A Leadership Point of View

I love to talk leadership with strong, veteran leaders. Men and women who've been at it a while and have thought about the dynamics and particulars of this thing we call "leadership."
After a period of time and a variety of experiences, leaders develop their own philosophy - or point of view - of leadership. It's made up of what they believe about leading people, why they believe it and how it informs their decisions for the organization. Ultimately a leader's point of view about leadership will infect the culture of the entire organization.
I've posted an article by Ken Blanchard that describes the importance of having a Leadership Point of View and the elements that make up a L.P.O.V. His guide suggests answering seven questions that will help you as you develop your own L.P.O.V.

The last four of Blanchard's questions hone in on the key issues:

1. What are your beliefs about leading and motivating people?
   
2. What kind of leader can your people expect you to be?
   
3. What do you expect of your people?
   
4. How will you set an example to your people?

Whenever I get the chance to interact with leaders, these are the four questions I tend to ask most often. I will record some of those responses and my own in future posts.

Seeking a Trusted Servant

My daughter graduated from Baylor Law School this summer. We're definitely very proud of her. She's already at work doing what she has worked years to be able to do.
The graduation ceremonies were impressive and, suprisingly, not at all stuffy.
All of our encounters with BaylorLaw School have been impressive. Included in each event or communication we've had with any of the faculty is the very clear message that the law school's commitment is to develop lawyers who are servants. Afterall, people come to lawyers when there is a problem - sometimes a crisis or tragedy - but always a serious matter that requires an expert. The circumstances are almost always unwelcome and the client is often confused or afraid and feels particularly vulnerable. It's so important that the lawyer be someone of competence and absolute integrity as the client is in no position to handle their situation alone.
I don't think I've ever thought of a lawyer quite that way before. My daughter says that the law students hear this message repeated in each class over the three years in law school - in virtually every class by every professor.
It occured to me that the same could be said of pastors. People rarely drop in to see a pastor for no reason at all - especially if they aren't in the habit of attending church. Folks seek out the counsel of a pastor - or visit a church for the first time - when they are at a crossroads of sorts. Perhaps the loss of a relationship or job... perhaps a devastating diagnosis....the non-attender (even if they are a believer) is prompted to seek spiritual answers when there is fear, confusion, or pain of some kind in their life.
I wonder if our seminaries are as diligent about drumming the same kind of message into the minds of the thousands of young would-be pastors attending classes this year.
I wonder if the average pastor in the pulpit is alert to the reality that each week as he stands to preach from God's Word, the person sitting in his church who he has never seen before is only there because something in his life isn't working or making sense on this day. The stranger isn't there because things are just swell and he had nothing better to do on Sunday morning. That stranger is in his audience because he needs to hear a message that contains answers.... hope....and assurance that something is true and that Someone cares.

Why Ministry Teams? Part 2

It turns out there is a lot more than just one more reason that ministry should be done through teams. I realized after thinking it through that there are so many reasons for team they would probably fill a book. (Now there's an idea!)
But here are a few of the reasons why the most successful businesses - not to mention ministries - have adopted "team" as the model for reaching their goals.

1. The need to respond to quickly changing market forces means that organizational structures must be designed to get the best ideas on the table and in development fast. This means more collaboration to uncover those ideas and more "we decisions" to move forward on action steps.
2. Complex projects and issues demand more than the expertise of one person - the complexities of today's world requires a wide-range of talents and experience.
3. Employees and volunteers (particulary of the next-gen culture) expect to participate in decisions that effect the projects that they are directly or indirectly involved in.

Basically it comes down to what may be my favorite Ken Blanchard quote:
"None of us is as smart as all of us."

If an organization - ministry or business - commits to Team everything changes.
The org chart gets flatter, relationships get tighter, the workplace gets noisier, power is shared, information is shared and exchanged openly, and a culture of mutual accountability takes hold.
Team is hard work.
Most ministries fall back to the "group work" model instead because Team is so hard and it is usally very messy. There is more conflict and true team allows little room for selfishness. But for those who are willing to do the hard work, give up control, trust others, invite feedback and relentlessly commit to collaborate always- the payoff is well worth it.
The results: better decisions lead to increased effectiveness which means increased impact for the Kingdom...(or increased market share for those who are in it for financial gains).
The question becomes- why would you do ministry or business in any other model?
Why not Team?