Are You Developing Leaders in These Key Places?

by: Eric Geiger

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Where does leadership development happen? What environments are beneficial to leaders in their development? From a Christian perspective, leadership development is not constrained to one environment. Because the whole world is His, leadership development can happen in a plethora of places. Because He continually matures His people, God will use anything to conform us more to the image of His Son.

Here are six places leaders are developed:

1. The Athletic Field

Several leaders I know enjoy hiring former athletes because they are used to corrective feedback, the discipline of practice, and playing on a team. For many years, high school athletes were encouraged to focus on one sport, but coaches like Urban Meyer, head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, prefer to recruit athletes who play multiple sports. They like how the additional sports develop the athlete. Not only are multiple skills developed, but players also learn how to take on new challenges, to work with new teammates, and to fight through the difficulties that come from playing more than one sport.

2. The Library

John Maxwell coined the phrase “leaders are readers,” and he is right. Reading widely can help leaders grow mentally through exposure to new disciplines and new ideas. Mentally stretching to understand a new discipline can help a leader find new solutions to existing problems. If the last book you read was one on a syllabus, you are not taking your development seriously.

3. The Classroom

The relationship with professors, the community with other students, and the focused time committed to learn are the reason many leaders go back to school for advanced degrees and executive education. Much more important than the certificate or diploma is the learning that comes from a disciplined and systematic approach to development.

4. The Job

Experience develops you more than any classroom or book can. The job is where you test the learning from the books and classrooms. The job is where you learn what needs to improve.

5. The Home

Marriage is sanctifying. Parenting is sanctifying. Siblings are sanctifying. Roommates are sanctifying. The home can help develop leaders relationally. The home can help leaders grow in love, forgiveness, service, and placing the needs of others ahead of their own.

6. The Church

Long before Robert Greenleaf’s seminal work Servant Leadership, which challenged leaders to view themselves as servants, the Church taught believers to serve others because our Savior-King has served us. Long before Jim Collins, in Good to Great, identified “level five leaders” as leaders who are filled with humility, the Church challenged believers to humbly view others as better than themselves. Long before Daniel Goleman, in Primal Leadership, identified emotionally intelligent leaders as ones filled with joy, peace, patience, and compassion, the apostle Paul challenged the Church to walk in the Spirit and display the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The Church excels at developing leaders because the Church lifts up Jesus—the One who gave Himself for our sin, the One who transforms our character, the One who empowers us to serve others. Much of what is called “leadership” eventually won’t matter. In the end, everything done apart from Him will be worth absolutely nothing. The Church helps leaders remain in Him, keep an eternal vantage point, and offer themselves to what really matters. 

> Read more from Eric.

Connect with an Auxano Navigator to learn more about developing leaders.

Tags: Eric Geiger, How to Develop Leaders, Leadership Development, Leadership Pipeline

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Are You Leading the Whole Great Commission, or Just Half ?

by: Eric Geiger

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Unlike business leaders who are responsible to define the mission of their organizations, church leaders don’t have that freedom or carry that burden. We have already received our mission. Jesus’ words to His disciples, often called the Great Commission, is our mission:

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Some church leaders have positioned their churches as existing for the first half of the commission (the “making disciples”) and some speak of their commitment to the second half (the “teaching them to obey”). But Jesus desires His Church to embrace the whole commission. The Great Commission should not be viewed as two separable parts but a unified whole – a responsibility to both reach and teach.

 There is a temptation, however, to attempt to divide the Great Commission and take responsibility for only one aspect of it. Here are three reasons some find focusing on one aspect of the Great Commission an attractive alternative to embracing the whole:

1. With ½ the Great Commission, ministry is less messy.

When a church is committed to “making disciples” of people who are early in their walk with Christ or still exploring the Christian faith and is also committed to helping believers grow in maturity, ministry is going to be messy. There are going to be non-believers alongside mature believers and those with struggles alongside those who feel (often wrongly) that they struggle less.

2. With ½ the Great Commission, ministry is less complex.

The questions a maturing believer asks are often very different than the questions someone new to the faith asks. It is not easy to speak to different groups of people on different phases of their journey, and ministry is much simpler if a leader decides to neglect a group of people. The good news is that the gospel of Jesus is sufficient and poignant for all people, no matter where they are in their journey.

3. With ½ the Great Commission, ministry is less burdensome.

Caring for people at different places on their journey is much more challenging and burdensome than adopting a laser focus for new believers or mature believers. The complexity and the messiness add to the burden.

