If Your Staff Has Questions, Demand Options

Assembling and getting the most out of your staff is one of the toughest things that a pastor deals with in leading a growing church. On top of all that has to be done from week to week, staff communication can quickly become overwhelming.

In one of my recent coaching networks, someone asked this question: “How do you deal with all the questions that staff members bring you?”

What a great question – and one that many of us don’t think to ask. I wanted to take just a moment to share a principle on this topic.

Here’s the quick hit (in case you’re running late for an appointment):

If Your Staff Has Questions, Demand Options

What I mean is that, as a leader, you should never respond to a question from a staff member (in person, by phone or email) unless they first give you two or three suggested answers.

Why?

1) Because they know better than you. The fact that they are asking tells you that they have already spent more time thinking about it than you have.

This is essential, because it only gets more true the larger your church grows. When The Journey was just getting started, I knew everything that happened in every area. Not so these days.

Let the staff member share their thoughts on the question, then you can help them build on those thoughts.

2) Your staff needs to learn to think for themselves. In leadership development, it’s vital that you are being intentional about helping your staff learn to think.

If they can just run to you and let you fix it every time they run into a problem, how are you helping them grow?

Use your staff’s questions to teach them to think.

3) Perhaps the most important reason for implementing this principle is that you get better answers when you have multiple people thinking about the solution. It’s the old “two heads are better than one” idiom.

All of us are smarter than any of us.

I hope that’s helpful!

P.S. To learn six secret skills every leader can develop, check out Leadership Skills for a Growing Church

Church Growth Hero – Dr. Ralph Winter

Yesterday was the memorial service for Dr. Ralph Winter.  I only met Dr. Winter one time at a missions planning meeting in Irvine, CA, but his writings and speaking have had a great impact on my thinking.

I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that Dr. Winter was the most influential missiologist of the second half of the 20th century.  He was the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission, William Carey International University, and the International Society for Frontier Missiology.

Beyond all of that, perhaps his most notable contribution to world missions was his introduction of the concept of “unreached people groups” in 1974.  This led to a shift in thinking from a country by country approach to a more Biblical, “all peoples” approach to reaching the world for Christ.

I hope you’ll take a moment to thank God for Dr. Ralph Winter and for using him in such a powerful way to stoke the fire of world evangelization.

Dr. Ralph D. Winter
1924 – 2009

Here are a couple of Dr. Winter’s most influential works:

• Perspectives on the World Christian Movement
• Dr. Winter’s Paper Lausanne 1974

Great Lesson – Saturday Quote

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
— Benjamin Franklin: 18th century statesman, scientist, and writer

A Gift Certificate for You

I hope you got my podcast email that went out earlier this week.  If not, you can subscribe here.  You can also listen to my latest podcast here.

At the bottom of the email I shared a 10% off coupon code.   We’ve had a bunch of people using that code already, but I know it slipped past a few of you.

So I’ve decided to reward you for faithfully reading my blog.  I’m sweetening the deal and giving you 20% OFF of whatever you invest in through the Church Leader Insights store between now and Monday.

Simply enter the special code BLOGREADER and click “Apply” when you’re checking out to receive 20% OFF!

And remember, this discount is only good through Monday!

P.S. You never know what you might be missing if you’re not reading my emails… or my blog

Free Download – My Mid-Year Giving Letter

Just a couple of days ago I put the finishing touches on my mid-year Giving Letter that will go out with the 2nd Quarter Giving Statements to all of The Journey’s givers.  I thought I would take a moment today to share it with you (the link to download it is below).

In addition to the letter I’m enclosing:

• Year to Date Giving Statement
• Giving Envelope
• Auto Debit Form
• Series Promo Postcard
• And custom printed ice cream scoop

All of this in 6 x 9 envelope.  The ice cream scoop makes it lumpy so its certain to be opened.  Your giving letters are worthless if no one opens them!

In the past, my giving letters have been very well received.  You can see the ones I’ve posted prior for a sample on how to write this one up.

Here’s the current letter:

2Q 2009 Giving Statement Letter.doc

P.S. To learn more about how to get your church’s Stewardship System running on all cylinders, check out The Stewardship Intensive.

Q & A: Too Much Space?

