Higher Standards

One thing that is increasingly evident today is that there is no lack of moral failure in our society. We need only think of recent sports figures, politicians and others who have destroyed their lives because a pattern of decreasing moral standards was allowed to continue unabated. Surely, these same individuals knew what the consequences would be, didn’t they? Yet, still they continued until it all fell apart.

Wake Up Call

As spiritual men and women, ones who lead and drive spiritual organizations, we must be on guard against declining standards. Unless we consciously set higher and higher moral standards, we will continue to slip the other direction… In other words, there is no middle ground. Lack of progression equals decline.

The same goes for your organization. It has been said that the greatest hindrance to tomorrow’s success is today’s. We naturally tend to settle. We cannot allow this to happen. The dynamic organizational leader will reward the success of today, and set new goals for tomorrow.

“You don’t understand, that will burn out my people! After all, this is only a volunteer organization.”

Let me say this as gingerly as I can; “Stop your excuses.” The reality is that people want progression. They want to be a part. If you are losing them, they either fail to see value or they are not feeling rewarded or recognized for the incremental accomplishments.

A Word of Warning

Driving success means celebrating success. Many leaders set the vision high. Rightly so. However, many of them make a terrible error by setting the celebration for accomplishment at the same level. This is wrong. We need to see the vision as the distant place we want to arrive, but we need to reward and recognize the steps to get there.

Come with me to Paris. I was standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower, and told my family to “look up!” I said, “we’re going to climb the stairs to the top!” “What!?!” came the reply. It was drudgery, until I began to count out the steps in increments of fifty. “Fifty… One Hundred… One Fifty…” Soon everyone was calling them out; “Two Hundred!!!” What started as drudgery, became excitement as we celebrated each fiftieth step. “Two Fifty!” Before we knew it, we were at the top! Six hundred and seventy four steps!

Had we waited until we came to the top to celebrate, I would have had to listen to requests to take the elevator the entire way up! Perhaps one of my kids would have broken ranks and headed the other direction. Maybe mutiny at step number Three Ninety Nine. Or, having made it to the top, faced a family who--for their anger--failed to appreciate the spectacular view from the top.

Celebrate each and every landing on your organizational journey, and set the next highest standard when you arrive.

Lead the System

If you were driving on a dark country road, and you saw the sign, Bridge Out, What would you do? Would you continue on to your own peril, or would you change your direction? Many leaders are continuing in the same direction they always have... to their peril. They continue to work in the system, managing everything and everyone, and all the while the road is falling out beneath them. The signs (unlike the one to the right) were there a long time prior to the road's collapse, yet through seasons of delay and a general lack of ideas on how to change their reality, the leader--and the organization--fall.

So, How do you stop managing and start leading? If we could answer this question in one simple paragraph, the sky would open, the songs of a thousand birds would fill the sky and rose petals would fall upon our path. The reality is that the answer to that question is as unique as your specific gifts and talents, and your ability to leverage them to act and think differently. In other words, you need to begin the downplay of using your gifts and talents and start leading others in (not with) your gifts and talents. We may not have your answers, but we do have some starting points.

1. Provide Context
The first step is to be completely clear about what you or the organization requires. Framing the work within the broader context gives clarity to the recipient. They must be clear how the work contributes to the overall success of the organization.

2. Delegate Authority and Responsibility
Delegating responsibility to complete a task it relatively easy; "Get it done!" Delegating the authority to accomplish it can be another story. It requires confidence and trust in the individual. It also requires you to let go! Without the ability to make a decision that you will support, people will never be (or feel) empowered to complete the tasks that they are given. They will move forward in fear. Jethro advised Moses to relinquish his authority and impart it to others (Exodus 18:13-26).

3. Support don't Abdicate
Leading the system is just that, leading. It does not mean that you delegate and forget. Especially in the early stages of a project. People need your support and encouragement. They may need your skills. They may need you to push them when they feel they cannot and you know they can. If you abdicate your authority you will leave your people feeling alone and discouraged.

4. Only Delegate When Appropriate
Make sure that those to whom you delegate have the necessary skill to carry out the task. If not, they will be frustrated, you will be frustrated, and the work will not be completed.

5. Look at Team and Sub-team Structure.
Map it out. Keep all parts of the team communicating with each other. Check for consistency, effectiveness and overlap. Make sure that all areas of overlap have clear owners in terms of responsibility. The ultimate goal is a streamlined team, not a one-on-one manager to direct report relationship.

About Inspiring Others...

