I was having a conversation a while back with a senior pastor and his fairly new executive pastor on several topics. One of the questions they asked me was, "What was your first year in the role like? What should we be doing?" Having joined the staff almost 17 years ago, and it was fun to reflect on how my first year went. I thought I would share my response ... First of all, my decision to become an executive … [Read more...]
The Responsibilities Of Leadership
Our Staffs Will "Work Around" Our Action Or Our Inaction As Leaders
I remember working with a group of employees on the manufacturing floor (many years ago) to improve efficiency through a better layout and organization of the workspace. I made a very interesting observation that illustrates the significance of our responsibility to our staff and organizations as leaders. I spent a week "observing" a small group of production employees doing assembly and testing of one of our … [Read more...]
Difficult Decisions
Three Things To Remember When Making And Implementing Difficult Decisions
I've been doing this leadership thing for as long as I can remember. One of the things I've discovered is how making and implementing difficult decisions is one of the hardest and most painful things we do. Whether it's church discipline, trying to help people experiencing financial hardship, or identifying and addressing unacceptable behavior; making and implementing difficult decisions is, well "difficult" and … [Read more...]
Serving Is Required!
How Can A Christ Follower Justify Not Serving In The Church?
I was recently talking to someone who attends our church about their need to serve. They faithfully come to church every Sunday, but don’t serve anywhere. They were very reluctant, citing that they would love to serve, but they were “too busy.” The conversation prompted me to reflect on my own experience in the church just before making the decision to follow Christ and just after. Back in 1998 my wife and I … [Read more...]