5 Practical Points in Leading a Turnaround Church

by: Dan Reiland

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A church split, a failed leader, changing economics or an aging congregation, there are many reasons for a church to be struggling and in decline. In fact, of the approximately 350,000 churches in the U.S., far more are in need of a major turnaround than are healthy and growing.

It’s true that both church planting and the multi-site model are highly productive strategies to advance the local church, but we can’t ignore or dismiss the tens of thousands of struggling churches. There is always hope!

My friend Brad Powell led his church to a great turnaround and found so much passion for helping struggling churches that he wrote a book titled: Change Your Church For Good, The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping. (Thomas Nelson) I highly recommend it.

There are layers of complexity involved in any turnaround church scenario, but the core principles are always similar. The following practical points will help you lead your church back to the place you dream it could be.

1.    Think leadership. 

Most struggling churches think problems. Leaders think solutions. John Maxwell says: “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” It’s true. A church can be friendly, debt-free, and teach the Bible and still be going nowhere.

A leader brings purpose to the party. It’s great that the church gathers, but after a few hundred Sundays of “church” without a clear purpose the people find other things to do. Busy is no longer a virtue. Reaching people for Jesus has always been the central theme and mission of the church, anything other than that is largely just being busy doing church. It takes leadership to drive mission because the church naturally drifts toward comfort in fellowship rather than risk in reaching people.

The pastor and leaders need to be willing to make tough decisions or a turnaround will never happen. Most churches are just one tough call away from a breakthrough, and the leader usually knows what it is. It’s the willingness and courage to actually do it that makes the difference.

2.    Tell the truth.

You can’t solve a problem if you won’t admit there is a problem. Churches and their leaders work so hard to keep everyone happy and everything nice. The problem with that is that it’s not real. Get comfortable with problems because you will always have them. Good leaders solve them and thereby move the ball down the field. Essentially a leader makes progress, (toward the vision), solves problems and helps people.

It’s healthy to talk about a ministry area that is weak and in need of improvement. Maybe it’s the children’s ministry, or perhaps the usher’s team or the worship team.

That’s okay, as long as you do something about it. Perfection isn’t the goal, the point is to make progress. The conversations should not be negative or discouraging, just honest. Never allow meetings to turn into complaint sessions. Gather small groups of leaders who will be candid, positive and produce solutions. It can be done!

3.    Establish trust and hope.

It is not uncommon for a struggling church to have experienced some form of hurt or discouragement. This usually involves broken trust and thereby erodes hope.

Healing is needed to reestablish trust and this takes time. There are several ways this can happen, and often requires multiple efforts. For example, the pastor can teach a “Shepherding” sermon series through the Psalms. The pastor or board members can lead small group discussions for honest conversation to take place. And an outside consultant can be brought in to help bring the congregation through a difficult season.

If broken trust is not the issue, but the congregation is tired and has little hope, hope can be restored by quick wins and vision. Remind the congregation that the Church is God’s idea and He owns it! He wants it to work and gives the power of the Holy Spirit for that very purpose!

4.    Realize the power of quick wins. 

Effective church ministry is more like a marathon than a sprint. It’s a long road full of hills and turns. Small victories along the way are vital to finishing the race, and essential to begin the turnaround process.

One small church was discouraged and didn’t think they could do anything. Every wall in their worship auditorium was covered in dark wood paneling and several light bulbs were burnt out. It was depressing. The pastor inspired the congregation to raise about $800 for paint, supplies and light bulbs. They tore down the paneling and painted a fresh coat of white paint and it was like they were in heaven. They were fired up again!

Another pastor raised about $600 and started a food co-op in their town. Their church became outward focused and in one weekend they felt renewed and recharged. Both congregations began to believe they could turn things around. The small wins gave them tangible and practical hope for success in the future!

5.    Create spiritual intensity within your vision. 

Over the years I’ve worked with hundreds of churches, many of whom craft an intelligent, biblical and creative mission/vision statement. But for some reason it doesn’t seem to work. In many cases, one of the primary missing ingredients is spiritual vitality. There doesn’t seem to be a sense of spiritual intensity that carries with it a passion to make things happen and go the extra mile to reach one more person.

