Most young
pastors and church planters do not fully appreciate the importance of creating
a leadership culture within the local church.
Nevertheless a church’s vitality is directly tied to its
leadership. Creating a leadership
culture includes providing an environment where leaders can lead and having
pathways of natural leadership development.
Good leaders do not happen. They are
trained and then given freedom to lead within in their gifts and abilities.
In Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton’s New York Times
Bestseller book entitled All In: How the
Best Managers Create a culture of Belief and Drive Big Results, they
present what they call the E+E+E to describe a successful business
culture. Though this book was written primarily
for a business context, it offers helpful insight in how to create a healthy
leadership culture in a church. The three
E’s the authors describe are:
“Engaged: Attachment to the company and willingness to give extra
effort.” The leaders understand how
their work benefits the church and have a clear understanding of what they are
responsible and accountable for. They
can see the value of their contributions to the church’s larger mission.
“Enabled: A work environment
that supports productivity and performance.”
The pastor supports the leaders with the right tools, and training. The pastor invests significant time into coaching
his leaders so they do not feel isolated in their work.
“Energized. Individual physical, social and emotional well-being at
work.” The leaders have feelings of
well-being and high levels of energy because the pastor helps them see fruit of
their work and helps them balance ministry, home life, and recognizing their individual
contributions. (pp. 50, 51, 62)
Unfortunately, most pastors are not actively involved in
their leader’s lives resulting in churches full of disengaged, confused and
tired leaders! Most pastors are not
engaged in their leader’s lives because they have not developed pathways of
relational leadership development. Many
pastors mistake the theological training that is commonly done for elders and
deacons as they only leadership training necessary. Though this is an important step in the
officer training process, it in itself is not leadership training.
Early in my ministry a seasoned leader advised me to invest
heavily in the young men in my ministry, and since that time I have dedicated a
substantial amount of time and energy on spending time with men from one-on-one,
to groups of three to twelve. My primary
goal was not to train them through any specific curriculum, but to build relationships
where I could better understand where they were spiritually and then root them
deep in the Gospel.
These groups of men became the “farming system” for the leaders
in my church as well many other churches. As I grew to know their strengths,
weaknesses and spiritual struggles, I was able to give them the tools they
needed to grow and to be their encourager or coach along the way. I was also able to identify early in the
process not only where they could lead, but if they should lead.
Author’s Gostick and Elton point out the 10/20/70 learning principle
that says:
- 10 percent of all learning happens during formal
training, or event.
- 20 percent of all learning happens from working
directly with your leader.
- 70 percent of learning occurs during real-life
on-the-job experiences or individual cultural encounters (p. 215-16).
In order to build a leadership culture in a church, you must
be a leader who operates in the 70 percent “real-life” category. And in order to encourage and maintain a
leadership culture you must live in the 70 percent and make sure an E+E+E
leadership culture exists in your church. In a church setting it should look
something like this:
Engaged: Your leaders feel an attachment and ownership to the church
and are eager and willing to give extra effort.
They understand how their ministry fits the overall mission and vision
of the church. They “get” how their
ministry is necessary both in the church and for the Kingdom.
Enabled: Your leaders feel
the freedom to do their task and are not micromanaged. They know you trust them. You have provided an environment that
supports productivity and performance. You are supporting them both personally
and with the right tools, and training.
You are coaching these leaders so they do not feel isolated in their
work.
Energized: Despite of what is going on in the life of the church
your leaders do not feel hopeless, but are energized. The leaders have deep
understanding of the Gospel and how it applies personally as well as to their
ministry. They are also energized because
you did not let them burn out by overextending themselves and not keeping their
commitments in balance.
I may have mentioned this in an earlier blog,
nevertheless though it may sound ridiculous, you cannot have a healthy team
unless the team not only has a game plan, but the know what game they are
supposed to be playing.
- Teams operate at their best when there is a
clear vision that each member of the team fully embraces.
- Teams reach their full potential when each
team member is in a position that fits them and they know what they are supposed
to do and are empowered to do it.
- Teams have longevity, when they enjoy each
other as well as the game – They have fun! Remember the 3 P’s – PRAY together,
PLAY together, PLAN together.
In summary, a healthy leadership culture is one where
leaders are constantly being identified, trained, engaged, enabled and
energized. A leadership culture does not
simply happen. It must be exemplified
and maintained by the pastor.