BUT…

Wrongly dividing the Great Commission into two disparate parts and only focusing on one aspect of the Great Commission is less beautiful and less biblical. A church that reaches and teaches people is a beautiful sight to behold. It is beautiful to see mature believers reminded with what it means to be new to the faith. It is beautiful to see new believers wrestle with some of the convictions those who have been walking with Jesus for a long time hold. It is beautiful to see how the Word of God, by the Spirit of God, is able to speak to people exactly where they are. It is beautiful to see community formed, among people who are very different, on the solid and sure commonality of Jesus. If we attempt to divide the Great Commission and focus on one aspect of it, we lose so much.

> Read more from Eric.

Tags: Discipleship, Eric Geiger, Great Commission

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4 Signs Your Team is Not Communicating Well

by: Eric Geiger

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A team that trusts one another is a team that moves quickly. That is the premise of the book, Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey, which builds the case that trust is one thing that changes everything for a team. The inverse is also true; a lack of trust and a lack of clarity slow down a team.

I have consulted dozens of leadership teams and have continually seen that one of the most obvious places where a lack of trust manifests itself is in the communication practices of the team. Unhealthy team communication reveals a lack of trust among the team and also is extremely time consuming. Here are four signs of unhealthy communication:

1. Many meetings before the meeting

There is such a thing as necessary pre-meeting meetings, when those presenting are reviewing what is going to be presented. But there are also unnecessary and unhealthy meetings before the meeting, where people work hard to manipulate a conversation instead of having an open conversation as a team. Leaders must work to create an environment where team members discuss openly and honestly together, both to build trust and be more effective with time.

2. More time interpreting email than reading it

When a team does not trust each other, people spend more time discussing an email the leader or a team member sends than reading the email and believing the contents in it. When a team trusts each other, people trust what is being said and the intention beneath what is being said.

3. Failure to tell truth when it is difficult

Particularly in ministry settings, leaders can struggle to tell people the truth when it is truth that could result in hurt feelings. After all, ministry settings are supposed to be where grace and compassion flourish. But truth is not opposed to grace. In fact, failing to tell the truth about poor performance or poor attitude is ungracious because it keeps people in a place where they can’t grow and change.

4. Side conversations to build alliances

Trust builds speed and a lack of trust slows everything down. This is often most pronounced by the volume of side conversations. Side conversations that people have because they don’t trust the team or because they are seeking to build alliances for the play they are going to make. Imagine if all that energy and time was reallocated towards the actual work.

When wise leaders see these on their teams, they don’t ignore them. Instead they work to build healthy communication with their team.

> Read more from Eric.

Tags: Communication Breakdown, Communication Issues, Eric Geiger, Team Communication

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Killing Leadership Drift

by: Eric Geiger

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Tags: Direction, Eric Geiger, Expectations, Leadership Drift, Values

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10 Mistakes New Pastors Make in Their First Year

by: Bryan Rose

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Recently, I had the chance to sit down with new Mariners Church Senior Pastor, Eric Geiger and capture his story of transition for the My Ministry Breakthrough podcast. Springing off of our conversation, here are ten mistakes that too many pastors make during their first year in a new role:

1. Attempting too much. There will likely be a long list of needed changes to culture and process waiting as you step into this new role. It is equally as likely that much of that list can be done over time and not all at once. Do not mistake activity for ministry. Plans are important, but your greatest influence will come not from the doing as a pastor, but from the being.
2. Attempting too little. In this season, building relationships become a critical part of establishing your leadership. Meetings are important but so is making some needed and incremental changes. You will set the tone for the whole staff in your first year of work. It could be easy to mistake your desire to spend too much time getting to know them as instruction away from effective progress. Remember, it only takes 21 days to form a habit and your team will follow your lead quickly. Year two should not be spent breaking bad habits over fueling new initiatives.
3. Forgetting the power of questions. The wisest leaders enter most of their meetings in year-one prepared with a set of thought-out and instructive questions. There is wisdom in placing a priority in asking, then listening for something to learn – instead of – telling, then expecting for something to happen. Also, remember it is often in the follow-up questions in which the most discovery usually occurs.
4. Never leaving your last church. It is natural, and often necessary, to remain connected with good friends and leaders of the church you just left. You will miss some of the processes you helped to develop and some of your favorite places to eat or unwind. However, an unhealthy longing for “what was” will likely keep you and your current church from “what will be.” Using the phrase “at (fill in the church name) we…” too often is a good indicator it’s time to leave mentally as much as you already have physically.
5. Trying to prove your organizational worth to the formal and informal leaders of the church. PowerPoint presentations and Gantt charts are useful and certainly make a new leader look smart. But, what needs to be proven – what is of most Kingdom value to those leaders – is your dependence on the Lord. It will be your commitment to His Word, to walking in the Spirit and to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ that brings the longest lasting impact to the organization.
6. Equating time in the pulpit as equal to time with the people. Balance the time spent preaching and preparing to preach with time spent listening and getting to know your congregation, and especially its leaders. Learning who they are and what they struggle with will help to move your preaching past assumptions and simple anecdotes to applying the truth of scripture to the real challenges your people are facing.
7. Forgetting to help your family grieve the loss of friends and ministry they’ve just left.Holding the two tensions Eric talked about is as critical for your family as it is for you as a leader. The best thing you can help them to do is celebrate the impact of the last season. Like stopping to watch a mid-summer sunset, gather your family to tell the stories of what God has done. Stop and frame a picture from this last season, then reframe from what is lost to what is learned. Think as much as about what we have learned as what we have loved. Help yourself and your family to look back, intentionally and briefly, like a slingshot to looking forward hopefully and expectantly.
8. Spending extra time in the office instead of at home. In a new pastorate, there will be much to do at work. However, there will always be a lot to do. Ministry activity expands directly with the amount of time available. Be stingy with your time at home. Disappoint your congregation with how much you are not disappointing your family. It is more valuable to your ministry to care for your family and lead them to Christ in this season of transition than to be at every meeting or event someone else has deemed to be critically important.
9. Believing everything the search consultant or committee told you. It is not that they lied or deliberately misled you – for the most part. Keep in mind that their perception of reality around your new position and their assessment of the condition of the congregation was directly connected to who did the reporting and to their hopes of the outcomes. In some cases, it was their job to present a prettier picture than reality. Therefore do not be discouraged, and remember that there will always be more problems than were first reported and that there are equally as many victories than were ever celebrated. In this new season, walk wisely, with great anticipation, and without assumption.
10. Forgetting to take care of yourself. Establish a rhythm of health that is sustainable. Work out. Eat healthy, because you will be eating out a lot. Guard your off days as if your life depended on it. Understand the meaning of Sabbath and protect time away from study, meetings and to-do lists. Double down on a hobby or activity that creates room for your mind to breathe and focus on the Lordship of Christ in your life. Your inability to rest or set aside work for a Sabbath is a better statement of your theology than a sermon ever will be.

What mistakes have you made or seen made in the first year of a new ministry role?

Hear Eric Geiger’s leadership transition story here. 

Tags: Bryan Rose, Eric Geiger, Mistakes, new pastors

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Why Integration is Better than Balance in the Work-Life Tension

by: Eric Geiger

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Tags: Eric Geiger, Work-live balance, work-life integration

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Three Places to Uncover Values in Your Culture

by: Eric Geiger

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While serving alongside the Auxano team, I learned the important distinction between vision, mission, strategy, and values. Well-intentioned leaders can confuse those and mix and match them in a way that actually harms clarity.

• Mission is the what. Your mission is what your organization or ministry is on the planet to do.
• Strategy is the how. Your strategy is how you accomplish the mission.
• Vision is what you are pursuing now – the major goals in front of your team that are in alignment with your mission.
• And your values impact everything you do because your values form the culture of your ministry organization.

Because it is the shared values and beliefs that form the culture, it is critically important for leaders to understand the values beneath the surface. Wise leaders don’t declare values; they uncover the values that are already there. In your organization, you can learn the values that are beneath the surface by looking in a few places. Doing so will help you understand the culture, and understanding the culture is more important than understanding the strategy because strategy is much more flexible than culture. So where do you look? To uncover the values in your culture, look in these three places:

1. The Heroes and Stories

The leaders in the culture that are spoken of as the epitome of the ministry or organization are good examples of the values on display. Listen to the stories that describe the heroes in the culture and you can learn what is valued. As I interviewed and onboarded into my new role at Mariners Church, I heard numerous stories of God’s people at Mariners serving the poor and marginalized in our community and around the world. The stories are beautiful and amazing. By listening, you can learn a lot about what is valued.

2. The Celebrations

Plato famously declared, “What is celebrated in a country is cultivated.” The same is true in any ministry or organization. Whatever has been celebrated has formed the culture. If a ministry celebrates tangible impact in a local community, you know local engagement is in the culture. If a ministry celebrates volunteers who are equipped for ministry, you know that leadership development is in the culture. If you pay attention to what is celebrated you will you learn what is valued. If you want to add a value to a culture, you will need to find ways to celebrate and cultivate that value. You won’t be able to merely speak a value into existence. You may be the leader, but you are not God.

