Brilliant cinematography, writing and messaging. Chrysler did a great job storytelling with emotion and conviction.
What I learned from my marathon running wife.
Recently my wife (Meagan) ran the Houston Marathon. What I learned from
her was both challenging and inspiring and immediately made me think
about the churches and ministries I work with. These lessons learned
can help move your church and ministry forward as well.
Throughout her training and marathon performance she exhibited three
qualities.
1. Desire - It starts with a desire. Meagan possessed a burning
desire to accomplish a feat that less than 1% of Americans will do in a
lifetime.
2.Vision - The desire started with a WHY. Why did she have the
desire and vision to run a marathon? Because she wanted to honor God
with her body and be an inspiration to friends and family. Without a
doubt, the vision in her mind of running a marathon with thousands of
people cheering you along, kept her going.
3. Focus - Desire and vision mean nothing unless married with
focus. Dave Ramsey speaks on creating momentum by starting with focus.
His formula – Focused intensity, over time, multiplied by God, equals
unstoppable momentum. Meagan ran in the morning, evening, on a
treadmill, while traveling on vacation and many other bizarre and random
times. She hired babysitters while I worked to go on long runs.
What I learned from Meagan taught me much on how to help organizations
move forward. Church leaders take your desire and multiply it by vision
and focus.
On a side note, Meagan’s vision to be an inspiration was achieved. I
have never been more proud than I was when I saw her at mile 10. And
never more inspired to set and reach my own goals.
Finding Clarity
Clarity (klar-i-tee) n., the state or quality of being clear; freedom from abiguity
You must be crystal clear about who you are and who God has called you to be.
You can and must find clarity. You need it. Your church needs it.
Knowing who you are ultimately determines what you will do and where you will go. It is pivotal.
Here are some tips on Finding Clarity -
- Ask people – “In three words describe “Church X” Then present that as a statement to staff, elders, church members, and finally people in your community who are not church members.
- Use focus groups – Pull together a group of diverse people. Different ages, genders and race. Pose clarity-seeking questions. Example: Do you feel your church properly invests time and energy in matters that support life-change? Explain.
- Distribute survey – Send out a survey to a large mass of people with clarity-driven questions.
- Sit and think – Assemble the right people to sit and think. Use the data compiled from others, focus groups and survey to nail down clarity.
Your church has a story to tell. Tell it with clarity. How does your church find clarity?
Need more help? Contact us.
Everything Starts with Clarity
Clarity (klar-i-tee) n., the state or quality of being clear; freedom from abiguity
Any important decision made in life starts with clarity.
- Knowing where to go to college, starts with clarity.
- Knowing who to marry, starts with clarity.
- Knowing what type of car to buy, starts with clarity.
Why would you NOT lead your church with clarity?
For many it is because finding clarity is difficult and tiresome. Often it is easier just to copy the clarity that other churches have worked for. But in most cases, clarity is not achieved simply because the right people did not take the time to sit and think.
You want to achieve clarity? Put the right people in the room.
And sit.
And think.
Defining “Communication”
Communication is a tricky and marvelous thing.
The word communication itself is the most overused and misunderstood word in the entire “communication” process.
Don’t believe me? Ask 5 different people on your staff what the word “communication” means to them and you will most likely get 5 different answers.
THAT is the problem with the communication process.
So when someone suggests to you that you might have a communication problem on your staff or in your church, dig a little deeper to discover what they really mean.
Do they mean you’re having a problem communicating events to the intended audience? Do they mean the vision isn’t clear or it isn’t being presented well? Are they talking about mixed media presentations?
Defining exactly what the people in your sphere mean when they use the word “communication” will do wonders for . . . well . . . communication.
What to do with Boomers?
Below is a great post from Maurilio Amorim.
As the first of 77 million baby boomers reach retirement age, their annual spending power is estimated at 2 trillion dollars. Businesses are working hard at creating Boomer-centric products from cars to ovens while marketers are coming up with innovated ways to sell these products and services to the most affluent generation ever to walk on earth. But what’s the church strategy to reach, engage and deploy this generation? Mostly a seat on a church board.
