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Leadership Development can sound so corporate, so theoretical, so…like something else to add to our already full plates of ministry. That’s what many churches think.

And so it was with our church. We are a dynamic, growing church that has the by-product of a tired, overworked staff with a growing span of care of volunteers. We thought we were doing it right by simply recruiting and placing volunteers in ministry. Occasionally, we would promote a “leader-type” to leader, but only of a function…not necessarily as a leader empowered to lead and develop other leaders.

Why did we maintain a level of care for over 25, 50 or sometimes a hundred volunteers instead of empowering other leaders to lead? I recently came up with a few reasons:

1.  THE NEED TO RESPOND - “It is our responsibility as staff to care for our area of ministry and our volunteers. How can I ask a volunteer to do this?” Many staff members feel like it is their responsibility to care for all areas of ministry and all volunteers. We often feel obligated because we are paid to do it all. We just don’t want to overburden our volunteers. We want them to have very little responsibility.

NEW THOUGHT: When we invest in the leadership development of our volunteers, we are giving them something of great value. We are training them for leadership and life. And more than anything, we are giving them the opportunity to be part of Kingdom work that has eternal value.

2.  THE NEED TO RELATE - “I like to know everyone individually that is working on my team.” Many of us like to have a relationship with each person who is serving alongside of us in ministry. Though psychologist Robin Dunbar says our brains have the capacity for relationships with 150 people at a time, he also acknowledges that our innermost circle of connection is more like 3-5 people with a maximum of 10-15.

NEW THOUGHT: Truly meaningful relationships cannot happen when we try to connect with over ten people at a time. When we focus on developing five to seven leaders and investing our time and energy with that group, we can maintain a level of intimacy that promotes soul care.

3.  THE NEED TO RULE - “It is just easier if I do it myself.” Leadership development is an investment of time, energy, money and resources. It is not easy. It is often messy. Our egos and territories can sometimes keep us from sharing leadership with others. We delegate tasks at times, but never fully empower others to lead.

NEW THOUGHT: Developing our volunteer leaders frees us as staff from overworking. Even though our volunteer base is made up of people who work full-time elsewhere, they want to invest their free time wisely – into things that really matter. We have an investment opportunity that will bring lasting results as they grow as leaders and then in turn develop others.

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Kelli is a motivational speaker, writer, and blogger and loves seeing people reach their full potential in Christ. In her role as Serve Minister at Christ Community Church in Georgia, she has the awesome privilege of rallying others to find their unique place of ministry. She also recently became the champion of Leadership Development. Her favorite home team includes her loving, funny, and not so quiet children. Connect with Kelli:

• Facebook: Kelli Wommack Ministry Page
• Twitter: KelliWommack
• Website: Living for ONE

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Interview Highlights

• On the importance of strategy: “It’s entirely possible to have a clear idea where you want to go and have absolutely no idea how to get there.”
• Tony and Max talk about getting perspective of the current situation, planning for the future and then determining the action that’s required today.
• Max says the word “process” like a proper Englishman.
• “Execution and strategy are not two separate things — they are the same thing.”
• Max explains that strategic planning needs to be a continuous process.

Interview Links

• The Strategy Book
• Adaptability
• Max McKeown’s website
• Max on Twitter

Need help with strategic planning in your organization? Learn more about how we can help.

The post The Strategy Book: An Interview with Max McKeown appeared first on TonyMorganLive.com.

Be careful. Growth can kill your organization. Let me explain by sharing a story:

In my hometown of Sydney, there is a supplier that has been involved in the church/not-for-profit sector for a long time. This supplier has an excellent reputation for great quality service. Because of their service, the company is often recommended to other churches and not-for-profits. The subsequent recommendations have resulted in the growth of their business.

The problem is that they are now extremely popular – perhaps too popular for their own good. Why? Because they can no longer handle the amount of business that has been sent their way. Their customer service, which once was their standout attribute, has suffered significantly.

Systems and processes that were once adequate when the organization was small have now been stretched by the recent growth. This has resulted in frustrated customers who are now less likely to return and therefore unlikely to recommend the business to others. Ironically, the growth of the business threatens the very existence of the business.

