What The Nation of Iceland Can Teach us About Leadership

February 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

On October 6, 2008, the nation of Iceland officially went broke. They had $100 billion in banking losses that year…roughly $330,000 for every Icelandic person.

Their national debt reached 850% of their national GDP.  For comparison, the debt in the US was 73% of the GDP in 2013.

Now in the years leading up to the bust, Iceland experienced a huge boom. And most of this new wealth was tied to the banking industry. A nation that used to make money by fishing now made lots of money through banking. In Boomerang, by Michael Lewis, one person explained the it like this:

You have a dog. I have a cat. We agree hat each is worth a billion dollars. You sell me the dog for $1 billion. I sell you the cat for $1 billion. Now we are no longer pet owners but Icelandic banks, with a billion dollars in new assets.

Fake capital.  Fake investments.  Fake value. It all sounded good on paper, but in 2008, it all came crashing down.I’m telling you a banking story from Iceland because I think it illustrates something that’s really important to us today. Bankers in Iceland had fake wealth…wealth on paper. But it wasn’t real. It came and it went…just like that.

Many times, what looks real on paper isn’t real in life.

  • We install systems of fake accountability.  It’s pretty simple to maintain the appearance of accountability while missing the point entirely.
  • We have fake relationships.  Colleagues are great, but swapping work stories with someone isn’t an indicator of an authentic friendship.
  • We live with a false identity.  You might be praised for being a great leader, speaker or thinker, but if your identity is built on what you do, it will all come crumbling down.

Maybe we can all learn something from the banking industry of Iceland.

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A Short Tour of My Home Office

February 27, 2013 by 1 Comment

I work from home several days a week so I thought I would show you how my home office is set up.  Here’s a short video tour.

Here are a couple of the things I mentioned in the video.

Filed Under: Leadership, Personal Tagged With: ,

Organize Your Church with Good Systems

February 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment

About one year into leading a rapidly growing church, things were spinning out of control. There were people everywhere and we had no processes to get anything done.  My friend Matt sent be a verse from the book of Proverbs that changed things.

Proverbs 19:2 says “passion without knowledge is not good.”  I was a church planter drunk on passion and vision, but had no real strategy to make anything happen.  Passion alone wasn’t enough, I needed to get organized around that passion.

I’ve met  many well-meaning, good-hearted people who simply can’t get anything done.  I don’t think the problem is a lack of understanding around the calling, or a vision to reach people for Jesus.  A lot of churches have systems problems…organizational oversights that hinder growth.

Seven Principles of Church Systems

1. Good systems don’t naturally develop. The Second Law of Thermodynamics (also called the law of entropy) states that things naturally go from a state of order to chaos. This scientific principle is the reason that my kid’s clean room turns into a disaster area in twenty minutes. What begins well in the church often gets confusing and muddy over time. This is why we must evaluate and improve, because if you leave things alone, they get worse all by themselves.

2. Good systems solve problems. Trying harder rarely leads to greater results. Instead of asking everyone to problem solve setup issues, create a system for people to follow.  Instead of dealing with volunteer issues all the time, create a system to onboard people the healthy way.

3. Planning saves money.  I saw a triangle once that had the words good, cheap and fast in the three corrners.  The rule is you could have any two of the three you want.  You can have good and cheap, but you’re not gonna get that fast.  You can fast and cheap, but it won’t be good.  Planning allows churches to have things good and cheap, and that’s where most need to be.

4. Planning leads to better decisions.  If you have some good systems in place, you will make better decisions.  “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” – Proverbs 16:3. “The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.” – Proverbs 14:15

5. Someone needs to think this way. If you’re wired for passion and vision (like most pastors and church planters), then you are probably not good when it comes to thinking through systems. . That’s okay, but you MUST find someone who is. You can let organized volunteers speak into this process or bring in someone to help you set things up for maximum effectiveness.  “Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.” – Proverbs 9:9

6. Involve your team. When people contribute to the creation of the system, there’s automatic buy in. People don’t like to be handed a plan and hear, “Hey, you…go execute this.”  If you can involve your team in building healthy systems, they will be far more effective at running them.

