Leading from the Second Chair

Multi-Site Churches - Stop Signs

2009-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Part 3 of the multi-site church blog tour.

Question: You go to great lengths to say that multi-site is becoming the new normal and that it’s not limited to just a few churches. When is it NOT advisable for a church to go multi-site?

Response: As can be the case many times when a ministry strategy is finding success in multiple arenas, some churches will jump on the band wagon "just because." Our experience indicates that churches need to answer the following three questions in the affirmative before they consider adopting a multi-site strategy:

1. Is your church healthy? Is it growing? Are members excited about bringing their family and friends? If you're unhealthy, why export your disease?

2. Is there a driving impetus behind your desire to go multi-site? All the leaders we have interfaced with over the last 7 years chose to open additional sites because they saw no better options for fulfilling God's purpose and direction for their church.

3. Are key leaders behind the decision? Going multi-site is not easy and therefore it is vital for key leaders to be unified and excited about moving forward with an additional campus(es). Employing multi-site as an "end-around strategy" is doomed for failure.

Multi-Site Churches - Crossing Cultural Bridges

2009-12-15T07:45:00.000-08:00

Here's part two of the multi-site church blog tour Q&A.

Question: Can a multi-site church effectively cross cultural bridges, particularly if it’s using the video model? You have given some examples of international campuses, but it seems that most of the campuses of a particular church are replicating DNA and teaching, which will work best when it’s being imported into a similar context. A couple of the examples in the book touch on this challenge. While the Bible is the same for everyone, the applications may be quite different for white collar vs. blue collar, suburb vs. inner city, urban vs. rural.

Response: We agree that the culture needs to match for it to work well. But even in many international situations the culture does indeed match.

I (Warren) recently heard about a church in Paraguay planting a daughter church in Pittsburgh, PA. Sound odd? It turns out that the wives of the two pastors are sisters. Also the Pittsburgh couple had found a bunch of immigrants from Paraguay, and so they loved being part of a church that had connections and customs from the "old country."

Likewise with international multi-sites, there's usually a familiarity or relational connection between the two groups. In a Spanish-language church in Florida named King Jesus, services are broadcast by television across Central and South America, including places where folks have relatives who attend the Florida church. It's predictable that in those places, video campuses work well, led by the equivalent of a campus pastor but watching Pastor Maldonado as teaching pastor via video.

Because of these factors most churches begin their multi-site journey with a centrally-controlled structure and gradually morph to a more campus based model. Both models, however, require extraordinary attention to effective communication. The biggest challenge for all multi-site structures is keeping everyone on the same page, regardless of who is in charge.

Multi-Site Churches - The "Big Personality" Factor

2009-12-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

In last week's post, I reviewed Multi-Site Church Road Trip. Today, we're part of a"blog tour" with authors Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird. Continue reading this (and the next two posts) for three questions I had about multi-site churches and the authors' responses.

Question: I continue to wonder how much of the multi-site phenomenon is personality-driven. You all have made it clear that some multi-site churches do not use video preaching. Healing Place Church (Baton Rouge) is a good example of a church with a very strong DNA that transcends the weekly teaching. But it seems that for the majority, and certainly the high profile multi-site churches, the senior pastor’s leadership is a huge part of their success. This raises two questions for me: Will the multi-site movement continue to be driven by highly gifted communicators with big visions? If so, this has major implications for the many churches and pastors that fall short of this description. Second, you said that multi-site will help smooth out the typically rough transition of long-time pastors facing retirement. I would think that this is only true if they have clearly and carefully developed a successor, and I wonder how often this is the case. It’s possible for someone to be a very good back-up teaching pastor (or part of the team) and a capable lieutenant, but not be ready to step up into the first chair.

Response: I (Geoff) echo your concerns about the personality driven church, but I would expand it to the church in general. I think that many successful (and unsuccessful) churches around the world revolve around the personality of the lead pastor. Apparently this was a problem in the New Testament church as well, as Paul addressed people lining up behind their favorite communicator rather than simply following Christ. Let me take your questions one at a time.

First, will the multi-site movement continue to be driven by highly gifted communicators with big visions? I think the answer would be a qualified yes. I think every movement is led by gifted communicators with a big vision. From the Apostle Paul onward, big leaders have always been effective in communicating huge visions. The reality is that those of us who are less gifted will always be impacted by those who are more gifted. The advantage of multi-site is that we can work together as partners rather than in some kind of competition. Many campus pastors are not highly gifted communicators, but are amazing leaders who are able to have a bigger impact because of their connection with leaders who have unique communication and visionary gifts.

Your second question is about succession planning. This is a huge question for all churches, but is certainly magnified for a multi-site church using video teaching. Many churches use a team teaching approach which greatly lessens the reliance on one primary voice. Preparing a second teacher or second in command for succession in a multi-site church is similar as for any church: not everyone is ready for the task. For churches who only utilize one primary speaker through video teaching I believe succession is a major issue.

