other things, is the role model for the whole of the Christian’s life we can, if we look, learn from him how to be Christ-like Christian leaders. In the context of this Gospel story there are two leadership strategies that we see Jesus using. He uses others, but just here there are two to that are easily seen. Looking at the journey of the disciples from being a “motley crew” to becoming the twelve Apostles, we see that Jesus uses a simple straightforward strategy designed to enable them to develop and maximise their Kingdom potential: Recruit – Train – Deploy. This may seem obvious, it may appear to be quite ordinary and expected. Alas for many leaders, even in churches and Christian organisations, it is not what they do. So often the “train” step is overlooked, completely ignored and never given a second thought. People are recruited with loads of potential but little competence in the new role. They are deployed immediately on the basis that they will “work it out” with only a limited orientation briefing. You don’t have to be a genius to workout the damaging consequences for the individual and the organisation. It doesn’t take much experience to observe that many in that position simply become the unenthused with little competence and less productivity and probably move on quickly. We also see Jesus using a process that is not dissimilar to the “Situational Leadership” model set out by Blanchard and Hersey. The goal is to move the individual from being the “enthusiastic beginner” with little competence to the competent achiever who simply needs to be pointed in the right direction. That individual’s journey, orchestrated by their leader, passes through several stages. This process is what Claybury International describes as the “Show and Tell” model. Together the leader and the trainee move through 4 phases: Evaluation is a vital step in each phase. It is important because it not only helps the leader and the trainee assesses progress and agree what still needs to be done. It also allows the trainee to reflect. This reflection process is key to effective learning as new connections are made, deeper understanding is developed and improved practices identified. The four stages will overlap, especially where confidence and competence is growing. Based on the outcomes of evaluation, for instance, having moved to phase 3 it may be necessary to step back to phase 1 and/or phase 2 before continuing on in phase 3. In most learning situations development is undertaken in parallel on more than one area. Progress is unlikely to be at an even pace across all areas. So for one area the student and leader could be working in Phase 3 or 4 while still being at phase 1 or 2 for another. The tasking of the 12 was to cast out demons and heal the sick. Although its not explicitly stated by Mark, Matthew tells us they were also to declare that the “Kingdom of heaven is near”. Mark tells us that when they reported back they told Jesus “all that they done had taught”. In short they were to declare and demonstrate the Kingdom of God. How did they learn what to do and teach? Virtually all of the story in the preceding chapters in Mark’s Gospel records Jesus doing the things he was now asking the disciples to do. He spent time working with the disciples “showing and telling” them by explaining things while they observed him do them and also by allowing them to assist him. In this episode, where they are sent out, Jesus is releasing them to use that which they have learned. They are moving in to the place where they take the lead and Jesus is the observer. When its done they return and evaluate what they have done, telling Jesus all about it. Where is phase 3 in the process? In this episode it is not evident but shortly after they are challenged by Jesus to feed the 5000. They just don’t know what is going on with that. Their view of how the world works is challenged by how the Kingdom of God works. It seems that exercising power over the physical world by healing the sick is easier for them to understand than is exercising power of the physical world by making 5 loaves and 2 fish feed 5000 plus. In this case Jesus assists them. Later on in Mark 9 we also read of the disciple’s encounter with a demon possessed boy and they cannot remove the demon. In fact they get into an argument with the boy’s father. Jesus arrives and releases the boy and explains that “This kind can come out only by prayer”. In the preceding chapters we see Jesus showing the disciples about healing and casting out demons. They have also witnessed his explaining the Kingdom of God to the people. Mark also tells us how he took them aside to help them understand the riddle of the parables he told. This whole process is about growing and preparing the disciples to achieve their full potential for the Kingdom of God. It is a model of service. Jesus’ focus is not on command and control to get the disciples to simply follow instructions or else. He is concerned for them and his focus is on equipping them to be fully effective; to be the Christian leaders that God wants them to be. This is the outlook of the Christ-centred servant leader. There are some interesting things to learn from the detail of Jesus teaching and coaching of the disciples, especially as they go out and return. They have been taught to be concerned for people not just their task. This is a hallmark of servant leadership. Think back to Mark chapter 5 when Jesus was surrounded by a heaving crowd. One of his tasks was to declare the Kingdom of God to the people. Here was a key opportunity but then Jairus comes and asks Jesus to heal his child so that she will not die. Jesus gives himself to Jairus and his daughter. On the way to deal with what we would see as an emergency, while the child is dying, the woman with the issue of blood touches Jesus’ hem. He stops and gives her time, he blesses her and commends her faith. In these episodes Jesus demonstrates that he is here to serve not simply to complete tasks. He is showing the disciples what it is like to be a servant leader in the Kingdom of God. He is also showing the disciples that in the Kingdom of God we need to see that things work differently than in the world. Witness the episode with his friend Lazarus. Jesus gave the disciples a task (a responsibility) and also he gave them the authority to complete the task. Without the authority, even though they may have had the skills, they would not have been empowered to do what was expected of them. This again seems obvious but quite often it is something that is overlooked and defeats the whole process. This not something that a servant leader would do; it prevents those in their charge from achieving their full potential. What is the point of that? So far Jesus had always been there for them. Now they were off on their own; placed a situation way beyond their comfort zone. This is essential for growth and achieving full potential. But note Jesus did not “drop them in it”. He made it safe for them by sending them in pairs. This is not about physical safety but having sufficient support. The thing that bleeds away confidence is the “What if…” scenarios that trouble us. In this case: “What if people take no notice of us?” This is a “what if things go wrong question” and such questions generate fud – fear, uncertainty and doubt . This in turn discourages people, preventing them from attempting the task in hand, in which case they never achieve their potential. So Jesus, the servant leader, gave them instructions on what to do. It meant they could tell people and demonstrate that The Kingdom of God is near without fearing rejection. Remember the story of the talents, how the man given one talent was afraid of his master in case he failed and so he did nothing but bury his talent. Fear of mistakes and failure paralyses. This issue of people rejecting the disciples was also an issue of potential failure. The task given to the disciples was to tell and show people that the Kingdom was near. Rejection would mean that they had failed with those people. In telling them how to deal with rejection, by moving on and shaking the dust from their feet as symbolic of their being rejected by God, he was giving the disciples permission to fail. In so doing he was releasing them to realise their potential. Otherwise they would have been constrained and tentative in the face of imagined opposition. On their return they came to Jesus and debriefed. Not only does this form the evaluation aspect of the “Show and Tell Model” it also allows upsets and concerns to be expressed where things may have gone wrong and advice and guidance to be received. Often just speaking out concerns “to get them off one’s chest” is all that is needed. It also enables the trainees to share their successes and joys. It allows Jesus to show that the disciples are important to him. It is they that are valued as people and individuals not simply the completion of the task. So , in taking time to listen to the disciples Jesus demonstrated that they and their achievement were important to him. It has been said that being listened to is the next best thing to being loved. It is important. If you are a Christian Leader take a moment to consider how you relate to and develop people? Do you forget the training stage of the recruit – train -deploy process? If so what are you going to do about it? If you haven’t done so, take time to read those first few chapters of Mark’s Gospel and see how Jesus recruited, trained and deployed the disciples. Take time to ponder the “Show and Tell Model” and some of the other lessons that emerge from the accounts of Jesus sending out the 12. Learn more about Jesus as a servant leader by reading the “The King Who led with a Towel” series. How will you change what you do as a Christian Leader? Image: Steve Heron Flickr.com You are not unemployed, you may be of course but this still applies. Being a pastor is not about having a job, it is about serving God. Consequently you need to see this process as looking to God to put you where he wants you to serve in his Kingdom. It’s a different heart/mind set and not at all like job seeking. Remember that a “NO” is as much God’s guidance as a “YES”. Identifying and testing God’s will for us is often an iterative process in which we need to “test doors” to see which is the one that God has unlocked for us. So, avoid thinking that “NO” is a rejection but rather consider it to be the positive process of God guiding you to where he wants you. If it gets confusing get back to God to honestly assess where you are before him and seek his mind afresh. It is very easy for us to confuse our ambitions and desires with God’s call. They can arise for no end of reasons and if they, rather than God, lead you into a specific ministry situation then things are unlikely to go well. Check yourself out for misguided ambition – what are you looking for and is it in line with God’s wishes? Just like people, churches are on a journey and part of the pastor’s role is to facilitate that journey. The church has specific needs for this next phase of the journey. Be certain that you have a good handle on what they are and what expectations the church has for their new pastor. Only then will you know how well you fit. A mismatch here can lead to tremendous stresses on you, your family and the church and, have dire consequences. Of course, if the church is prepared to support training and development then some gaps can be addressed. So ask your self “Are your gifts and experience truly in line with what the church is looking for?” Understand what the church will expect of you. Your strengths may be pastoral and they may, for instance, have evangelistic aspirations or, desire stronger Biblical teaching or,…… There are many permutations here and great potential for mismatch. This can impose terrible stresses, ruin relationships and crush people. Know what your strengths and weaknesses are since there are no omnicompetent pastors. You may feel great pressure to be accepted by a church and therefore tempted to fudge the gaps. This is not a wise course to take because it most usually ends in tears. From your side of the equation, since there are no generic pastors, it is important to know your gifting and make it clear to the church for an honest discussion. It may be because of the pressure, desperation even, to be accepted or perhaps lack of humility, but it is always a mistake to make more of yourself than God would. It will always be seen through and is more likely to result in a “NO” than a “YES”. Maintain an honest opinion of yourself, grounded in reality and avoid posturing, overselling yourself and showing off. It may be tempting to try and enhance your “chances” but keep yourself grounded in God’s direction and do not make promises to a church that you cannot keep. Many changes of church require the pastor and family to transport themselves significant distances and from one type of community to another. Remember that crossing cultural boundaries is difficult (but not impossible). Changing country, county and rural to urban will cost you and your family – check it out with God! For people in ministry, financial and material things are often embarrassing and difficult to address. If it seems that God is calling, surely he will provide without our needing to do too much? It may feel uncomfortable to address your needs but it is both reasonable and important to do so. It is not a sign of weak faith. Make sure that the church can provide for your needs. It is easier to negotiate for this at the point of contact rather than after the ministry has started. I hope that this article has given you some useful insight and help in your quest to continue to serve God. You may also find my book “Freedom to Lead” helpful in addressing some of the issues and stresses raised in this list. Our leadership resources website http://christian-leadership.org may also provide some materials that will be of benefit to you. If you are seeking a new pastorate then our Dovetail service may help you find one. In some cases you may be seeking a new pastorate because things have serious unraveled in your ministry life. If that is the case, the Claybury International team and our associates have come along aside many ministers as they seek to overcome the consequences of ministry meltdown. If you feel that we can help you further please call us on +44 (0)1462 600143 or email info@claybury.com May God bless you in his service. Colin Buckland From our insights I want to share with you 10 mistakes that can be made when a church is seeking a new pastor. I am sure that there are more than 10, but these seem to be the most important. The key, of course, is to be clear about God’s will for your church. The final decision on appointment is one of partnership between you, the prospective pastor and God. Giving your candidate pastors an accurate view of what your church is like is vitally important to both you, and the candidates so that you can make good decisions. It is a natural human trait to “paint things in a good light” but, in an effort to attract a good candidate, be careful not to make more of your church than you should. Similarly, avoid unhelpful modesty and false humility when presenting your church. You are not involved in a beauty contest but, with the candidate, are seeking to work out God’s will for your church. Trust him, do your best to “tell it like it is” and neither oversell or undersell your church, making it seem more or less than it is. Giving your new pastor surprises when he arrives is not the best foundation for good relationships as it unnecessarily erodes trust. It can also mean that your new pastor has been mistakenly appointed and is not equipped to handle the specific needs of your church. The Messiah Syndrome is where a church is seeking a saviour rather than a pastor who, after all, is only human. This can arise for many reasons. It means that you need to take an honest view of where