Prayer is at the core of spiritual intensity and evangelism is a close second. Together they will keep a church white hot for the vision. Intensity does not suggest weirdness. It’s not an ascetic sense of guilt driven sacrifice. It’s actually the opposite. Its origin comes from people who genuinely love God and are fired up about Kingdom work, so much so that joy and service are a natural by-product.

Vision requires strategy. If you are not sure where to start, focus on improving three areas. 1. Your worship service. 2. Your children’s ministry. 3. Your small groups ministry. And always undergird the ministry processes with leadership development.

For ideas on leadership development, visit my blog at danreiland.com.

Tags: Dan Reiland, Leadership, Quick Wins, Trust, Truth, Turnaround Church, Vision

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The Cowardly Leader Checklist

by: Eric Geiger

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In his classic book Spiritual Leadership, Oswald Sanders lists courage along with humility, sincerity, and integrity as essential qualities for leaders. He writes, “Leadership always faces natural human inertia and opposition. But courage follows through with a task until it is done.”

The antithesis of courageous leadership, of course, is cowardly leadership, where leaders lack the moral integrity and conviction to do what is right for the right reasons. Here are five common expressions of found on a cowardly leader checklist:

Conviction is missing.

Cowardly leaders are open-handed and non-convictional about the most important things. Instead of possessing a conviction beneath the surface that guides their decisions and provides motivation, they are tossed about by the waves of opinion. 

Clarity is absent.

Cowardly leaders struggle to give clear direction because clear direction means there is a course of action. And a singular course of action means there could be failure, and there could be upset people, and there could be a lot of things that go wrong. So cowardly leaders find it safer to be unclear.

Confrontation is bundled.

Instead of confronting as issues arise, cowardly leaders bundle confrontation and store it up for a later delivery. Sometimes the delivery never occurs, but if it does, the person being confronted is typically caught off-guard. He or she has never been given an opportunity to correct and has missed opportunities to develop because confrontation was bundled. Instead of refusing to let the sun go down on anger, cowardly leaders keep long records of wrongs.

Credibility is borrowed.

Cowardly leaders feel the need to over-quote their supervisors when making a case. Instead of standing on the strength of their logic, the wisdom of the direction, or their own credibility, they merely borrow someone else’s—usually the overall leader of the organization. Typically this sounds like: “_________ says we should do this.” “Talk to _________. I am just the messenger.”

The mysterious “they” is over-utilized.

Cowardly leaders utilize the mysterious and nebulous “they”—the nameless group of people who say what the leader wants to say but lacks the courage to actually say it. So the cowardly leader merely quotes “they.” 

> Read more from Eric.

Do you want to learn how to avoid the characteristics of the Cowardly Leader Checklist? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

Tags: Cowardly Leader Checklist, Eric Geiger, Leadership

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The Effective Pastor Checklist

by: Thom Rainer

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Determining the effectiveness of a pastor is a highly subjective exercise. While certain metrics may prove helpful, they do not tell the whole story. In that context, I reviewed my 40 years of serving churches in a variety of capacities and noted several very effective pastors I knew well. My list was lengthy: nearly 30 pastors total.

Since I knew each of these pastors so well, I began to write down traits that distinguished them from most other pastors. I wanted to know what made them tick; I wanted to know how and why they were so effective.

There are many characteristics most pastors have: prayerful; committed to the Word; dedicated to their families; high character; and others. My interest in this exercise, however, was to find the traits that set them apart from most others. When I finished this assignment, I found seven distinguishing characteristic or habits.