Multi-Site Church Road Trip

2009-12-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

I don’t remember when I first heard the term “multi-site church,” but I know when I first became a student of this growing movement. It was in 2004, when our church was considering adding a second campus. Long before their first multi-site book, the authors of Multi-Site Church Road Trip: Exploring the New Normal were a great resource for me. I benefitted from an afternoon Greg Ligon spent with our leadership team (and his overall guidance of this focus area for Leadership Network), from Geoff Surratt’s one-on-one counsel (and for being an interviewee for my “second chair” book), and from Warren Bird’s extensive research and white papers.

Several years ago, I had the impression that almost all multi-site churches followed a standard approach. A dynamic, highly effective pastor with a rapidly growing church exports its DNA and its teaching to a rented facility in a nearby geographic area using a cookie-cutter formula. Many have done this with great success, but what I appreciate about the multi-site road trip is the variety of successful models that the authors profile. For almost any preconceived idea that you might have about multi-site churches, this book will give you evidence to support AND refute your opinion. It’s also full of practical advice on a wide range of topics: the role of the campus pastor, use of technology, internet and international campuses, simultaneous launches, organization structure, mergers with existing churches, and more.

My only critique is that Geoff, Greg, and Warren seem to suggest that almost any church can go multi-site. While I agree that the idea is not limited to megachurches, the reality is that many churches are not healthy enough or clear enough about their DNA and vision to launch a new campus. (There are a couple of brief comments on this point, but perhaps not enough to keep someone from making an ill-advised leap.)

Of course, with something as dynamic as the multi-site movement, questions will continue to arise. That’s why we’ll be a stop on the multi-site church blog tour on December 15. I hope you’ll join us then to interact with the authors.

A Day with Ruth Haley Barton

2009-11-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

I recently had the opportunity to spend a day with Ruth Haley Barton, author of Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. (See my August 08 blog for a review of her book.) She came to Texas to speak to a group of executive pastors for which I’m the facilitator.

We were challenged and blessed by Ruth’s time with us. She helped us look deep into our own souls to become more aware of the places where we had drawn away from God. I especially appreciated her observation that “when church leaders lose their souls, the church we lead may lose its soul too.” In my own journey and in the glimpses I have into the lives of many other church leaders, I see the pace of ministry and the pursuit of “success” taking a significant toll on leaders and churches. We may justify it as “just for a season” or “doing our best for the Lord,” but are we kidding ourselves? I’m pretty sure we’re not kidding God.

So what are we to do about this? This is an interesting time of the year for pastors. We give thanks for our blessings, gear up for all the extra activities of advent, try to catch our breaths with a few days off after Christmas, and then make bold plans for the new year. Perhaps the boldest thing we can do is say “no” to some activities so that we can say “yes” to the quietness in which God can begin to restore our souls.

Have We Lost More than a Symbol?

2009-11-17T15:33:00.000-08:00

I recently read Dan Brown’s newest thriller, The Lost Symbol. I read it partly because I like a good page-turner, and partly because I wanted to see if Brown would continue the anti-Christian tone of The DaVinci Code.

So did he? It depends on your definition of anti-Christian. Where DaVinci struck at the core of orthodox Christian beliefs, Lost Symbol was more subtle but perhaps even more insidious. Brown weaves spiritual references throughout the dialogue of his main characters, but it’s a new age, universalism that is advocated. In doing so, they clearly communicate that any intelligent person will agree with this “enlightened” view.

So why is this even worthy of a blog? After all, we shouldn’t be surprised that Brown does this, and plenty of others in the spotlight have similar viewpoints. What struck me was Brown’s use (or misuse) of Scripture to try to undermine Christian teaching. Three times one of his characters quotes Luke 17:21, where Jesus says “the kingdom of God is within you.” Each time this reference is used to claim that the Bible actually teaches a new age philosophy that we are all gods or can all become gods.

Again, this may not be surprising coming from Brown. But I found myself wondering, “How many of the people in my church could refute this teaching? How many are shaky enough in their faith and knowledge of Scripture that they would say, ‘That’s an interesting interpretation’ rather than simply declaring it as wrong?” I don’t know the answer, but I’m almost afraid to ask. My hunch is that biblical literacy, not just in my congregation but throughout the Church in North America, is sadly lacking. For those of us in the Protestant tradition, perhaps it’s time to reclaim a core belief: “Sola Scriptura.”

Lessons from a 5K

2009-10-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

I ran competitively for years … but that was years ago. In my prime, I won my share of 5K and 10K road races. I’ve continued to run as I’ve gotten older, but haven’t logged the miles to be in the top tier of my age group, much less to be at the very front.

This year during spring break, my family stayed at a getaway place that held a 5K run for their guests, so I decided to enter. Much to my surprise, I actually won. I had so much fun that I decided to enter a 5K in our community a couple weeks later. I knew this one would have many more participants and that I had no chance to win, but I figured I would be competitive in my age group. So on a beautiful spring morning, I lined up near the front of a mob of several hundred people, started strong, and … struggled at the end, just one of many middle-aged people trudging toward the finish line. My time was actually a few seconds faster than at spring break, but the results were quite different.

