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Leadership – MacGyver style

7 Oct

I had some free time with some magnetic poetry the other day and I realized something about creativity… to foster creativity we need boundaries. Now I am not talking about censorship or anything like that but rather, boundaries that pose a challenge. Boundaries are present in all creative works on some level or another. A song has a key. A painting has the edge of the canvas or wall. Lyrics have a vocabulary. These boundaries not only foster creativity but make it lend to it’s greatness as well. To write a poem with all the words of the English language can sometimes be a challenge and the end result can range from boring to life-changing. And we are not surprised at that. However, as I found out in my magnetic poetry experience, using a very limited vocabulary to communicate something is both challenging and value-giving. To write a life-changing piece with a small percentage of the words of our whole vocabulary is incredible when you consider it. It makes us think through what we want to say and squeeze every drop of potential out of each word.

Think about some of the greatest accomplishments in the world. There is always a problem to be solved and some specific boundaries it must be solved within. The printing press came about because there was a realization for people’s need to have access to information, specifically the Bible, and thus the printing press was born. Fast forward and as our technology advanced so did our boundaries and the Al Gore developed the Internet (jk). But many times it is the constraints that drive our creativity. Think about MacGyver – what a boring show that would have been if he had access to every explosive, tool, or source of electricity he needed. We stand and marvel at him because he was able to use the things within his boundaries to save the day.

So when we find ourselves in leadership positions where there are boundaries let us not think they are constricting us but rather it is a challenge for creativity. Driving passion and a lack of resources creates a context for creativity. When things aren’t as we would have them (and they rarely are) then it is a call for us to rise up and find a solution for the need. This applies in art, in business, in church, and in relationships. So next time you find yourself wanting to complain about your context just think of it as the edge of your canvas and ask yourself how you can make that canvas an epic painting.

Social Media Can’t Change Your Church… alone

25 Sep

Ok, besides finding an awesome new blog on marketing called {grow}, I was totally rocked by this article I found on it about social media and its effects on a company’s (or I would say church’s) culture or vice versa. The premise of this article was that social media doesn’t change a culture, but rather a culture can change social media.  Now I know it isn’t as one-sided as that sounds but I do believe that the culture of an organization isn’t changed by simply adding a twitter account or posting some videos on YouTube.  There are many other factors that have to align to really change an organization’s culture (the style of leadership, the abilty to change, the effectiveness of its product, etc).  This is one blurb that made me remember some churches that I have been a part of and trying to get them to ‘get up and go’ when it comes to technology:

But a company that is slow to change, entrenched in bureaucracy and resistant to customers setting the pace will carry that culture through to whatever market challenge they face, too.  And pressuring them to set up a Facebook page isn’t going to change that either!

Wow!  So here’s the thing… if you think a website, or a Facebook page, or even getting your pastor to tweet will change your church then think again.  It may be a small cog in the wheel of change, but for churches to really change some tables have to be overturned and that will probably mean some people will leave.  But that’s not bad, I mean the church is a body and even in our bodies things have to leave or bad things happen.

But pastors, I would challenge you to see the desire of your younger and culturally relevant congregants and hear their cries for change.  In most of our culture I would say that social media is necessary for change but it is far from sufficient.  So lets not hang our hat on a cool website, Facebook, or twitter but do the actual hard work of leading change within the bureaucracy of your church – or heck tear down the current bureaucracy and start over fresh… and then tweet about it.  Now that would be a change.

If you want to read the full article and get a swift social media kick in the butt then read it here.

It’s Not Your Fruit Anyways!

25 Sep

Becoming a unified church that transcends the spiritual parallel of our disunited brick and mortar buildings requires sacrifice on the parts of leaders. It requires that we sacrifice our brand, our name, and sometimes the fruit we see from our own work. Paul understood this. In 1 Corinthians 3 he says this:

“Aren’t you living like people of the world? When one of you says, ‘I am a follower of Paul,’ and another says, ‘I follow Apollos,’ aren’t you acting just like people of the world? After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.”

