I know for a lot of us we are wondering what to do next.

Regardless of the decision prayer, worship, and the bible will impact people in this season.

Further, there is a high probability you are going to have to trust your online services as the solution for your church over the next few weeks. Here are some practical next steps:

01. If you are having church this weekend, ask people to start joining you during the time you WILL have service online for a prayer meeting that starts on Monday. Meaning, if you are doing to have a 9 AM online service, you should have a 9 AM prayer meeting starting on Monday.

02. If you are not having church this weekend, start a prayer service TOMORROW!

03. Include worship if you can. Even if it is simply acoustic, allow people to connect with God this way.

04. Have a short message to inspire and comfort people.

05. Invite everyone to join.

06. Get your team to start sharing graphics and communicating now.

07. Keep reminding people they can join us online instead of coming to a gathering.

Another reminder, people are deeper in their feelings than Drake right now, so speak to the emotions they have. Talk about comfort, fear, provision, anxiety, wisdom, the things they are desperate for in this season.

You #GET2 remove the mystery of ONLINE CHURCH by playing offense, not defense.

Start today and remember Presence over perfection.

You have too many things to do and the last thing on the list is making sure you post something so that no one gets mad. Get out of the weeds and start creating content that shares your vision, tells your story, and moves people to engage! Plus, you can download this FREE pdf to give your social media team some help!

I hope you are doing well. Life has been crazy for us. Jackie’s helping churches with Enneagram and it is blowing up. I have been helping churches with culture, growth, and structure – as well as creative and also have been having a blast helping worship teams navigate the music business. But I have missed sharing content so today, I want to share with you a new vlog I just released. 

Maybe you are like me and sometimes you have more work than you do time. It can be overwhelming, especially for a creative leader. I shot this video to help ask you some questions about what it takes to prioritize your most important work. Here are 3, the others are in the video and the notes on YouTube: 
What are the risks?
What is the vision that will drive this idea?
Have we allowed assumption to get in our way?
I hope you will take 5 minutes and check out the entire vlog on IG or YouTube. Super excited about all that God is doing and what we are going to be launching in the next year. If we can serve you in any way, you know we are here! 

I do. As humans, we choose if we are going to cultivate and grow our creative muscle or if we are going to allow that muscle to deteriorate and become ineffective. There is even case studies that prove this now. Warren Berger, Innovation Expert & Author has been quoted: “If you’re human, you’re creative.” FURTHER, if we are going to be great leaders, we have to lead creatively. One thing we must do to be a better leader is to curate the questions that get our teams to where we need them to go.

As creative leaders, when we lead with questions, we set a culture of curiosity and learning. How we ask questions matters as much as WHAT we ask.

We should ask questions to get information but never to put people on the defensive. “Why did you do that?” is a question that will leave our teams scrambling when we can get the same information by asking: “This is super insightful, how did you get to this conclusion.”

We should ask specific questions to get accurate answers. How was today’s service is not a good question? Maybe try – How was your experience today? What did you learn in the message? Was there a moment in worship that stuck out to you?

Never use your questions as weapons. Ask for insight and empathy as much as for information. Even as a leader, you can learn things about the organization and the team by asking the right questions.

Questions also help us overcome the moment in a project we are stuck. “What could happen if this works?” “How can we get X result?”, “Who is this for again?” “What is our desired outcome?” “Is this helping get us the information we desire?” are all questions that kick off our process.

Innovation begins in curiosity, so if you are looking to improve things in your organization, start with the questions!

So here is a question for you, when was the last time you used a question to move your team, organization, or product forward, and what was the question?

Eighty-five days later, you get a reminder to connect with your boss about those goals, if they are a REALLY good manager. Meanwhile, both you and the manager have tucked those goals neatly into a desk drawer while you frantically have worked on the urgent issues of the day. On day 87 you quickly scribble some notes, find places where you loosely worked on something sort of related to the goals, and you show up to the meeting hoping it doesn’t come up, and it usually doesn’t.

Organizations spend so much time planning goals and very little time working on the parts of an organization that creates momentum. So today, I want you to consider abandoning goal setting, well not entirely, just how we have framed our goals in the past.

What if instead, we applied the principals used in 400 training? I learned about this a few weeks ago while sitting with a CEO and explaining how we would attack a project in sprints not laps. (more on that to come). The principle is simple: let’s study runners who excel at the 400-meter train by running shorter distances as fast as they can and building up to a consistent speed over the duration.

In our work what if we identify the goal, we are trying to accomplish. Once we have a clear purpose and defined win, we create a plan to achieve that goal.

Once we create the plan, now we set up weekly checkpoints to identify how we are progressing towards the goal. Where are we excelling Green), confused or stuck (yellow), stopped (red)?

Short weekly check-ins with clear action steps for the next week will help us achieve more, know where we are in the process, and the goals we have for our organization, thus creating momentum and success. These sprints force our attention toward the things we measure and talk about every week. You WILL see movement, action, and momentum around the things that intentionally get your attention!

Here is the challenge, try it for a month. See if it doesn’t work and let me know your results!

1. We don’t market because “everyone is already coming.” WHAT? That is the EXACT time to market. Put fuel on a lit fire rather than trying to rub sticks together to make a fire start. Maximize the natural momentum you have!
2. If you have to choose, choose digital.
3. Make sure you know your next step.
4. Don’t talk about yourself, talk about the user.
5. Highlight the fun but remember that’s not the story. I can go to a better petting zoo, buy my own popsicle, and get a picture with a bunny at the mall. ALL great stuff, but add on’s not the main event.
6. TELL ME A STORY!

Also, I had the chance to do this video with the team at ARC a few years ago…check it out.

Every great leader I have ever been around is desperate for those little things they can do to improve their skill, build their team chemistry, and get the best out of their teams.