1. They have genuine enthusiasm. I am not referring to the vocal cheerleader type. These pastors may be quiet, but their passion and enthusiasm for their churches, their families, and their ministries are evident in all they say and do. It is not a contrived enthusiasm; it is real and contagious.
2. They are great listeners. When you are around these pastors, they genuinely want to focus on you. They seem to have little desire to talk about themselves; they would rather hear your stories. They can make you feel very important because they genuinely care and genuinely listen.
3. Their identity is not their vocation. They don’t have to climb a perceived ladder of success because their greatest reward comes from serving Christ in whatever manner He directs them. You don’t have to worry about these pastors manipulating the network or the system for their own advancement. Their identities are in Christ, not their vocations.
4. They are intentional about personal witnessing. These pastors don’t see the Great Commission as an abstract concept or something that others are supposed to do. They love to share the gospel personally with others. They are also highly intentional about personal witnessing.
5. They have unconditional love of their critics. So many leaders, pastors included, have limited effectiveness because critics constantly hound them. They are drained emotionally and sometimes walk in fear of the critics. These effective pastors, however, include in their prayer lives intercession for their critics. They learn to love them because they are asking God to help them to have that love.
6. They have a gentle spirit. We often forget that gentleness is part of the fruit of the Spirit. In this hypercritical social media world, aggression and negativity have become normative, even in our churches. These pastors, to the contrary, have a calm and gentleness that can only come from the Holy Spirit.
7. They persevere. Ministry is not easy. Local church ministry can be especially difficult. There are too many wounded warriors in our churches. Unfortunately, most of their wounds have come from friendly fire (though I’m not sure the word “friendly” fits well in this metaphor). Highly effective pastors hang in there. Sure, they get hurt. Sure, they get discouraged. But they ultimately keep on doing ministry in God’s power. Though it’s cliché, they look for strength to keep on ministering one day at a time.

At the risk of redundancy, let me remind you that these seven traits are not necessarily the same as the biblical qualifications of a pastor. They are, according to my subjective research, those traits that set them apart from most other pastors. They are thus the seven distinguishing habits of highly effective pastors.

> Read more from Thom here.

Tags: Effective Pastor, Leadership, Thom Rainer, effective pastor checklist

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Entering the Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Can Turn Difficult Conversations into Breakthroughs

by: VRcurator

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The best leaders make us feel unsure of ourselves.

They help us recognize that what we think is true, is not. Their reflections make us stop and think.

Then their questions break down our frames. They create these disruptions with courage, care, respect, and a firm belief in our highest potential. Although we are uncomfortable, this moment of uncertainty allows us to formulate a broader view of what we can do and who we can be.

Welcome to the Discomfort Zone.

The most memorable leaders make us recognize that in the moment we become unsure of who we are, learning happens. When we are not sure of who we are and what we should do, we are vulnerable enough to learn. The most memorable leaders know how to create and use the Discomfort Zone.

Dr. Marcia Reynolds recognized the most important ingredient for making a conversation transformational is listening beyond the spoken word. In her recent book The Discomfort Zone, she offers a model for using the moment when the mind is most open to learning to prompt people to think through problems, see situations more strategically, and transcend their limitations.

According to Reynolds, effective leaders often associate their ability to deeply listen with their capacity for accessing their intuition. The best coaches and leaders say they listen to their intuition while listening to others. We have intuition but we don’t consciously listen to it, especially when we are listening to what others are trying to tell us. The clues are between the lines, but we don’t notice.

The powerful questions that change people’s mind emerge when you listen to your intuition. You ask about what you sense—what fears, disappointment, needs, or desires are conveyed to you without words. They then stop, and question themselves.

>> Download a manifesto about The Discomfort Zone here.

Tags: Dr. Marcia Reynolds, Leadership, The Discomfort Zone, effective leaders, intuition

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What Will You Do When the Very Worst Thing Happens?

by: Geoff Surratt

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In spite of all the hype about the 2013 George Clooney/Sandra Bullock movie Gravity, my expectations were rather low. I was wrong. Gravity is one of the best movies of the year, maybe of the decade. The cinematography is out of this world (literally) and the suspense is incredible. I know some of the science doesn’t work, but it doesn’t matter; it is a simple story told in a masterful way.

(Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen Gravity see it before reading further because I’m going to ruin it for you.)

The story of Gravity revolves around the theme, “What do you do when the very worst thing possible happens?” Just when the characters think it can’t get any worse it does. Its a feeling many leaders experience every Monday morning, so here are five powerful lessons leaders in crisis mode can glean from the movie:

>>Things are seldom as bad as you think

When the Space Shuttle is destroyed and Sandra Bullock goes tumbling into space my first thought is, “This is going to be a really short movie, no way she survives.” I can’t imagine a worse disaster. George Clooney realizes, however, that while this is bad things could be worse. They have a little oxygen, a jet pack and a clear path to the International Space Station. Things are bad but not hopeless.