So many times in our lives we become territorial over things we really have no business being territorial over (now that I think of it I am not sure if we have the right to be territorial over anything) because it’s all God’s territory. However, sometimes we get it in our head that something is really ours. It’s my house, my car, my small group, my church, my money, my volunteers, my idea, my cubicle, my time… you get the idea. But those of us who have been involved in leadership in the church and in the business world resonate with the fact that sometimes it seems like we have ideas or we invest in something or someone and then another person comes along and reaps the benefits of ‘my’ hard work. When in reality, if you are in the secular world, if it benefits the organization then you should rejoice. If you are in the church world, if it benefits the Kingdom, then you should rejoice A LOT! Because if there is one thing that the evil one will use to hold us under in our ability to lead it is our insecurities. We ask in frustration, “How dare that person capitalize on my idea?!” But that translates into, “I was finding some worth and significance in that idea and now they are gonna reap what I sowed!” But in reality when we find our worth and value in our accomplishments we will ride the roller coaster of insecurities and our leadership will be reactionary rather than progressive because lets face it, though we may have a few really good ideas or accomplishments we have just as many duds and failures. And if we choose to find our worth and value in the good then we also have to see our ‘unworth’ in the bad. However, we do not have to be prisoner to this way of thinking about ourselves. Jesus said if you want to become great you must be a servant to all. That means if someone benefits even unjustly from your work then you surrender it. That reminds me of another saying of Jesus (he had a lot of those!), “If you want to save your life you must lose it.” The more we cling to our ideas and accomplishments the less we benefit from them, but when hold them out with open hands not only might someone use them, but the more we will grow and benefit from them.

When David was king of Israel he did not cling to the kingdom. In fact his own son Absalom plotted to take over the kingdom that David had worked and fought to establish and David layed it down and did not fight against Absalom’s ‘hostile takeover’. Absalom would set up shop near the entrance to the city and as people would come to present their grievances to the king Absalom would intercept them and say things like, “If I were king, I would do this or that,” and “I think the king should hear your case, i would”. In fact the Bible says that “He stole the hearts of all the people of Israel”. Yet David did not fight against him, or have him assassinated, or even tell the people that Absalom was wrong. He let Absalom’s intentions play themselves out and eventually Absalom was seen for what he was. (2 Samuel 17-18).

And so what does all this mean for you and I? Don’t find your value and self-worth in the things of this world. If you do you will cling to them and it will lead to your destruction. But rather find your life and worth in Christ’s love for you and when someone wants to come and take the things you have worked hard for, then let them have them even when you are totally justified in slapping them upside the head with the three-ring hole punch on your desk. Because that is the way that Jesus modeled for us. Think about this: Jesus suffered the humiliation of the cross, was in agony for the people that his disciples (who deserted him at his death) would get to reap the benefits from. They become the rock stars of the church, they were the ones people were wanting to see and touch and hear. And Jesus got a cross… right? You see how this gets played out in our lives? Jesus realized that they were going to be great at His expense, but he told them:

“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not the be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:25-28

At the end of the day who are we? Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? Well in the Christian world we consider them heroes right? But Paul was legitimately asking, who are we that we have any right to cling even to the fruit of our labors? It’s not our fruit in the first place! I just planted a seed or watered, but at the end of the day I am simply a laborer in God’s field. So when that volunteer that you have been investing in and mentoring goes to the children’s ministry instead of staying in youth. Or when that dynamic, on-fire group leader changes churches. Or when that person in your company steals your idea, or gets the promotion before you… let them go, let them have it. Because when you lay your life, your ego, your territory down then you will find life.

Light up the dark!

Jeremy

The Church… One?

