Your Role as a Leader

“Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, doing my best with the

energy God so generously gives me.”Colossians 1 The Message

By Rev. Cindy Gregorson

Introductions

Name Church Location and Average Worship

Attendance How long have you been appointed there? Top question for today.

Three Questions

How do you understand your role as the pastor of the church?

What is the specific role and function of your leadership team (board, council)?

What does it mean to be a spiritually anchored leader in your congregation?

Leaders lead…

By example, as mature disciples of Christ By teaching, so members understand the

direction the leader is taking With patience, recognizing that people don’t

change overnight Through servanthood, caring about the

congregation over personal glory

Servanthood?Jim Collins describes a high level leader as

“A paradoxical blend of personal humility and

professional will”

Does this sound like Jesus?

Successful leaders are relational

They love their members They listen They are personal They value each individual

Great leaders are intentional

Clarity about purpose Focus on what is most important Appropriately stubborn and flexible Resourceful

Permission to lead comes from care and competence.

“People willingly give you permission to lead and influence

them once they are convinced how much you care for them… and

believe you can take them where you are asking them to go.”

Different Size Churches

Require Different Leadership Styles

25 – 100 Worship1. A willing leader2. A cohesive group of

willing followers3. No intolerable

pressures or competition for your role

Family Size

The pastor is the chaplain to the family Church is led by parental figures called

matriarchs and patriarchs Relationships trump everything Decisions often made outside the formal

governing process.

100 – 225 Worship

1. An attractive leader with outreach gifts

2. Marginal quality of congregation/facilities/ programs/preaching

3. Middle-size group dynamics

4. Members using outreach skills

Pastoral Size

Pastor is at the center Church is led by pastor and small leadership

circle Pastor expected to have a direct pastoral

relationship with each member Governing board operates like a committee,

arranging much of the day-to-day life of the congregation

225 – 500 Worship

1. A warm, team-leader pastor

2. Ability for attendees to connect with new people

3. Large group dynamics & outreach oriented value system

4. Average or better quality of facilities, programs and preaching

5. Proper number, dynamics and diversity of “open groups”

Program Size

The church has many cells of activities headed by key lay leaders

Pastor recruits, inspires, equips lay leaders; less direct hands-on ministry

Leadership is shared with staff and lay leaders.

The governing board is focused on setting direction, strategic initiatives, garnering resources.

500 – 1000 Worship

1. Managerial staff strengths and proper staff ratio

2. “Large church” mindset with good quality facilities/programs/preaching

3. Developing new ministries related to the new age groups being attracted

4. Mobilization of over 50% of the congregation

Corporate Size Church

Pastor-head of staff, managing a multiple staff

Ministry direction often set by pastor/staff and form teams to implement

Spiritual support/pastoral care in small groups or trained lay leaders

Board: spiritual leaders, big picture, future oriented

1000+ Worship1. Visionary Leadership2. Delegated

Management3. Expanding Leader

Base4. Exceptional Quality5. Multiplication of

“Churches”

Table Conversation

What size church are you at? What are the leadership dynamics? How are you adjusting your leadership to fit

your setting? How are you leading spiritually, relationally

and strategically?

Building Strong Teams

What Does Your Board Do?

Is your board primarily concerned with matters of control and micromanagement?

Is your board constantly meeting and deciding about every detail of congregational life?

Is the board focused on praying and dreaming about the future?

What Does Your Board Do?

Is the board dedicated to mentoring and equipping emerging leaders?

Is the board deeply involved in shepherding and caring for people?

Is your board serving as a “representative body” endlessly discussing matters of perceived importance to the congregation?

Accountable LeadershipPosition Players Functions Metaphors

Ministry MembersOutreach first then

care for one another

Teammates, champions,

athletes, etc…

Management Staff Equipping and coordination

Assistant coaches and specialists

Leadership Pastor Vision, direction and teaching

Head coach, or quarterback, captain, etc…

Governance Board Accountability and support

Commissioner, umpire,

scorekeeper & cheerleader

What Your Board Should Be Doing!

To work with the pastor, ministry staff and congregation to develop a corporate vision for the church: where are we going?.

To provide the organizational structures and staffing patterns to facilitate the mission and ministries of the church: what do we need to get there?

To monitor the appropriateness of the church’s mission and to assess the performance of the workers and program ministries: how are we doing?

What Your Board Should Be Doing?

To provide an effective process for bringing new members to the board and to work with the pastor to train new candidates. Who is God raising up in our midst?

To create a continual climate of trust. What do we need to be communicating, and to whom?

To ensure that the pastor is effective in this particular congregation. What do we know that you need to know?

Choose Your Leaders Wisely

Pastor chair of nominating committee Develop leadership criteria Spend time with your potential leaders Who are your 3 and 12?

Some Questions to Think About

What specifically are we asking these leaders to do? Are we looking for decision makers, efficient managers, visionary leaders, opinion leaders, or….?

In what specific ways do we expect our leaders to reflect spiritual maturity?

What level of credibility and trust do we require of potential leaders in our congregations?