While the disasters we face as leaders are seldom as catastrophic as being stranded in space without a ride back to earth, they can certainly feel that way. A staff member is caught in an affair, the bookkeeper embezzles the payroll, or that crack in the sidewalk turns out to be major structural damage. The team can feel like the walls are caving in, but a leader’s job is to assess the situation, calm the team and begin immediately to plan the next steps.

>>There is almost always a way out

When Bullock’s oxygen runs out Clooney tells her there’s more air still in her suit, just take smaller breaths. (“Sips not gulps, wine not beer”). When the Soyuz escape pod is unusable on the ISS he points her to the Chinese space station. At each dead-end Clooney  finds an alternate route.

Leaders can’t give in to dead ends. The leader is the advance scout looking for the next option, the next step toward safety and success. The reality is even in the most hopeless circumstances there is almost always a way over, through or around the obstacle; the leader’s job is to find that route.

>>Friendship is crucial

At its core Gravity is a buddy movie. The disaster is really just a backdrop for the growing trust and friendship between Clooney and Bullock. Even after he’s gone Bullock continues to draw hope from their relationship.

Success or failure in the face of disaster often hinges on the relationship between the leader and her team. Do they trust her? Does she trust them? Does the team know the leader is genuinely concerned about their welfare, or is she simply using them to reach her pre-determined goal? Without friendship and trust disaster will quickly destroy a team.

>>Sometimes you have to let go

One of the most poignant moments of the film is Clooney disconnecting the tether to Bullock. He knows that she cannot survive unless she lets him go. (The physics are completely wrong, but the point is valid) If she continues to cling to Clooney they both will die, if she will let him go she can survive. He makes the only choice that makes sense.

Letting go is one of the hardest things to do in a crisis. Our natural instinct is to cling to what we know, to the familiar, to what seems safe. But survival often requires release. In a crisis it is important not to make snap judgements, but the only path to organizational health may be to let someone go.

>>It seldom turns out the way you think it will (but that’s ok)

Sandra Bullock’s character never imagines her mission will end alone in a Chinese escape pod near an island in the middle of nowhere. Everything she thinks success looks like is turned upside down. In the end she survives, she realizes what is important and she reaches out to God. (My interpretation of her prayer) She would never choose this path, but she wouldn’t trade it either.

It is in the disasters of life that individuals and organizations are shaped. We learn what is important, we learn what we are made of and we learn we can survive. David was shaped in Cave of Adullum, Moses was shaped on the back side of the desert, Peter was shaped in High Priest’s courtyard. We are refined by the things we most want to avoid.

As leaders we have to be prepared to lead our team through crisis, because crisis will come. The question is how will we survive?

Tags: Geoff Surratt, Leadership

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The Value of Vision, Part 1: Is Vision Relevant Today?

by: Mike Myatt

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Mike Myatt, widely regarded as America’s Top CEO coach thinks so – with an empathic YES!

Leadership without vision is like trying to drive blind – it won’t end well.

Here are some excerpts from an article on vision he recently wrote:

The best evidence of the importance of vision is what occurs in its absence– mediocrity, irrelevance, and ultimately, obsolescence. Why do so many organizations struggle with creating a cohesive, aligned vision? The answer is regrettably obvious – many leaders are simply failing to lead.

Organizations don’t have leadership issues – they have vision issues. Leadership decoupled from vision is nothing short of a farce. Vision isn’t just ethereal hocus-pocus; it’s the core manifestation of an organization’s values. Vision is what gives a company its forward leaning bias and constantly propels the enterprise beyond the status quo.

Vision statements, as implied in the construction of the phraseology itself, put forth a statement of envisioned future. This vision, if successful, must be underpinned by core ideology (values) and then expressed with clarity and conviction.

