Sometimes, culture-building efforts fail, but it’s usually because people are not provided with realistic common goals and objectives. Here are some tips for effective culture building in any organization:

•  Don’t complicate ideas: Create tangible goals and leave room for individuality so employees/volunteers don’t feel forced to change.

•  Think globally: Each team member, at every level must “buy in” to the culture. This can be accomplished by assessing and working towards an established ‘bigger picture’, while leaving room for employees/volunteers to express their personality.

•  Incorporate training and coaching: Provide specific guidelines and measurable feedback from your team.

•  Establish rewards: Motivate employees through reward and recognition programs. Try ‘celebrating the everyday’ to establish a culture of employee recognition and appreciation.

1. Five Leadership Lessons: Leading Any Team to Success. Frustration is a symptom of higher aspirations. It’s a gift. It lets you know that you are wasting your time and need to change something.
2. Ten Communications Secrets of Great Leaders (Mike Myatt). It is simply impossible to become a great leader without being a great communicator. The key to becoming a skillful communicator is rarely found in what has been taught in the world of academia.
3. Seven Common Traits of Breakout Churches (Thom Rainer). Breakout churches have experienced a “wake-up” call. They are no longer satisfied with mediocrity. They have developed clarity in their purpose, focus more on outward ministries, and demonstrate a spirit of tenacity.
4. Five Musts for Lasting in Ministry (Steve Gladen). Ministry is hard. That’s no surprise, because the enemy doesn’t want us around. We must remember our calling and never forfeit our leadership.
5. Five Reasons I Believe YOU WILL SUCCEED! (Perry Noble) You will finally begin to realize that your burden is your calling… and that God hasn’t given you that burden so that you can complain about the way things are… but rather so that you can do something about it!

Dodging Delinquency Charity Dodgeball Tournament

This is your chance to stake your claim to dodgeball glory! Form your team and go head to head against others as you battle your way to the top. Proceeds will benefit Chattanooga area at-risk youth and help send children of prisoners to summer camp. Come out and play, support your team as a spectator, or just come out and be entertained.

• Youth League (12 to 17-year olds)
• Adult League (18 and up)
• Ultimate Youth Pastor Battle Royal (special for youth pastors)
• Prizes for teams and individuals (performance and best dressed)
• Lunch included with your registration

More info here

Coca-Cola is the most recognizable brand on the planet.

Now operating in more than 200 countries and producing nearly 450 brands, the Coca-Cola system has successfully applied a simple formula on a global scale: provide a moment of refreshment for a very small amount of money — a billion times a day.

What are the secrets behind its boundless success and unstoppable resiliency?

Lofty VISION? Robert Woodruff, while president of Coca-Cola, had the audacity to state during World War II, “We will see that every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for five cents wherever he is and whatever it costs.” When the war ended, he realized his vision was too small. He went on to say that in his lifetime he wanted everyone in the world to have a taste of Coca-Cola and envisioned his product “within an arm’s reach of desire” anywhere on the planet.

That’s the kind of VISION and leader I can get behind. But we all know that vision alone doesn’t make us recession proof, unstoppable, and successful. It takes something much deeper…

Perhaps the simplest leadership secrets behind the company’s unrelenting success can be found in this quote taken from a 1916 publication, The Romance of Coca-Cola:

Business has its romance. The inner history of every great business success is just as stirring and fascinating as the most imaginative story every told. Real success never comes easy… Progress has been achieved only through continual struggle and hard, patient work. It has called for ingenuity and resource of the highest order, the courage that accepted no defeat, the endurance that wore down all opposition, the confidence that overcame every jealous libel… And such has been the history of Coca-Cola.

The Real Secrets Behind Coca-Cola’s Success:

1. Real success never comes easy. It isn’t cheap. It will cost you buckets of sweat, a disciplined work ethic, and patience in your effort. Be determined to pay the price and you will reap the results.

2. Vision calls for ingenuity and resource. Let hard times be the catalyst for creative solutions. It’s often said that tough times don’t last, but tough people do. Part of toughness involves finding solutions to challenges and obstacles that may be holding you back from your vision. Get tough… get creative!