You do not need to look hard to see the gifts that God has given other people, especially your direct reports. Unfortunately, with the stress of productivity, we fail to look deep enough to see and appreciate them.

A word from you—affirming their gift—will do more to motivate them to pursue it than perhaps any other encouragement. Be observant, and when you see it, capitalize on it.

“Hey Jonathan! I was watching you the other day, and I need to say… you have a unique ability for organization.”

Leave it at that. Don't follow with asking them to organize anything. Remember, it is about building up the individual, not manipulating them so that they will work for you. The first bears fruit, the second is evil.

If you are not first-and-foremost about building people, you will find yourself far less the leader than you otherwise would be. Through encouragement, give ‘em a glimpse of heaven in your leadership…

Lead Leaders

Stop Leading Followers and Lead Leaders

Picking the right people is a tricky proposition. Many of us have handed the sceptre to another only to find it is a "beat stick" in their hands. Bringing harmony to a team that has been destroyed by a less-than-capable leader whom you appointed is far more difficult than getting the choice right in the first place.

Even the ancients understood this. This interesting quote comes from Onasander, a Greek philosopher from the first century A.D., and shows that even 2000 years ago men wrestled with these very issues.

“Most men are distressed when placed under the command of ignoble individuals. For no one voluntarily puts up with submitting to a master or a leader who is inferior to himself.” (Onasander, The General 1.17)

Many leaders, given such an experience, will digress back to leading followers instead of seeking a new capable leader to assist in leading the organization. Stop! You need people you trust to help you carry the load of transformational change. You can be a mentor. Taking time and investing in another has huge benefits for the future. The time invested in another capable leader will multiply your abilities to lead.

About Mentoring...

If mentoring sounds like a great idea, you still have to decide whether it's right for you. The questions below should serve as a wakeup call as to your ability to lead other leaders as opposed to followers.

1. Do you get excited at the idea of sharing the knowledge and experience God has given you, or do you feel that you are incapable of imparting anything of value to another?

2. Do you enjoy encouraging and motivating people toward a goal and rejoice with them when it is accomplished, or do you make every effort to take the glory?

3. Are you comfortable challenging people to be better even if you know it may cause them discomfort, or would you rather accept sub-standard work and internalize your discontent?

4. Do you want to contribute to other people's growth and success, or do you see it as a threat to your value in the organization?

5. Can you faithfully invest your time in mentoring your leaders, or are you so absorbed in meaningless tasks that you cannot give anything to anyone without feeling like you are falling behind?

6. Do you feel that building a leader is the most important focus of your efforts, or do you feel the daily tasks you accomplish are greater organizational contributions?

7. Can you visualize the future leader that you would like to mentor? Can you describe their qualities and their talents, or are you one that grows frustrated because you grab any warm body that seems willing?

I hope that these questions, coupled with the understanding of the importance of building leaders, helps you make the next possitive step toward transformational change in your organization's culture. Perhaps they will serve as a mirror that reflects the deficiency of your leadership. Regardless of whether this motivates, or infuriates, you are faced with your introspection and that's a good thing. Knowledge truly is power.

Work on the System

Leaders Work ON the System, Not IN the System.

You have a work flow... How organized that work flow is depends on you. I want you to imagine yourself at your desk. If it is anything like mine we could say it's a disaster. Oh wait, I mean un-neatly organized! Now that you are picturing it, imagine all the related tasks that are on it's surface. The thirty-fifth paper in pile number two is related to the sixty-fourth paper in pile five. It has gotten this way due to neglect.

So, day to day you sit there. You take the top paper, work on it, put it somewhere else, or you throw it in the trash. You are in the system...

Now, imagine that you had perfect clarity. You are now standing OVER your desk (not sitting at it) and because you can see the big picture you can see how each paper corresponds to other papers and you begin to group them with all other relevant papers. You begin to see "mobilizations" instead of a to-do list. You are working ON the system...

As long as you are working one task at a time, you will fail to give ownership of anything to anyone. It is faster to do the task than to teach (or allow) someone else to do it. However, if the related and relevant items are grouped, and a mobilization is build around it, you can give ownership of something much bigger than a task, and relieve yourself of the minutiae of having to perform every task yourself. As a collective whole, those tasks can become a strategic mobilization which results in the training of your leaders and greater efficiency of the organization.

Let go!