you are as a church and identify where the Lord wants you to go next. From there you will be able to discern what your church needs its next pastor to do and to be. The centre of your hope should be God and not him. If your church needs to develop its depth through teaching, say, and you call a minister whose gifting is not teaching but evangelism or pastoral care then, both you and they will be disappointed. It is easy to fail to recognise where you are in your development as a church and call the wrong kind of pastor with the wrong gifts for where you are. This is common and destructive. Don’t simply go straight to seeking your new pastor, take time before God to determine your identity as a church and discover his call for your church. Then you will be able to identify the characteristics that are required in your new pastor. You can have too many expectations of the new pastor so that stress, burnout and failure is inevitable. Remember, pastors are only human and by definition are limited in gifting, talent, ability and capacity. Some are pastors, others evangelists, others teachers and so on. There is no such thing as the omnicompetent pastor; each will have their own specific strengths and weaknesses. They can only do so much. So even if you know what your church needs in its pastor, unrealistic expectations may mean that you will never find them. Then, if you think you have, you will find out differently once their honeymoon period is over. The tensions and issues that will inevitably arise will be helpful to neither party, nor will they honour God. Take time out to develop realistic expectations. You may have delusions of grandeur and only want a famous name to lead you. This is the way to miss God’s best for your church. Finding a new pastor for your church is about understanding and obediently following God’s will for your church rather than following your own ambitions. The only guaranteed outcomes in the Christian life are as a result of obedience to God’s will. You can fail to put a healthy support package together so that the new pastor may struggle. There are all manner of issues and pressures that fall on the new pastor and his family, not just when they move in but as they faithfully seek to fulfil God’s call. Working out how to support them is important but the question “Who pastors the pastor?” needs answering. Also, given the inevitability that the pastor, being a mere mortal, cannot do all that is needed, how will the church cover the gaps? It may be as simple as appointing an administrator; it may mean that someone else in the church with appropriate gifting must step in for particular tasks. This needs to be worked through, because failure to do so can turn, what could have been a thrilling and God honouring period in the life of the church, into time of tribulation. You may not have worked out your leadership team and you may be inviting a pastor into a mess. This is a recipe for continued problems that will not only blight the church but may cause severe grief for the new pastor and may lead to them giving up the ministry all together! If your church has these kinds of issues, you need to sort them out before you begin looking for a new pastor. It is unreasonable to expect them to clear up your mess. It may be that you need to engage the assistance of a trusted, outside leader to assist you. You may not have clearly stated your theological perspectives and this may confuse your relationship with a prospective pastor. Theological views are part of the Christian’s core belief system and there is ample scope for significant differences. If you end up with a pastor whose core theology is different to that of your church, something will have to give. This could end up being a battle of wills which can become very messy, painful and dishonouring to God. It may set your church and your pastor back by years. Take time to be clear what your theological perspectives are so that you can declare them to prospective pastors and be able to compare theirs. You may not have a sense of vision and direction so that the pastor knows where you hope to be going. Don’t wait for the new pastor to sort out where God is leading you all. Armed with this you will be better equipped to identify your new pastor because from it follows the kind of pastor that your church needs. It may be that your new pastor will have to help you work out exactly what your vision and direction means as well as putting it into practice. This, itself will say something about the skills and giftings they will need. Be sure to provide a suitable housing and remuneration plan. Be generous, it always works well for the church. Churches tend to be donation funded and may find this difficult to do but it is a circle that must be “squared”. Inadequately supported pastors are not something that honours God. Such situations heap stresses upon stresses and can make life very difficult for you and your pastor and family. Resolving this may require a greater commitment from the church and, to this end, a shared vision and direction with the full buy-in of the church will be important. I trust that these 10 items will be food for thought, will help you prepare yourselves for the pastor that God has in mind for your church and that together you will have fruitful time in his service. You may also find my book “Freedom to Lead” helpful in understanding the issues faced by church leaders and ministers. Our leadership resources website http://christian-leadership.org may also provide some materials that will be of benefit to you. If you are seeking a new pastor then our Dovetail service may be of help. You may recognise some of the listed issues in your own church or, it may be that the relationship with your previous pastor had become difficult. In either case we would recommend that you seek help from an experienced church leader that you trust to guide you through the issues. The Claybury International team and our associates have come along aside many ministers and churches as they seek to overcome the consequences of ministry meltdown or to work out their vision and strategy. We also help churches with the recruitment and development of their leadership team. If you feel that we can help you further please call us on +44 (0)1462 600143 or email info@claybury.com May God bless you in his service. Colin Buckland Chief Executive Image: pellaea flickr.com To permit this would be the ideal accomplishment of medical research . . . To die of old age would mean that all the organs of the body had worn out proportionately, merely by having been used too long. This is never the case. We invariably die because one vital part has worn out too early in proportion to the rest of the body. The lesson seems to be that, as far as man can regulate his life by voluntary actions, he should seek to equalize stress throughout his being! The human body—like the tyres on a car, or the rug on a floor—wears longest when it wears evenly.” If stress allowed us to die, perhaps a little sooner but feeling comfortable that we, as a Christian leader had achieved our full potential for God and made a Kingdom difference, then we might think the trade worthwhile. Unfortunately it is seldom so clean and tidy, and perhaps even less so when, well before any part of our bodies give up, burnout’s devastating consequences wreak havoc in the church. The life of a Christian leader, especially a church minister, is surrounded by more than enough stressors for any ten others. What is more, they are often unobserved by them, their loved ones and their church board, waiting to strike. This may seem over dramatic but it is oh so real to oh so many. The aim of this short series is to enable Christian leaders and those around them to be alerted to the risks and consequences of ministry stress and the devastation of burnout that so often follows. The series is adapted and abridged from “Freedom to Lead” by Colin Buckland. The first stage of managing ministry stress is awareness, so first I want simply to list some of the most common sources of ministry stress for Christian Leaders. Even as I write I am aware that lists are never really complete and so let me suggest that you add to the list those things that are missing and that cause you to be stressed. Your own list will serve you well as you seek to understand better some of your experiences in the ministry: The ministry is one of those occupations that does not have a set finish time each day, because the minister is often always ‘on call’. This can be taken to extremes and this never-ending day is a significant source of stress. If ministers did build tables then they would have something to view, a result to see. The nature of being a Christian leader includes not always knowing whether anything has been achieved. This can be highly draining. Christian leaders, especially those in churches or caring ministries, often spend the whole day, listening to, comforting and interacting with people, and arrive home wondering why they are tired. Many Christian leaders enjoy working with people; for some, it may even be the attraction of the role. However, stress can result from having to give time to people who rarely act on the advice sought and just keep coming back for more and more and more of the same advice. Not a plesant description but it is an appropriate graphical image. Stress is experienced in the Christian ministry when never-endingly ministering to needy people, who consume every last ounce of the minister’s time and energy. These people have deep-seated needs and probably require different professional disciplines, but for the good of the gospel, the minister will not stop pouring out their energy. Another major source of ministry stress is the fact that many Christian leaders work alone, carrying a great sense of responsibility, shouldering the secret stories of the members entrusted in confidence, and feeling the burden of loneliness. Some Christian leaders enjoy the need to be needed and encourage an ‘I’m always available’ expectation within the community that they serve. Feeding emotionally on the late night calls and the ‘it’s only me’ day-off phone calls is all very well, but the cost in stress is high. The fireman approach to ministry is ultimately destructive to the minister and his or her family. The rush and tear of the ‘emergency minister’ may be intoxicating but is dangerous. This title stretches things a little, but ministers function in a role that may cause them to have a ‘public face’, the one they wear outside the house to depict their role. Wearing masks in public, while very common, saps energy reserves. Ministering in one church is stressful but a number of denominations require their ministers to serve multiple congregations. This is enormously draining and can only be survived with adequate personal stress management. A Christian leader attending one of my seminars told me that he had burst into tears while watching his favourite television programme, Star Trek, and did not know why until I had said that ministers are drained of emotional energy by dealing with the joys and sorrows of their members. A minister can typically be at a hospital bedside in the morning celebrating the joy of new birth with parishioners, take a funeral in the afternoon, and be at an eightieth birthday party in the evening. The swings of this emotional pendulum are exhausting, a vacuum sucking out those remaining emotional reserves. Many ministers receive great joy from their preaching and from the Christian year, but in lengthy pastorates it can be stressful to continue to minister throughout the year with freshness. Preaching regularly in the same church (some-times twice or three times a week) needs to be understood as energy draining, since each sermon has a huge creative requirement. Many ministers are under stress to continue this level of regular and heavy output. It would be remiss, when looking at ministry stress, not to include the lot of the single minister. Single ministers experience additional specific stressors: Matchmaking – church members believing that they know who would be your perfect spouse! Also you have more time so church members expect far more from you. In some church settings single ministers are paid less, creating serious ‘worth issues’ for them. High stress levels are experienced when a minister moves to a new church: the sea of new faces, the new expectations, the ‘honeymoon’, the ‘our last minister did it this way’ comments, etc. This complex group of stressors needs to be kept in mind. Any discussion on stress in the ministry needs to take note that changing ministry locations can often mean having to cope with sharp cultural shifts. This is a steep learning curve and it too delivers further stress. Moving pastorates or mission fields often means moving house. No two ministry houses are the same shape and size. Ministering families often go through high stress trying to make the ‘fit’ into the new accommodation. The list could go on and on and these things don’t look so bad when viewed on their own – just normal stressful dynamics – but it all changes when you string a few together and repeat them week after week. Stressors accumulate and stress continues to exist in our system if no action is taken to alleviate the situation. Find a quiet spot and take a moment to review this list, and anything you have added. Ask yourself, “What steps can I take to reduce my stress levels?” If you are a member of the church board, take a moment to think yourself into your minister’s situation. How well would you cope? What can you do to help reduce their level of stress? I hope that you have found this article insightful and a help in understanding the scope and depth of stress that will be encountered in the ministry. This is the first in a series of four articles that look at how stress leads to the devastation of burnout, how that can be recognised, what you can do to minimise and avoid being brought down by excessive stress and how you can help the recovery process. This is all grounded in personal experience and many years of supporting pastors in their journey of recovery and survival, backed up by rigorous research into the state of the ministry. The remaining articles are: To receive the remaining three articles in this series by email, free of charge, sign up below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up here to receive the rest of this course free of charge. You can unsubscribe at any time. (If the form does not show within a few seconds please click here for an alternative ) Image: Jordan Hill School Flickr.com “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft”. Exodus 31:2-5 God also told Moses that he had similarly prepared Oholiab who could also teach others whom God had prepared. Whilst the text shows that God had especially equipped these men through the Holy Spirit, they still had to use the methods that God had provided to achieve his plan. Those methods were practical and could be taught and learned. When it comes to doing things to fulfil God’s Kingdom plan we both need and rely upon methods. Think about it for a minute; you use a method to make the porridge in the morning. I am using several methods as a write these words. The question is, as Christian Leaders in Churches and organisations, when seeking to determine and do God’s will, how far can we go with methods? When are methods helpful and when do they hinder? This third article in the “Man’s Plan and God’s Purposes” series examines some of the issues around this question. Why did God provide Bezalel and Oholiab and equip with them with skill and teachable methods? Because it required skill, ability and technique to make the Tabernacle to the standard required. God had described the key requirements for the Tabernacle. Bezalel and Oholiab would then have to take God’s instructions and work out the detailed plans concerning exactly how these were to be achieved; who would do what and