7. Write it down.  A system that’s not written down, referenced and discussed won’t make a difference.  Get those ideas out of your head and create a document.  And bring that document out of the folder on your computer and talk about it in real life.

Church Systems Action Steps

  1. If you haven’t done it already, go through my Organize Your Church in 30 Days course.  It’s free.
  2. Do a systems makeover. Consider bringing in someone to help. You will surprised in how much you could accomplish with just one or two days of focus.
  3. Pick one system that needs improvement and work on it this week.

Getting organized isn’t about making ministry easier, it’s about making it more effective.

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Seven Things I Learned from Watching Andy Stanley Teach Junior High Students

February 25, 2013 by 4 Comments

NorthPoint just started a new series called You’ll Be Glad You Did.  The kickoff message on February 24, 2013 was actually recorded by Andy Stanley on the previous Friday evening.  It was the opening talk of a transit weekend retreat.  Andy taught the message to a room full of middle school students, knowing it would be shown on Sunday morning in church.

Andy was teaching junior high school students, knowing the message would be shown at area churches on Sunday.  As he walked off the stage Friday, a camera followed him as he addressed the adult service. It was like the Inception of sermons.  Communicating to two audiences is a difficult task for any communicator.

I couldn’t help but think how many parents appreciated the look inside the message their kids are hearing at NorthPoint.  But I also couldn’t help but jot down some notes on communication from Andy’s message.  It was masterful.

Here are seven things I learned from Andy Stanley’s sermon to students.

1.  Andy used a ton of  humor.  The message was all about labels, and how we accept labels from other people, and miss out on the fact that only our maker has the right to label us.  Andy told stories from his own time in junior high school.  He talked about getting the nickname “Sabertooth Andy” because his teeth were so messed up.  (I bet a lot of people could relate to that). He talked about being labeled “not smart” after his teacher just wrote “NO” in red ink on a math test.  Andy didn’t talk about all his successes in junior high…he made fun of himself.  And whether you’re teaching junior high kids or senior adults, this is a great way to make a connection.

Andy Stanley

2.  Andy built tension into his talk.  I’ve seen him do this time and time again, but this message was a great illustration.  There was a time when he wanted everyone to think about the question he was going to ask.  Think about it, not answer it out loud.  He spent several minutes baiting the crowd and setting up this moment, so by the time he put the question on the screen, it just hung in the air.  Too many times, we assume people are interested in our message.  Work on the tension early on and they will lean in.

3.  Andy introduced an idea and then brought it back at the end.  I’ve seen comedians do this throughout the course of a set, and it’s a great way to weave a major point through an entire message.  In this case, Andy said that manufacturers, owners and purchasers had the right to label something.  This came in the first few minutes of his talk and then he moved on.  Later, he came back to this idea and said that God – the one who made you, owns you and purchased you – is the only one who has the right to label you.  When you tease and idea or set it up early, you can come back to it later.  Done right, it can be a great a-ha moment.

4.  The message was short.  The message was about 30 minutes.  This might be longer than you think middle school students could handle (it’s not…you just can’t waste their time and you have to be on your game.)  30 minutes seems like the right length for most sermons.  It’s not a hard and fast rule.  In general, I think we need to say what needs to be said and then stop talking.

Andy Stanley

5.  Andy started with them.  I believe that while sermon preparation should start with the scripture, the sermon itself should start with the audience.  The goal is to teach the Bible, but in order to do that effectively, we have to start with where people are.  What are their hopes, dreams, fears, thoughts and desires?  What are they thinking in that moment?  The first minutes of Andy’s talk were not wasted…He was building a connection by starting with where they live and what they deal with on a daily basis.

6.  Andy made the audience the hero.  Here’s a secret….your audience loves to feel smarter than you.  When you talk about the things you mess up, the people can relate to you.  When you make them into the hero, they connect and pay attention.  In this message, Andy referenced the room of adults listening (remember…this was an Inception style sermon!), and said, “Right now, there is a room of adults who are saying – I wish someone had told me these things when I was a kid.”  Andy told the students they could get this right the first time.  Without putting down anyone, Andy made a room full of junior high students feel like they could do something better than their parents.