I think there’s a leadership lesson (or two) in this experience. It felt great to cross the finish line first in that spring break 5K. Many ministry leaders rarely, if ever, have that feeling of victory, of stopping after a season in which they ran hard and hearing others say “Way to go!” We need some of those moments. But the second lesson comes from the recognition that my first 5K race was not a real challenge. We need to spend most of our leadership energy in races that push us to grow to our full potential and that require us to rely on God. I’d rather give my best to a big challenge and fall a little short than cruise through life tackling easy goals.

That leads to the final lesson: don’t overestimate your own abilities, and don’t under-estimate God. I clearly had a false perception of my readiness to compete in a large race, and I’ve seen ministry leaders who likewise have gotten into trouble because of their inflated opinions of their capacity to lead. At the same time, if God is truly leading us, no race is too big and no mountain is too high. Ultimately, we’re responsible for preparing for the race (which means plenty of hard work beforehand), showing up to the starting line ready to go, and giving our best when the gun goes off. The rest is up to God.

Are You the "Bad Cop"?

2009-07-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Many executive pastors I know spend a significant amount of their time dealing with personnel “issues.” Sometimes we take these issues in stride and other times they’re more like a train wreck, either for us or for the staff member involved. Some execs have thick skin or are otherwise quite adept at this part of the job but others struggle. While the need for someone to be the “bad cop” is readily recognized, most would say that it’s not their favorite part of their job.

I think that’s why Jim Collins’ words in How the Mighty Fall struck such a chord with me. He says that the seeds of a collapse are often planted during a stage of rapid growth. It’s in this season that a company (or church) will:

… begin to fill key seats with the wrong people; to compensate for the wrong people’s inadequacies, you institute bureaucratic procedures; this, in turn, drives away the right people (because they chafe under the bureaucracy or cannot tolerate working with less competent people or both); this then invites more bureaucracy to compensate for having more of the wrong people, which then drives away more of the right people; and a culture of bureaucratic mediocrity gradually replaces a culture of disciplined excellence. When bureaucratic rules erode an ethic of freedom and responsibility within a framework of core values and demanding standards, you’ve become infected with the disease of mediocrity (emphasis added).

Maybe this struck me because my default is to add bureaucratic procedures hoping to police people into the right behavior. Maybe it struck me because having the right people and a culture of disciplined excellence is so powerful and attractive. Either way, it gives me a target to shoot for and a new language I can use to describe my ideal. I want to spend my time creating a “culture of disciplined excellence.” What about you?

Do the Mighty Always Fall?

2009-06-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

I’m a big fan of Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Built to Last. So when I received a copy of his newest book, How the Mighty Fall, I put my other reading aside and dug in.

Collins takes an interesting turn in his latest, research-based project. Rather than focusing on greatness, he examines why successful companies fall and how they might prevent or reverse a meltdown. He identifies five stages of decline that form a consistent pattern in these riches-to-rags stories. Interestingly, the first two stages (and even some of stage 3) occur when a company is still on the way up.

As with Collins’ other works, the lessons for churches are readily transferable. I’ve known far too many that are guilty of “grasping for salvation” (stage 4), thinking that all they need is the right leader or the latest fad program. And I wonder how many of today’s newsmakers might have entered stage 1, “hubris born of success.”

There’s one caveat to this recommendation. Even though How the Mighty Fall is based on the same type of in-depth analysis as Collins’ other books, this one is not as lengthy nor did I have as many “aha” moments. Collins explains in the preface that the project began as an article, but then “evolved into this small book.” The flip side is that it’s a quick read – only 123 pages plus appendices. My bottom line: it’s a worthwhile investment to learn (as the subtitle says) “why some companies never give in.”

God's Gift to ...

2009-06-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

You’ve heard the expression, “He (or she) thinks he is God’s gift to ________.” When that is said, there’s always a derisive or antagonistic tone, as if the speaker is saying, “I can’t stand to be with him because he’s so arrogant.”

I’ve known some second chair leaders who feel that they are God’s gift to their churches. In fact, at times I’m guilty as charged. The truth is that the skills and demands of the second chair role give us plenty of reason to think this way. We’re often like the talented juggler who can keep many balls (or flaming torches) in the air without dropping a single one. Add to that a couple of church members who say, “I don’t know how we’d get along without you” and our egos can get super-charged pretty quickly.

As I read Romans 12:3 this week, I had a new insight into this phrase. We’re told to view ourselves with sober judgment, but the passage goes on to exhort us to use the gifts that God has given. Perhaps it’s OK to think of ourselves as “God’s gift” as long as we properly define the phrase. If God is the gift-giver, then that should remove the swagger from our step. We’re not doing great things; God is doing them through us. This also makes it His choice when and how those gifts are used. It should help us take our responsibilities – being good stewards of whatever we’re given – seriously and yet at the same take ourselves less seriously. So go out and serve today as God’s gift to your church.

What Axioms Guide Your Staff?