I just want to thank all of you (over 600 senior pastors) who participated in one of my Top 3 Growth Barriers Webinars last week.  What an awesome experience!

Here’s one of the follow-up questions I answered about the SPACE growth barrier:

Q: As I was listening to you teach about the “space” growth barrier, I got to thinking about our situation and wondering if there is a “reverse space” growth barrier as well…

In other words, is there a point when the room is too empty?  At what point does the room feel so empty that the extra seats become another growth barrier altogether?  What can be done if “too much space” is having a negative impact to growth?

A: Thanks so much for logging on for the Top 3 Growth Barriers Webinar.  I hope you found it helpful!

Let me first say that your questions is a good one and it sounds to me like you’re asking the right questions trying to find out what’s keeping your church from growing.

Here’s my basic advice on this issue: It’s easier to make a large space feel smaller than to make a small space feel big.

If the space is too large, there are some very practical things you can do to “shrink” the area.

One great technique for shrinking the space is to put up pipe and drape (like you might see at a trade show) to cordon off part of the space so you have about twice as many seats as you need.  If you have the measurements of your building, a company like Georgia Expo can supply you with the pipe and drape.

Let’s say you have 100 people, you would use the pipe and drape to shrink the room to 200 seats or so.  As your church grows, you simply move the pipe and drape back, opening up more and more seats.  This does a great job of creating the smaller space and gives you plenty of flexibility to expand as you grow.

We use this technique at The Journey’s Brooklyn location and it works great.

I have also used custom chair covers to cut off the chairs in the back of the room (forcing people to sit toward the front).

I hope that helps!

P.S. You can learn all about SPACE and the other 8 most common growth barriers that all churches face, regardless of size, in The Growth Barriers Workshop.

Sunday Coaching Alumni Highlight

It’s Sunday, so it’s time for me to tell you about another one of my recent coaching alumni.

This week’s highlight is Heath Davis.  Heath is the founding pastor of Pinnacle Church in North Carolina and a former Marine (so don’t mess with him).  After meeting in rented facilities up until now, Heath is leading his church through their first building campaign.

Keep working to reach the people of western NC for Christ, Heath!

Heath Davis
Lead Pastor
Pinnacle Church
Canton, NC
http://www.mypinnaclechurch.com

Won’t you consider applying for my upcoming Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network?

For more information or to apply now, visit:

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/telecoaching

What We Give (A Saturday Quote)

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill, British prime minister

Q & A – Pastor’s Newcomer Small Group?

This is Kerrick Thomas – I’m the Executive Pastor at The Journey Church and the co-author of “Activate” with Nelson. Just a while back, Nelson asked me to answer the following question and then to share my answer with you:

Q: Our leadership team has asked me to have a “pastor’s small group” with new people.

We are seeing new people at church every week now and we’re really trying to do a better job of connecting them.

Any suggestions on what to do or how many to have? We think that after this, I may be able to direct them into other small groups.

A: Thanks for your question. Let me first say this: having new people attending your church is a good “problem” to have.

As far as having a “Pastor’s Small Group” for new people, of course you can do that – and you might have some success with early sign-ups. But that has not been our strategy or philosophy at The Journey.

Our goal is to get new people into a small group where they can develop relationships within the church as quickly as possible.

We really believe that a regular small group with regular people from your church has the potential to connect a new person to your church just as effectively if not more effectively than a group led by the lead pastor.

We have faith that our Sunday service is the front door of the church and that our small groups close the back door.

If there is a reason why a regular small group wouldn’t be effective in connecting a new person to the church, introducing them to the church culture and assimilating them, that might be an indication that something is not quite right in your current small groups system.

The only advantage I can think of to the lead pastor leading such a group is that it might draw a crowd of people to it. But that purpose is served just as effectively by having a monthly or every two month Newcomers Reception for those new to the church hosted by the lead pastor after a Sunday service. Then you can encourage the newcomers at that event to sign up for a small group.

Another question to consider is this – is that where your energies are best served? As lead pastor are there other groups that you could lead that no one else could lead? Is this really where you want to spend your energies every semester? And is it really a scalable model as your church grows if it’s built on you leading it?

Yes – you could lead the small group for newcomers – and it might work. But we believe that it’s better to get newcomers integrated into our regular small groups immediately with our members and regular attenders so that they can naturally get involved in the life of the church.

