Had an interesting conversation yesterday. I was talking with a friend about a familiar passage of the Bible. It’s called the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). Jesus told this story. He told lots of stories. Read it.

I’ve probably read that passage a hundred times, but this new learning jumped out yesterday. Consider the “master” in the story. His reaction to all three servants is very interesting. When the servant with five talents doubled his money, the master said, “well done.” When the servant with two talents doubled his money, the master said “well done.” The master didn’t hold the servant accountable for how the money was invested. The master held the servants accountable for the results.

But the master’s response was different for the servant with one talent. That servant just buried the money. In this instance, not only did the master acknowledge the poor outcome, the master also recommended an alternative plan. “You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers.” It was only after identifying a poor outcome that the master was concerned with the execution.

I used to see this as a parable about how I invest my time, gifts and money. Now I’m also going to see this as a parable about how I invest my leadership.

The leader was more concerned about the outcome than the execution. When I know the “right way” to do something, it’s hard to release the execution to someone else. Frankly, it’s a lot easier as a leader to tell people what to do and how to do it than to release them to make it happen on their own. That’s messy. In the end, though, if I’ve identified the appropriate win, it’s the results that count.

It’s more about the outcomes than it is the execution.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit with Bill and talk about leadership. Bill attends and serves at one of our NewSpring campuses. He coaches leaders for a living.

Bill shared the results of a recent online survey of Christian business owners and leaders. Over 550 people participated. Most of the folks that responded were leading organizations with less than 50 people. These are small business leaders. And, presumably since they’re Christians, these are folks that are sitting in our services on Sunday mornings.

Here’s some of what Bill found out in his survey:

• 87% were satisfied with their relationship with their spouse.
• 88% were satisfied with their relationship with their kids.
• 31% were dissatisfied with their relationship with God.
• 30% were dissatisfied with their prayer and devotional time.
• 68% indicated they’ve been very or moderately stressed in the past 6 months.

These are the leaders in our churches. Is this better than “normal” people? I don’t know. Either way, though, it’s challenging for me to know that almost a third of the leaders in our churches are dissatified with their relationship with God. And, with that in mind, it doesn’t shock me to know that more than two thirds of these leaders are dealing with stress.

What’s your reaction? What’s our responsibility given this information?

I just want to save you all the frustration right now. I’ve experienced it a few times in my life. I’ve watched others confirm it in their lives.

It takes 12 months in any new job to figure out the role.

I’m talking about leadership roles here. If you are a widget-fabricator, maybe it’s different for you. For those of us that transition into new leadership positions, though, it always takes a full year to find out what we were really hired to do.

In those 12 months, we get to figure out what the unspoken expectations are. We have the opportunity to determine how our uniqueness fits into the unique organization that now provides our paycheck. We have the chance to see how we relate and work beside the people on our team. It takes 12 months. Until then, we aren’t really adding true value. We’re just trying to survive.

This is why finding the right people before you offer the job is so important. This is why finding the right employer before accepting the job is so important. This is why keeping the right people in your organization is so important. Every time the position opens, we lose 12 months.

By the way, the corollary to this principle is that you can also hide for 12 months. That’s why I never really trust anyone that hops from job to job…even if it appears they’re moving up the career ladder. If they haven’t proven themselves in one organization for a period of time, I assume they never really made an impact.

That groan you just heard was from the guys on my team that just realized they still have several months to go.

I’m growing more and more convinced that the worst thing an organization can do is try to reach a consenus about something. Think government. Think church committee meetings. Think declining big business.

On the surface, reaching a consensus seems like a positive thing because it means people have agreed to move in the same direction. That’s a good thing isn’t it?

Actually, I’m not convinced that’s the case. For example, here are:

5 Reasons Why Consensus Sucks

1. It embraces the status quo. Change, whether positive or not, is not human nature. We would prefer for things to remain the way they are today. So, when people get together to discuss the possibility of doing something a little different in the future, it’s normal for the majority to avoid making changes.
2. It gives the malcontents an equal voice in your decision. Reaching consensus gives everyone a voice at the table. When that happens, even the negative, bitter folks that don’t really embrace the vision have the opportunity to pull the rest of the group away from what could really be the most desirable outcome.
3. It short circuits the radical ideas that lead to the biggest breakthroughs. The big, bold ideas won’t see the light of day. Yet those are the ideas that could potentially lead to the best innovations. Consensus brings people back to the middle where the majority approves but mediocrity reigns.
4. It leaves unresolved conflict on the table. At the opposite ends of a decision are distinct opinions which, if left unresolved, could potentially lead to division. Consensus prevents tough conversations from happening. It gives people the freedom to jump to compromise without engaging a healthy debate.
5. It discourages people from dreaming big dreams. Want to neuter the creative-thinkers and entrepreneurs and visionaries in your organization? Force them to reach consensus with the rest of the crowd. These are the people that make you uncomfortable. They can drive you crazy. That’s OK. They’ll just go work someplace else if you keep forcing them to compromise their dreams.

What do you think? Do you agree? Or, have you actually seen consensus work? What would you add or delete from the list?

Let’s try to reach a consensus on whether or not consensus sucks.