Life is just plain easier when you can see what’s ahead of you. Great leaders understand the value of simplicity in all things, and nowhere does simplicity add more value than as it relates to vision. A vision not understood will be misunderstood, misdirected, or ignored. A vision that is values based and simple is easy to evangelize and operationalize. All a leader must do is focus on the right things.

Don’t be in the business of business – be in the business of leadership. At its essence, leadership is the business of defining and articulating vision (why), and then aligning people (who) with said vision – these are the two key strategic elements of leadership (leadership + purpose + people = culture).

Leadership isn’t easy, but it also need not be overly complex. Great leaders are gifted at simplifying everything around them – they are focused on the right things, which allows their processes to fuel creativity and innovation not stifle them.

Lastly, don’t get caught up in attempting to develop something catchy to be encapsulated within a piece of framed artwork that hangs on the wall yet is never put into practice. It is much more important that your vision be understood by company employees, and translated into the resultant authenticity of their actions.

Read the full article here.

Read more from Mike here.

Tags: Leadership, Recapturing Vision, Vision alignment

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The Lab or the Factory

by: Seth Godin

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Seth Godin uses a business example to point out that some organizations are content with doing what they’ve always done while others are always in search of the next great idea. This has HUGE implications for ministry work, but first, listen to what Godin says:

At the lab, the pressure is to keep searching for a breakthrough, a new way to do things. And it’s accepted that the cost of this insight is failure, finding out what doesn’t work on your way to figuring out what does. The lab doesn’t worry so much about exploiting all the value of what it produces–they’re too busy working on the next thing.

To work in the lab is to embrace the idea that what you’re working on might not work. Not to merely tolerate this feeling, but to seek it out.

The factory, on the other hand, prizes reliability and productivity. The factory wants no surprises, it wants what it did yesterday, but faster and cheaper.

Some charities are labs, in search of the new thing, while others are factories, grinding out what’s needed today. AT&T is a billing factory, in search of lower costs, while Bell Labs was the classic lab, in search of the insight that could change everything.

Hard, really hard, to do both simultaneously. Anyone who says failure is not an option has also ruled out innovation.

Did you catch that? If the fear of change in the advancement of the Kingdom here on Earth keeps us from choosing to experiment with new ministry ideas and models, then we have also said we w0n’t value innovation! It is impossible to please both God and man. Why do we hold on to things that keep us focused on trying to please the latter?

Here’s the question: Is your church or ministry a lab or a factory?

Tags: Factory, Innovation, Lab, Leadership, Seth Godin, church, ministry

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4 Keys to Changing Your Church Culture in 2013

by: Steve Caton

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Whether it’s a business, a nonprofit organization, or a church, I am sure you have walked into a building and noticed either a level of excitement from those inside or a sense of doom! The energy which emanates from culture cannot be faked. It’s similar to the intent which stems from a persons heart. God has wired us in a way that it is very difficult to project an intent which is different than what is in our heart. Culture works the same. If people are operating in a toxic culture, they cannot easily project an attitude of joy and excitement. Anyone who regularly flies on United Airlines (and many others for that matter) can attest to this!

If you think your church culture could use some improving, here are four things to consider in 2013.

• Start with your staff.
  Perhaps your church has had trouble getting the right people in the right roles. Maybe some do not share the overall vision. Maybe morale has been low or your middle school minister and high school minister don’t get along. The church’s culture will only evolve when the staff culture changes. Get your staff right so the rest of church life can follow suit.
• Study up on leadership.
  Morale rises and falls on leadership. How can you change your shepherding approach to help improve commitment, trust, and motivation? Start by reading resources on the topic. Both Leadership Is an Art and Leadership and Self-Deception are great first steps.
• Focus on people.
  Empower your staff, lay leadership, and volunteers to take ownership of the ministries they are involved in and approach leadership with fresh ideas. Encourage your team to be intentional with the relationships that are forged through ministry. Just as they show the church and local community that each individual is valued, your leadership team needs to express to volunteers how much they are treasured.
• Commit to authenticity.
  Inspire authenticity within your staff by practicing authentic leadership. Do you give your staff the opportunity to provide feedback each week? If you model transparency and vulnerability, they will too.

Have you seen radical change in your church’s culture over the past year? What was the catalyst?