Those are just my initial thoughts – I hope they are helpful!

God bless…

Kerrick

P.S. For an all-inclusive look at how to implement an effective Small Groups System at your church, check out The Small Groups Intensive.

Q & A – Re-Launch

Hi, it’s Kerrick Thomas again – Executive and Teaching Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Launch. Nelson asked me to share my answer to this recent question about re-launching a church:

Q: I recently came across your book “Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch,” and was hoping for some assistance.

I have recently become the pastor of an older church that is on its last legs. Our attendance is very low currently and the church has been declining for years.

However, those who are still around have expressed a renewed passion lately to make a real Kingdom difference in our community and the consensus is that we are ready and willing to do “whatever it takes.”

With that in mind, we are trying to put together a strategic plan to “re-launch” the church – not to dismiss the church’s history, but to demonstrate our renewed vision to reach this community for Christ.

I know your book was about “launching” a new church, but could you give me any advice on how to re-Launch this one?

A: Thanks so much for the question. My suggestion is that you follow the “Launch” model and pick a strategic launch date for your weekly services.

Back off of that date by 6 months and do 6 monthly services leading up to that launch date. Ask those who have been attending to join you in the endeavor to re-launch and be part of your new “Launch Team.”

Then use the monthly services and creative “come-back events” (fun events like cook-outs, movies, etc. between the monthly services) to recruit people to be on your launch team.

The entire goal of the launch team is to successfully launch the weekly services. So, you are not focusing on discipling your launch team, but on equipping them to serve and prepare for the beginning of the church.

We lay out this process in Launch and I suggest that you do the same thing in your re-launch as a normal church planter would do in an initial launch.

I hope that helps – please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help!

P.S. You might consider getting your hands on the 2-Day Launch Conference that Nelson and I taught for ideas of what to do and how to prepare your launch team.

Here’s a link to grab The Launch Conference on CD.

Profane Preachers

On my recent panel discussion at Fox News I was asked if I thought it was appropriate to use foul language in the church (curse words, profanity, etc.).

My answer was ‘No’ and I did my best to explain it, but honestly, Ed Young says it so much better than me in this 3 minute video:

Thanks Ed!

P.S. Looking for something “clean” to say from your pulpit?
Check out these Sermon Series

Free Webinars this Week!

We have over 400 Senior Pastors signed up for my Top 3 Growth Barriers Webinars this week, are you one of them?

I’m pumped about the response we have gotten so far.  After originally planning to offer this webinar free to the first 50 Senior Pastors, we were overwhelmed (in a good way).

The team and I went back to the drawing board, made some new arrangements, and made sure we had plenty of space to accommodate everyone.

That being said, if you’re a Senior Pastor and haven’t signed up yet, we have room for you.

We’re offering the webinar at 4 different times from Tuesday through Thursday for your convenience (no matter which time zone you’re in) and it’s FREE.

To find out more or to register now, CLICK HERE. It’s not too late!

Sunday Coaching Alumni Highlight

It’s Sunday, so I get to share another one of my recent coaching alumni with you.

David Kim pastors another church right here in Metro New York.  It’s exciting to be able to partner with guys like David to maximize the Kingdom impact throughout our city and beyond.  Keep up the good work David!

David Kim
Lead Pastor
Promise International Fellowship
Queens, NY
http://www.pifny.org/

Will you consider applying for my upcoming Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network?

For more information or to apply now, visit:

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/telecoaching

Manage Time (A Saturday Quote)

“Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.”
– Peter F. Drucker, Author and Management Expert

P.S. For 34 proven principles to help you manage time, check out Time Management for Busy Pastors.

Free Sermons

Quick post this morning – I just wanted to share some free stuff with all of you.

Here’s a link for you to download 3 of my sermon transcripts for FREE.

These three sermon transcripts are designed to help you lead your church to be obedient to God, to live a life that makes a difference, and to focus on what’s most important:

• Pausing for What Matters Most
• What Drives My Life
• How to Get the Most Out of Life

Here’s the link:
http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/resources/free_sermons.php

P.S. For complete Sermon Series packages (messages, graphics, etc.), CLICK HERE.

Stop By and See Me at Willow

Are you attending the Willow Arts Conference this week?

If so, stop by and see me – I’ll be leading the teaching track.