Kate Sweetman, author of Leadership Code: 5 Rules to Lead By, as quoted on FastCompany.com (November 14, 2008)

“Strategy is often delegated upward to the CEO or senior management team, which have a legitimate responsibility to shape the direction of the entire company. But strategic traction comes when employees at all levels of the company not only understand where the company is going, but they are excited by it, remember it, and know what to do to make it happen in their day-to-day decisions. They will have valid points of view about how the strategy will be operationalized internally, including which difficulties need to be overcome and how.”

Last week one of the folks on my team was chatting with my wife, Emily. During the conversation, that staffer shared:

“I can tell Tony hired everyone on our team because we all get along so well.”

That’s encouraging for me to hear. Not to be too boastful, but it’s true. I get to work each day with a world-class team that has huge capacity. It’s a dream team. Here’s the best part — I actually enjoy hanging out with them as well. They’re fun!

You can have that kind of team as well, but you’ll have to work at it.

• You’ll have to have tough conversations when you find that someone is in the wrong role or doesn’t have the right personality fit.
• You’ll have to hire people using the “I Like You” test instead of just using the “Can You Perform the Job?” test.
• You’ll have to be patient (it took me about 18 months) before you can bring the right people together.
• You’ll have to dream big to attract big talent.
• You’ll have to be intentional about scheduling “fun time” to complement the “work like maniacs” time.
• You’ll have to give people the freedom to do their thing instead of just telling them where they can go.
• You’ll have to be interested in things like their family, their health, their spiritual journey and not just their job performance.

You could have a dream team as well, but something tells me you’re too lazy, too afraid or not disciplined enough to make that happen.

Hope you feel challenged by that statement. You should be. Our mission is a big one, and you deserve a dream team to accomplish it.

It also makes ministry and life a lot more fun.

On Friday, part of the discussion I had with the coaching network guys was related to the differences between empowerment and delegation. We took about 15 minutes to brainstorm a list of the differences between the two. Here’s part of where we landed:

Here’s the reality. It’s a lot easier to delegate tasks. And, there are instances, particularly in emergency response situations, where delegation is necessary. In the long run, though, empowering other leaders is the way to build healthier organizations. It will be messier along the way, but you end up in a place where your organization can have a much bigger impact and more people will be fulfilled in their roles.

Do you agree? What would you add to the list?

One of the frequent topics of conversations around here is how do we develop future leaders at NewSpring? It’s a frequent conversation because we don’t know the answer.

Leaders are developed around here. We just don’t have an intentional plan for making that happen…if that makes sense. In my opinion we have a great leadership environment. And, we have great leaders. We just don’t have a specific strategy for developing future leaders. That’s why I’m asking you for help.

I’m not the only person looking for help. Here’s an excerpt from an email message I received earlier this week:

“I’ve recently been given a new and daunting assignment from our Senior Pastor.  He has asked to me to begin creating a Leadership Development Program here at our church for people within our congregation to move into other areas of ministry.  Specifically, we have several guys that we see carrying the potential to be strong ministry leaders, associate pastors or even campus pastors at the point when we are ready to go multi-site.  However, one thing that is severely lacking is a means by which we develop these guys.  And I have to tell you I’m not really sure where to start.

Do you have any suggestions maybe from what you’re doing at NewSpring or from other churches that have leadership development programs that are effectively raising up new leaders? If you have any books, links or other resources you would refer, I would be really grateful.”

The other day I had the opportunity to sit in on a couple sessions of Perry’s coaching network. During one of the sessions, he had a few of the NewSpring staffers speak. Three of them shared their stories from the early days at NewSpring. Jake was one of the folks who shared.

During his comments, Jake referred to that line that’s commonplace in just about every job description. It’s the line after all the specific responsibilities of the role that indicates you are also responsible for “other duties as assigned.” Jake asked the question, “When you see that in your job description, does it fire you up or piss you off?”

I hope it fires you up. If it does, it’s an indication that you absolutely love the mission and vision of your organization. It means you have complete trust for your leaders. It means you know sometimes you get to do something that’s outside the ordinary that’s going to add value to your team.

On the other hand if that part of your job description pisses you off, you should do yourself and your organization a favor and resign. If you can’t do whatever may be required to fulfill the mission and vision of your organization and love it, you’re probably in the wrong organization. We can argue about whose fault it is, but it really doesn’t matter. You don’t belong there. Move on. Find a place where you can fully commit and fully engage.

Here’s the reality, if you’re that person who challenges the “other duties as assigned” part of your job, your teammates are already feeling the impact of it. And, likely, your boss is already mulling over your exit strategy. Your attitude including your passion for completing the “dirty work” part of your job really matters.

So, how about you? What’s your reaction to the other duties as assigned?

In a recent conversation, I was reminded of a set of questions that Marcus Buckingham developed to measure job satisfaction. This list is several years old, but it still provides great insights. I challenge you to consider going through these questions with your team. (My team will.)

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment that I need in order to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the past seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission or purpose of my company make me feel that my job is important?
9. Are my coworkers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the past six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
12. This past year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Which one of those 12 questions challenges you the most? You can check out the rest of the magazine article originally published in Fast Company.

By the way, Buckingham also has a new resource available called The Truth about You (Thomas Nelson, 2008). It’s a toolkit including a DVD, interactive book and a “rememo” pad to help you enjoy higher satisfaction with life and work. Among other things Buckingham confirms, “You’ll never turn your weaknesses into strengths.” Hope that sets you free.