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Leadership On a Practical, Day-to-Day Level

I love learning about leadership.  I love reading books on leadership, listening to teachings on leadership, discussing leadership, and so on.  But, many aspects of leadership are written about, or taught about, from a very high-level perspective.  Things like vision-casting, communicating, coaching, equipping, encouraging, and managing can sometimes be hard to put into practice regularly.  Not always for a lack of effort, either.  Sometimes we just don't know how to take the great things we've learned and make them work on a practical level.

Next week I'll start a series of blog posts on Practical Leadership.  It will be the nitty gritty things I do to actually implement the key components of leadership.  Most of what I know about leadership I learned from others, but a lot of the practical stuff I had to make up on my own so I would love to hear your thoughts as well.  I guarantee there are a ton of people out there who have much better methods than I do, so I hope people will jump in and share. 

But, before that, anybody have any specific areas of leadership they would like to learn some practical methods about?  Comment below...

NFL & The Church Part 6 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Excellence

The NFL bleeds excellence.  The casual observer may not notice, but from the TV production all the way to the details in practice, excellence is prevalent.  The parity in the NFL is so great that the worst team one year can make the playoffs the next year.  One reason for that is because the level of excellence across most of the teams is very close which leaves little room for error.  It's the reason a winless team could beat an undefeated team 5 weeks into the season. 

Churches are rarely seen as excellent.  Plus, excellence is a word/label that can be abused or sought after at the expense of more important things (like people).  For the purpose of this post, I'll borrow a definition of excellence that says it is "doing the best you can with what you have, in a sustainable fashion."  (Thanks Troy Fountain via Rich Barrett).  Churches definitely have a great disadvantage when talking about excellence in comparison to the NFL, or any business, because the vast majority of their "staff" is volunteers.  But, they should do the best they can with what they have, and not settle for mediocre. 

A big reason why the NFL is so excellent is because of focus.  All throughout the NFL they apply great focus which allows them to pour the necessary resources and time into the most important things.  Churches typically dilute focus by doing too much.  NFL teams take this to an extreme, constantly preaching one game at a time.  John Harbaugh brought an acronym to the Ravens that drives what they do every week, and it's What's Important Now? 

If the churches would choose to focus on a handful of things, and trim out everything else, we would see a dramatic difference in the level of excellence in the things they continue doing.  Unfortunately the pain from a lack of excellence doesn't feel worse than the perceived pain of cutting programs or events. 

Friday Five

Here are my five favorite posts from this week:

Brad Lomenick - End of Year Review, Part Two:  Ask the Right Questions - Good thoughts for reflecting on the year.

Tim Stevens - Who Said You Can't Learn the Truth on TV? - Jennifer and I watch Heroes and I was thinking the same thing when listening to those lines.

Steven Furtick - It's Already Yours - Great perspective on the older brother in the story of the prodigal son.  We all act like the older brother at times.

Perry Noble - Eight Signs of a Lukewarm Blogger - Absolutely hilarious.  If Perry had comments enabled there would be thousands right now.

Vince Antonucci - Fundraising:  What Are Churches Looking For? - The first in a great series of posts about fundraising. 

NFL & The Church Part 5 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Momentum

The NFL has become a master of creating and sustaining momentum.  If you know me, you know I can't stand baseball.  I played for 8 years as a kid, but eventually it just became too boring, especially to watch.  One game is boring by itself, but then add on to that the fact that they play over 160 of them!  It has to be next to impossible to sustain momentum for that many games. 

The NFL has 4 preseason games and 16 regular season games, along with 4 weeks of postseason play.  Take into account the 2 extra weeks and you have basically half a year of pro football.  But, ask any real fan and they'll tell you it feels like it goes by so quick.  Fans are dying for the next season to begin.  Part of that is because the parity in the NFL allows most fans to have hope, which prompts them to look forward to the next season.  But, the NFL has leveraged other aspects of NFL life to sustain the momentum during the offseason, including free agency, the draft, mini-camps, and training camp.  You know you're doing well when your DRAFT draws tons of viewers. 