2009-06-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

When Bill Hybels’ Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs came out, I debated whether to add it to my “must read” stack. On one hand, I’ve been enriched by everything I’ve consumed from Willow Creek. On the other hand, with 76 short chapters of pithy sayings, Axiom is not the type of book that I typically enjoy.

So once I started reading, I was pleasantly surprised by how much Hybels spoke to me in many of the chapters. In fact, I liked it so much that I bought copies for all of our pastoral and program staff, and made it the focus of a staff development day. We each read the book, and then came prepared to discuss which axioms we considered to be most applicable for our personal leadership development and which would most benefit our staff team collectively. It was a rich time of discussion, and I see it offering ongoing benefits.

Hybels accurately points out that axioms, when they are owned by a group, can become a powerful way to communicate and reinforce important values. I’m working on the axiom of “create your own finish lines” and “real-time coaching.” As a staff, we’re trying to adopt the axioms “excellence honors God and inspires people” and “vision: paint the picture passionately.”

I’ve also found it helpful to think about other important axioms for our church, both those that we currently practice and ones that we need to put in place. Currently I’m thinking about an axiom that might be expressed in the phrase “email doesn’t solve problems.” It might not be quite as profound as some of Hybels’ sayings, but it would sure make a difference in how we handle some “situations.” Pick up a copy of Axiom and as you read, make notes about the leadership concepts that will help you and your team go to the next level.

Sometimes Contrarian Leadership

2009-05-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

When I heard a strong endorsement for Steven B. Sample’s The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership, I added it to my “need to read” stack. In places, I found helpful nuggets from Sample’s musings, which are drawn largely from his years as president of University of Southern California and SUNY-Buffalo before that. I liked his concept of “open communication with structured decision making.” This means that the president (or senior pastor) should find ways to talk to people throughout the organization but should not subvert the established processes for making decisions. I also liked his quote that “one of the silliest things a leader can do is to first rigidly define the responsibilities of a position, and then try to find a human being to match this preconceived job description.”

This highlights the positives and shortcomings of the book. I thought Sample offered a variety of good leadership ideas, and I suspect that each leader would grab onto different ones as a main take-away. But in the end, I didn’t find his advice to be notably contrarian nor did I find it to be a book that I’d enthusiastically recommend to others. In his chapter, “You Are What You Read,” Sample quotes Thoreau’s advice to “read only the best books first, lest there not be time enough to read them all.” For me, Contrarian’s Guide was not one of the “best books.”

Soul Revolution

2009-03-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

The core of John Burke’s Soul Revolution: How Imperfect People Become All God Intended is the “60-60 Experiment.” He challenges readers to “stay in a continuous, honest conversation with God, willing to do his will moment by moment.” How does he want them to do this? By setting their watches to beep every hour (60 minutes) as “a reminder to reorient yourself into a continuous conversation of willingness” and doing this for 60 days.

Sounds a little gimmicky, right? But how many of us have despaired that the Sunday teaching or the mission trip high seems to have a life span that is only slightly longer than that of a fruit fly? And if we were really honest, how many of us frequently lose sight of God as we get caught up in the busy-ness of the day?

The basic concept doesn’t need a whole book to explain, but Burke does a great job in unpacking what this continuous conversation with God can look like. He includes many examples of life transformation from his church in Austin, taking the reader to a deeper spiritual place with each successive chapter. Soul Revolution is very readable for “non-professionals,” but also will inspire pastors.

So is it a gimmick or the real deal? When I was still on chapter 1 of the book, I happened to be in Austin and stopped at a Starbuck’s between appointments. As I placed my order with book in hand, the barista immediately asked, “Do you go to Gateway (Burke’s church)?” When I explained that I was not from Austin, she pointed to her arm and said, “I’m still wearing my watch. If you’re here this weekend, you should come worship with us.” It was enough to convince me.

Executive or Pastor - In Times of Economic Turmoil

2008-11-14T07:02:00.000-08:00

One recurring theme as I’ve talked to executive pastors lately is, “How are you budgeting for 2009 in light of the current economic uncertainty?” The other day, however, the question took a little different shape. One of my friends is preparing a flat budget and a contingency case with a significant cut. He asked, “What’s the difference between how we handle this and the way it’s done in the corporate world? Where’s the spiritual dimension?”

To be perfectly honest, I fumbled for an answer. At the church-wide level, it’s clear that our external communications (with church members and the community as a whole) should be very different. Our security and hope is not in the things of this world, a refrain that many pastors have declared in recent weeks. But for those of us whose primary responsibility is the internal operations and management the question remains: What’s different in the way we handle a financial downturn?

Now that I’ve had more time to reflect, here’s what I would tell my friend:

1. Be faithful and pragmatic. Jesus taught us to have faith, but he also taught about shrewd managers. To me, this means that we can’t approach our finances in blissful ignorance of the economy, because that would be foolishness. Neither should we panic, because God will provide for our needs.

2. Be a good steward. Whatever we’ve been entrusted with should be spent wisely for Kingdom purposes. If we have to cut programs, the pruning should focus on the areas that are not bearing fruit or that have the least long-term potential. This also means that we must have clarity within the leadership team about what our core programs/ministries are.