when? This detailed planning required knowledge of the methods they world use, the specific special abilities of the craftsmen as well as project management skills to bring it all together. Similar use of method can be seen underlying David’s preparation for the Temple and Solomon’s construction of it. Both men had received God’s direction and they designed the temple accordingly but then used construction and management skills to determine exactly how to achieve the construction in line with God’s requirements. So it is plain that when it comes to executing plans that methods and skills have a role. Now, one must still be certain that a chosen approach fits with God’s plans. Why? Because God may only be revealing his purposes step by step and some change may be required. Some methods that we could use may be based on philosophies opposed to Godly thinking and behaviour. Also reliance on method, especially concerning direction, can make us deaf to God and would simply not be helpful. The question that then arises is how should we go about making and executing our Kingdom plans as we seek to serve God? Plainly we need to discern God’s plans, simply making our own plans is not sufficient. However, we are required to participate in the process, even where God sets it all up, as with Peter and Cornelius. Had Peter stuck with his wisdom and not gone with God’s plan he would never have gone with Cornelius’ servants. (See second “Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes” article) We need to be flexible enough to apply God’s direction appropriately as he makes it plain to us. Consequently we need to seek God’s mind through listening prayer and obedience. After all, we are seeking to align ourselves and be obedient to God’s plan. It’s his plan and purpose not ours. How should we use methods and processes in achieving God’s will? And the answer is: With great care and with submission to God. The situations that we have looked at show that there is a role for methods without doubt, but we must avoid allowing those methods to displace God and his direction through the Holy Spirit. In the Kingdom context we are to bring about his will not make it up for him. As figure 1 illustrates, methods become more useful and valid as we move from the point of God’s direction towards executing a plan that is compliant to God’s direction. Provided of course that those methods are not counter to God’s commands and expectations, and that we are always open to his leading to change course. Also some methods are just not Godly, as we discussed in the second article, and we need to avoid those at all costs. Figure 1 God’s Direction & Man’s Methods The further away from the point where God gives us his direction the more useful methods will become. At the execution stage it may be a completely methodical process but consecrated to God. This we see in the construction of the Tabernacle. Fundamentally hammering gold requires the skills of a goldsmith and embroidering garments requires the skills of a seamstress. But here is the problem with reliance upon methods. We can choose wrong methods to achieve a specific goal. When it comes to declaring the Gospel Paul avoided human wisdom as a means of persuasion to believe but rather relied upon the power of the Holy Spirit. “..my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5) When it came to of the construction of the Tabernacle Bezalel, Oholiab and their workforce were anointed by God to have the necessary skills. However, they were given only the end goal, the description of the Tabernacle, and they had to use their skills and associated methods to plan and implement the execution. When it came to execution planning Joshua forgot that God might have a specific plan when he only took notice of the intelligence he received from the Ai spies. He applied only human wisdom and method to the attack and he was faced with a disaster (see the first “Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes”article). Wisdom based methods can become a substitute for God’s will, especially when developing high level and strategic plans concerning Vision, Direction, Objectives and Strategies. God is the director and we seek to implement our part in his plan. The fact is that it is his plan and his vision set according to his wisdom. This means that he must reveal it to us. Methods that derive from human wisdom will by definition be unable to show us God’s wisdom. The attraction of these methods is that it is perhaps easier for us to try and work these things out ourselves than struggle to seek to understand God’s mind. It may also make us feel that we are doing something significant. Consequently we may have a tendency to use methods indiscriminately without understanding that they are likely to cause us to diverge from God’s plan. After all “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” We saw how Paul seemed to have planned to preach the gospel in Asia but that was not God’s plan. When it comes to our participation in God’s plans and purposes we need to keep in sight that: Apart from not using method to cut God out and not using methods that are in opposition to Biblical teaching, it is simply difficult to set out hard and fast rules about how to use methods for the Kingdom, they have their place. When it comes to finding our direction, the more we can “tune in to God” the better. It’s his plans that prevail and it’s his purpose to which we need to be obedient. It’s here that using methods will at best cause us to ask God the right kind of questions. However, devising a Kingdom direction using human wisdom based methods alone will miss the mark. When it comes to executing a plan, then methods come into their own because they are the outworking of our God given ability, intelligence, knowledge and craftsmanship. However, we must concecrate ourselves, our thinking and our efforts, always keeping close to God to be certain we are going his way and are attentive when he reveals his plan progressively. As leaders, Jesus is our role model and it is notable that he explained that what he did was the father’s will not his own. “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.’” John 5:19&20. We know from the Gospel account that Jesus stayed close to his father through times alone in prayer. When it comes to working out plans and strategies that is where we must be also. Take a moment to reflect upon how as a Servant Leader in God’s service you establish your plans. How far do you think it is appropriate to rely upon method when working out Kingdom plans? This is part of a three article series entitled “Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes” which looks at the issue of how we determine God’s plans and then execute them: Part 1: Being Effective for the Kingdom Part 2: According To Whose Plan? Image: Patrick Hoesly Flickr Some time before in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas had discussed their plans. “Let’s go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing” Paul proposed. In the end it was Silas who set off with Paul on his second missionary journey, which began by retracing the first one in reverse. Eventually they reached the region of Pisidian Antioch where they crossed the border into Asia, intending to preach the Gospel there. The journey through Asia took them some 600km on foot to Troas but the Holy Spirit prevented them from preaching there at all. When they reached the northern border of Asia they attempted to enter Bythinia but the Holy Spirit prevented them from leaving Asia. In the first article in the “Mans Plans and God’s Purposes” series we learned about implementing God’s plan from the failures of Joshua. In this article we look at experiences of both Paul and Peter to learn a little more about the ways God uses to reveal his plans and some of the challenges that we face in working out how we align what we do with God’s plans and purposes. The situation must have been frustrating for Paul. That Paul was not allowed to preach the gospel in Asia was clearly an issue because we are told about it. This also clearly implies that Paul had intended to preach in Asia. His passion was to preach the Good News and establish new churches whenever and wherever he could, and yet he was constrained from preaching in Asia but not allowed to leave. That journey across Asia would have taken at least 40 days but Paul was constrained not to declare the “good news of the gospel of the glory of Christ“. What was happening to Paul’s plans? Surely he should preach the good news when he could? Things were not going as Paul had expected but they were going how God had planned. God was directing Paul to Macedonia, which was where he wanted Paul to minister and to see rich results. Preventing Paul from preaching in Asia meant that he and his party arrived in Macedonia relatively quickly. Paul’s encounter with God’s plan regarding his ministry, recorded in Acts 15 and 16, highlights the tensions between man’s plans and God’s purposes. Given what we know of Paul’s character it seems impossible that he would not have prayed over his plans and listened to God before formulating the details. So what happened? The least likely reason for Paul’s plans being constrained is that he had gone his own way until God had disrupted and overridden them. The most likely; God had only showed Paul part of his plan to start with and the rest in due course, in his own time. That meant that Paul probably did not have the full picture of God’s plan when he embarked on his journey. It seems that Paul had in mind evangelising Asia. It was a highly credible and sensible plan, however, God wanted him to go to Macedonia and that is where he ended up. Had he preached in Asia he may have spent months in each place establishing new churches, as was his practice, and so conceivably taken a year or two to get to Troas and Macedonia. It is more likely that it was God’s will that Paul arrived in Macedonia in a timely manner than to deprive Asia of the Gospel. What can we learn here? Because God sometimes only reveal his plans a step at a time we must always be ready for his “mid course correction” and not be so wedded to what we are doing that we are reluctant to change course as he directs. Sometimes, we may need to embark on the journey knowing that we do not have the full plan yet. That of course brings Abraham to mind of whom we read in Hebrews 11 “and he went out, not knowing where he was going“. That can be a test of faith that is unnerving in the extreme. There is another potential explanation as to why Paul’s plans were changed. When it comes to responding to God’s will, whether it be set out in the Bible or as some specific response from him to prayer, there are three points at which we can get it wrong. We have to hear God clearly, interpret what he says correctly and then apply that by taking appropriate action. It is easy to “get it wrong” at each step. Conceivably, God may have told Paul to go into Asia on this trip and Paul then interpreted this to mean that he was to do what he normally did and preach the Gospel in Asia. So he made his plans appropriately. If this were the case, God’s intent was plainly for Paul to go to Macedonia for which he needed to cross Asia, heading for Troas. This is would explain why Paul was inhibited from preaching the Gospel in Asia. The intent to preach the Gospel in Asia could have arisen from an incorrect interpretation of God’s instruction to Paul. The lesson from this is that we need to be careful when seeking God’s direction. We need to check out what we heard and how we respond before we leap in with both feet. That said, it is hard to believe that Paul was not careful to be as confident about his plans before God as he could be. Whatever the reason for the constraint upon Paul and the change of plan, the point is that given God’s sovereign and omnipotent nature, it is his plans that come to fruition, not those of man. The other thing that emerges from Paul’s story is that aspects of God’s plan are not necessarily made plain until he is ready to do so. When Paul planned his journey the sovereign, omnipotent God could have directed him to add Macedonia to his itinerary, or even to go there directly after Pisidian Antioch, but he didn’t. He waited until he was ready. Why? I guess that this side of heaven we will never know. The importance of our compliance with God’s will is made plain by John in his first letter “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.” There are two major aspects to God’s will: That which is revealed in the Bible and that which he may reveal directly in some way, Paul’s vision of the man in Macedonia being an example of the latter. Paul’s obvious desire to preach the Gospel in Asia was plainly in line with the Bible. Not preaching the Gospel in Asia was God’s specific will for that situation. The purpose of that prohibition would only become clear later in Troas. When it comes to planning our contribution to the Kingdom of God it is plain that we need to have a sound, but not necessarily expert Bible knowledge. Operating in line with what God has revealed in the Bible is a prerequisite. In seeking to determine God’s plans for specific situations we must rely upon God and thus stay away from philosophies and methods – the wisdom of the world – which are contrary to or divert from Biblical principles. For instance consultation of mediums is a no-no (Leviticus 19:31) as is reliance upon human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:20-25) and this by extension should make us careful about methods based on human wisdom. There is more about that in the third article in this series. “Surely not Lord!” Peter had just been invited to eat what he considered to be unclean food, more than that it was God that had made the invitation three times by means of a vision (Acts 10). Peter who was a leader of the church, Peter who had walked with Jesus was being asked to do the unthinkable. He had gone through so much before and after the Crucifixion: he had been taught by Jesus and learned from him, he had been filled with the Holy Spirit and delivered the Pentecost sermon, he healed the crippled beggar, he stood his ground before the Sanhedrin, he saw Ananinas and Saphira drop down dead and more. Despite all this, he was simply unable to conceive of what God was asking him to do; it was so alien to his way of thinking. God wanted him to minister to gentiles, this was unthinkable, and yet it was God’s intent. Sometimes God’s plan is so contrary to the way that we think that, unless he directs us more plainly, we are unable to participate. Then our wisdom, and by implication the methods that arise from such wisdom, is of no use, in fact it stands in the way of God’s plan because these methods, that originate from man’s wisdom, inherently encompass this lack of conception regarding God’s will. Of course, our sovereign God can do anything that he chooses to do, nevertheless we should not test him by using the world’s wisdom as matter of course and hope that he will overrule the outcome. Sometimes, we may find ourselves in a place where in faith we feel that we have no choice to do so. That should not be the norm but even then we would proceed prayerfully. Take a moment to reflect upon how you establish your plans. Is it difficult to be flexible to God’s course corrections? What is your experience? This is part of a three article series entitled “Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes” which looks at the issue of how we determine God’s plans and then execute them: Part 1: Being Effective for the Kingdom Part 3: When Methods Have Their Place Image: Panegyrics of Granovette flickr.com It had all been going so well, Jericho had fallen just as God said it would, albeit in a very strange way and the Canaanites had melted in fear. Now Joshua had instructed his men to attack Ai and they had been defeated, routed with 36 men killed. What had gone wrong? Identifying our objectives and planning how to achieve them is an unavoidable process as we seek to fulfil our part in bringing about the Kingdom of God. But, and it is a big “BUT”, it is often difficult to discern what God’s plan is and what part we must play. Perhaps more often than we would like, we end up like Joshua, disappointed with the outcomes and asking God “What happened?”