Also, please pray for me as this is a great opportunity to share as a part of a powerful conference.

Hope to see you there!

Thanks,

Nelson

Top 10 Hiring Lessons

Here’s a great compilation of hiring lessons that my friend Dan Reiland (The Pastor’s Coach) sent out last week:

“Never Hire Your Mama”
by Dan Reiland

King Asa fired his grandmother. That’s a rough day in the palace I don’t care you are! Read the story in I Kings 15:9-15.

9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10 and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done. 12 He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made. 13 He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. 15 He brought into the temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.

Yup, he “deposed” (to remove from office or position, esp. high office) Grammy Maacah! The best way to prevent a nightmare like this is to hire well. 80% of all difficult staffing issues are covered if you hire well.

I’ve made my mistakes over the years, and a few were costly. But I’ve learned and developed the art of hiring. No one bats 100% but the following hiring maxims will make your life easier and your staff more enjoyable and productive.

1. Never hire anyone you would avoid on your day off.
Chemistry is a big deal. Life is short, you need to enjoy the people you spend significant amounts of time with. Give yourself permission to hire and fire with that in mind. Hiring based heavily on chemistry can feel counter-intuitive when you are considering a person of high character and high competence. In other words, not hiring because you don’t connect well may seem dumb. It’s not. Let me be blunt. If you don’t like someone, eventually, over the long haul, both of you will become less effective, (competence.) If you then continue to take a paycheck that’s about character! I’m not suggesting that you refrain from hiring someone because of a little personality quirk, that’s what makes us all human and frankly interesting. I’m talking about basic chemistry… do you like being around the person or not?

2. Hire slow.
Take your time. It’s far better to have an open position and endure that pressure than it is to hire the wrong person. I have waited months for many hires, and nearly two years for one senior level position. In all cases it was the right thing. Always call references. Ask the references for more references and call them. Testing slows the process down, but is a good idea. While you don’t want to put someone in a box, many tests provide helpful insights. One of my favorites is the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, but I recommend that you contact a couple of the best therapists / psychologists in your area to get their advice. And speaking of tests, I strongly recommend running a criminal background check on all hires. You’d be surprised! (Check with your attorney on this first. Different states have different rulings.)

3. Never lower your standards.
Don’t let desperation push you. When your desperation becomes high, your standards become low. I know how it goes. The position is open for seemingly too long. God doesn’t seem to answer your prayers – when in fact He may be protecting you from a bad hire. And, you just want to get it done! I know. In almost all these cases, you begin to gradually drop your standards. You think to yourself, “This person isn’t exactly the right person, but then again, no one is perfect.” And so you begin down the road to mediocrity. Stick to your original hiring criteria. That person is out there. Find them.

4. Invest in growth over administration.
This is a tough one. We are all tempted to beef up our systems by increasing our administrative and support staff. That’s one way to help keep the organization crisp and efficient. Over-hiring administrative staff is also one of the best ways to kill an organization. A comfortable and smooth-running bureaucracy never grows an organization. OK, the word bureaucracy is a little over-the-top. But I want to paint a clear picture for you. If you attempt to remove normal ministry tension by making all systems smooth and easy, you are headed down a dangerous road. Creativity and innovation will be limited. All growing organizations experience tension. That’s normal. The key is to understand the difference between a tension to be managed and a problem to be solved. It is always wiser and a far better investment to put your first staffing dollars into new staff members who contribute to the literal growth of the church. (I’m not talking about financial raises for existing administrative staff, I’m referring to hiring new staff members.)

5. Figure out who they are under pressure.
A good percentage of church leadership is neither difficult nor complicated. It’s exhausting because of the relational elements, but not rocket-science. You keep good relationships, and make the right decisions at the right time for the right reasons. But the moment pressure shows up, everything changes. Under pressure (all growing churches are under pressure, and large growing churches experience lots of pressure) what was relatively routine becomes difficult and what was simple enough becomes complicated. It’s critical to assess and have a thorough knowledge of each new hire’s ability to thrive under pressure. From reference calls to asking a question in an interview like: “What would you think if I told you this interview was not going well?” Give them a tough case study to solve or visit their church and ask them to let you in on one of the problems they currently are attempting to solve to let you take a look and talk with them about it. Do whatever it takes to know their ability and capacity under pressure.