3. “Rainy day” funds don’t impact eternity. Many churches have an endowment or some other contingency fund. I won’t get into the broader debate about this, but you might consider the “parable of the rich fool” in Luke 12:16ff. For now, I will say that if a financial shortfall threatens a core ministry, it’s time to dip into these accounts.

4. Demonstrate compassion toward staff. One of the biggest differences in the church versus the corporation should be the way we treat our employees. If reductions are necessary for financial reasons, we should treat people with love and dignity. This may include more generous severance packages, longer time for transitions, or other creative arrangements.

5. Rediscover hidden parts of the body. In boom times, some churches may have filled roles with paid people because it was easier or more reliable than using volunteers. God may have just the talent we need sitting in the pews.

We may not be able to escape a certain degree of a business mindset when we’re looking over a spreadsheet and making hard decisions about how to allocate (or cut) funds. If that discourages us, we should remember that a corporation can’t call its constituents together for prayer or expect everyone to make sacrifices for the sake of a higher calling or have confidence that God is in control.

So how do you respond to the question?

Executive or Pastor?

2008-11-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

It recently occurred to me that the executive pastor title may actually be a cause of stress. (Even if you don’t have the title, others like me may function as an executive pastor without the title, so keep reading.) How can a title cause stress? The tension arises as we try to decide whether to lean toward the executive or the pastor side of our job.

On the executive side, we’re running the operations, managing people, and making things happen. When there’s a financial shortfall, we’re figuring out where to cut. When a staff member under-performs, we’re giving clear feedback or sometimes letting someone go. When a new ministry is being launched, we’re thinking through the details that will enable it to succeed. And if we’re not careful, it will feel like we’re running a business rather than a Kingdom-minded enterprise.

On the pastor side, we’re caring for people or teaching God’s Word or “equipping the saints” to serve in areas that fit their gifts and passions. In a church that is large enough to have an executive pastor, there are endless opportunities to jump in and “do” ministry. And if we’re not careful, we may fill our schedules with these ministries, only to miss the more strategic opportunities that will help the entire organization function more effectively.

Those who come to an executive pastor role from the business realm need to quickly learn that their valuable skills must be adapted to be effective. The church cannot be run just like a business. Those who come into the role as trained clergy must acknowledge that business has valuable lessons to offer and that their leadership repertoire probably needs to be broadened.

Regardless of your background or how you came into the role, it’s important to understand the tension. In many ways, anyone in congregational leadership needs to wrestle with the question of executive or pastor? Those who are most successful will not choose one over the other, but will blend the two into a both/and solution. I’ll explore some specific applications in future blogs. For now, where do you most feel this tension?

Sticky Church

2008-11-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to argue with a church that has experienced phenomenal growth and that has a sustained 80% rate of participation in small groups. If the senior pastor writes a book about how they’ve made small groups work, it’s worth noting. And that’s the case with Larry Osborne of North Coast Church and his new book, Sticky Church.

Osborne writes in a very readable, conversational style (with a good dose of humor and cynicism). He makes a compelling case for their philosophy of “sermon-based small groups” in the first half of the book. The second half is the nuts-and-bolts of how North Coast puts it into practice. He talks about what a “fly on the wall” would observe in a group meeting, how leaders are recruited and trained, how groups are formed, and more. I especially liked the chapter “Why Cho’s Model Didn’t Work in Your Church,” which helped me understand several things I’ve seen in churches that have struggled to make their groups work.

So what’s not to like? Two things bothered me as I read Sticky Church. I’m a detailed person, and even the practical second part of the book left some questions unanswered for me. I would have appreciated a little more “here’s how we deal with this obstacle” instruction, particularly if I were using this as a textbook for launching or retooling groups. More importantly, I kept thinking, “There must be something more than sermon-based small groups fueling North Coast’s success.” I suspect that culture, leadership, and the worship experience, among other things, are critical factors, but these are downplayed in the book. In his emphasis on small groups, Osborne creates the impression that a pastor with below average preaching and leadership skills can have a dynamic church using this playbook.

Despite this critique, Sticky Church reminded me of a lesson from another great leadership book. Jim Collins, in Good to Great, talks about the hedgehog and the flywheel. The hedgehog concept calls us to keep it simple and focus on one thing we can do extremely well. The flywheel principle argues against looking for a “miracle moment,” asserting that success comes from steadily and relentlessly pushing in a consistent direction. Ultimately, North Coast’s results are clear evidence of these two concepts coming to life. We would all do well to pay attention.

Miserable in the Second Chair?

2008-10-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

Not long after the release of Leading from the Second Chair, I found myself deep in a conversation with a struggling executive pastor. Even though he wasn’t failing, he felt like a failure. He had been very successful in other church staff roles, but he wasn’t sure what success looked like in his new role. When I read Patrick Lencioni’s Three Signs of a Miserable Job, I thought back to this executive pastor and many of the other second chair leaders I have met over the last several years.