. This article, the first of three on Kingdom planning, looks at lessons that we can learn about planning and execution from Joshua’s experience so that we can perhaps avoid some of the disappointments and be more effective for the Kingdom of God. Understanding God’s plan is a significant challenge for Servant Leaders in Churches and Christian Organisations. In business we often are given a goal and its up to us to achieve it using the people, resources and methods at our disposal. But does it work like that in Christian service? This series, “Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes” poses this question and examines some of the incidents in the Bible from which we can learn. It will challenge you to think about how, as a Christian leader, you workout and execute Kingdom plans. The plan to be victorious over Ai had not worked. Joshua’s reaction was to blame God for enticing them into the Promised Land. Now, with the River Jordan at their backs, he feared an overwhelming onslaught from the Canaanites. So Joshua fell, face to the ground before the Ark “Ah, Sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!” (Joshua 7:7). It’s your fault God, Joshua was saying, we were only doing what you told us to do, take the land and we cannot even take this place that has only a few men. You are the sovereign God, so it was you who caused us to be routed. What have you done to us? What will you do to us? We know that the root cause of the defeat was “Achan’s sin”, God explains this in the following verses. There was to be no booty taken form Jericho, it was all devoted to God and the gold and silver was to go into God’s treasury. Achan took some of the devoted things and hid them under his tent, later he and his family paid for their rebelliousness. This sin, a direct violation of God’s command, had been the root cause of the defeat. However, there is something more subtle going on that meant that the defeat and those 36 deaths could have been avoided. Read through the story of Israel’s entry to the Land, the fall of Jericho and the taking of Ai. Ponder Joshua’s behaviour and attitude. Ahead of the assault on Jericho, the gateway to the land, Joshua was reconnoitring for himself (Joshua 5:13). The text says that he was near Jericho. Why would the leader of the Israelites, who had already received the report of his spies, be near Jericho? The story shows us that he felt the need for intelligence about the enemy. He had sent spies to Jericho and later to Ai, so it was quite likely that he wanted to see Jericho for himself as he formulated his battle plan. In the opening verses of the Book of Joshua, God promises that no one will stand against the Israelites and he told Joshua “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.” (Joshua 1:6). So here was Joshua trying to work out how he was going to lead the Israelites to victory by overcoming the first hurdle, Jericho. Joshua had a man-centred perspective as he recalled all he had learned about warfare. What would be the winning plan? This is why I think that when confronted with the “Commander of the Lord’s Army” (Joshua 5:13) Joshua asked “Are you for us or our enemies?” The answer was enlightening, “Neither“. Hold on a moment. Was not Israel there because God had promised them the land? Were they not there because God had instructed them to take the land? Was Joshua not to lead them to inherit the land? Was this not the task that God had given Israel? Was this not their objective? How could the Commander of the Lord’s Army not be for Israel? This does not make sense until you consider an alternative perspective. Indeed, Israel and Joshua and been so commissioned but did Joshua now consider it to be his task to bring about God’s plan? To do this it was down to him to work out how. Was that why he was near Jericho? This was not Israel’s plan; it was not theirs to work out how it would be achieved. It was God’s plan and yes, he had commissioned Israel and Joshua to play a part, but the means was to be God’s means. This is why the Commander of the Lord’s Army replied to Joshua “Neither“. It would not be sufficient for Joshua to take on the God given objective. It would not be appropriate for Joshua to plan how this would be achieved. “The battle is not yours but God’s” were the Lord’s words to Jehoshaphat some 550 years later and so it was here and now for Joshua. This meant that it was Israel and Joshua that had to be for God and his plan and not the other way round. It was God’s plan that had to be executed in order to fulfil his purpose, not Joshua’s. Joshua’s question “Are you for us or our enemies?” belies a wrong outlook, a wrong perception of what was going on. This is the subtle thing that was wrong and it meant that the defeat at Ai was not avoided and 36 people died. It was this perspective that left Joshua on his face, in the dirt, complaining that God had let them down because his plan had not been honoured by God. But let’s look further at the working out of God’s plan at Jericho. God gave explicit instructions on how the battle of Jericho was to be conducted and victory won. From the human perspective the battle looks strange. Joshua was instructed to lead Israel to do some peculiar things; things that were not at all militarily logical and which simply do not fit with the human perspective of warfare. However, it is plain that there is more to this battle than meets the eye, after all the Commander of the Lord’s Army is in charge. This leads us to expect that a battle invisible to Joshua and Israel also took place according to a plan that was not fully known by them. However, they had to do certain things for that plan to be fulfilled and God’s objective to be achieved. (Daniel gives us some insight into invisible battles in the spiritual realm while men struggle – Daniel 10:12&13, 20) What would have happened if Joshua had tried to execute his own plan for the taking of Jericho? Israel would simply have been doing the wrong thing, in the wrong place at the wrong time when, or even if, the walls had fallen. It was imperative that Joshua not only look to the achievement of the goals that God had set out for Israel but that he lead Israel in accordance with God’s directions such that the plan is achieved in God’s way. For instance, would the walls of Jericho have fallen if Israel had engaged in classic siege warfare? From the human perspective it would seem like an obedient plan because it is seeking to fulfil God’s command. However, it would not have been following God’s plan. Israel would not have been in the right place, doing the right thing at the right time. A siege would have been logical and in keeping with the wisdom of the best battle planners. How could doing that be wrong? Paul gave us the answer in 1 Corinthians 1:25 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” but more than that it would not have been obedient to God. Not out of deliberate disobedience necessarily, but because of lack of care to consult God resulting in an unthinking conformance to the ways of this world, through a reliance on man’s wisdom. The result of following the detail of God’s plan, even if it was counter-intuitive and counter-logical, was that Jericho fell. Why did Joshua end up on his face before the Ark to all intents and purposes asking God what he thought he was doing? Let’s look at what happened. Joshua followed his practice of sending spies to reconnoitre and provide intelligence on the situation at Ai. After all knowing the enemy, finding out his disposition and weaknesses, understanding the lie of the land is what a good commander does. Only then can he form his plans, based on his wisdom and his experience and so lead his army to victory. Why did Joshua do this? After all, the war was being led by the Commander of the Lord’s Army in accordance with God’s plans. How did such intelligence help take Jericho? It didn’t, it wasn’t needed at all. God had all the intelligence he needed and he instructed Joshua to deploy Israel in a particular way so that the victory was achieved, in the manner that God wanted. That Joshua sought the intelligence indicates that he was not thinking here in terms of God’s plans. He was about to make his own and, as a consequence, go it alone without God. When the intelligence came back, what was the result? Puffed up by what they thought was their victory over Jericho the spies said “Not all the people will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary all the people, for only a few men are there.” (Joshua 7:3). Joshua showed that he also had the same mindset by sending only 3000 men. He had missed what had really happened at Jericho and he sought to win Ai in Israel’s own strength, without consulting God. He had failed to realise that whilst Israel had been given a goal by God, they could only achieve that goal God’s way. Rushing off to fulfil God’s plan in man’s way fails. The result? Israel was routed and 36 men were killed. What would have happened if Joshua had sought God’s wisdom before the assault on Ai? He would have learned of Achan’s sin before things had gone wrong! God would have said then and not later, “Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction”. The devoted things would have been returned to God and the sin dealt with. More than that, God would have explained the battle plan for Ai to Joshua, as he did at the beginning of Joshua 8, and success would have been with Israel. What guides can we draw about Kingdom planning from Joshua and the battles for Jericho and Ai? All of this means that we must earnestly seek God’s insights and direction in prayer for all of our plans, not simply the key objectives and broad direction. Nor should we simply seek his approval of our plans to achieve his objectives but we need to seek God’s mind that he might reveal his plans and our role in those plans. Is this easy to do? Not necessarily. Will we get it wrong? Almost certainly. However, by trying and reviewing the results before God we will learn as he instructs us and we will become more effective for the Kingdom. Take a moment to ponder the approach that you take to planning your contribution to the Kingdom. Whose aims do you achieve, yours or God’s? Whose methods do you use when you work out what to do, yours or God’s? Take time to prayerfully review one of your projects for the Lord and ask him to help you see what he sees and to learn from your experience. Remember, the best learning comes from our failures not our successes. In that sense even the worst failures can have a positive outcome. What is the biggest challenge that you face in identifying God’s plans? This is part of a three article series entitled “Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes” that looks at the issue of how we determine God’s plans and then execute them: Part 2: According To Plan? Part 3: When Methods Have Their Place Image: Mykl Roventine Flickr.com This post is reproduced with the kind permission of Tim van Gelder. http://timvangelder.com Originally posted 15th March 2010 One FelixM cryptically commented on my blog that: St Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) recommended this approach, about two hundred years earlier. Presumably other people used it before him. This was intriguing. What was the method that St Ignatius allegedly used? Was it indeed the same or very similar to Franklin’s moral algebra? And did Franklin know of it? Was it indeed the original formulation of the method? I contacted FelixM, who kindly informed me that St Ignatius’ version of the method could be found in his major work “The Spiritual Exercises“, which to this day remains a key Jesuit text. The full text of the relevant section is appended below. Felix was quite right; Franklin’s moral algebra, and Ignatius’ version, which we might call his “spiritual algebra,” are indeed very similar. The Ignatius version is however expressed in what appears (to us) archaic and floridly religious language. Here’s my take: a contemporary, secular version of St. Ignatius’ spiritual algebra: The parallels are striking, but there are some differences: As to whether Franklin knew of St Ignatius’ method, Felix says: This may well be right, but I haven’t been able to find any independent evidence for it. _____________________________ From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola THE FIRST WAY TO MAKE A SOUND AND GOOD ELECTION It contains six Points. First Point. The first Point is to put before me the thing on which I Second Point. Second: It is necessary to keep as aim the end for which Third Point. Third: To ask of God our Lord to be pleased to move my Fourth Point. Fourth: To consider, reckoning up, how many advantages Fifth Point. Fifth: After I have thus discussed and reckoned up on all Sixth Point. Sixth, such election, or deliberation, made, the person EDITOR: A more extensive and easily understood interpretaion of St Ignatius’ method for decision can be found at An Ignatian Framework for Making a Decision – 11 Steps for Making a Decision Following the Ignatian Method Many thanks to Tim for allowing us to reproduce his original article. Image: Serge Melki Flickr.com This post provides tips on how you, as a servant leader, can listen effectively when trying to communicate with another so that you can answer the fundamental question your listener has: WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? Fortunately, in the context of Christian leadership, this is not about unholy gain but about more basic issues such as answering the question ” How do I know what I need to do?” You will have seen the reverse play out often and most of us will have experienced it at sometime. You meet someone at a meeting, a conference or somewhere similar. Reading their name badge you engage them with a friendly, “Hello, Fred what do you do?” Five minutes later they have not come up for breath. You are wondering how you can escape without being rude. They don’t even leave enough space for you to excuse yourself because you need to escape – sorry, I mean circulate. That person has demonstrated no interest in you at all. You feel trapped and develop a desperate need to escape and leave them to their own self-interest. Had they engaged with you in return, shown interest and dialogued instead of monlogued, you would have had a different opinion of them all together. In fact, if they had built rapport with you then you would probably still be engaged in an interesting conversation. A key to effective communication is listening to the other person and of course, in order to listen to the other person, you have to give them opportunity to speak. This is why in ‘Communications Tips for Servant Leaders: Are you an Engaging Speaker or “Mogadon Man”‘? I recommended: When you have a message to convey its only through listening that you can be certain that you have communicated the value of what you have to say; that you have answered the other person’s primary question, “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM). WIIFM may seem terribly mercenary and unchristian but its not. It is simply acknowledging the fact that what we have to say must mean something to the other person, to have some value, otherwise it will have no effect. The listener may be polite but the moment he goes away what you said is forgotten. The thing of value to them may be as straight forward as the information necessary for them to complete a task. If you don’t give it when they need it they would rather spend the time working out what they need to do. As a servant leader your goal is to enable the listener to achieve their full potential and