As a leader, your people need you to show them where they are headed, not ONLY how they will get there. Inspire them with the big picture. Reward them for every step towards that end. Celebrate when each victory is achieved and inspire confidence in their abilities. You know as well as I that they are going to make mistakes. We also know that at first, the tasks will get completed to a lesser level of excellence than it would had we completed the task on our own. However, that kind of thinking leads into a trap. You do not have the capability to work in the system and direct it from above. If you desire change in your organization, but refuse to let go of the inner workings, then step aside and let another lead. It's scary, but it is true. A leader rejoices more over a mistake made with effort than with inactivity perfectly executed.

About Delegation...

Delegation is a win-win when done appropriately, however that does not mean that you can delegate just anything. To determine when delegation is most appropriate there are five key questions you need to ask yourself:

1. Is there someone else who has (or can be given) the necessary information or expertise to complete the task? Basically, is this a task that someone else can do, or is it critical that you do it yourself?

2. Does the task provide an opportunity to grow and develop another person’s skills?

3. Is this a task that will recur, in a similar form, in the future?

4. Do you have enough time to delegate the job effectively? Time must be available for adequate training, for questions and answers, for opportunities to check progress, and for rework if that is necessary. However, this investment of time, in the long run, will greatly benefit you and the organization.

5. Is this a task that I should delegate? Tasks critical for long-term success (for example, recruiting the right people for your team) genuinely do need your attention.

If you can answer “yes” to at least some of the above questions, then it could well be worth delegating this job.

Learn Up. Train Down.

There is a great scene in "We Were Soldiers" where Mel Gibson says; "Learn the job of the man above you, and teach your job to the man below. We will be landing under fire gentlemen... Men will die."

It has been said that the measure of a great leader is this, that in his or her absence, the organization will continue to function in precisely the same manner. This is both honoring to the leader, and terrifying as well.

I remember telling my leaders that if we get to the point where someone else can run this organization better than me, I will happily step aside. I said that because I believed (rightly so) that the organization was the most important thing. But, did I actually believe that I would step aside? Of that, I am not so convinced… It sounded like a dignified statement from me as their leader, but each time I said it I trembled inside.

It’s kind of the same as confidently saying that we could die for our faith. Easy to say when the chances are slight that we will ever be tested in that manner. Each of us hopes that it is the truth, but we will never know unless put to the test.

Learning Up

Learning up is easy for many of us. In fact, we see it as preparation for promotion. I remember the moment I knew I would be moving into my current position, I made every effort to learn the job of my DoM. I went with him to meetings, learned from him, asked him questions, and prepared to take his place. His allowing of me to learn from him said more about his character than it did mine. I wonder if he ever hesitated to teach me when he knew I desired to replace him? I doubt it. He understood the second principle, Train Down.

Train Down

The transformational leader trains his direct reports to fill his shoes. A nominal leader avoids training others in their skills. The reason is most often a fear of being replaced or deemed unnecessary. However, when the transformational leader understands that the organization is the priority, he will allow others to learn what they need to learn to advance the missional causes of the whole. If this means that he becomes unnecessary, than so be it.

HOWEVER…

Most of the time, the resulting team building and empowerment leads to the solidifying of the leader in his position to lead the group or team. In other words, true value is found in that leader. He becomes indispensable.

Leaders Go First

In today’s unforgiving environment, both seasoned leaders and those coming into new leadership roles need to hit the ground running, or at the very least, come up to speed quickly. This is simply a reality. In the past, doing church work, you could coast for a long time before your lack of leadership was noticed or harmed the organization. No so any longer.

A Hard Reality

I am a diver. I have been avidly diving since 1986 and I have a passion for the sport. I have yet to be on a dive boat where, once we are over the dive spot, I am not one of the first in the water and the last to come aboard. Usually I am the first. Why? Because I am passionate about diving. PASSIONATE! I love every moment of it.

If you are not the first one in and the last one out on every new endeavor, as a leader you are losing your authority. I am not saying that you cannot delegate. Delegate the lesser things. The important ones are yours. Build the team, inspire them to act, and take the first step. Your passion for the new endeavor will be contagious and you will inspire those behind.

I marvel at the many “leaders” that I speak to on a daily basis, and when I look behind them (figuratively) there is no one there. In fact, I’ve been there myself.

If you want to lead leaders, here are some of the things you will need to consider important.
• Time management skills
• Delegation and ownership
• Personal presentation
• The ability to drive values and objectives
• Complex decision making & problem solving
• Effective communication and consensus building
• Performance management and evaluation
• Dealing effectively with difficult conversations
• Ability to make the tough call
• Learning to tap into an individual’s innovation and creativity in times of great challenge
• Team building
• Giving and receiving constructive feedback that promotes growth
• Developing others
• Taking ownership of results (accountability)
• Self awareness and self-management

The last one’s a killer…