Churches rarely think about momentum.  I think most people don't realize that momentum can be created and controlled to an extent, and isn't something that just happens.  Some ways the church can create momentum is by:

• Calendaring events in such a way that momentum is sustained throughout the year
  
• Designing as much as possible around each message series, so that it changes regularly.  That design can include the stage, the hallways, the website, the program, the pre-service music, the video backgrounds, the lighting and much more.  (momentum has a lot to do with "new")
  
• Carefully planned promotion.  You can promote too early, and lose momentum by the time you actually have whatever you're promoting, or you could promote too late or not at all and lose your opportunity to build momentum beforehand.  Well planned promotion will get people anxious and ready at just the right time. 
  
• Re-designing.  You can re-design sets, rooms, decor, print materials, websites, service orders and other things in order to create the feeling that something has improved.
  
• Stopping something.  That's right, you can actually stop something and gain momentum.  That's the hardest way to gain momentum, but if everybody knows that something isn't working, and you cut it, everybody is happy (well, not everybody). 
  
• Start Something.  Never start something simply to gain momentum, but starting something that's in line with your vision and strategy is a great way to build momentum.

Those are just a handful of ideas.  Churches have a long way to go to come close to the momentum that the NFL has been able to create year in and year out. 

Update:  I just watched an ad on the NFL Network where they were promoting the NFL Combine/Draft and the new group of players that will be coming in.  The regular season just ended yesterday (12/28) but they know there are fans already looking forward to next season.  They're keeping momentum going by getting them to look at what's next and providing hope. 

NFL & The Church Part 4 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Great Systems

The NFL has amazing systems.  Systems for how the linebackers will practice on the 8th day of training camp and systems for how expansion teams are added to the league.  Systems for massive things and systems for small things.  Each week during the season NFL teams execute their system for game planning, practicing, conditioning, coaching, critiquing, evaluating, scouting, etc.  I don't think I need to make a strong case for the quality of the NFL's systems.  But, there is a great example.

John Harbaugh showed up to his interview for the Baltimore Raven's head coach position with way more than just experience, a great resume, great references and the pedigree.  He brought a system.  Andy Reid's influence led to Harbaugh coming in with a huge book, that was essentially a detailed plan for how to lead an NFL team from day 1.  John has executed that play book since he arrived and the results have been great so far, especially for a team with a rookie QB and 16 guys on injured reserve.  That book is really just documented systems, and the processes that make up those systems.

The Church neglects systems for many reasons.  Unhealthy schedules, little margin, lack of systems thinking leaders and a general bias against systems are all examples of reasons why most churches have bad systems.  Andy Stanley says that "systems create behaviors" (I think that was borrowed from a book called the Fifth Discipline).  Most churches have serious behavior problems.

Just imagine if every church had a "book" like the one Harbaugh has.  A detailed plan for how everything in the church takes place.  Sure, the plan will change constantly, but documenting it forces leadership to think through the current systems and identify opportunities for improvement.  With detailed systems it's easier to recruit volunteers and develop leaders.....because the play book is already made. 

If you want to have great systems at your church, Nelson Searcy at Church Leader Insights is the first place to look for help.

A Coffee Shop Acting Like a Church

The video below is a comical depiction of what a coffee shop would look like if it was modeled after most churches.  Okay, not most churches, but there are a ton of things in that video that most churches do and the video highlights the strange nature of some of those things.  (Thanks to Rich Barrett for putting that video on my radar)

Friday Five

Here are my five favorite blog posts from the week (Ben gets a double mention):

Ben Arment - Missions for Mantras - Interesting thoughts about mission statements

Ben Arment - The Power of Loose Social Networks - Ben's thoughts on a point in a book that he found to be true in church planting

Steven Furtick - Do the details - I need to make sure my desire to hand off responsibility doesn't come across as me not caring about that responsibility

Vince Antonucci - Size Matters? (2) - Great point from Vince about church leader's concern about church size

Jay Hardwick - Rolling Out the Welcome Mat - For all two of you who probably watch the NFL Network, you might know that Deion Sanders has a top 10 plays every Sunday night.  He basically states that any player who high steps into the end zone like he used to gets an automatic spot on the top 10.  Well, church leaders who share kingdom minded thoughts on posts automatically make my list.  In this post Jay responds to people asking him how he feels about a huge mega-church, Newspring, launching a campus in the city he's planting a church.  His response is one reason why Awaken Church will likely make a great impact.