7.  Andy taught one passage.  Andy got to Romans 12:1-2 and unpacked some meaning from that verse.  It was a bite-sized teaching time – He knew it didn’t have to be the final word on the topic.  He didn’t jump all around the Bible and confuse people with a bunch of verses.  He taught one passage, and he taught it well.   Of course, he used a sticky statement to tie it all together.  The bottom line of this message was “The labels people put on you could cause you to miss God’s plan for you.”

Andy Stanley

Every Senior Pastor should teach students from time to time.  It will keep you on your game and will force you to work on your craft.  Adults will often sit through a boring message because they are supposed to…students usually will not.

As someone who cares so much about helping people communicate God’s Word authentically, passionately and effectively, it was great to see how Andy did so in front of junior high students.  It was refreshing to see a Senior Pastor willing to communicate to junior high students.  And a church willing to give show a message in the adult service on the weekend.

I learned a lot from Andy’s message.  Not just about finding my identity in Christ, but how to connect with students.  I don’t know if I’m an expert in communication, but I do love serving churches by helping the pastor preach better messages.  That’s one reason I devote so much of my time to the Preaching Rocket Core Coaching Program.  I don’t know of a better way to work ON your calling and your craft.

Filed Under: Church, Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A Word from Lauren

February 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I told Lauren she could post on my blog today.  Here’s what she has to say.

The Clown that Lost His Funny

My dad printed bookmarks for me to pass out at my school, church, and any other places. I already passed out 60 bookmarks at my school and they were a big hit.

On the back of the bookmark is the website where I’m raising money so I can publish my book. I’ giving them out where and whenever I can so people will go and pledge money to my book.
If I do not reach my goal of $5,500 I lose all the money.
I need you to go to this website HairyTheClown.com. If you have already done that, please tell all the people you know about this website and about my book. I have to get the word out if I want to succeed.

P.S (There are only 20 days left until the Kickstater project is over. We must raise our money before then.)
Filed Under: Leadership

It Might Not Be As Bad As You Think It Is

February 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

I wanted to share a quick and hopefully encouraging lesson with you. It starts with this picture.

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Looks like a pretty nice place, doesn’t it?

Now, take a look at this next picture.

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That’s a picture of the exact same property. Know what’s different?

Perspective.

Perspective is your mental view or outlook. It’s how you see things. Consider…

  • You might feel like things are financially tough. Perspective tells you that your church is more blessed than you think.
  • You might feel like you’re not growing as fast as the church down the street. Perspective tells you to shepherd the people God has entrusted to you.
  • You might feel like you don’t have enough people to serve. Perspective teaches you to appreciate and pastor those who give so much of their time.

It’s easy for our perspective to get out of whack…it happens to me all the time. I get caught up in the here and now and lose perspective. I think about the things I don’t have, and forget about things I do have. I try hard to get to the next level or break the next growth barrier, and I forget to enjoy the journey. I slip into leader mode and forget that my first ministry is to my family.

So maybe these pictures can give you a perspective change today. I know they did for me.

By the way, shout out to Kem Meyer who originally posted these pictures in a blog post titled “perspective.”

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Celebrate Limits

February 18, 2013 by 2 Comments

4857309-football-field-sideline-and-yard-marker

There are a lot of things you might not have.

  • You might not have enough money in the bank account.
  • You might not have an administrative assistant.
  • You might not have enough space, a MacBook Pro or a volunteer leader.

Tt would be easy to sit around and talk about what you could do it we only had this.  Or what might be if you only had that. But that’s deadly thinking.

It’s the kind of thinking that leads to excuse making.  It’s the kind of thinking that, unchecked, turns into complaining.  Dreaming is good, but depending on dreams to execute our daily tasks will only lead to frustration.  Hope is a sucky strategy.

Let me say it this way. You can only work with what you have.

The stuff you have at our disposal right now are the pieces God has given you.

  • If I only had more time…that’s wrong thinking.  You have the same number of hours in the day as Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson and Mother Theresa.
  • If we only had a bigger budget…that’s wrong thinking.  You have more resources at your disposal than the startup who found a way to bootstrap greatness.
  • If we only had access to so and so…don’t believe that lie.  You know who you know.

The Superbowl-winning Baltimore Ravens played on the same size field, under the same rules, and with the same salary cap as the 2-14 Kansas City Chiefs.

