Communication Works – A Saturday Quote

“Communication works for those who work at it.”
— John Powell: Professor

The Key to Failure – A Saturday Quote

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
– Bill Cosby, Comedian

The Hard Truth About Criticism for Church Leaders

Every church leader I’ve ever known has felt the biting sting of criticism.

Most of us learn quickly that critics are a fact of life for those who have been called to leadership in Christ’s church – but that doesn’t exempt us from the pain.

As a result, I’m always on the lookout for sound teaching on the topic.

Here’s a great article on the subject of criticism from John Koessler that I read this week:

Worse Things Have Been Said

Not long after I graduated from seminary, I spoke to a friend about my discouragement with the church I was serving. Looking back I realize now that things were not as bad as they seemed. The opposition I faced was the sort that every young pastor deals with, especially when he is eager to prove himself. But at the time it seemed to me that I had made a terrible mistake.

Some of the church’s charter members were grumbling about changes I had initiated. A few even hinted that I had bullied the church’s leaders into seeing things my way. Their criticism was unfounded but it stung just the same. I began to wonder if I was wrong to accept a call to this congregation. My friend listened to my tale of woe but was unsympathetic. “Worse things have been said about better men” he told me. I was annoyed by his blunt reply but could not disagree with his point.

Jesus warned those who speak in his name that they will also share in his reproach: “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!” (Matt. 10:24-25)

The problem here is ultimately one of authority. Christ’s words serve as fair warning to all who preach that divine authority does not guarantee a smooth path. We would like to think that God given authority also gives us leverage with our hearers. “Listen to us,” we want to say. “We speak for God.” But the same Bible that gives us our authority also offers ample proof of the congregation’s capacity for discounting that authority.

Preaching is an awkward business. The preacher does not give advice, the preacher declares. The preacher tells people what is right and what is wrong. When they turn to the right or the left, the preacher stands before them like the angel who stood in Balaam’s path, and says, “This is the way, walk in it.” What right do we have to make such demands? Who are we to tell others how to live?

Preaching is impolite. When we preach we draw public conclusions about the motives of our listeners and impugn their character. We utter things from the pulpit that we would not dare to say in private conversation, at least not to strangers!

This is the preacher’s prophetic responsibility. “Prophetic preaching does not necessarily imply that the preacher assumes the role of Jeremiah or Amos, but that the preacher remains faithful to the prophetic dimensions of biblical texts” Thomas G. Long explains. “If the word comes from God in the biblical text, the preacher remains true to that word, regardless of the reaction or the cost.”

Unfortunately, the prophetic mantle cannot guarantee that every barb that aimed in our direction is undeserved. Some of the complaints leveled against us are warranted. The reproach we bear is not always the reproach of Christ. Sometimes it comes as a result of rash decisions we have made or right words spoken in the wrong spirit. My friend was right. Worse things have been said about better men. And just as often better things are said about us than we deserve.

“Worse things have been said about better men.”  What a great (and profoundly true) statement!

P.S. For a brief resource on the topic of dealing with your critics, check out How to Handle Criticism (MP3 Download).

Staffing for Success – The DISC Profile

Some of the best (and often unused) tools in hiring someone for your church staff are pre-hiring tests, and one of the tests we’ve found to be especially useful is the DISC Profile.

The DISC is a personality profile that rates potential hires (or those already on staff) in four distinct categories: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness.

A healthy staff needs a good mix of personalities for maximum effectiveness – just look at Jesus’ staff team.

Many of you have asked what website we use for the DISC, so here it is:

www.OnlineDISCProfile.com

By taking advantage of the DISC, you’ll gain a better understanding of how to best lead your existing staff and how a potential new hire will fit on your team.

P.S. For a comprehensive guide to how to recruit, hire, manage and de-hire staff, check out The Staffing Workshop.

How to Avoid Criticism – A Saturday Quote

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”
– Aristotle

Andy Stanley on Asking the Right Questions – CLI Newsletter Rewind

Are you signed up?

Did you know that each month, as a part of the “Church Leader Insights Family,” you receive the CLI Newsletter, directly to your inbox, packed with the best church leadership content I can find.

Just in case you missed it, here’s an Andy Stanley article that was included in this month’s newsletter:

ANDY STANLEY ON ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

“You need to identify three or four gauges to watch. Attendance is an obvious one. As a church, there will always be a need to know that particular number. But if we laser in on attendance and ignore everything else, we’ll get such a small picture of the real health of our churches.

I encourage you to dig deeper and think about things like: How many leaders vs. apprentices do we have in our ministries? How many seasoned leaders are helping vs. newcomers that need help?

As you find the correct gauges, you’ll discover that they help monitor health as well as growth.”  Read More…

The Church Leader Insights Newsletter is designed to bring you the best available material on Church Growth, Evangelism, Leadership and Church Planting every month – and all you have to do is check your email!

If you’re not already subscribed, you can click this link to sign up right now.

Check Facebook before You Hire!

When you have a few candidates in mind for a position, in addition to the personality tests and strengths assessments I suggest in The Staffing Workshop, be sure to check them out on Facebook too.

Check out their photo library, their updates and their recent postings.

What does it tell you about them?

Does their Facebook page affirm that you are moving in the right direction or give you pause?

Is there anything there that gives you a hint of an uneasy stomach? You get the picture…

While you are at it, Google them and do a Twitter search too.

With minimal effort, we have access to information that we could have only dreamed of a few years ago.

This bit of web detective work, while it takes a few minutes, may save you years of regret from hiring the wrong person.

Oh, and in the business world, this is now standard practice.

Remember, staffing success is 95% hiring well!

Nelson

P.S. For the best hiring principles and practices (and tips on recruiting, managing and “de-hiring” too), check out The Staffing Workshop.

Healthy “Self-Promotion” – A Saturday Quote

“You promote yourself every time you take on a new responsibility.”
– William Gore, executive  (Founder of Gore-Tex)

How to Avoid Hiring The Wrong Person

In The Staffing Workshop, I advocate a principle that I strongly believe in – ALWAYS interviewing 3 people for any open position.

Another staffing principle I recommend is to “Always Be Recruiting” (ABR). Always be looking for qualified people who you want to join your ministry team.

The natural question that follows when I teach these two principles is something like this: “If I’ve found someone that I think would be a great fit on our staff through the ABR method, should I still interview three people?”

And my answer is…. OF COURSE!

No matter what, you should always interview three people and here’s why:

• Comparison Data – You get to see how “your” candidate really compares to others who are interested in the position. Without a measuring stick, it’s easy to convince yourself that even a mediocre candidate is head and shoulders above anyone else.
• Improved Interviews - In the process of interviewing three candidates, you’ll be more likely to ask the tougher questions, dig a little deeper and get a clear picture of who the candidate is (and isn’t)
• Avoiding One of Staffing’s Biggest Pitfalls – By going through the three interview process, you’ll avoid the situation that de-rails many otherwise healthy staffing decisions: falling in love with the candidate!

So, just in case you missed it… I always recommend interviewing at least three people for any open position.

I can tell you from personal experience and careful observation that you’ll be glad you did!

P.S. For more proven staffing principles in a comprehensive, almost six hour training resource, check out The Staffing Workshop.

Don’t Miss the Open Door – A Saturday Quote

“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.”
– Alexander Graham Bell, inventor