making sure they have the information they need is central to that. Its only when you give the other person the opportunity to speak and you have asked them about their needs can you be sure that you have captured their interest and answered their questions. Why is it called “Responsible Listening?” because as well as making ourselves responsible for ensuring that the other person has understood us, we take on the responsibility to ensure that we have understood the other person as well. Listening to the other person is at least as important as speaking when you are trying to communicate. Listening enables you to establish rapport with the person with whom you seek to communicate. It proves to them that you are interested in them and not simply yourself or your own purposes. In so doing, you demonstrate that the other person is important. That is really important to you, because people appreciate and respond to being listened to and feeling important. It has been said, that in the western world, that the next best thing to being loved is being listened too. When it comes to your desire to communicate with someone, only when that level of rapport is achieved will they be happy to talk with you. Why? Because it is enjoyable and they know they will not be wasting their time. Your attempt to communicate with them will move not just from monologue to dialogue but into conversation. Information will be voluntarily shared and comments will be shaped and purposed to meet each other’s need. That is, to understand and answer each other’s WIIFM question. Its worth remembering that you both have a WIIFM question: You invest your time in the conversation because you desire some response. The other person does the same because they anticipate some kind of benefit; even if it’s simply being able to follow instructions sufficiently well to do a good a job. Firstly, you need to provide your partner in the conversation with evidence that you have understood what they have said. This means that you need to reflect what they have said by restating it for clarification or asking questions that develop the theme and extend the information being shared with you. Secondly, you must adapt what you say so that your message is applied to meet the other party’s needs – i.e. answer their WIIFM question. In a team situation, perhaps you will make sure that the information you provide is clearly explained so that the team understands what actions are required to be successful. Claybury International’s Colin Buckland tells of one occasion when he was teaching an Responsible Communications Skills seminar. One of the guys in the group was a newlywed. It seems that his new wife was always saying, “You don’t listen to me.” So, what he did was to apply these listening and feedback skills when he phoned her that night. (The seminar was a few countries away from her in Europe.) He started to practice those skills there and then, and the next day he reported that his wife had said, “What is it that you’re doing in that seminar? You seem to be listening to me like you’ve never done before.” He was simply using these skills. Take a moment to think through the people that you communicate with. How good a listener are you? Give responsible listening a go and see what happens. In your next conversation with anyone try that feedback loop. This article is one of series on effective communications in the context of being a servant leader in a Christian setting. You can access the others through the following links: Image: law_kevin Flickr.com In this part of the “Communication Tips for Servant Leaders” series we look at how learning styles affect our ability to communicate with others. We each have a different learning style, which is a description of how we learn best. In a formal class it is possible that my ability as a student will be diminished if the teacher presents the lesson in a way that works against my learning style. Similar things can happen when we speak to people. In principle both are about conveying information to elicit some response. A young man that I know primarily has a kinaesthetic learning style. Essentially this means that he learns best by doing. He has great difficulty with chalk and talk teachers and finds their lessons difficult to deal with. In contrast, give him a practical subject or practical learning exercises and he is in his element and enjoys himself while learning. He also needs to be convinced that what he is asked to do is worthwhile. That means he needs to understand “Why?” before effective learning can take place. In essence all forms of communication are about conveying information in order to achieve a response. This is what teaching and learning is about too. Your learning style affects how you are able to receive, absorb and integrate information, whether in a formal lesson or an informal face-to-face corridor conversation. The same is true for other people. If we can accommodate their learning styles when we speak with them, then our attempts to communication are more likely to be successful. If you don’t know the other person, then it’s obviously difficult to specifically tailor how you interact with them. Of course, everyone is a mix of styles with specific preferences. The servant leaders’ perspective means that one of his goals is to enable people to perform to their very best. This means that whether it’s a one-to-one conversation or a team briefing, or even a sermon, accommodating learning styles is very important in helping our listeners keep up with us and absorb what is being said. There are several models about how people learn and a full consideration of learning styles can get somewhat involved but there are plenty of books to help you. The following, greatly simplified view of learning styles will help you structure what you have to say. Some people need to understand the reasons why something is important. Its really part of the “What’s in it for me?” issue, but if you fail that test then they will not be interested. Then they may well switch off because they are not convinced that what you have to say is relevant. What is it all about? These folk need to have a more theoretical view of the issue at hand because they can then work out the implications and requirements for themselves. Minimize that detail and they will find it harder to respond. “Just, tell me what you want me to do?” might be the request from these people. They need to understand the practical, pragmatic process in which they are to engage. They may understand what it’s about but need to know how they are required to respond. “What if?” might be the question uttered by the explorers, the doers, the experiential learners. They need a challenge to go and do something and learn from the experience. They may need a pointer on how to begin. Verbal learners like the written and spoken word. They can take in what you say and process it all. Some may prefer the written word, others the spoken word. Visual learners use images, pictures, charts, maps drawings and the like to express themselves and learn. They are able to visualise information and may find a “words only” communication more difficult to deal with. When you are planning your communication, whether it be written or spoken, one-to-one or one-to-many it is helpful to accommodate as many styles as possible. The first four mentioned above can form a logical structure to help organise your communication (Why? What? How? And “Have a go”). The last three types will affect the style of your communication. If you know the person you are to communicate with well, then tailor your message to address their learning styles. Where do you fit in that simplified learning styles model? What do the people you consider to be good communicators do to help you understand what they say? Think about each of the members of your team or a group with whom you communicate regularly. From your knowledge of them, what do you think their learning styles are? How can you use this insight to make you more effective as communicator the next time that you speak to them? Give it a go and see what happens but remember practice makes perfect, so don’t give up, it will soon become second nature. This article is one of series on effective communications in the context of being a servant leader in a Christian setting. You can access the others through the following links: Image: Robert S Donnovan Flickr.com Engaging our listeners interest is the only guarantee of their attention. As Christian leaders, seeking to practice servant leadership, this is a vital step to enabling our listeners to achieve their full potential. So, when it comes to communicating with people are you “Mogadon-man” or do your listeners stay with you? Let me share with you a story of how effective good communications can be, and equally how damning is poor communications. In the mid 80′s, while fibre optics was still a fledgling technology I attended a telecommunications conference. Compared to today this was the technological stone-age. After almost 25 years two presentations at that conference stand out in my mind to this day. One was delivered by a Japanese technologist. Unfortunately his English was indistinct and in an auditorium sadly impossible to follow. I am sure his topic was interesting but he was just so much hard work that, along with the rest of the audience, my brain shut down for 40 minutes as frustration and boredom set in. Having said that, his English was far better than my Japanese, so good for him for having a go. The other presentation was by an American from AT&T as I recall. Allowing for Mr Webster, he passed first base by being understandable to a British-English ear. More than that he passed second base too; he was interesting and engaging. The amazing fact he shared was that, at that time, there was more copper under Manhattan than was still in the ground in Zambia! He illustrated this with amazing photographs of communications cable conduits literally bursting with bundles of copper cables the thickness of a man’s body. I can still see the photograph in my minds-eye. If there was a competition between these two speakers the American won hands down. Why? He simply engaged the interest of his listeners and then kept us with him. He certainly had effective communications skills as a speaker. Maintaining the energy of our listeners by engaging and feeding their interest is a key to effective communication skill whether it’s one-to-one or one-to-many. Engaging our listeners interest is the only guarantee of their attention. As Christian leaders, seeking to practice servant leadership, this is a vital step to enabling our listeners to achieve their full potential. So, when it comes to communicating with people are you “Mogadon-man” or do your listeners stay with you? The servant leader’s attitude that underpins effective communications skills is recognising that, as the speaker, we must take responsibility for our listeners. Take responsibility to ensure that they understand. It is not enough simply to speak and then pass the buck to them. The fact that we are speaking means that we have a vested interested in them understanding. It’s us that lose out if they don’t understand. The objection “Well I told you” when things have gone awry doesn’t really help much. There is a flip side to this of course and that is that listening is important too. Responsible listening is as much an effective communications skill as is responsible speaking. More on this in another post in this series. If we recognise that as speaker we must take responsibility to ensure that our listener understands, what can we do to maximise the possibility of understanding? How can we engage and maintain the listener’s interest so that they understand? Assuming that you know what you need to say then: It’s all too easy to engulf the listener, saturating them with what we have to say. It’s the “Xavier problem” discussed in the Effective Communications Skills: 5 mistakes that can cause one sided conversations. When we do that we don’t connect with our listener and we fail to build rapport and we lose them. Obtaining feedback from the listeners is vital. Unless you get it and take notice of it you will fail to build rapport with them and they with you. Feedback turns a monologue into a dialogue and taking note of the feedback turns dialogue into conversation. Eliciting feedback is a pivotal effective communication skill. There are two primary ways to obtain that feedback. The listener’s learning style can play a big role in how well they keep up with and understand our message. We each have a different learning style, which is a description of how we learn best. In a formal class it is possible that my ability as student will be diminished if the teacher presents the lesson in away that works against my learning style. Similar things can happen when we speak to people. In principle both are about conveying information to elicit some response. Everyone has a mix of styles with specific preferences. When you are planning your communication, it is helpful to accommodate as many styles as practically possible. Recognising whether the listeners need detail or the big picture is important; of course in a group you will probably have both. A big picture person who gets only the detail and a detail person who gets only the big picture will both get frustrated with you quite quickly. Providing both the overview and some detail is a good strategy. Obtaining their feedback will then enable you to adjust what you say to meet their needs, providing more big picture or more detail as required. To maximise your engagement with the listener what you say has to apply to them. If it doesn’t then they will shut down and not take in what you have to say. If does apply to them, then your job is to ensure that they understand. This is actually a special part of the feedback loop and may require you to ask questions to identify the information that they need. Stories are a good way of making what you say interesting and of addressing the “WIIFM” question. You can use real situations which may relate to similar situations so that the listener can identify with what you have to say. You can also use a made up story to illustrate a point. How do you do as an effective communicator? Are you the Mogodon Man? Take a moment and reflect upon the last time you had to convey information to someone, compare yourself to the points discussed above. What do you learn? Plan your next communication to address what you have discovered. As listeners, what can we do maximise our ability to absorb information? This article is one of series on effective communications in the context of being a servant leader in a Christian setting. You can access the others through the following links: Image: sergis blog Flickr.com One of the tenets of servant leadership is that others should be enabled to achieve their full potential. Central to this is communication. It is vital for us to be able to effectively communicate ideas, problems, objectives, methods and the like, to others. It is vital because they need to respond appropriately in order to achieve their full potential and in so doing assist us to achieve our desired goals. Whilst mostly we are all able to talk and listen this does not guarantee communication success. Let me give you an example of a bad communicator: I remember once visiting the toilet at work to discover my boss trapped in a cubicle by Xavier, one of our sales guys and of course that is not his real name. Because my boss could not go anywhere Xavier was taking great delight in the opportunity to overwhelm him with words. This demonstrated the lack of sensitivity that was the reason that this was the only place Xavier could get my boss’ attention. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Xavier would not be getting anywhere with his insensitive, one-sided communication style that ignored the needs of his listener! You might not be as tactless and inconsiderate as Xavier but are you anymore effective when it comes to communicating with others? This issue, of course, is relevant to any verbal communication in any setting. The practicalities of how effectiveness is achieved may vary dependent upon the context but, the principles apply one-to-one and one-to-many for church leaders, mission agency leaders or leaders in other para-church organisation. So here is the question for you: Do you make these 5 mistakes when you speak with people? This series on “Communication Tips for Servant Leaders” is about what happens when we speak and how we can become “responsible” speakers and “responsible” listeners. Why responsible? Because it’s about us taking responsibility for understanding: Responsibility that our listeners understand us when we speak and, when we are the listener, that we understood what has been said to us. . It will help you to engage with both individuals and your team so that you can convey information to them in a way that makes a difference. It will help you in many other situations too, in fact any time you interact verbally with another person. So here we go: Frequently people are so anxious, self-focused or simply so short of time that they spew words out like a burst dam. Often they are afraid that if they pause for breath the listener will nuke them with an objection or just tell them to go away. The result: they overwhelm the listener. Then when things are not understood or subsequently go awry they can be heard saying “Well I told them what they needed to know!” This is not the way of any who profess to lead in a style that would have been recognised by Jesus. What happens to the overwhelmed listener? They neither have time to gather their thoughts and “clue-in” to what is being said, nor are they able to find a way in to clarify the situation, to get more information or ask for help in understanding. The “communication” is a one way flow. The longer it flows the less relevant it becomes to the listeners who switch off. When that happens the speaker’s frustration rises because no-one is taking any notice and he tries to beat them into submission with words and a positive feedback loop kicks off. Positive feedback may sound good but it is bad. It is the reason for those painful whistles and screams that cry out of a PA system when it’s not set up right. The whistle is picked up by the microphone and is amplified, emerging form the PA only to be picked up and amplified some more. It keeps on going until somebody turns the volume down. Jimmy Hendrix managed to make music with it but most of us don’t have that skill and it results in an objectionable noise. What to do about it? The question here is what is more important to you? That your listener understands what you are sharing with them and commits to an appropriate response or that you are able to dump what you know or care about or think is relevant on them, in the hope that they can do something with it? That path leads to the listener switching off because you have failed to address their needs. Your message will seem less than relevant to them and will tend to be ignored because of this if not because they cannot work out how to respond appropriately. Whatever you are talking about, your listeners will have a perspective, concerns, objections or insights on the matter. All of which will be important to them. Key to engaging them is finding out what they think and what is important to them and addressing those issues. You may have to adapt what you a have to say accordingly. That is not to say you have to change things on the fly but draw things out or emphasise particular points in a way that addresses their questions. What do about it? Communications markers are the non-verbal cues that your listener gives when you are attempting to communicate with them. In face to face situations it’s primarily body language and tone of voice. These markers give you clues as to what your listener is thinking. Being sensitive to them will help you steer a course that keeps them on-side and engaged. Ignore them at your peril. Remember Xavier? He demonstrated a serious lack of sensitivity that meant that trapping his victim was the only way that he could get my boss’ attention. It also meant that he could happily, if unhelpfully ignore all the communication markers, which may well have meant that the conversation eventually erupted in the positive feedback loop of violent language! Don’t be so self focused or unaware that you ignore the communications markers from your listener. To do so means that you have joined Xavier standing outside that toilet cubicle. You won’t get anywhere fast because your will miss the signals that say “We have had enough.” “We don’t understand.” “Can you say that again please.” “We want you to stop.” “I have to go now.” …… What to do about it? If we are self-focused or simply concerned to “dump” our message and rush off, it is very easy to assume that our listeners will have understood what we have to say. It may be that we are a “detail person” and simply overwhelm people with that detail, forgetting to provide any context. There are any number of reasons why we may prevent people from understanding us. Then of course, there is whatever is going on with the listener that means they miss the point, get the wrong end of the stick or are just unable to “tune in”. Factors that may further obscure understanding are abstract concepts and our attempts to be diplomatic. I remember one of the first staff appraisals I ever conducted. I was diplomatically attempting to “correct” my team member’s approach and attitude, which had shown up in his frequent conflict with another team member. I was so diplomatic that in the end he thought that I had complimented him. Chalk that one up to experience! An extra dimension to be aware of is attempting to communicate cross-culturally. We may be speaking with people for whom our language is not their first language. Then issues of vocabulary, idiom and style can impede our attempts to communicate, even when we have everything else right. Whatever the reason, there is always the possibility that others do not fully understand what we have said, its implications and the need for action. The consequence is misunderstanding, confusion, incorrect action and even conflict. A man called Wiio declared a law of communication, which essentially is: If it can go wrong, it will go wrong; if it can be misunderstood it will be misunderstood. What to do about it? “If they don’t understand they should ask” may seem sensible, but it has at least two flaws. Beyond the various issues already discussed, when things seem really clear to us it can be difficult to appreciate that people may not have understood or perhaps cannot understand. After all it is so obvious. At the other extreme we may feel that it’s not our job to “wet-nurse” our listeners. However, if it is in our own interests that they understand what we are saying then it is in our own interests to take responsibility to ensure that they understand. What can you do about it? Take a moment over a cup of coffee to reflect upon how you approach communication with others. Are you concerned that they can achieve their full potential? Have you recognised that this is also in your best interests? Think on how you set about communicating with others and whether you get the results that you desire? Turn your next attempt at communication into a dialogue. Ask the listeners specific questions to test understanding and encourage them to ask you questions. Try it and see what happens. This article is one of series on effective communications for Christian servant leaders. You can access the others through the following links: Image: Todd Ryburn Flickr.com Character and integrity are the great safeguards and health-giving boundaries to the use of power and authority. World history cries out with horrific stories when character and integrity are absent. Millions have lost their lives over the centuries thanks to unscrupulous leaders. Thank God for his church where peace reigns and where leaders demonstrate leadership integrity that should be the envy of the world. Like a light in the darkness Christian leadership points the way to the correct use of power for the world. Probably one of the biggest problems with the use of power is that many Christian leaders have not considered their power motif or level of integrity, and many have held back from the process of personal growth that leads to inner security and peace. When Jesus said ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid‘ (John 14:27) he was speaking of a deep-rooted, heart–mind dynamic that is the envy of the world. Leaders’ often work out their role with an insecurity that impedes their proper and effective use of power and authority, and colours their leadership. If we can sort out a disintegrated belief system, then leadership from the place of peace will flourish. We can preach ‘peace’, but living with it is harder to do. Our belief systems and lifestyles need to become an integrated whole. This may be an uncomfortable topic for you as you read it and you may already have decided that I make too many generalisations with my use of ‘many’. However, my perspectives come from much research and from years of working on myself and with other leaders in searching for a better personal perspective. I have always been impressed with the way that Jesus was able to handle his critics. There was not a hint of insecurity to be found when mocked and accused. It seems as though he was so fully aware of who he was and of his standing with his Father that no amount of name calling or false accusations could convince him otherwise: ‘Do what you like to me and say what you like, I am still the Son of God.’ For me, Jesus is our model of Christian maturity and peace. Christ likeness is maturity, bringing an inner security that acknowledges that we cannot reach any higher than ‘sonship’. Acceptance of ourselves with all our strengths and weaknesses, in the knowledge that we are his, and through Christ made acceptable to him, is a route to deep security and peace from which may spring true altruistic leadership and use of power. This can lead to a healthy, safe self-evaluation that can enhance our leadership skills and use of the power and authority that such roles engender. I am unconvinced that our growth in maturity leads to a total sense of security or that we can ever feel totally secure in this world. However, we can make significant life changing and peace-bringing advances in this area. The following exercise requires a good deal of honesty and courage to reflect. It is a little self-test but BEWARE! Self-tests are not the final word on you and cannot see into your inner being. At best, they are helpful indicators. I have designed this test, which I call the ‘I’ Test, as a simple procedure to help you discover the measure of insecurity that you may experience with your role. You can beat the test and get around it. You can argue with its scientific value and point to its flaws, of which I am sure there are many. Or, you can take it honestly, and use the information for personal growth. Few of us will have a zero score. A high percentage does not indicate that you are unfit to lead; the test simply acknowledges feelings of insecurity that you can work on for the future. Place a tick to the left of the statements in this list that are true, regardless of how strongly so. Do the test quickly without dwelling on any question for very long. 1. I need to be loved by everyone 2. I need to please the people 3. I need not to be discovered for who I really am 4. If only they knew what went on in my mind 5. I need to be the best 6. I need to be seen 7. I need to be heard 8. I need to have attention 9. I need to have the biggest church 10. I need the best income 11. I need to pretend 12. I need to do it all myself 13. I am uncomfortable if someone questions my motives 14. I frequently feel attacked by the people 15. I wish people would take notice of what I say 16. I feel vulnerable 17. I am in pain 18. I must protect myself 19. I must make them see my strengths 20. I must make them see what I know 21. I must be seen to be mature 22. I must be more mature than they are 23. I must know more than they do 24. I must be an expert 25. No one listens to me 26. No one knows who I really am 27. No one cares for me 28. No one understands me 29. No one can help me 30. I am not sure that I am intelligent enough 31. I am not sure that I know enough 32. I am not sure that I believe what I say 33. I am not sure that I say what I believe Now add up the number of statements that are true for you and multiply by three for your ‘I’ percentage. The higher your percentage, the greater your feelings of insecurity are likely to be. For the truly brave: ask a trusted other, spouse, friend, etc., to mark this test from their perspective of ‘you’ and discuss your findings together. Whatever your score, make a list of the statements that reflect some of your insecurity, think through the causes, and reflect on what might help you to change this feeling. If you know, either with the help of the ‘I’ Test or from general self-awareness, that you suffer from medium to high levels of insecurity, then you may want to opt for a period of professional counselling and reflection to enable you to grow in security. You will discover later in “Freedom to Lead” that I believe that counselling is a tool for the wise. Obtaining professional help to enable us to reflect on our lives is a mature thing to do and I strongly encourage Christian leaders to opt for regular periods of counselling as a commitment to personal growth. The desire to see God’s church built up needs to be the central driving force behind Christian leadership. It is a desire to engage in the ministry in such a way that God receives the glory and the church is equipped. This represents freedom from the fear and insecurity that makes many leadership decisions self-focused, and enables the leader to look outwards. Consider the following passages: This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority – the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Good Christian leadership, then, requires an empowering mentality along with good character. Christian ministers are people who have been awarded levels of responsibility that contain a measure of power and authority. Ministers often stand at the front of the church building and participate in the conducting of worship. They often lead groups and act as chairpersons of meetings. They are seen in the public eye to be in authority and are considered by the community to be respectable figures. The power and authority they have, which could lead them into potentially abusive situations, may be put to good use in the church and community. They may use their position to bless the church and enable people to mature in their walk with God. They may be effective in making changes in the local community that will benefit all through escaping the self- focused agenda. Extracted from “Power and Authority in the Ministry” in “Freedom to Lead” by Colin Buckland. You can request a download of the whole of this chapter free of charge from here Image:JB London Flickr.com I remember studying English Literature at school, not my greatest achievement I have to say. However, I remember a phrase from one poem that we studied. I cannot remember the title or the poet, just the phrase. As far as I remember it went something like this: the hero of the poem – whoever he was – “leapt onto his horse and rode off in all directions at once”*. Does that sound like your team – riding off in all directions at once? It’s not uncommon and its one of the reasons that as a leader there is hope. You can do more with what you’ve got, the secret is to get the team to all ride off in the same direction! Its like the guys in the picture of the yacht. If they were not all in the same place, working