Read more from Steve here.

Tags: Leadership, Serve, Staff, Steve Caton

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Understanding the Change Process in Your Church

by: Thom Rainer

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Ron Johnson is not off to a good beginning; the former Apple retail leader is now CEO of JC Penney and the most recent quarterly results are not encouraging. After making wide, sweeping changes, same store sales have dropped 26 percent and stock prices are at a three-year low.

Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, is attempting a turnaround at Hewlett-Packard. The challenge is daunting. Though she has a long-term strategy in place, many people believe she is moving too slowly.

A pastor of a large church recently resigned after leading the congregation in several major changes. Attendance at the church dropped precipitously as many members voted against the changes with their feet.

At another large church just twenty miles away, the pastor is moving so slowly that people are also moving out. They are waiting on this leader to provide visionary leadership, but he is simply too reticent to move forward.

Volumes have been written on change, the pace of change, and the consequences of change. In simplest terms, leaders move at a perfect pace, too slowly, or too rapidly. In this brief article, I address what fast-paced leaders should consider. I offer five basic issues these leaders should grasp.

Understand the Change Tolerance of Those Directly Impacted

Some fast-paced leaders look at the organization only from their perspective. They fail to put themselves in others’  shoes to consider what this change might feel like to those directly impacted. These aggressive leaders need to ask more questions and listen more carefully. They may be surprised to hear how those directly impacted will respond to the proposed changes.

Understand That Change Tolerance Is Contextually Driven

I have seen too many leaders move to a new area and assume that change tolerance would be very close to their previous place of leadership. If they came from an organization that dealt well with change, they might assume that the same leadership pace would work at the new organization. Unfortunately, many leaders have been burned when they discover their assumptions to be wrong. Many contextual factors affect the tolerance level of change. Again, it is incumbent upon leaders to know their contexts and how to lead in those contexts. Listening to the stories of those in the organization is vital to this process.

Understand That Most Change Resistance Is Emotional, Not Rational

Such is the reason that well-thought, calmly-presented, rationally-explained reasons for change might not be well received. The leader must understand the hearts of those impacted, not only the heads. Why are they so emotionally attached to the status quo? What stories can the leader share that would address the hearts of those feeling the changes?

Understand That Leaders Must Have Sufficient Tenure to Deal with the Change

Too many leaders initiate change but fail to see the obstacles before them. As a consequence, they often leave before the changes are fully implemented. The organization is thus left with frustrated people and a void of leadership. If a leader is seeking to lead change, he or she must be willing to stay at the organization a sufficient time to see the change accomplished, and to deal with any aftermath caused by the change.

Understand That Leaders Must Understand Themselves in Leading Change

Self-awareness is vital here. If you are a slow-change leader in a fast-paced organization, you will likely encounter frustration and impatience. If you are a fast-paced leader in a slowly-moving organization, you will likely encounter resistance and resentment. A good simple exercise is to rank yourself on your comfort with the pace of change on a scale of one to ten. Then do the same for the organization you lead. If you have a gap greater than two, you have major work to do before you even begin to lead change. Sometimes the work must be done on yourself. At other times, there is greater work to do in the organization. The gap must be closed or the leader will find himself in a position of frustration and, ultimately, failed leadership.

Tags: Change, Leadership, Thom Rainer

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Denying Facts You Don’t Like

by: Seth Godin

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Transformational leaders don’t start by denying the world around them. Instead, they describe a future they’d like to create instead.

Denying the truth about relative market share, imperial power or the scientific method helps no one.

Gandhi didn’t pretend the British weren’t dominating his country, and Feynman didn’t challenge Einstein’s theory of relativity or the laws of thermodynamics.

It’s okay to say, “this is going to be difficult.” And it’s productive to point out, “our product isn’t as good as it should be yet.”

The problem with Orwellian talking heads, agitprop, faux news and Ballmer-like posturing is that they take away a foundation for a genuine movement to occur, because once we start denying facts, it’s difficult to know when to stop. Tell us where we are, tell us where we’re going.

But if you can’t be clear about one, it’s hard to buy into the other.

Tags: Leadership, Recasting Vision, Seth Godin

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