Constraints are not the enemy.  Limitations don’t mean losing. It’s when those things become excuses that we will find ourselves handicapped by the potential blessings.

You have what you have and that’s enough to do what you do.

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Why Get it For Free When You Can Pay For It

February 14, 2013 by 2 Comments

Do you remember the song “Father Abraham.”  It went like this…

Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham.

Not only was Abraham the father of a great nation, he also had a right arm, left arm, right foot and left foot. (You’re welcome for putting that melody into your head.)

In Genesis 23, we read about the death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. They was living in the land of the Hittites at the time, so Abraham approached them about buying a tomb. The Hittites, knowing Abraham’s importance, offered to give him a choice burial ground for free. Abraham denied, but the Hittites insisted.

But instead of taking the burial ground for free, Abraham got more intense, eventually settling on the price of 400 shekels of silver.

Abraham insisted on paying full price for something he was being offered for free.

That’s backwards from the way most of us conduct business, trying to negotiate the lowest prices and the best deals. Instead of paying a fair price, most want the lowest price.

But price isn’t the real issue. The real issue is value.

I’ve seen this principle in my own life. I don’t value many of the things I get for free. But when I pay the full and fair price for something, it comes with a different weight.

It’s good to get free advice from a friend…it’s another thing to pay for professional counsel.

It’s fine to take a free class on the internet…it’s another thing to pay for an education.

Abraham didn’t want a deal…he wanted to honor his wife.

Over the years, I’ve had people ask for free coaching, free consulting, and free resources. People have played the ministry card. Or the church planter card.

I think that dishonors the seriousness of what you do.

If you truly want to honor someone or something, maybe it takes an investment.

Filed Under: Leadership

Finding Your Meeting Rhythm

February 11, 2013 by 1 Comment

Our Rocket Company team is meeting all-day today, so I thought I would update you on a system that has been in development for more than a year. It’s just beginning to work well, and we’re starting to see results.

  • We do a weekly team meeting that lasts one hour. The purpose of this meeting is vision and communication.  We always start with a story from one of the churches we serve and we always end with a look at upcoming events.
  • Once a month, we spend the entire day together. We focus on reviewing the numbers and quarterly priorities in the morning, then we discuss one or two “big rocks.”
  • Once a quarter, we go away for one night. We look at the previous quarter (numbers and objectives) and then set three new quarterly objectives. These are big, all-team things, and we let those drive our activity during the next quarter.
  • Once a year, we go away for two nights and talk about our annual priorities. We discuss and debate, then walk away with five big goals for the upcoming year.

The meeting system is really working for us, and while it’s not perfect, consistency makes it work.

I’m curious about your meeting structure. What do you do on a consistent basis?  What’s working for you?

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What the Church Could Learn from the US Postal Service

February 7, 2013 by 1 Comment

Yesterday, the United States Postal Service announced it would end Saturday delivery of mail in an attempt to cut costs. Say what you want about the inefficiency of government, but this was the right move. It will save the federal government about $2 Billion and it’s supported by 7 of 10 Americans.

It will bring greater efficiency, decrease cost and not make many people mad. Most people can do without catalogues and credit card offers on Saturday.

The local church could actually learn something from the USPS.

Cutting programs that drain the budget but don’t serve many people might be a step in the right direction. Putting resources elsewhere (budget dollars and volunteer hours are among those very important and limited resources) might make more important ministries more effective. Each church should wrestle through things that could be cut, in order to do better ministry elsewhere, but here’s a short list to get you thinking.

  • Services that aren’t close to capacity.
  • Mid-week programs that used to be effective.
  • Mens and women’s ministries that duplicate ministry done elsewhere
  • Daycares and schools that don’t fulfill the stated mission of the church.
  • Ministry specific websites.
  • Mission trips that are more sightseeing than missions.
  • Superbowl parties and Fall festivals that keep people from hanging with their neighbors

I’m not suggesting all of those ministries should be eliminated.  I am suggesting you take a hard look at all of the things you are doing and see if you should prune in order to grow.  Focusing on fewer things often makes them better things.

Filed Under: Church, Leadership Tagged With: , , ,
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