Lencioni’s three signs – anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement – are often experienced by executive pastors. Furthermore, for those who have served in other roles in ministry or in business, the trajectory may point in the wrong direction as they make the transition to the second chair. Consider someone who has spent several years as a youth minister. He or she has deep relationships with students and parents, experiences the joy of being part of the students growing in their faith, and can see progress in the ministry over time. In other words, they may suffer from none of the signs of a miserable job.

Fast forward a few years and the same person is serving in an executive pastor role. Because the work is behind the scenes, the opportunities for meaningful relationships are more limited. And because much of their job is managing others, there is little they can point to as the direct result of their ministry. While other staff members are celebrating the success of a program or transformation in someone’s life, this second chair sits in silence. It’s a position that lends itself to anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement.

So what should you do if you’re an executive pastor or church business administrator or anyone else who struggles with these circumstances? For starters, realize the ways that you contribute to the overall success of the organization. You may not be able to specifically point to the six teens that were baptized this summer, but you helped hire that youth minister, coached him to succeed, and marshaled the needed resource for his program. And that was just one of the people you managed.

You can also look for new ways to define and measure success. Lencioini’s fable highlights several jobs that would seem to be textbook examples of irrelevance and immeasurement, and he shows that even these roles don’t have to be miserable. The key is to find the right indicators. In your second chair role, what are your unique contributions? How can you track your effectiveness along these dimensions?

Of course, the most powerful solution is to find our reward in the Lord (see my earlier post). But given our human nature, it won’t hurt to acknowledge and address some of the underlying causes of misery.

Three Signs of a Miserable Job

2008-10-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything I’ve read from Patrick Lencioni, and have found practical uses for what I’ve learned in each book. But for some reason, his latest book sat in my “waiting to be read” stack for several months. Maybe I was afraid that I’d learn that my job was miserable or that I was making others miserable in the way I managed them! I won’t comment on the misery index for me or them, but I will say that I’m glad that I read Three Signs.

Lencioni addresses the issue of why so many people are unhappy and unfulfilled in their jobs. And more importantly, he asks what managers can do to change this. As in his other books, Lencioni uses a fable to present his concepts. And as in his previous work, the concepts are quite simple but have far-reaching implications.

So what are the three signs? The first is anonymity, which is the absence of someone in the workplace (preferably a “boss”) who takes a personal interest in you. Next is irrelevance, which is the inability to see clearly how the work you do is making a meaningful contribution. And last is “immeasurement,” the result of working without clearly defined targets over which you have some control.

Lencioni makes a compelling argument that even people in low paying or seemingly menial jobs can enjoy work if their manager pays attention to these three factors. He also contends that CEO’s, professional athletes and other highly successful people are often miserable because they lack one or more of these key needs.

The book has huge implications for those of us who manage other people, both paid staff and volunteers. For example, do you really know what is going on in the lives of the staff members and key leaders in your church or do your conversations focus on the task at hand? Does the person doing a seemingly insignificant job – entering data, greeting people at the door, changing a dirty diaper – see how his or her work is an important part of a Kingdom-minded enterprise?

Three Signs also gave me some new insights into the struggles of “second chair leaders,” which I’ll address in my next blog. Even thought I’ve “given away” the three signs, you really should read Lencioni’s book to understand how to apply these principles and make sure that you’re not making other miserable!

The Reward of His Presence

2008-09-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

In my previous blog, I reviewed Ruth Haley Barton’s Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. One idea that resonated very deeply for me came from the chapter entitled “The Loneliness of Leadership.”

Throughout the book, Barton follows the story of Moses. In this chapter, she focuses on his conversation with the Lord after the people made the golden calf (Ex. 33:12-23). The key in verse 15 when Moses says, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”

I remember seeing this passage with fresh eyes a year ago as I was leading a planning process for a congregation. At the time, I focused on the corporate aspect of Moses’ request: do not send us up from here. Clearly, Moses was interceding with God on behalf of the people, but Barton shows a very personal side to this request as well:

What he [Moses] needed now was an experience of God’s goodness, his graciousness and mercy. All of a sudden this was more important to him than any promised land he had ever dreamed of (p. 158).

She goes on to say:

This is a pivotal moment in the life of a leader. It is the moment when whatever the promised land is for us – a church of a certain size, a new ministry, a new building, writing a book, being sought out as an expert – pales in significance when compared with our desire for God. At this point we might realize that we are missing the presence of God for ourselves personally. … there is no promised land we could ever envision that matters nearly as much as the presence of God in our life right here and right now (p. 158-159).

The question for me, and for you, is: do we really believe this? How have I defined the “promised land” in my life and ministry? Am I prioritizing earthly accomplishments for God over my relationship with Him? When I feel frustrated, is it because I’ve put too much emphasis on short-term goals and too little on abiding in Christ (John 15:5-8)?

It’s clear that God gives each of us work to do (Eph. 2:10) and that we are to do it to the best of our abilities. But the next time that I’m feeling beaten up, despite giving it my best, I’m going to try to rejoice in the reward of God’s presence.