together, the boat would capsize and the race lost. Many teams, even Christian teams, do not deliver the goods because they have never gelled into a team and they remain a group of individuals, and to the frustration of their leader they each riding off in a different direction. It has been said that a team is not a team until it has been made into one, before then it remains a group. At best a group delivers the same result as if its members worked individually. At worst they work against each other reducing effectiveness. This can sometimes create a toxic atmosphere which spills over and demotivates everyone else. But when they are formed into a properly functioning team they will be many times more effective; only then will the individual team members be achieving their full potential. The approach of the Christian leader is crucial to enabling their team to reach its full potential by developing a Christ-centered servant leadership, after all it will be distinctively Christian. So, Christian leader,where is your team on the scale ranging from: pulling against each other, through to parity with a group of individuals, to being a team whose performance that exceeds expectations? Answering this question is just as important for Christian leaders as anyone else. Just because team members have a common faith does not mean that they will work well together without wise guidance and a clear role model from someone who is grounded in Christ and lives out his example. To learn more about this Christian, servant leadership attitude take a look at “The King who Led with a Towel” series. Based on the work of Pat MacMillan (The Performance Factor**) here is a simple diagnostic tool to help you decide. For your team to be a great team the members must be “aligned”. This is not about the team being aligned to the leader necessarily, but the team, including the leader, having a clear and shared purpose and a 100% commitment to realising that shared purpose in a common and coherent way. Plainly the Christian leader has a great responsibility to facilitate this achievement. The following questions will help you consider exactly how aligned your team is: Clarity is required in the minds of the team as to exactly what is the role of each member. The Christian leader needs to help the team develop this clarity, fudges don’t work. A High Performing Team requires clear and competent leadership to facilitate and orchestrate the achievement of its goals. However, for specific activities task leadership will be provided by individual team members who have the necessary competence and capability to guide on that issue. Christian leaders can often fall into the “I’m in charge” trap for a host of reasons and many pastors and ministers have been trained in, and are expected to adopt a “one-man” style. However, effective leadership at any specific time is not based on a static position but by dynamic response to the encountered need and individual role. The effective Christian leader facilitates this flexibility. Team processes are not so much about individual jobs but are more about how the team interacts and functions as it makes decisions, solves problems and resolves conflicts. It’s about how the team members work together, encouraging and facilitating this is a key role for any Christian leader who wishes to model his style on Jesus. Solid relationships are essential in a team but they are not about friendships but solid relationships; they are about being able to work together well. They are also about developing a trust in and appreciation of fellow team members so that collectively the team can deal with setbacks, misunderstandings, conflicts as well as those plain and simple bad days. This ought to be easy for Christians…… apart from the fact that we are all endowed with a fallen nature. The Christian leader needs prayerful wisdom in this area. Excellent communications is a prerequisite for all the other characteristics. To function as a High Performing Team, members must understand not only how to share information in a way that others can receive but also to assume a responsibility for ensuring that they understand the communications that they receive. This short series on Effective Communications Skills can get the whole team moving in the right direction. If Email is a problem then this 0n-line training module Taming the Email Dragon: How To Be Responsible Emailer may be of help. The process of building a High Performing Team requires that the team, as a whole, take stock of itself against these characteristics. It must then, together, undertake an appropriate plan of action to achieve its full potential. This is necessarily a process of individual steps which inevitably takes time to mature, although it is possible to make rapid strides. For instance a days training on the Responsible Communication style that a servant leader would use can begin to have an impact the very next day. As the team works, evaluates, learns and applies its learning, it will improve in performance as it becomes a High Performing Team. It will work more effectively, more collaboratively and refocus previously lost energy on achieving its purpose. More than that the coherence of the team will magnify its achievement as it begins to out perform its previous track record. This is a journey upon which a servant leader will take his team. Find a quiet place for half an hour and ask yourself these questions about your team and see how they score. In the light of the answers you get begin to work out an action plan to address your team’s weaknesses. Then sit down with your team and do the whole assessment together as the first step to involving the team in their journey toward becoming a High Performing Team. What are the differences between a team of volunteers, a team of people who are vocationally motivated, a team of employees and a team of professionals? Is there a difference in their needs from a leadership perspective? * Thanks to the power of the internet I have since discovered the actual quotation is “Lord Ronald … flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions. ” from Nonsense Novels, “Gertrude the Governess” by Stephen Leacock. It subsequently gave rise to the name of a Canadian Radio show “Madly Off in All Directions”. **The Performance Factor, Pat MacMillan, B&H Publishing, ISBN-8-8054-2375-3 Image : Darren Baker-Fotolia.com
7 Tips to Reduce Project Management Stress for Christian Leaders
Mike Waddell : September 22, 2011 4:09 am : Change, Church Leadership, CL, Decision, Leadership, Methods, OL, Organisational Leadership, Performance, Planning, Project Management, Stress
At some point every Christian leader will end up being called upon to lead some kind of project. They may be short and quick such as putting together and running a special service or church anniversary weekend. At the other end of the spectrum they might be large and challenging. In a church situation this may mean be being responsible for some kind of building work.1) Be absolutely clear about what is to be achieved.
2) Be absolutely clear about how the project goal is to be achieved.
3) Estimate the work to be done and build your plan
4) Workout what could go wrong and how to deal with it
5) Know exactly what it will cost week by week
6) “Sail” your project
7) Take control of change; don’t let it take control of you
Reflection
The Christian Project Manager’s Guide
Understanding Personality Questionnaires for Christian Leaders : The Key to Solving Your People Puzzles Quickly and Effectively?
Andy Gilbert : September 13, 2011 8:38 am : Church Leadership, CL, Conflict, Decision, Gifting, Integrity, Leadership, Methods, OL, Organisational Leadership, Pepole Development, Performance, Recruitment, Strengths and Weaknesses, Stress, Team
As Christian leaders, at some time we will have been in a team where two people never seem to understand one another, perhaps leading to sharp disagreements that affect the atmosphere of the meeting and often the effectiveness of how the whole team relates to one another. They might share the same beliefs and chat together over coffee after church. However, when they are trying to achieve something together in ministry, the team cannot get on with serving others until someone gives way.Christian Leaders should be Aware of Difference
Do You Run a Mile From Psychometric Assessments?
Well Scrutinized
Confidentiality
Guidance Only
Appropriate Use
Types of Psychometric Assessment Questionnaire
Ability and Aptitude Tests:
Personality Questionnaires:
Examples of Personality Tests
Test Details
Bar On EQI
Used by Claybury as part of recruitment for leadership positions, particularly in roles where EQ and cross cultural sensitivity is importantEmotional Quotient (EQ) helps explain how individuals can be intellectually smart, but never achieve their real potential. It seeks to unearth emotional and social strengths and deficiencies in 5 areas::
EQ Factor 1: Intrapersonal (internal) Skills-comprised of Self-Regard, Emotional Self-Awareness, Assertiveness, Independence, Self-Actualization
EQ Factor 2: Interpersonal Skills-comprised of Empathy, Social Responsibility, Interpersonal Relationships
EQ Factor 3: Adaptability Skills-comprised of Reality Testing, Flexibility, Problem-Solving
EQ Factor 4: Stress Management Skills-comprised of Stress Tolerance, Impulse Control (patience and anger management)
EQ Factor 5: General Mood-comprised of Optimism and Happines
15FQ+
Used by Claybury as part of recruitment and development to assess general personality traits and explore them as part of the interviewThe 15FQ+ provides a comprehensive measure of personality based on an updated version of Cattells model of 16 personality traits developed 50+ years ago. Reports include data on team, leadership and subordinate roles as well as strength and development areas. The 16 traits include:
Empathic, dominance, enthusiasm, abstract thinking, independent, self disciplined, conscientious, socially bold.
MBTI Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Used by Claybury as part of team building activity for church leadership teams and other Christian organisations. Also used in raising self awareness of individual leadership styles in training workshops and coachingThe Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instrument describes an individual’s preferences on four dimensions:
* Extraversion-Introversion
* Sensing-Intuition
* Thinking-Feeling
* Judging-Perceiving.
The various combinations of these preferences result in 16 personality ‘Types’, each associated with a unique set of behavioural characteristics and values, which provide a useful starting point for individual feedback, self-exploration or enabling a group to work out why they interact with each other as they do.
Hogan Development Survey
Used by Claybury in the assessment and development of senior leaders to help them reflect on their behaviour in stressful situations.
The HDS contains eleven scales measuring behavioural tendencies that may be exhibited when under stress, or when an individual is exhausted or extremely relaxed.These behaviours often arise from the strengths of an individual’s personality and may be barriers to career success. The scales are interpreted in terms of risk—higher scores indicate greater potential for issues to arise.
Belbin Team Role Inventory
Used by Claybury to help team members understand their contribution to a team and enable the allocation of task and roles that best fit the make up of the team.Belbin Team Role Inventory, is an assessment used to gain insight into an individual's behavioural tendency in a team environment. It helps identify which team members are best suited to which roles and how to ensure that different strengths are utilised to enable higher levels of team performance e.g. to bring together creative individuals with those who are good at planning and individuals who will ensure the task is completed.It also helps identify gaps in the team which can be filled by utilising others outside the team.
How can psychometrics help me with my people puzzles?
Key Learning Point:
A Time for Everything – 10 Time Management Tips for Christian Leaders
Andy Gilbert : September 6, 2011 4:28 am : CL, Decision, Leadership, Methods, Ministry, OL, Pepole Development, Performance, Planning, Role Model, Servant Leader, Stress, Team, Time Management
Imagine that outside your front door at this very moment is everyone who, in the last week, has sent you a text, an email, called you on the telephone, written you a letter, spoken to you about seeing them for a pastoral visit, invited you to a meeting and those you have chosen to spend time with….A Time for Everything
10 Top Tips to manage your time better
1. Review how you use your time.
2. Review your diary with a trusted friend
3. Prioritise your use of time.
Steven Covey in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” introduces a simple four box model to help us use our time effectively. On one axis is “urgent” and “not urgent” and on the other what is “important” and “not important”. Our issue is often twofold: firstly, that we spend our time meeting the demands of others in what they see as urgent and important. Secondly, that in failing to deal with the important but not urgent tasks, that the tasks soon become urgent and lead us into feeling and being overwhelmed.4. Set expectations
5. Take a team approach
6. Use Meetings effectively
7. Don’t let technology control you
8. Manage interruptions
9. Avoid procrastination
10. Does it have to be me?
Reflection
The Christian Servant Leader’s Role Model: How to Develop People like Jesus
Mike Waddell : August 12, 2011 8:41 am : Change, Church Leadership, CL, Leadership, Methods, Organisational Leadership, Pepole Development, Role Model, Servant Leader, SL, Training
The other morning I was reading the story in Mark’s Gospel chapter 6 where Jesus sends out the 12 disciples without him. They were to declare and demonstrate the coming of the Kingdom of God on their own for the first time. As I pondered this story I saw an account of Jesus the servant leader, developing people to achieve their full potential for the Kingdom. Jesus’ goal was to turn this unlikely group into Christian servant leaders themselves and this story is about a particular episode on that journey.Jesus’ People Development Strategies
Recruit – Train – Deploy
Show and Tell
The leader shows the trainee what needs to be done and the trainee observes.
The leader leads the implementation of the task, explaining and directing the trainee who assists.
The trainee leads the task and the leader assists.
The trainee is delegated to complete the task while the leader observes. The trainee becomes competent and eventually leaves the process fully fledged, no longer a trainee.“Show and Tell” in Action.
Equipping the Disciples
People are important
Both the responsibility and the authority to do the Job
Placed outside their comfort zone
How to deal with the issues that might arise
Making mistakes and failing is OK
Value people
Reflection
10 Mistakes You Can Make When Seeking a New Pastorate
Colin D. Buckland : August 12, 2011 5:15 am : Change, Church Leadership, CL, Gifting, Recruitment, Strengths and Weaknesses
Before Claybury International, I was a pastor and with my wife I have been supporting Christian leaders and ministers for over 30 years. Born from this experience I wanted to share some thoughts on where things can go wrong when seeking a new position, resulting in all kinds of stress. So here are 10 mistakes that you can make when seeking a new pastorate:1. Thinking that this is About Employment
2. Considering “NO” to Equate to Failure
3. Confusing Your Ambition with God’s Call
4. Failing to Understand the Needs of the Church
5. Mismatching Expectations
6. Minimising Differences in the Desire to be Accepted
7. Overselling Yourself
8. Making Unwise Promises
9. Underestimating Cultural Change
10. Minimising the Importance of Your needs
Do You need Further help?