20 Sep

This is a simple thought I have been having tonight. What would it really look for churches in our community (or any community) to come together, be willing to sacrifice their brand, or even be willing to bless people as they intermingled between congregations so that Christ’s Church could really be One? I am not talking about coming together to do an event or even promoting each others’ ministries, though that may be an effect of this. I am not even talking about getting pastors together and ‘visioning’. Maybe it starts with the leaders, maybe the laity. I think it starts with relationship. All worthy visions come from thriving relationships, both vertical and horizontal.

What will it take? Leaders and laity – i would love to hear your thoughts. Is this worth doing? How do we do it? What would be the effects?

Good and Effective

17 Sep

In progressive church circles I hear a lot about effectiveness, and in fact I even preach that we need to be effective in our mission to see lives transformed in order to transform the world.   But I had a thought today when I was reading about a wealthy business person who always drives the best cars and is dressed to the nines.  The writer said that this particular business person was ‘good at what he does’.   And my thought was this, while he may make money at what he does and make very lucrative business deals, to call it good places a value on how someone does things.   Now, there is nothing wrong with making money, but to say someone is good at what he/she does based solely upon the outcome is not a logical way of determining value unless one is operating completely from a utilitarian framework.  They may be effective at cheating people out of money, or capitalizing on the sufferings of others or be a true visionary leader that has invented a new product and manufactures it in a just way and still arrive at the same end.  But to say they are ‘good’ at it says that all that matters is the end product and less about the way it is done.

In the church world we always have to hold the two of these values in tension.  We must be effective, but only through good and just means.  It is tempting to use the cheaper shirts for a promotional and they may be very effective, but do we know where those shirts came from?  Do we know whether or not they were made by oppressed hands?  It may be cheaper to use the non-recycled paper to print a post card, but are we damaging our integrity as stewards of God’s creation in doing so?  Effectiveness is a must along but so is goodness.  Let us not let up on either, but strive forward holding the two up together.   Let us be about doing church good and effective.

Communication=Leadership

17 Sep

“Leadership is communication.”  So, I can’t remember where I first heard this quote, but it has been ringing true in my life over the last several weeks.  Our leadership lives or dies on our ability and diligence to communicate.   A good leader communicates effectively and communicates often.  A bad leader communicates ineffectively and seldom.  I have seen this in places I have worked and in my own life. When I was in seminary I had the opportunity to work at a pizza restaurant.  I call it an opportunity because that is what it was, an opportunity to earn money… never turn your nose up at any job.  The owner of this little mom and pop pizza place wasn’t the best of communicators.  I remember one incident when we were having a store wide meeting at night and we were waiting on all the employees to get there.  One of my co-workers was a struggling teenage single mom and was late to the meeting.  My boss proceeded to call her and tell her how disappointed everyone was in her because she was late.  First, we had only been told of the meeting that day (too little communication), and second we weren’t disappointed in her nor was it a good idea to tell her that in front of everyone even if we were (ineffective communication).

In my own role as a leader I have begun to see many little gaps of infrequent communication that I am trying to fill.  It is far better to over-communicate than to under-communicate.  The best way to do that is to also expect the best out of everyone and if there is something that needs to be communicated that may cause tension, expect the best from them.  How you communicate is communication in itself.  If you bring something before someone and assume and expect that they already thought of what you are bringing to their attention you give them a way to save face.  If you just start off by ripping into someone then you show that you as a leader do not trust them and do not think they know what they are doing.  It is so much better to err on the side of grace in these situations.

Here are a few things that make for good communication and are worth doing often:

  • Communicate what is expected of someone.  Make it clear what you as a leader expect them to be doing in their role.
  • Set expectations high.  It is much easier to ask someone to settle down than to try and get them to speed up.  When you don’t set expectations high then you have no complaint when results aren’t hgh.  Also, it helps people understand the vital role they play, the expectations are high because what’s at stake is extremely valuable.
  • Give them an option to bail.   Set the expectations high, but also let people understand that you value them for them, and not what they can produce.  This can often save you having to fixing a machine that should have never been running.
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