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership

2008-08-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

During the long, hot summers in Texas, I often need the refreshment of a big glass of cold water. And that’s exactly what Ruth Haley Barton’s Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership offers to the leader who needs to be recharged. (Even if you don’t think you do, keep reading!)

“Strengthening the soul of our leadership is an invitation that begins, continues and ends with seeking God in the crucible of ministry.” These words from the final chapter summarize the central theme of the book. The chapters leading up to it paint a compelling picture of the fruitfulness and joy of leading from a healthy soul that is focused on God, and the risks of soul-less leadership in ministry.

Barton follows the story of Moses through chapters with titles such as “When Leaders Lose Their Souls,” “The Practice of Paying Attention,” “Living Within Limits,” “The Loneliness of Leadership,” and “Finding God’s Will Together.” She talks about her own journey, including struggles and victories. At times she challenges the reader to take stock and at other times she offers practical advice for refilling our souls. And at the end of each chapter, she offers a “practice” that will help readers to reflect on and apply the teaching they’ve just read.

I’m not one to read with a highlighter in hand, but within the first few pages I found myself thinking, “Oh, that’s good,” and marking a couple of sentences for future references. I kept going back to the highlighter as Barton kept taking me to places deep in my spirit with quotes such as:

There is real tension between what the human soul needs in order to be truly well and what life in leadership encourages and even requires.

If spiritual leadership is anything, it is the capacity to see the bush burning in the middle of our own life and having enough sense to turn aside, take off our shoes and pay attention!

Being this reliant on God for the actual outcome of things is a very edgy way to lead. We are much more accustomed to relying partly on God and partly on our own plans and thoughts if the issues at hand are really important.

As satisfying as teamwork can be, spiritual people who come together to lead churches or organizations with a spiritual purpose have a deeper calling – we are called to move beyond teamwork to spiritual community and to have our leadership emerge from that place.

At times Barton’s words were a needed wake-up call and at other times they were a source of refreshment. I’m thankful for both, and I’m sure that you will be as well if you read Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership.

Good or Great

2008-08-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

It’s been fun to watch Michael Phelps swim in the 2008 Summer Olympics. We’ve run out of superlatives to describe his performance. He is truly a great athlete. But the thought that struck me this week is that for every gold medal winning Olympian, there are hundreds of good athletes who fall short of greatness.

There are lots of reasons for this, including a less favorable genetic make-up or fewer opportunities to excel. In many cases, however, another factor comes into play. As Jim Collins says in Good to Great, “good is the enemy of great.” How often has an athlete achieved early success due to a combination of raw talent and competitive drive, but somewhere along the way found this wasn’t enough. Continued success at higher levels of competition required a discipline and sacrifice that he or she was unwilling to make. One of the oft repeated statements about Phelps is that he doesn’t do anything but swim, eat and sleep. Everyone admires his commitment, but many athletes who are simply good fail to emulate it.

And so it often is in our spiritual lives and our leadership practices. We experience some measure of “success” – whether that’s spiritual or organizational growth or some other milestone – but we fall short of the “next level.” When we reflect, if we ever make the time to do so, we may discover that “good” has been the enemy of “great.” We agree to lead or participate in another Bible study, but find that our souls are not being nourished by spending time alone listening to God. Or we take on a heavy load of pastoral care, and wonder why there never seems to be time for creative thinking or dreaming about the future.

An endless array of good options is calling for our attention. I’ll be quick to admit that choosing the best can be difficult. But it’s a practice that will benefit all of us. So what about you? I’m sure you’re doing things that are good. But are you choosing that which is great?

Beyond the Hundredth Meridian

2008-08-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

OK. I don’t really expect any of you to read Wallace Stegner’s 1950-something classic with the subtitle, “John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West.” But maybe you’ll at least read this blog as a challenge to pick up something outside of your normal reading bandwidth in the next few weeks.

When my uncle offered to take me and my 14-year old son on a weeklong rafting adventure through the Grand Canyon, he said that this was the book I needed to read before the trip. I ordered the book out of obligation, and began reading out of a desire to understand what it was like for Powell and company to make that first treacherous trip into the unknown.

Little did I know how much I would learn and how it could even apply to church leadership. Even though the American West was largely an unknown territory in the 1870’s, government leaders had many pre-conceived ideas that were shaping national policy. Ideas such as that the arid regions would suddenly become fertile without irrigation, and could therefore be settled with practices that had worked in the east. It took a persistent, visionary leader like John Wesley Powell to challenge the bureaucracy and begin to reshape some of the laws. I guess we’d never have these kinds of problems in a church, right?

Not only did I find some interesting lessons in the book, I rediscovered a lost personal enjoyment of history. So rather than reading your tenth book on leadership or theology or whatever is your pattern, have some fun with a different kind of reading this summer.

Interruptions

2008-07-31T05:23:00.000-07:00

I was recently in a roundtable discussion with other executive pastor types, and one of the topics of discussion was “how can we get our work done with all the interruptions from staff and other people?” The questions seemed to be about time management, but I think it raises a deeper question: What priority do we give to the people who report to us?