6. Ask brilliant questions.
The education system tells you there is no such thing as a stupid question. Yes there is. There are lots of stupid questions and its part of your job to not waste time by asking them. Here’s the secret, it’s not the question itself that is stupid or brilliant. It’s who you ask it to, at the moment you ask, in that certain context and for what reason. That’s what makes a question brilliant or not. We all have lists of questions. I have a long list too. I have books full of interview questions. That’s just busy work. The art of brilliant question-asking includes timing, context, purpose, assessment and what new question the answer cultivates.

7. Pay well, but don’t buy the employee.
This is another tough one. One strategy says don’t talk about the salary until the very end of the process. Find their heart and know their calling first. Another strategy says put the salary on the table up front and make it clear from the beginning. Both have merit. You don’t want to get so emotionally deep into the process that you end up paying too much for the position, and yet you do want to pay well with a generous spirit. I think the bottom line is that no one is so good that you should feel obligated to offer a salary that makes you uneasy. We all want to hire eagles, but there are guidelines to follow. Not rules to bow to, but guidelines to keep wise structures in balance. Bottom line… be willing to walk away!

8. Interview outside the office when you can
Especially when it comes to more senior level staff, don’t do all your interviewing in the office. Even if you just get out to a restaurant or a Starbucks, it’s important to spend time in normal and lifestyle environments. Then pay attention to how the person responds. I’ve interviewed in environments from baseball games to racing boats on a lake. One interview was in the middle of the jungle in Sri Lanka! You will always learn more about the person in those settings. You don’t have to get weird about it, but you get the idea. One of my favorite things is to toss them the keys and let them drive the car. That’s always revealing.

9. Don’t hire competency when insecurity comes with it.
No amount of competency overcomes insecurity. I can usually smell insecurity from a mile away. In a young staff member, that’s not always bad. Everyone has a little insecurity, but it’s an unbelievably dangerous combination to have a highly gifted and talented person who is also insecure. They can’t help themselves, they will implode in time. Insecure people are easily offended, they make it all about them, and they usually want the spotlight thought they will say they don’t. My sincere caution to you is if you suspect you are talking with an insecure leader, thank them, pick up the check, and call it a day.

10. Don’t hire for today.
When I first started as an XP (Executive Pastor) I made this mistake several times. I assessed and chose a person who could handle the job as it currently was. Big mistake. They may do a good job for the first few months, but as soon as the job grows to a size and scope in which they are over their head – you’re in trouble. Always hire for the job at the next level. Picture the position at the next click up and hire someone with at least that much capacity.

There you have it. These are ten hiring maxims to help you make wise choices and strengthen your team. Add a few more of your own and if you practice them, you will be glad you did!

Great list Dan – thanks!

Praying for Gary Lamb and his family

This morning my text inbox and email have been full with questions about Gary Lamb’s resignation from Revolution Church.  Gary is a two time alumni of my coaching networks and he helped lead one of my coaching networks in Atlanta.  I consider Gary a friend.

Many pastors have emailed to asked me, “How should we respond?”  Here’s my response:

We should pray!

We should pray for Gary, Deanna, his children, Revolution Church, the staff of Revolution Church, and all that are currently hurt, angry and sad.

Now is not the time to be critical or judgmental or quick to respond.  I encourage you not to write your opinions of the announcement or your opinions about the situation or people involved on your blog.  At minimum, give it some time. . . a lot of time.  A quick response is rarely a godly response.  Do not write or tweet or post anything you will later regret.

I am praying!

Nelson

Sunday Coaching Alumni Highlight

I have begun sharing some of my recent coaching alumni each Sunday, and today’s highlight is from just outside of Philadelphia, PA.

Craig is an example of a pastor with an eye toward the “long view.”  He has been at his church for over 30 years, from two dozen attendees to over 3,000 – Keep up the good work!

Craig Bishop
Senior Pastor
Branch Creek Community Church
Harleysville, PA
http://www.branchcreek.org/

Will you consider applying for my upcoming Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network?

For more information or to apply now, visit:

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/telecoaching

True Courage (A Saturday Quote)

“Courage is not limited to the battlefield. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like enduring pain when the room is empty or standing alone when you’re misunderstood.”
– Charles Swindoll