Healthy Teams

Trust One Another

Get to Know Each Other Personality Types: • People/Task • Talkers/ Listeners• Deciders/Dreamers• Show Me/I Just Know

Team Covenant/Core Agreements

The Role of the Leader

Mine for Conflict

Ask provocative questions Don’t push for a decision too early Invite people to think, write, share Create an environment for rigorous debate

within an attitude of personal respect

Force Clarity and Closure

Four Ways to Decide

Command: such a low stakes issue we don’t care, or trust the ability of the delegate to make the right decision. More involvement adds nothing.• Allow people choice when can within

boundaries.• Explain why.

Four Ways to Decide

Consult: when many people will be affected, you can gather information relatively quickly, people care about the decision and there are many options, some of them controversial. • Don’t pretend to consult• Announce what you are doing• Report your decision

Four Ways to Decide

Vote: when have several great options, and efficiency matters. Should not be used when team members don’t agree to support whatever decision is chosen.• Weigh the consequences: there will be winners and

losers so only vote when the losers don’t really care all that much.

• Know when to vote: to reduce the list from 20 to 5 for example.

• Don’t cop out with a vote: should never replace patient analysis and healthy dialogue.

Four Ways to Decide

Consensus: Only should be used with high stakes and complex issues, and issues where everybody must absolutely support the final decision.• Don’t force consensus onto everything.• Don’t pretend everyone gets his or her first choice.

About doing what is best for the group.• No martyrs please. • Don’t take turns. Decisions should be based on merit.• Don’t engage in post-decision lobbying.• Don’t say, “I told you so.”

Fours Questions to Ask

Who cares? Who wants to be involved and who will be affected? Don’t involve people who don’t care.

Who knows? Who has the expertise you need to make the best decision? Don’t involve people who add no new information.

Who must agree? Whose cooperation do you need. Better to involve them than surprise them.

How many people is it worth involving? Goal to involve the fewest number of people while still considering the quality of the decision along with the support that people will give it.

The Smaller the Church…

Engage more of the congregation in the decision-making process Respect your “Tribal Chiefs” instead of

trying to shut them out. Get decisions accepted by the congregation

before they are implemented Use informal face-to-face communication

along with more formal communication

The Larger the Church….

Work with your key leaders and staff in the direction setting and decision making process.

Meet with key influencers to get them on board if it will be a major change.

Communicate, communicate, communicate not only what you are doing, but why. Tie it to the vision and mission.

Do you see a theme here?

Family leadership works in small churches The leadership style have to will shift as the

church becomes larger Respect the principles of family leadership

even as you are changing them Bring your congregation into God’s vision

before you try to implement that vision

Sound leadership inevitably encounters

discomfort and disagreement

Confront Difficult Issues

4 ways churches deal with

disagreement1. Suppression2. Conciliation—empathy, insight,

striving for consensus3. Mediation—bring in the bishop or the

outside consultant4. Inner-guided, goal-directed leaders

What is “inner-guided”?

Self differentiated A leader who is part of the group, who

loves the group, but is not defined by it Leaders who know who they are and

where they stand Leaders who don’t get sucked in by the

anxieties of others

What is “goal-directed”?

Leaders who know where they want to end up

Leaders who see the connection between the congregation that exists today and what it might become

Who calls the shots at your church?

The worriers and the whinersor

The energetic and imaginative people?

Anxious Behavior:

1) Reactivity2) Herding3) Blaming4) Quick-fix Mentality

Mature Behavior:

1) Self-regulate2) Adapt to strength3) Respond to challenge4) Allow time for

processes to mature

Adapt to Strength

You can try to keep the dependent, passive-aggressive and anxious folks happy…

Or you can hold up the goal-directed, energetic, and visionary folks

Leaders Act as a Transformer

The “electrical currents” in the congregation flow to the leaders

The leader can increase the voltage as the current flows through…

…or the leader can be a step-down transformer that lowers the voltage

Being a non-anxious leader requires effort but it pays off

Triangulation

Attempts to get the leaders to carry someone else’s burden

Pastor at new member class: “Talk to the person directly or we will name names.”

Some use triangulation to exaggerate positions by claiming to speak for others

Not healthy in a congregation (but common)

Coach Away from Triangulation

Encourage the complainer to use “I” terms instead of “You” terms:

“You always butt in when I’m talking to someone and I never get a chance to finish.”

“I was disappointed when you seemed to take over the conversation I had with Nancy”

Self-differentiated leaders

Not dictators Don’t take anything personally and don’t

ascribe personal motives to others Not surprised when people—even good

friends—try to subvert their plan

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is

the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Focus on Collective Outcomes

Balcony Thinkers

The pastor and a small group of visionary leaders step away

from their to-do lists and day-to-day details and busyness

From time to time they gather in a “balcony” or “upper room” or

“garden”

Balcony Time

Read scripture Pray together Ask: What is God’s vision is for this

congregation Who is God calling us to reach and serve Think ahead six months or a year or two

years Dream

Table Conversation

What is your reaction to theconcept of balcony thinking?

Could you see this working in your church?

What was hard to understand about this topic?

Can you put these principles into practice?

What Great Leaders Practice: Credibility

You can explain the vision: in the absence of a great dream, pettiness prevails.

Your leadership attitude is contagious: believe the best of people, seeing their gifts and looking for solutions

You are willing to look and talk like a leader. You tell stories and nourish possibilities.

Leadership Credibility

It’s not about you: mission-driven ministry not personality-driven ministry.

You share authority and responsibility. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

You team needs to know you heard them and will respond.

You resolve conflict as it happens. You care about and invest in your team

members.