Let me offer a quick disclaimer. I know that people (some in particular) will consume all of our time if we let them. They’ll ask for constant affirmation or hand-holding, or they’ll want to spend 2 hours debating whether it’s better to use 8 oz or 12 oz cups for coffee on Sunday mornings. We must be wise in establishing boundaries to keep these individuals from monopolizing our time.

But I should also offer an honest confession. I’m pretty task-oriented, as are some of you, and I can always find a legitimate reason to put people off until tomorrow. Sure, I’ll meet to talk about the immediate ministry issues – reviewing plans for a fall festival, brainstorming a new communication strategy. In reality, these meetings aren’t about people, they’re just additional tasks on my list. If I’m not careful, the part that gets lost is listening to their hearts, talking about their future, helping them develop more fully as leaders, asking about the state of their marriages and their souls.

I made the time for this blog because it was on my “to do” list. Now I need to clear some space and invite some value-added interruptions.

Need a Fresh Start?

2008-01-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

Need a fresh start? This blog certainly does! So, one of my resolutions is to reignite the flame of the second chair blog.

I am currently doing a new series at our Crosspoint Campus, www.cpointchurch.org, called "Fresh Start: Lessons from the Life and Leadership of Nehemiah." I have placed the word, "Leadership" in the series title on purpose. The reason? Great question! Simply put, it is because of a lack of leadership in our lives that leads us to the place of needing a "Fresh Start." That lack of leadership could be self-leadership or leadership from an authority in our lives. What I am hoping to convey to our congregation in this series is the entire process that must take place so that a "Fresh Start" takes hold to become a permanent change.

Do you need a "Fresh Start" in an area in your life? Might there be a lack of leadership:

physically -- are you eating right and exercising consistently?
spiritually -- are you spending time with God on a consistent basis?
relationally -- are you investing in key relationships continually?
financially -- are you wisely spending and saving, or is there a lack of discipline that is leading to financial challenges or trouble?
professionally -- are you correctly navigating the paradoxes of second chair leadership? Are you certain that you are where you need to be in this season or is it time to move on?

If you need a "Fresh Start" in one of these areas, consider this process:

1. Look Back at the Context! There is a context that will inform us of a failure in leadership. For Nehemiah, the context that informed him was the failure of three kings (2 Chronicles 36) that led to the Babylonian invasion of 605 and the desolation of Solomon's temple and the walls and gates of Jerusalem, the city of God. Examine the context of the leadership failure. Allow it to fully inform your reality.

2. Face Reality! Call it for what it is. In Nehemiah 1, this emerging second chair leader called Israel's failure exactly that, sinful failure to keep up their end of the deal. He named it, repented of it, and asked for an opportunity to do something about it.
3. Envision a New Reality! Nehemiah captured God's heart for God's city and began to envision it. As a matter of fact, he envisioned it for 4 months (Kislev or December to Nisan or April) before he set out to approach King Artaxerses. A great read on this discipline is Andy Stanley's book Visioneering (Multonomah, 2000). What could a new reality be for you? Weight loss and health? Savings in the bank? Renewal of a marriage? Dream big my friend, dream big!
4. D.R.I.V.E. -- the Pursuit of the New Reality! We must develop a process of discipline that expresses our faith to successfully pursue a new reality. D.R.I.V.E. is an acronym from Mike Slaughter's book, Momentum for Life (Abingdon Press, 2005), that highlights a process of daily discipline that will sustain our momentum forward. Frankly, that is what we need, sustained momentum. I know it is what I need! What about you? Is there a process that you own and live by that will sustain your momentum of a fresh start that it might become a permanent fixture in your life?

If you are at all interested in listening to the audio of this series, click and follow this link. The messages are accessible on the bottom right portion of the web page. The message link is: http://www.cpointchurch.org/default.aspx?pid=43

Happy Fresh Start!

Wanted: Boldness

2007-08-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the things that hold me back. We are serving in an era when bold leadership is clearly needed, but I’ve concluded that “go-for-broke” boldness is a rare commodity. Since Paul told Timothy that “God did not give us a Spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power and love and self-discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7), where is there evidence of that Spirit in my ministry (and in yours)?

One of our mantras as parents is, “If you know the right thing to do, then do it.” But am I passing the “do the right thing” test in my ministry? I am not talking about obvious ethical boundaries, such as propriety in relationships or appropriate financial dealings. Instead, I am asking about the important, direction-setting decisions that will drive or influence the church’s future.

In most churches and most roles, it takes extra time and energy to do the right thing. Not only that, but many of us serve in churches that don’t seem to appreciate (or even want) boldness from us. Instead, they prefer the status quo. And then there’s the reality that we’re in the second chair, not the first, and any bold initiative that we’re thinking about must be done under the authority of our senior pastor.

At the end of the day, however, I think that I’m the biggest impediment to boldness in my ministry and in my church. I could make a long and convincing list of the things that keep me from acting with more boldness. But what I need to do is to ignore the spirit of timidity (it’s not from God) and listen to the Spirit of power that’s calling me forward.

Note: the full version of this article can be found at www.SecondChairLeaders.com