While this is not a scientific or even researched post, I speak from the perspective of someone who gets to visit a lot of churches and happens to be very at the very tail end of the Boomer generation. Most of the funding for new buildings, capital expenditures and programs come from the 45-65 year olds. It makes sense; we have been in the work force longer and have accumulated more discretionary wealth, and unlike retirees of the past on fixed income, Boomers’ paychecks are the largest around. Therefore we’re asked to serve on boards.
Churches everywhere have successful middle aged men and women in leadership meetings. We are expected to give great advice and even greater checks. But if that’s all we are expected to do, the church will miss a big opportunity: to harness the energy and passion of a generation that has refused to grow old.
Unlike our preceding generation, the Builders, Boomers are not only wealthier, we are healthier with an active lifestyle that rivals even that of the young Millennials. But while we can write you a check, we can give you more than money. Yes, much more. And unlike our parents, we don’t mind the loud music, the fog machine, or shoeless worship leaders. Bring it, worship boy. We grew up with AC/DC. Chris Tomlin does not scare us.
So my counsel to the church that wants to reach out to Boomers: don’t give us a building to fund. Give us a passion to pursue. Yes, you’ll get the building thrown in with everything else that comes from being fully engage in ministry. A seat on the board is great and you probably need our experience and wisdom, but a piece of our heart is so much better.
What’s your church doing to engage Boomers?
Monday Quote Drop
Here are 5 quotes on leadership, branding and other. Enjoy and be inspired.
- “You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that’s assault, not leadership.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
- “The empires of the future are empires of the mind.” — Winston Churchill
- “Regardless of the changes in technology, the market for well-crafted messages will always have an audience.” — Steve Burnett
- “If you have nothing to say, say nothing.” — Mark Twain
- “Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate toward some goal which they come to find desirable.” — Ordway Tead
Staff Expectations
The expectations you set are the ones people will meet. They won’t often exceed your expectations, without consideration motivation and inspiration on your part. But they will meet the ones you set.
So what are you expecting from your staff?
I faced this question with a church leadership team that was confused by the behavior of staff members. They did not understand why a staff member would not meet with God daily, nor tithe 10%, nor take rest on the Sabbath.
Through conversations it was clear the staff did not completely understand expectations. And a lack of understanding almost always comes from a lack of clear communication. If you do not communicate expectations, you will continually face the question, “What did we expect?”
Here is a great example of Staff Expectations.
Powerful Leadership Question
I want to be a better leader in 2011. So, I recently asked each person on my team to answer the following question -
What are two ways I can be a better leader for you in the New Year?
I ask for complete honesty and ensure their answers are private.
This is one of the best exercises I have done. The team members felt valued. And I received clarity and insight on how to best lead each one.
How are you preparing yourself to be a better leader in 2011?
Simple. Simple. Simple.
Once you overload the user, you train them not to pay attention. More clutter isn’t free. In fact, more clutter is a permanent shift, a desensitization to all the information, not just the last bit. - Seth Godin
I see churches consistently overload the user (church member) with information. Come to this event. Come to that event. Listen to this announcement. Read this brochure. Friend us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Be professional with us on LinkedIn. Watch this tear-jerking video. As you excuse yourself, check out our upcoming event calendar.
Please listen to us!
My thought. Create a simple survey asking church members how they prefer to receive church communications. Give the member a full list of communication options. From web site to bathroom urinal calendars. Ask the simple question – What 3 ways do you prefer to receive church wide communications?
Tally the results. In most cases you find a cluster of 2-3 ways people want to receive communications.
Now you have clarity. Pour all your energy and resources in producing these communication channels with excellence. For example, at WoodsEdge people clearly wanted communications delivered through web site, Facebook and monthly email. Therefore we helped the church redesign web site, create a Facebook strategy and designed new layout for monthly email.
The results are incredible. Survey your audience. Know your audience. Communicate according to preference.