Church growth doesn’t usually happen this rapidly. Rarely will a church reach a point of growth where their very existence is on the line. However, it can take just a small amount of growth for systems and processes to feel the strain and for people to be negatively impacted. This can manifest itself in various ways:

• The person who volunteered to serve and didn’t receive a follow-up.
• The new Christian who is never discipled.
• The phone call that wasn’t returned.
• The person who wants to join a Bible study group, but there are no spaces available.

Let me be clear, by God’s grace, churches continue to grow, usually in spite of us, not because of us. However, this doesn’t mean churches shouldn’t prepare for growth in order to care for the new people as best as possible. Churches should be stewards of the people resources that God kindly provides.

We prepare for all kinds of negative possibilities – fire, flood, break-ins, unexpected departures. Why not prepare for growth?

Preparing for growth involves:

• Understanding what stage of life your church is at right now.
• Understanding how your church will operate differently, as more people join.

The biggest mistake is to believe that as a church gets bigger that everything can just stay the same but on a larger scale. Sure, there’s still preaching and praying but the supporting structures and mindset must adjust to cope with growth.

Tim Keller puts this well in his excellent paper on church size dynamics:

A large church is not simply a bigger version of a small church. The difference in communication, community formation, and decision-making processes are so great that the leadership skills required in each are of almost completely different orders.

Growth necessitates changes in every aspect of church life. What changes can you make in your church now to prepare for the growth you are praying for?

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We can continue to go with our gut or we can play The Numbers Game.

As attendance and budgets have fluctuated considerably over the past few years, the demand has increased for church leaders to understand and use numbers as a way to challenge or validate ministry decisions.

Now more than ever, numbers matter. Yet you didn’t get into ministry to look at spreadsheets or to become a data-analysis expert. No one expects that. But as an executive leader in your church, it’s important to know exactly what numbers matter and what to do with those numbers once you’ve gathered them.

Playing the numbers game keeps the focus on the life change that should naturally result from our ministry investments of time, talent, and resources.

What numbers matter?

Numbers will help you in numerous ways such as effective planning, decision making, and prioritizing. Therefore, it’s important to know what numbers matter when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of your ministry.

Here are the nine different areas of ministry, that when measured and tracked, offer you valuable intelligence about the health and vitality of your church’s community-building efforts.

1. Attendance
2. Volunteers
3. Missional Participation
4. Online Activity
5. Financial Giving
6. Event Outcomes
7. Assimilation
8. Growth
9. Attrition

If you’re not playing the numbers game and measuring these areas of ministry, you’re not making the most of the information and resources available to you.

How to win the numbers game

Once you understand the basics of measuring these nine areas of ministry, you can start to identify the information that will help you and your ministry team become more effective.

For example:

You may think everything is good because you pack your church facility every weekend. But the numbers tell you that your 7 percent growth overall is balanced by a 5 percent loss of visitors after their second visit. That means your net growth is only 2 percent. Not bad, but definitely not as good as 7 percent.

This should prompt you to ask questions such as: Where are they going? Why are they leaving? The answers to these questions will provide critical information. Left alone, this trend could create a crisis if you don’t know it’s happening or even have a chance to adapt and close the proverbial back door.

The only way to discover details like this is if you have a system and process for monitoring and managing that information. By analyzing assimilation activity through data as mentioned in the example above, you’ll be able to improve your overall assimilation engine and improve the way people connect to your church.

But this is just one example.

Learn more about how data can help you make better, more informed ministry decisions by downloading  “The Numbers Game: 9 Measurements that Will Increase Your Church’s Retention Factor” today. Doing so will ensure that your church is set up to win when it comes to facilitating life change and building authentic community.

Do you have a system and process in place to consistently provide the metrics in ministry that matter? How are you setting your church up to win the numbers game?

This is a sponsored post from Church Community Builder, one of our site sponsors at TonyMorganLive.com.

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Can you believe that? More than half of businesses are being led by executives who don’t believe their organizations have a plan to experience success. I can only assume these businesses are going through the motions today hoping (and maybe praying) for better future results.

Here’s what’s frightening to me. My gut tells me that if we asked a cross-section of pastors these same questions, that percentage would be even higher. In other words I think there are many churches “doing church” the way they’ve always done church without any confidence that they will experience “success” in their ministry.

Instead of having a clearly defined strategy to help more and more people experience life change, churches are driven by the need to maintain the status quo.