Leading is stewardship. It is how we handle what we have been entrusted. Leading creatives adds additional complexity to the equations. Artists or creative people are great because they are able to connect on a different level to the work they do.

I have been blessed with the gift of working for and with some fantastic creative leaders, and I think these may be the 21 things I am most thankful I have learned from them and that I am working on trying to incorporate into my life:

1. Set the tone and set it with passion, authenticity, and audacity.

2. Avoid drama and create peace – and always lean into tension.

3. Think positive, but realistic.

4. Lead by serving.

5. More action than words. Don’t talk about it, do it!

6. Ensure that your words and actions align; own and correct it when they don’t. Then hold your team to the same accountability.

7. Dream. PLAN. Then EXECUTE on that plan.

8. We don’t have or need to have all the answers all the time.

9. Ask questions more than making statements.

10. Trust the team to do it’s jobs. Responsibility without authority is frustration in development.

11. Set and articulate expectations.

12. Insist on results.

13. Delegate. Then, delegate more.

14. Give others credit.

15. Listen. Listen. Listen. Then respond.

16. Have compassion, but don’t be fooled.

17. Respond instead of reacting.

18. Hire talented, young, future leaders and trust them even when they fail…and never stop investing in them.

19. We know our ideas are not always the best ideas, and that is GOOD!

20. Never stop learning.

21. Stay brave enough to fail!

What traits do you look for in a leader and what traits are you attempting to develop in your life?

PS – Our next coaching group starts in 3 weeks. We would love for you to join us! Email me for more info! 

Throughout my years of working in the church, I have experienced symptoms and seasons of burnout. Painfully, I have even watched several of my friends crash into burn out in a very costly way, losing their ministry and sometimes even more.

Frequently I am asked, “what are the signs of burn out?” There is no short answer. Confronting these symptoms and ignoring excuses like “Jesus will protect me,” “I have to accomplish my calling,” you think you can’t let people down, or, the most dangerous, “it’s just a season.”

If we are not paying attention to our own health and what our emotions, spirit, and body are trying to tell us, we will end up crashing and burning.

I wanted to share a list of warning signs with you today. It is a combined list of things I have noticed, and a few prompts based on a study done by Laura Garnett, a performance strategist.

1. You realize you have not paused, prayed, meditated, or spent any time developing yourself spiritually. Without the growth and development of this area of your life, you will be devoid of your ability to balance the things that come into your life.

2. You find yourself waking up throughout the night feeling anxious usually expressed by a racing mind and rapid heart rate. The pressures of our days and maybe our extremely long to-do lists start to haunt us. When we find ourselves dealing with this anxiety, we need to identify what we can control, prioritize those things, and lean on our faith for the other stuff. Lean into your leadership toolbox. Start delegating, say no to some things, reduce meeting schedule, identify ways to deal with anxiety (we created a podcast about this). If you are sleeping less than 4 hours a night, you are in the red zone and need to get help.

3. You find yourself reacting not responding. Reaction mode is dangerous. When you see yourself reacting not responding you can usually tell you are responding emotionally and are overwhelmed. Keep control over what you are responsible for and create breaks in your workflow. Daniel Pink wrote a fantastic book, When, that talks about the power of frequent and intentional breaks.

4. You are incredibly concerned about tomorrow. When we are worried about our future, we stop focusing on today. We have to stay present and connected to the work and the people God has in front of us today. Worry is wired to the side of our brain that controls feelings, not facts. Look at the facts and speak truth into your concerns. The truth does set you free.

5. You find yourself being short and angry more frequently. If you are seeing yourself snapping and having very little patience your runway is getting short. Watch for being overly critical and getting upset about small things that usually wouldn’t set you off.

6. There is a place you are going to retreat, and it is unhealthy. During seasons of burnout, the most desirable thing is solitude. We want to get away so we can breathe. When you identify a place you are going or an activity that is creating unhealthy isolation for you, that is a sure sign you are feeding the burnout monster. This could be a physical place or an emotional crutch. Find someone that you can trust, if such a person exists, and invite them to that place. Take them with you or tell them about what you are doing to deal with this desire for unhealthy solitude.

7. You feel there is no one you can trust. Isolation is burnouts best friend. There is someone, even if it is scary, and you have to be honest with them. Burnout wants to drive you to a place where you feel there is no place to turn. Don’t allow it to trap you. Find someone. Call a friend. Confess to a family member. Heck, email me right now, or text me (615.457.7261) you can have safe conversations, and people can help you navigate these seasons. No matter what is happening or has happened, you can recover but only if you get honest with yourself and allow someone else to help you navigate

8. You forgot how to enjoy what you do and your life. Are you having fun? Do you still feel happy when you accomplish a goal or crush a weekend? If you are not feeling joy around the things that you do you will find yourself dreading more than dreaming. No job is always totally DOPE, but if the things that use to bring you joy no longer do, it’s time to take inventory on what is happening with your energy, focus, heart, and spirit. Figure out why you are no longer experiencing joy, and start to make changes.

9. You have zero balance/margin. If you have worked without a sabbath for more than three weeks, consider yourself in the passing lane on the highway to burnout. God created us to rest. It does not make your weak; it is not a sign of laziness, it makes you better. Science has shown that rest, relaxation, fun, actually refuel us. It puts the GOOD back in the tank that makes us unique on the days we are outputting greatly. Stop being stubborn or feeling like you our your staff will get soft and embrace rest the way you welcome the activity. God cares more about who you are becoming than he does about what you are doing!

If you desire legacy in your life and ministry, I hope you will learn from my life and experiences on this one. Pay attention that these nine signs are in check in your life. If you don’t the cost of what happens when we burn out tends to be far more painful than the price of the changes to stay healthy.