3. The Language

As the new senior pastor of Mariners, I knew one of my first tasks was to understand the culture beneath the surface at Mariners. Thankfully there was language and history for me to study.

I have been fortunate and blessed to follow an exceptional leader in Kenton Beshore. He has, infused the church with values that have created the culture. When he became the senior pastor 35 years ago, he brought the church a list of five values to the church:

• We teach God’s Word.
• Be God’s loving family.
• Every believer is a minister with a ministry.
• Be innovative in our ministry and relevant in our community.
• Be contagious in sharing Jesus Christ

Those values have been crystalized over time. I am leading our team through those values again. We are spending one staff meeting a month, with our whole team, walking through the importance and the implications of each value. It is helping me learn the culture, and I hope and pray it is helping us all renew our commitment to and unify around values that have formed the church we are honored to serve.

I love strategy. I have a tendency to go there first. Strategy is important, but culture is more so. Peter Drucker wisely quipped that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” My friend Will Mancini has provided helpful tools, such as this one, to help leaders articulate values through demonstration of those values.

If you are a ministry leader who would like some strategic outside eyes to help you and your team uncover your unique identity, not only your values but also your mission and your strategy, I highly recommend Auxano. I have learned a great deal from the team and believe wholeheartedly they would serve you and your team well. To reach out to the team, click here.

> Read more from Eric.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Mission, Strategy, Values, Vision

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Stop Spreading Your Time Too Thin

by: Eric Geiger

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Calendars fill up quickly. If leaders don’t manage their calendars then their calendars will manage them. In my view, one of the most important decisions leaders makes is how to plan their work. Do they just react to what comes their way or do they proactively plan how they will lead and create? Meetings, emergencies, and time with people are a given. But what about preparing messages, planning ahead, and crafting direction? Some leaders set large blocks of time for that work while others attempt to “squeeze that work in” to their busy schedules.

I have learned that it is significantly more fruitful to intentionally place large chunks of time on the weekly calendar for preparation. In other words, the “blocks of time” have to be planned and protected. I have learned that:

• One five-hour block of message prep is significantly more productive that five one-hour blocks.
• One four-hour block of advanced planning is significantly more fruitful than eight 30-minute sessions in-between emails and meetings.

Here are 4 reasons leaders need large blocks of time (such as 3-5 hours of uninterrupted focus):

1. To maximize deep work.

In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport describes deep work as “a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” In other words, there is a place where you can go mentally that is hard to reproduce. I have heard leaders, writers, and preachers call it “the zone” or “being locked in,” but all speak about the sacredness of those moments, the amount of work that is accomplished, and the desire to not to get up from the desk because you don’t want the moment to end. Those moments of “deep work” cannot be microwaved; they take time.

2. To train yourself to not live and lead reactively.

There is always something to react to as a leader, always a problem to solve, always a question to answer, and always a correspondence to respond to. If you don’t block off time, you can easily spend your day just responding and not proactively leading.

3. To help others lead proactively.

Just as it is healthy for leaders to train themselves to not continually live in chaotic, reactive mode, it is healthy for their teams to also know they don’t have to, and shouldn’t, lead that way either. A leader who leads proactively teaches the team to do so and thus reduces chaos for the entire organization.

4. To encourage your team to solve problems without you.

A leader who loves to be, or needs to be, in every decision trains the team to not solve problems or make decisions without the leader. But a leader who is inaccessible for “large blocks of time” encourages the team to solve problems on their own. “Deep work” is good for the leader and the team.

> Read more from Eric.

Let’s talk! Connect with an Auxano Navigator for more information.

Tags: Calendar Planning, Eric Geiger, Planning, Problem Solving, Time Blocks

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8 Succession Success Markers

by: Eric Geiger

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We are only ten months in to the transition at Mariners Church between Kenton Beshore (long-time senior pastor) and me (the new guy). But we are frequently receiving phone calls from churches that see succession from a long-time senior to a new leader in their not-so-distant future. The healthy relationship Kenton and I share is truly God’s grace to me, to our church, and I believe to Kenton as well. While ultimately the transition is the Lord’s work, there are practical lessons along the way. Here are eight things Kenton has done, and is doing, for me to make this transition as smooth as possible—eight ways to treat your successor:

1. With support

Countless times I have been in conversations with people in the church and heard, “I ran into Kenton and he was bragging on you.” Kenton’s humility to support me, both publicly and in conversations with others, has helped immensely.

