February 18th, 2008
Refining The Team
Posted by Church Video Ideas under Church Media, Churches, Communication, Consulting, Continuing Education, FREE, Ideas, Leadership, Media ministry, Random ThoughtsFYI - There has been some great discussion and comments on the frequency post, as well as the team leadership post. Go back and check them out. As far as the “Firing a Volunteer” post, I’ve been thinking about the whole refining of a team (this applies to any team at your church, not just the tech team).
I’ll probably turn this into a future article, but for now, here’s what I’m dealing with in my ministry. There are a couple of very talented and skilled people that say or imply things like “I want to do _____” or I don’t think I’m going to serve. Or “I’m going to do ______ or I quit.” - that type of thing. These aren’t people that I’m ready to “fire”. They definitely have some heart/attitude issues that need to be addressed, but the firing of the individual I mentioned last week was well beyond that.
As I’ve said before and will say again: ministry is people and people come in all shapes, sizes and personalities. Every church has them - the team members that you have to spend more time with than others, the ones that you have to have plenty of communication with, meetings with to discuss something they’ve said or done, extra coffees, breakfasts or lunches to get to know them better and allow them to get to know your heart better.
Thank God these people don’t make up the majority of your team (at least they don’t for me), but they do exist on each team. Though they can be frustrating and challenging, I do take a step back every now and then and see how God is using me and our technical ministry to shape and mold them into a person more like Christ. These difficult people are prime opportunities for growth and with the proper leadership will one day turn into model team members. I’ve seen it time and time again.
My number one request of myself, my staff, and my volunteers is that we are teachable. You don’t have to get it right every time, you don’t have to know it all - just be teachable. That’s all I’m looking for. I have a TON of grace for someone that’s teachable.
SIDEBAR:
Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.” A while back I was going to make that comment its own blog post. I can’t tell you how many times one of you has emailed me to ask a question and my response has been something like, “I honestly don’t know, but here’s someone who might…”. If you’ve ever heard that from me before, you know I’m telling the truth. If you don’t know something, just admit it and either give the task, question or project to someone that does or commit to learn it and let God stretch you.
SIDEBAR END
THE LESSON:
So - back to refining the team. Some things are constant, friends.
- You will always (and I mean always) need to be constantly recruiting and training new team members. Team members leave or step down all the time for various reasons. You must work hard and constantly to see that your team has depth - I can’t stress this enough.
- You will always need to keep attitudes in check. My boss calls it “keeping a short account”. If someone has an attitude on Sunday, we are meeting on Monday - it’s that simple. Don’t allow things to fester and go on without accountability.
- You will always need to be in communication with your team. Whether it be in person, phone calls, or emails - you should be touching base with your team regularly. Send them random thoughts, praises, dreams, goals, devotionals, stories of what God is doing at your church (often they don’t get to hear the stories that you do).
- You will always need to be growing personally, spiritually and professionally. You are their leader. They look to you for wisdom, discernment, guidance, vision and shepherding. You’ve got to stay on your knees (I’m talking to myself, too). You’ve got to stay in the Word (I’m really preaching to myself now). You’ve got to ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and discernment, which God’s Word tells us He will give to those that ask (Proverbs 2:1-11 and James 1:5). You also should be reading. I encourage you to always be reading some type of book on leadership. If you can’t buy it, go to the Library and check one out.
Here’s what I’d love for you to comment on: What is one or some of your favorite books on leadership?
EXTRA:
If you haven’t heard, yet: Granger Community Church is going multi-campus. Check out Pastor Mark Beeson’s announcement HERE.
EXTRA, EXTRA:
For an update on my blog post “Blu-Ray It Is”, you can read the latest HERE.
BONUS:
To mi amigo, Mark, who requested more links to free stuff. I do still link to free media downloads as I come across them. I try to list the ones that people wouldn’t come across on their own. If you’re just looking for any free stuff, click on my “Blog Sponsors” tab above and go to each of the sponsors websites. Most of them have a monthly free download. HERE’S a FREE download you may not know of.
February 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Thanks for the pointers and encouragement. As someone who will hopefully be starting a new AV team in a few months, I will refer to this post constantly.
A few notes:
ITA with being able to say “I don’t know.” Admitting the truth has never been hard for me, and I have always counted it as a blessing that I am able to say “I don’t know” without hesitation. I highly recommend others become this way.
Go Blu-ray! wee!
Matthew
February 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
It’s good to see you teaching leadership. As a Marine, I can see where many civilian leaders need the kind of instruction that you offer in this article. It’s not that civilians are incapable of leadership, by any means, but rather that Marines have a system already in place to teach it, whereas civilians have to be a little more deliberate. The body of Christ has a hierarchy that even passes along to the less religious parts of our lives. When this hierarchy operates correctly, it is a good thing and it glorifies God by imitating Him and by teaching younger Christians what it means to “submit yourselves to each other” in love and humility.
You asked about books on leadership. One of the best that I’ve read (although I have to admit that I haven’t finished it yet) is “Don’t Waste Your Life” by John Piper. It’s difficult to lead a team when you’re not sure which direction to go. This book is a fantastic discussion about what is essential. Quote: “The ethical question ‘whether something is permissible’ faded in relation to the question, ‘what is the main thing, the essential thing?’ The thought of building a life around…the question, ‘What is permissible?’ felt almost disgusting to me. …I wanted to understand the MAIN thing about life and pursue it.” When we become consumed by and obsessed with the single most important and ultimately essential thing in life, you can hardly AVOID leading people in that direction.
In His image,
Matt H.
February 18th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
excellent post, ta Greg… A good reminder to keep short accounts. None of us like conflict, but the bext conflict is a short one!
February 18th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
If this is not a devotional for church leaders, I don’t know what is. Great advice..everyone has something to add the team, the key role of the leader is finding out what that something is and helping to implement to the betterment of the team (church). I have found from 26 years of management that when people realize they have worth to the organization they become more open to learning something new. I have read several books on leadership over the years and the one that had the most profound impact on me was “Jesus on Leadership” C. Gene Wilkes. This is really more of a workbook, but it really forces you to examine yourself, explore your styles of leadership, styles of communication, and your spiritual gifts. Beyond that, without a doubt anything by Zig Ziglar is good, and of course “The One Minute Manager”. Yes the latter is a secular book but many of the premises the author uses are biblically based and modeled by Jesus. Enjoy!