3. Courage that accepts no defeat. Coca-Cola made what was dubbed as the “marketing blunder of the century” when it took a risk and unveiled “New Coke” in 1985. It didn’t take long for the company to realize its blunder and revert back to Coca-Cola Classic. Your failure doesn’t have to own you. If you have the kind of courage that accepts no defeat, you can take risks because you know you are resilient enough to bounce back if it doesn’t work.

4. Endurance that wears down the opposition. You can and will outlast your opposition. It is up to YOU. You wear down your opposition by staying the course and keeping your focus on your mission, not your rivals. Every great leader in the Bible was met with fierce opposition: Moses, Joshua, David, Nehemiah, Ezra, Peter, Paul… their names were worthy of mentioning in the greatest leadership manual ever printed because they outlasted their opposition. Jesus outlasted his opposition. You can too.

5. Confidence that overcomes every jealous libel. Every leader, company, brand, organization, or ministry will have its slanderers. If you aren’t being attacked, you aren’t doing anything worth mentioning… or you’re just not on the map yet! Don’t get derailed by those who would defame your character or malign your organization. Never be moved from your integrity and values. Let the confidence that emanates from that integrity govern your attitude and enterprise. You will be unstoppable despite the vilification of others when you hold to your character and values in the face of libel. It’s kept Coca-Cola 125 years young! And this confidence will help you overcome too.

Now that you’re on your way to becoming unstoppable, go out and celebrate by enjoying a cold, refreshing Coca-Cola.

1. Do they LOVE the game?… or merely love the spotlight. Some players just can’t get enough of the spotlight. Others have a genuine love for the game and their joy for playing always shows through regardless of the uniform they wear or the salary they make. Does your prospective employee have a real love for your industry or product, an enthusiasm for your marketplace, a passion for your organization, and a genuine interest in the people or customers you serve? Or are they just looking for a paycheck? Will they honor your team’s brand simply because they love what it represents, not because its logo is on their paycheck? Does your new church member have a genuine love for God and people, and a passion to reach people with the Gospel at any cost, or are they just looking for a community to showcase their individual spiritual gifts? A player who plays solely for the love of the game is a dying breed. When you find this in a free agent, sign them!

2. Do they make the clubhouse stronger? Some free agents come with a ton of talent but disrespect leadership and authority. Randy Moss is a great talent, but is more known for ripping clubhouses apart than his stats on the field. This typically comes from a deep-seated disregard for authority. One disrespectful player can destroy the harmony of the whole clubhouse. A little leaven affects the whole lump (1 Corinthians 5:6). No talent on this planet is worth the price of disunity! Make sure your free agent is good for your clubhouse. It will spare you much pain and rebuilding time.

3. Are they a good fit for your playbook? Some players have had success because they have been the benefactors of a good offensive or defensive system. Their stats are indicative of having other good players around them. Will their gifts be able to thrive in your system and organization? Do they share your core values? Can they make the necessary adjustments in their personal game to help the team have greater success on the field? This will require sacrifice and commitment to your system and your playbook. If they don’t have what it takes to sacrifice, this free agent will be a bust and likely will cause trouble for the team. They will be the first to complain when they don’t get as many “carries” or “touches” as someone else on the team. Make sure they believe in your playbook, processes, and systems, to be a natural fit for your team.

4. Do they make other players better? This is what great players do. Michael Jordan. Peyton Manning. Magic Johnson. Ray Lewis. Great talents showcase themselves and pad individual stats. But great players make everyone else around them better. They lift the lid on expectations. They raise the bar on excellence. They lead the way with their passion. You don’t want great talent, you want great players! Championships are won with great players, not the best talents. When a great player steps on the field, it instantly makes everyone else better. Not always the case with a great talent.

5. Do they speak well of their former team? This is a good one for all my church-planting friends out there. A seasoned pastor once said, “Take careful note of how new church prospects speak about previous churches they’ve been a part of. How they leave one church is the way they will leave yours!” The way they criticized others is the same way they will criticize you. Don’t think that you will be exempt from their toxic cynicism. You will be tempted to think as a leader that you will offer them something “better,” something to be less critical of, thus saving them from their cynical nature. Its fools’ gold. Wherever a cynical person goes, cynicism is attached to them like a Marvel Comics’ symbiote. They don’t leave the toxicity with their former team. You’re not a “Super-hero” leader who will change that. Save your team much lost time by listening to how free agents talk about their previous teams. Sign those who speak well of their former teams, regardless of the disagreements and differences they may have had. It’s a mark of maturity and a sign of how they will respect your leadership.

