When I was in seminary I had a professor that taught me the focus of discipleship in its embryonic form is to learn. She then asked us 'What is learning?' after a numerous attempts by students to answer her question she finally shared 'learning is a change in knowledge, skill, understanding, or behavior brought about by some experience.' For example, if we walk through the story of Abram leaving everything he knew to go to a place the Lord would show him and say "hm that Abram was a courageous dude." Then we have not learned. Rather if we read that story and walked away with a new/fresh/fuller/deeper understanding of God's sovereign plan and can begin to make parallels into our own life, we have then learned something.
As a leader, do you seek to learn from your experiences or are you content to live through your experiences? In my world of small group point leadership I am constantly trying to sniff out potential/current issues with my ministry model. This is not always an uplifting task, no one likes to see a model they designed and implemented suffer, but I'm convinced it is the task of great leaders. And when I come upon an issue that must be addressed so that more people can experience Group Life at its finest, it's hard not to hide.
Picking yourself up and making adjustments along the way is the quickest way to reaching your potential as a ministry. In my world, I'm at that stage. I've taken the bitter pill and admitted I'm not the greatest, but I refuse to allow my system issues to define my ministry. Rather, it spurs me on to try new things. Change. I have new knowledge. I have improved my skill. I have strengthened my understanding. And now I'm changing my behavior...I believe that's called learning. Are you?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
A Leader's Levers
Not long ago I was reminded that working with volunteers is much like walking a tight-rope. Be too demanding with expectations and they're gone in a blink, be too lax and they get so diluted in their understanding of your expectations they become toothless. The key is not to pull the demanding 'lever' and expect a result, nor is it to pull the freedom 'lever' and expect a result. Rather, we must acknowledge that there are more levers!
There multiple types of levers that a point leader has at his/her disposal. There's the grace lever, the speaker of hard words lever, the encouragement lever, the teaching lever, the training lever, the coaching lever, the pastoral lever, the understanding lever etc.
I've found that while I'm extraordinarily far from mastering this, pulling on each lever just a little at a time creates a dynamic that is more in line with the desired outcome we're looking for.
So here are a few reminders that I've found can help me walk the leadership tight-rope:
1. Have I asked my leaders if there is anything they need help with?
Leaders always, always, always want to know you care more about them, than the task. If the task is pervading your thoughts more than what happening in your leaders life-you might need to chat with God about that.
2. Have I personally encouraged my leaders lately?
There are a multitude of ways we encourage our leaders, but few are as effective as good ole fashioned penmanship. A handwritten note can go eons farther than a typed, mass produced letter. When we communicate to our leaders that amist our business we stopped and intentionally set aside time for them...it's a powerful communicator of their worth to us.
3. Am I doing anything to help my leaders become better?
Are we providing 'need-to-know' training that can be immediately implemented at their next group meeting? Abstract concepts are good for retreats and big rallies...but not in-the-trenches training. My experience has been that leaders want training that is short, sweet, but potent. While that can hard to do, know that you have lots of resources at your disposal. Such as this and this. Or perhaps you may not even offer training at all...if not, check this site out, it's loaded with helpful resources.
Peace out!
JR
There multiple types of levers that a point leader has at his/her disposal. There's the grace lever, the speaker of hard words lever, the encouragement lever, the teaching lever, the training lever, the coaching lever, the pastoral lever, the understanding lever etc.
I've found that while I'm extraordinarily far from mastering this, pulling on each lever just a little at a time creates a dynamic that is more in line with the desired outcome we're looking for.
So here are a few reminders that I've found can help me walk the leadership tight-rope:
1. Have I asked my leaders if there is anything they need help with?
Leaders always, always, always want to know you care more about them, than the task. If the task is pervading your thoughts more than what happening in your leaders life-you might need to chat with God about that.
2. Have I personally encouraged my leaders lately?
There are a multitude of ways we encourage our leaders, but few are as effective as good ole fashioned penmanship. A handwritten note can go eons farther than a typed, mass produced letter. When we communicate to our leaders that amist our business we stopped and intentionally set aside time for them...it's a powerful communicator of their worth to us.
3. Am I doing anything to help my leaders become better?
Are we providing 'need-to-know' training that can be immediately implemented at their next group meeting? Abstract concepts are good for retreats and big rallies...but not in-the-trenches training. My experience has been that leaders want training that is short, sweet, but potent. While that can hard to do, know that you have lots of resources at your disposal. Such as this and this. Or perhaps you may not even offer training at all...if not, check this site out, it's loaded with helpful resources.
Peace out!
JR
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