NFL & The Church Part 3 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Outsider-focus

The NFL is a public relations machine.  They understand their customer (the outsider) and make sure they don't only listen to the insiders (owners, coaches, players, etc).  Major League Baseball became too insider focused about 14 years ago and the result has been America's Past Time losing a ton of ground in viewers and completely getting destroyed by the NFL. 

In general, the NFL has done a great job listening to the fans and designing their product around what they hear.  They've gone to bat against one of the biggest media outlets there is (Comcast) to fight for the fan's ability to watch the NFL Network without having to pay even more. 

Most teams provide camps, clinics, information sessions, parties, and other events to give the fans what they want.  Many teams have PR departments that intentionally have the players and coaches on radio shows and in public appearances to reach out to the fans.  Does all of this benefit the NFL, you bet. 

The Church could take a page out of this book by seeking out the opinions of those who are not a part of any church and developing their strategy around what they hear.  The problem is, many churches can pay the bills with the insiders they do have, which means they don't have to listen to outsiders.  The NFL, and most businesses, must listen to outsiders if they want to survive.  Listening to outsiders benefits the outsiders and the Church........that is, unless a church is directly opposed to reaching out to people who don't know Jesus. 

Side note, the NFL has a big contract renewal discussion coming up with the players association where both sides will be looking out for themselves, and if neither gives in, the result will be an insider focus that will undoubtedly affect their reputation with the fans.

Partnering with Parents at KidStuf

At CCC we want to be an "Orange" church.  Our desire in Children's Ministry is to partner with parents to help them raise their children in faith and character.  Our strategy and curriculum provider, reThink, provides resources to help parents continue conversations at home.  Two of the resources they provide are God Time cards and Fridge Door cards.  Those cards have activities and discussion questions that kids can work on at home with their parents throughout the week.

Last Sunday at KidStuf we played the video that you see below.  The video highlights those resources from the perspective of a parent.  Our hope is that the parents who were at KidStuf will have a better idea of what God Time & Fridge Door cards are and just how helpful they can be.  We have a long way to go to be satisfied with our level of parent partnership but this video was just one step in improving that partnership.

NFL & The Church Part 2 of 6

The Church (capital C) is my number one passion after God & family and the NFL is my number one hobby.  Throughout my history with each of them I've noticed some common things between the two of them, but in some cases it SHOULD be common but it usually isn't.  I'll post them all in no particular order.

Leadership

The NFL has tons of great leadership, because weak leaders don't make it very far in the coaching rankings.  Something the NFL does well is make sure that one person only leads a handful of people.  That's why head coaches of coordinators, and coordinators have positions coaches, and position coaches have assistants.  If somebody had to lead an entire team, or even an entire unit (offense or defense), they would fail miserably.  It would be impossible to be in tune with each individual's needs and opportunities for improvement while keeping their eye on the big picture.

The church should have a structure of leadership where nobody has to lead a ton of people.  Depending on the capacity and giftedness of the leader, a ton could be 40, or it could be 15.  Either way, it's always good to have smaller teams throughout.  Smaller teams allow everyone to form deeper relationships with the rest of the people on their team, as opposed to being lost in the shuffle. 

Another GREAT thing that you see in the NFL (most of the time), is teams helping their coaches get other jobs.  NFL teams recognize that they compete against each other, but for the most part they don't value that competition above the progress of the individual coaches on their team.  Now, with players, that's a different story.  I love that most teams do that. 

The Church is all one team, churches are TOGETHER on that team, yet we often find people operating as if we're COMPETING.  Church staff members will get other jobs without letting their church know, and be gone in 2 weeks.  Church leaders will look down on those who seek other opportunities instead of helping them out. 

The Church should learn from the NFL, and help individuals grow and seek the life they believe God is calling them to.  Individuals should trust the Church, and get them involved in their thought process early on and NEVER abuse the "God card" by acting like anything they do is okay because "God told them to".