6. Do they talk more about themselves or ask questions about the team? People who talk mostly about themselves (i.e. personal goals, contractual demands, stipulations that will make them happy, etc.) rather than asking questions about where the team is going and how to make it better, are free agents you need to pass up on. If the health and success of the team is not their primary agenda, let ‘em go. Individuals don’t change the world… teams change the world! Anybody who doesn’t buy into that doesn’t need to be on your team, period. They must be interested in the team as a whole and its collective goals, not individual agendas.

Have I missed anything? What are some leadership questions you ponder about free agents?

For further reading, check out Talent is Never Enough, a great leadership resource by John Maxwell.

1. Planting in an Urban Church Context via Resurgence. 10 Things to Know about Planting a Church in the Urban Context. Very relevant principles for church planters and ministry leaders in any context.

2. 10 Keys to Keeping Children’s Volunteers via Dale Hudson. Place volunteers in their sweet spot. Don’t place them where you “need” them. Place them where their gifting and passion is. When volunteers are serving in their sweet spot, they will go home energized. When they are not, they will go home drained.

3. Billy Graham Couldn’t Swim via Scott Couchenour. Being all things to all people means being less things to most people. Why not be what God meant you to be and do what he calls you to do.

4. Your Ability to Handle Change Matters via Phil Cooke. Change is about intervention. Rosa Parks sat in the back of a bus a hundred times in Montgomery, Alabama, before she made the decision to move up. That decision ignited a change that jolted a nation.

5. 5-Ways to Always BE Ready via Artie Davis. That was a quote from Kenny Miles, a running back for the University of South Carolina. When asked how he performed so well when called upon at the last minute.

We need your help!

1) Pack your own Easter baskets: you and your small group, church, or business, can build your own baskets and light up a child’s Easter! Contact us to schedule a time and place to deliver your baskets no later than March 28^th.

2) Donate: for $5, you can provide an Easter basket for one child. Click on the “donate” button at the top of the page to give online, or mail your gift to the address at the bottom of this page.

3) Volunteer and serve: come out and help deliver baskets or serve at the festival outreaches and Easter egg hunts.

Contact us at info@breakawayoutreach.com or 423.400.1358.

Only 3% of the German population is evangelical Christian, with less than 50% believing in a life after death. Only 45% believe in a personal God, and only 8% worship regularly. Spirituality in Germany is what German philosopher, Ruediger Safranski, calls “cold religion,” very left-brained, very cognitive, focused on rituals and membership but not on a personal relationship.

These Gospel-centered camps reach unreached young people with the life-giving message of Jesus Christ and help to cultivate relationships between churches and un-churched families. The German churches are fully committed to the follow-up aspect of these camps.

Why Baseball?

Baseball is a relatively unknown sport among German children and adults. Having Americans teach baseball is exciting to German children. Utilizing baseball camp for 8-18 year old German youth has proven to be groundbreaking in its effectiveness. This approach makes it possible to reach many German youth and adults who may not have been reached otherwise. One German church leader called it the single most effective evangelism model he’s ever seen in his lifetime.

Each day during camp, Bible stories are shared with the participants as part of the camp structure. In the evenings, there are church services and relevant worship experiences for all participants.

Do you have to be a baseball player to go?

Absolutely not! There are many different roles to be filled and everyone can participate. However, individuals with baseball expertise and skills are encouraged to prayerfully consider going. Most Americans have a greater baseball knowledge and skill level than Germans. Many Americans may be surprised at what they know and can teach. This approach is about relationships and it is the spending of time with these young people that is important. A willingness to play and participate is all you really need.

What are some of the other mission activities?

• Music ministry
• Evening Children’s Ministry

If you would like to know more about being a part of a Germany baseball camp mission trip, contact me.

View photos from last year’s camp below:

Germany Baseball Camp 2011Aug 1, 2011Photos: 55