Ministry Blackboard

5Nov/120

the Monday Morning Debrief: Who is on your team?

In case you missed it, there has been some strife over at Apple, Inc. recently and two people have been let go.  That is some pretty significant news since one of the persons fired was just hired about 6 months ago and the other one was a long-time confidant of Steve Jobs.  But, as you can probably see from this article, the bigger issue is new CEO Tim Cook developing his own team after taking over for the deceased Steve Jobs.  Can he develop a team to take Apple, Inc. to the next level or not?

So what does Apple's issues have to do with ministry?

It raised the question for me, Who is on MY team?  What leaders do I have filling what positions?  And, are they team members I want/need to be there or are they just warm bodies?  Do they click with me are just cause descent?

In the same way, I believe all of us minister need to be asking these questions because identifying and placing the right leaders in your program can be a tremendous boast to your program.  But, it is finding the right people for your program.  Finding the wrong fit or the wrong people can bring problems to your program like it brought trouble to Apple, Inc. in recent months.

So right now, TAKE A MINUTE and process who is on your leadership team.  Do you have the right team with you?  If not, what do you need to do to get the right people on the bus?  If you have a solid leadership team on board, what can you do to continue to improve the team?

Thoughts?  Comments?  Experiences?  Share some so that we can all benefit from it.

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6Oct/110

What will you be remembered for?

In case you didn't hear, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, Inc. died yesterday.  He was just 56 years old.

In all reality, you have had to be living in a nuclear shelter for the past 10-15 years to not have heard about Steve Jobs and all his creations: iMac, MacBook, iPod, iPhone, iPad to just name a few of the most popular.  As I watched CNBC and read articles last night and today I heard a lot of different words/phrases to describe him.  Rebel, icon, genius, innovator, visionary, creative, inspiring, mastermind, inventor, entrepreneur, leader are all words that I heard over and over again.

He will be missed by many people.  He really did change the way people in the 21st century communicate, function and operate.

All this being said, it does bring to mind what I want to be remembered for when I pass away.  What are people going to say about me when I am gone?  What kind of legacy will I leave behind?

What about you?  TAKE A MINUTE right now and think through what you think people are going to say about you when you are gone.  Do you like what you think people are going to say or no?  If not, what do you need to do today to leave a legacy that will go on for many, many years after you are gone from this earth?  If so, what do you need to keep on doing to leave a lasting legacy for generations to come?

Matthew 5:16 - "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

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1Sep/110

Making Changes: Part 3 – Staffing/Volunteer

In case you didn't hear, Steve Jobs resigned this past Wednesday afternoon.  This comes at a time when Apple, Inc. is riding an all time high of momentum (check out their latest quarterly earnings and how they apply to ministry here). Whether it is an iPhone, iPod, iPad or any other Mac computer, Apple is crushing the competition.  But it wasn't always this way with Steve Jobs and Apple.

Did you know that Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, Inc., was actually forced out of the company back in 1985?  Because of slow Mac sales, poor relationships with colleagues and stronger competition from Microsoft, Jobs was shown the door from the company he created.  However, with Apple struggling even more than when Jobs left in 1985, they asked him to come in 1997 to come back to Apple and take it over as CEO.  It was only then that the new and improved Apple, Inc. came into fruition.  What Jobs has done with Apple since his return is remarkable and his legacy will last a long time as a innovator and marketing genius.

Steve Jobs may be an extreme example, but sometimes job changes and even personnel changes may help make the person and the company better.  Obviously, Apple looks really bad in hindsight for letting go of Steve Jobs back in the '80s but better late than never in recognizing that and bringing him back.

In light of last week's resignation, today I am going focus on part 3 of making ministry changes.  Part 1: Programmatic changes and Part 2: Strategic changes were done last week.  This change may be one of the hardest and biggest one of all the changes you make.  It is making staffing and volunteer changes.

As hard as it may be at times, making some staffing and volunteer changes may be exactly what your ministry needs.  There are probably a ton of reasons why these changes need to happen but the reality is that when making a change you realize that this particular Staffer or Volunteer is no longer being a valuable assest to your program.  They are no longer making an impact.  They may not be doing anything negative to affect the program but a change may be needed for the better.  There are two different types of "personel" changes:

  1. It could be something simple like changing their focus
  2. Asking a leader to step down and no longer be a leader
The better option of these two is when you ask a leader to change their focus.  When you do that you are still desiring for them to be involved, but simply change what they are currently doing to do something different.  I have asked leaders this mainly because the time and energy they have for the youth and the ministry is no longer what it used to be.  A perfect example is an old college-aged leader I had.  He was great and served together with me for many years as he was in college and just out of college.  He had no strings attached and was alway really involved with students and programming aspects of the ministry.  But then he got married, which started taking up more of his time.  He wasn't as "available" as he used to be.  THEN, he started having a family by having children!  Really!?!  Just kidding, but seriously, because of this, he was hardly available.  So he and I sat down and talk through what his role would look like from that point on.  It was a great conversation because he realized that I cared for him and his family while also caring for the students in our program.  We were able to talk through a perfect new role for him.

Now, I want to caution you, my 1st suggestion would be to not just let this person "go" and ask them not to be a leader.  The first thing you need to do is to go before God first and foremost and seek his counsel on it.  See what He is telling you to do. If, after this time with the Lord, you feel like this person could be of some use in another area of your ministry, it would be best to meet with him/her and discuss your concerns and try to work out a plan for this person to go from making a limited impact to a highly successful one.  After all, we want all our staffers and volunteers to be making an impact.  If they are not, and have no desire to adjust and change, then there really isn't a point in having them involved much longer.

But what if you have a staffer or volunteer that is causing division and a divide in your group or leadership?  What do you do then?  Good question and for the sake of longevity of this post, I will be posting on that topic early next week.

Regardless of what you feel like God is leading you to do, I can say that if you know a change needs to happen and you, for whatever reason, do not make the change, it is going to affect your students and program.

So right now, TAKE A MINUTE and go before the Lord and seek his wisdom.  Is there a change that needs to happen? In addition, after you spend some time with the Lord, go to a few trusted people with knowledge of your program and see if they feel any changes need to happen.

Thoughts, comments, questions?  Post a comment so we can all benefit.

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