Chief Executive
Claybury International
10 Mistakes You Can make When Seeking a New Pastor
Colin D. Buckland : August 8, 2011 3:42 am : Change, Church Leadership, CL, Decision, Leadership, Ministry, Planning, Recruitment, Stress, Team
For 30 years or more my wife and I have been involved in supporting Church Leaders and churches as they struggle with the stresses and issues of leadership and calling. Over the years we, and the Claybury International team, have come along side both churches and ministers to help them through difficulties, many of which arose because things were not well worked through when the pastor was appointed. So often, that leads to bad outcomes for all concerned.1. Presenting an Unrealistic View of Your Church
2. Falling for the Messiah Syndrome
3. Failing to Recognise the Kind of Pastor Your Church Needs
4. Having Unrealistic Expectations
5. Having Delusions of Grandeur
6. Not Supporting Your New Pastor Well
7. Having Unresolved Leadership Issues
8. Generating Theological Conflict
9. Lacking Vision and Direction
10. An inadequately Considered Remuneration Plan
Do You need Further help?
Claybury International
If Only I Built Tables…..15 Reasons Why Christian Leaders Are Stressed
Colin D. Buckland : May 9, 2011 6:38 am : Burnout, Church Leadership, CL, Conflict, Leadership, Ministry, OL, Organisational Leadership, Strengths and Weaknesses, Stress, Team
“Among all my autopsies (and I have performed well over a thousand), I have never seen a person who died of old age. In fact, – writes Dr Hans Selye in “The Stress of Life”. (Selye was a pioneer in the effects of stress on the human body) - I do not think anyone has died of old age yet.
15 Common Sources of Stress in Ministry for Christian Leaders
When the day is done . . .
I don’t build tables . . .
Working with people . . .
So, you’re back again . . .
Black holes . . .
In the thick of it alone . . .
I should have been a fireman . . .
Where he goes, egos . . .
Where should I be now …?
Star Trek makes me cry . . .
Not Another Christmas . . .
So, I’m not married . . .
The new kid on the block . . .
From the city to the fields . . .
Where will we put the sideboard . . .?
The List Goes On….
Reflection
What Next…..
Sign-Up Here.
Man’s Plans And God’s Purposes: When Methods Have Their Place
Mike Waddell : February 3, 2011 4:10 am : Church Leadership, CL, Decision, Leadership, Methods, OL, Organisational Leadership, Planning, Servant Leader, SL, Strategy, Vision
“So Lord, how will I do all of that?” Moses asked. God had begun to instruct Moses regarding the construction of the Tabernacle. You can imagine Moses think “Oh my, where do I begin” and asking that question, so God told him:
Why God Provides Methods
The Use of Methods
Reflections on Methods and Plans
Participating in God’s Plan
What can we do?
Reflection
Man’s Plans And God’s Purposes: According To Whose Plan?
Mike Waddell : February 2, 2011 4:07 am : Church Leadership, CL, Decision, Leadership, Methods, OL, Organisational Leadership, Planning, Servant Leader, SL, Strategy, Vision
It had not gone according to plan and now they were hundreds of kilometres from where they expected to be. Then the man from Macedonia called out in a vision “Come over and help us.” This was not the first change to Paul’s plans on this trip.
Who’s Plan Is It Anyway?
God Reveals His Plans A Step At A Time
Understanding God’s Will Can Be Difficult
It is God’s plan that prevails
Is 14:26-27.
God Reveals His Plans in His Time
The Importance of God’s Plan
1 Jn 5: 14 & 15. In short, our prayers need to be aligned to God’s will in order that we have the confidence that “[we will] have what we asked of him“. By extension, this applies to the things we plan to do for the Kingdom, for him.When God’s Plan Is Beyond Our Conception”
Reflection
Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes: Being Effective for the Kingdom
Mike Waddell : February 1, 2011 4:05 am : Church Leadership, CL, Decision, Leadership, Methods, OL, Organisational Leadership, Planning, Servant Leader, SL, Strategy, Vision
Joshua lay face down in the dirt. Things had not gone according to plan. He had been there all day and had failed to work out what had happened. It was only now that God said to him “What are you doing down on your face?”Man’s Plans and God’s Purposes
When Plans Go Wrong
Whose Plans and Whose Methods?
God’s Plan for Jericho
What went wrong with Ai?
Kingdom Planning
Reflection
St Ignatius on Decision Making – A Precursor to Franklin’s Moral Algebra
Mike Waddell : January 10, 2011 9:15 am : Church Leadership, CL, Decision, Leadership, Methods, OL, Organisational Leadership, Servant Leader, SL, Strategy
A few months back I discussed Benjamin Franklin’s “moral algebra,” his simple prescription for good deliberative decision making. We know of Franklin’s moral algebra only because he succinctly summarized it in a now-famous short letter to his longtime scientific colleague and friend, Joseph Priestley. In that letter Franklin seemed to suggest that the moral algebra was his own invention, using phrases such as “My way [of making decisions]…”, but he didn’t explicitly claim it as his own creation.
want to make election, such as an office or benefice, either to take or
leave it; or any other thing whatever which falls under an election
that can be changed.
I am created, which is to praise God our Lord and save my soul, and,
this supposed, to find myself indifferent, without any inordinate
propensity; so that I be not more inclined or disposed to take the
thing proposed than to leave it, nor more to leave it than to take it,
but find myself as in the middle of a balance, to follow what I feel to
be more for the glory and praise of God our Lord and the salvation of
my soul.
will and put in my soul what I ought to do regarding the thing
proposed, so as to promote more His praise and glory; discussing well
and faithfully with my intellect, and choosing agreeably to His most
holy pleasure and will.
and utilities follow for me from holding the proposed office or
benefice for only the praise of God our Lord and the salvation of my
soul, and, to consider likewise, on the contrary, the disadvantages and
dangers which there are in having it. Doing the same in the second
part, that is, looking at the advantages and utilities there are in not
having it, and likewise, on the contrary, the disadvantages and dangers
in not having the same.
sides about the thing proposed, to look where reason more inclines: and
so, according to the greater inclination of reason, and not according
to any inclination of sense, deliberation should be made on the thing
proposed.
who has made it ought to go with much diligence to prayer before God
our Lord and offer Him such election, that His Divine Majesty may be
pleased to receive and confirm it, if it is to His greater service and
praise.
Communication Tips for Servant Leaders: Do You Fail to Communicate Because You Fail To Listen?
Mike Waddell : October 26, 2010 3:24 am : Church Leadership, CL, Communications, Leadership, OL, Organisational Leadership, Team
The irony of effective communication skills is that the most powerful tool at your disposal is not speaking but listening. If you fail to listen you will fail to communicate.Servant Leaders Engage in Responsible Listening
Building Rapport – Listening Completes the Feedback Loop
How do you show someone that you are listening to them?
Reflection
The Effective Communications Series
Communication Tips for Servant Leaders: 6 Ways That You Can Help Your Listeners Hear You
Mike Waddell : October 25, 2010 8:29 am : Church Leadership, CL, Communications, Leadership, OL, Organisational Leadership, Team
One reason why servant leaders are effective is that they concern themselves with needs of the individuals whom they lead; the needs that must be fulfilled for them to achieve their full potential. For Christian leaders its clear that Jesus adjusted his approach to his disciples according to their needs and circumstances. When it comes to communications, the listener’s learning style can play a big role in how well they keep up with and understand what we have to say.Why are Learning Styles Important for Effective Communication?
A Simplified View of Learning Styles
Explain why it’s important
Convey what it’s all about
Set out how to do it
Encourage exploration
Use words for the verbal learners
Use images for the visual learners
Servant Leaders Take Learning Styles into Account
Reflection
The Effective Communications Series
Communication Tips for Servant Leaders: Are You an Engaging Speaker or “Mogadon Man”?
Mike Waddell : October 25, 2010 6:59 am : Church Leadership, CL, Communications, Leadership, OL, Organisational Leadership, Team
Servant Leaders Take Responsibility for their Communications
What does it look like when we take responsibility?
Don’t Engulf the Listener
Obtain Feedback
Accommodate Learning Styles
Address Both The Big Picture And The Detail
Apply What You Say To The Listener’s Need
Use Stories
Reflection
The Effective Communications Series
Communication Tips for Servant Leaders: 5 Mistakes That Lead to Ineffective Communications
Mike Waddell : October 25, 2010 4:33 am : Church Leadership, CL, Communications, OL, Organisational Leadership, Servant Leader
Servant Leaders, especially those modelling themselves on Jesus’ leadership style, are good at communicating with others because their goal is that the people they lead achieve their full potential and how can they do that if you are a bad communicator.Ineffective Communications- Ineffective Leadership?
1 – Do you overwhelm your people with words?
2 – Do you tell them only what interests you?
3 – Do you ignore the communication markers?
4 – Do you assume they have understood you?
5 – Do you assume that it is the listener’s responsibility to understand?
Reflection
The Effective Communications Series
Insights on Power, Character and the Ministry
Colin D. Buckland : October 14, 2010 9:02 am : Authority, Church Leadership, CL, Integrity, Power
The Lost Art of Integrity
A few years ago some colleagues and I hosted a series of one-day conferences for Christian leaders at a well-known London conference centre. The first two were a great success. A list of well-known speakers and a topical subject seemed to be the winning formula. Around 1,500 leaders attended each conference. The third was at the same place with the same formula, except for one change – the subject. We had decided, as conference organisers, that one of the most pressing needs among leaders was the development of integrity. We set the topic and posted the invitations, but when the day came, only 150 delegates attended. When we went on to hold a fourth conference on another topical subject, however, there was a huge turn out. Integrity seems to be a thorny subject for leaders!
Power and Integrity
Maturity, Peace and Inner Security
The ‘I’ Test
Reflection
The Best Leadership Power Motif
(2 Corinthians 13:10)
(Ephesians 4:11–13)
Christian Leader, How Well is Your Team Doing?
Mike Waddell : October 6, 2010 3:25 am : Church Leadership, CL, Communications, Conflict, Decision, Leadership, OL, Organisational Leadership, Performance, Role Model, Servant Leader, SL, Strengths and Weaknesses, Team
Christian leaders in all spheres lead teams and Jesus’ servant leadership model is key to being a team builder and developing a team that achieves its full potential. Check out how your team is doing.The Christian Leader’s Approach is Crucial
How well does your team do?
Alignment
Crystal Clear Roles
Accepted Leadership
Effective Team Processes
Solid Relationships
Excellent Communications
Reflection
Church Leadership
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Often God will only reveal his plan a step at a time; we therefore need to be attentive to him and flexible enough to be obedient to him as it is progressively revealed.
Getaway Guide 2012
HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN WORKERS
The 2012 edition of the Getaway Guide is now available here
Christian Leadership Books
Freedom to Lead
by Colin Buckland
Price: £8.99
(Postage and packaging extra: UK £2.41, International £5.62) details....
This book (originally published under the title of Liberated to Lead) is for any Christian in a position of leadership in the Church. Many leaders struggle with the nature of their role – trying to do the impossible for God, rather than doing their best and leaving the rest to the God of the impossible.
Colin helps readers to:
- Balance family life and the pressures of ministry
- Set realistic expectations in ministry
- Understand one’s calling to Christian service
- Avoid or overcome burnout.
Freedom to Lead is an invaluable tool for leaders who want to learn more about themselves and the role God has called them to.
You can download a sample chapter from here....
Culture Craft (eBook version)
By Rick Sessoms & Colin Buckland
Price £3.99
Many committed, capable, next-generation leaders are confused and frustrated in their current organisations. They cannot reconcile the evident chasm between the Jesus way of leadership and their own organisations’ dysfunctional cultures.
Rick and Colin have written this book to clear the confusion. They ask tough questions that reveal any organisation’s culture. They also offer practical, proven tools to build a ‘healthy’ organisation, one whose members demonstrate real values that are consistent with the teaching and example of Jesus.
This is a must-read book for ‘culture crafters’, those leaders who want to influence their organisations toward better health.
Please refer to the eBook licence