There are several reasons why this happens:

Churches are afraid to define success. They realize that if they establish a clear vision for their future, there’s a new level of accountability from leadership, staff and the congregation. Or, if they do define a vision, it’s so broad that it doesn’t establish any focused direction for where the church is going.

Churches aren’t willing to go through the hard work of establishing and implementing a strategy. It’s just easier to worry about next Sunday’s service instead. Because of that they may have a mission statement hanging on their wall or printed in their weekly bulletin, but they’ve never clearly defined their priority actions to see that vision accomplished.

Churches find it too easy to play the “faith” card. They’re trusting God. They’re praying for results. But their lack of planning, action and accountability indicates to me that they are poor stewards of the people, gifts and resources that God has provided to fulfill his mission. Ironically, this lack of planning and strategy could be an indication of a lack of faith and obedience.

Churches are filled with pastors who are not leaders. Leaders have to build and empower teams. Leaders have to clarify vision and strategy. Leaders have to focus people around priorities of purpose. In other words, sometimes leaders actually have to lead. If you choose to lead strong, you can’t make everyone happy. It’s impossible. And, because many pastors are people pleasers, it’s difficult, if not impossible, for them to articulate a clear vision and strategy.

So, what’s your answer? Do you believe your employees and the people you are trying to reach understand your strategy? More important, do you believe that your ministry strategy will lead to success?

If you can’t answer “yes” to those questions, you’re likely stuck. Our team can help. Through the StratOp process, we can help you get perspective about your current situation, define a clear vision for the future and implement an action plan to see that vision accomplished.

Don’t settle for mediocrity. God has a bigger purpose for you and your ministry.

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The leadership principles reflected in this list still apply. You want to know if you’re really a leader Consider these principles:

10 Easy Ways to Know You’re Not a Leader

1. You’re waiting on a bigger staff and more money to accomplish your vision.
2. You think you need to be in charge to have influence.
3. You’re content.
4. You tend to foster division instead of generating a helpful dialogue.
5. You think you need to say something to be heard.
6. You find it easier to blame others for your circumstances than to take responsibility for solutions.
7. It’s been some time since you said, “I messed up.”
8. You’re driven by the task instead of the relationships and the vision.
9. Your dreams are so small, people think they can be achieved.
10. No one is following you.

There are leaders, and then there are real leaders. Some leaders think of themselves as leaders because they have a title. Others don’t need a title. They understand that leadership is really about influence anchored in integrity and humility.

You don’t need to wait for someone to give you a position and a private office to lead. If you want to be a leader in the future, start acting like a leader today.

How will you invest your influence?

The post 10 Easy Ways to Know You’re Not a Leader appeared first on TonyMorganLive.com.

1. 10 Politically Incorrect Reasons Why We’re Still Married
2. Compensation Studies: How Much Should We Pay Our Church Staff?
3. 6 Questions to Shape a Healthy Organizational Structure
4. 12 Reasons Why Your Church Doesn’t Produce Spiritual Growth
5. 12 Questions on Job Satisfaction
6. 10 Quotes That Should Shape Your Leadership
7. Does This Picture Make You Laugh?
8. Finding Your Dream Role
9. Should the Church Be Asking the Same 6 Questions as J.Crew?
10. 5 Lessons I’ve Learned From Writing About Sex and Marriage

The post 10 Politically Incorrect Reasons Why We’re Still Married and Other Top Posts From May 2013 appeared first on TonyMorganLive.com.

Today there is no shortage of resources on leadership. Unfortunately, very few of them focus on leadership development. This is why we created Leadership Unstuck. Each issue of Leadership Unstuck is designed to be used in a one-on-one or group mentoring relationship. Each guide includes a Bible passage, the “Big Idea,” a brief reading on the topic, discussion questions, additional reading, exercises for further development, a self-assessment and an opportunity to identify next steps.

The resources are simple and easy to use. More important, they will help you make leadership development a priority. Currently, we have four issues available:

• Letting Leaders Lead
• Determining Leadership Capacity
• Mentoring Future Leaders
• Recognizing Leaders, Mentors and Doers

The best news is that the first issue is free!

As you begin creating a culture of leadership development for your organization, remember to be intentional about investing in your own leadership. Our next coaching networks are right around the corner. I would love to connect with you.

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