2. With strategic hand-off moments

Kenton cares about moments, moments that mark the transition. For example, my first elder retreat was Kenton’s last as senior pastor. He led the first session and I led the last. It was a marked moment that Kenton designed.

3. With presence

When I teach, Kenton is often there on the front row taking notes. He has been in my corner, not just verbally but with his presence. Often in leadership presence speaks louder than words.

4. With absence

There are times when Kenton is not around, which has helped me express my leadership, without wondering if this is a moment where I should pause and honor him. For example, the first time I spoke to our “shepherding elders” and their wives, Kenton did not come. We did not highlight that fact, but it helped communicate that it is now my turn to provide direction. How do we decide when presence or absence is best? We talk about it.

5. With history

Kenton has served Mariners for nearly as long as I have been alive. So I am an idiot if I don’t listen to him, if I don’t ask questions about the history of our church. Leaders who don’t listen to those who went before them are foolish. Because church ministry offers its fair share of painful moments, not all the history is pleasant to recount. Thus sharing history and the lessons learned from it is a sacrifice.

6. With care for the family

Kenton and Laurie (his wife) have cared deeply for Kaye and our daughters. One of the best encouragements they gave early was to do everything we could to help our kids love being at the church – which included swimming in the lake at the church.

7. With encouragement to make changes

Several times I have called Kenton about a change I want to make, to get his perspective. They are not big changes, but changes nonetheless – things like a change in scheduling devotionals on a retreat. Kenton has said, “You should make that change” multiple times and has reminded me that if he were still leading “he would make changes too.” Many outgoing leaders like the idea of succession as long as everything stays the same, which is a clear indication the leader is not really ready for succession.

8. With private coaching

I have a TON of growing to do. Kenton has a ton of wisdom to offer. How can a predecessor provide wisdom without diminishing the successor’s credibility? This is likely one of the biggest challenges facing the predecessor. In regularly scheduled private meetings, Kenton uses that time well. He is there to give coaching, as I need it. And I do. He wants to help, sees ways he can help, but simultaneously wants to affirm. Conversations in private are the place for that.

For leaders considering a transition, a succession, I encourage you to evaluate if you are ready to offer these. My gut feeling is that some of the leaders who are telling Kenton they are ready to transition are not yet in the place where they can offer their successor what Kenton is offering me.

> Read more from Eric.

To learn more about a healthy succession and transition process, connect with an Auxano navigator.

Tags: Eric Geiger, Mariners Church, Transition, pastoral succession, succession

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How to Check For Blind Spots

by: Eric Geiger

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One of my mentors, Brad Waggoner, has regularly quipped, “Most people struggle with self-awareness, so why would I think I am somehow different from everyone else?” He is right. Everyone struggles with self-awareness to a degree, and we are foolish if we think we are immune. Our lack of self-awareness in life and leadership is often referred to as our blind spots. I have been leading other leaders for a long time, watching them interact with their teams and with the team they serve on, and I’ve seen three common blind spots in leaders:

1. Many leaders talk longer than they realize.

Many leaders talk longer than they think they do. They can easily dominate meetings because of their convictions, their ideas, and the sheer amount of work to report. But by over-talking in meetings, leaders can unintentionally stifle the team. One practical way to combat the temptation to talk too much is to set a time for yourself and hold yourself accountable not to cross it.

2. Many leaders sound harsher than they mean.

Because leaders can underestimate the power of their position, they can sound harsher than they realize. Every word from the mouth of a leader is received with amplified impact, so leaders who bring sharp critiques to their teams must do so very carefully. If the leader thinks the rebuke is a “5,” the people likely hear it as an “8.” Wise leaders steward their words very carefully.

3. Many leaders change direction more than they know.

Leaders are often about new ideas, change, and vision. Because of that, leaders can err by constantly bringing new direction to the team. The team can sometimes feel as if they have yet to execute properly the last batch of ideas or see the fruit of the last direction before a leader brings a new direction. Effective leaders know that consistent direction over time is far better than constantly shifting the direction of the team.

Of course, there are other common blind spots, but these three can easily hamper a leader’s effectiveness. Blind spots can’t be corrected if the leader doesn’t know they exist. For blind spots to be corrected in a leader’s life, the leader must be in community and humbly listen to others whom the leader trusts.

> Read more from Eric.

Tags: Blind Spot, Eric Geiger, Leadership Effectiveness

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