Building Your Leaders - Christianity Today

At 7:30 a.m. the bank president and I walked into the bank together. I was fresh out of college and beginning a career as a manager in the human resources department.

As we approached the foyer doors, Leonard, the janitor, was busy doing his three-times-a-day routine of cleaning fingerprints off the glass. After exchanging the customary pleasantries, the bank president said to Leonard, “You are one of the most important people in this bank.”

Leonard looked startled; he had never progressed beyond eight years of school.

The president continued, “Keeping this door clean and free of dirt and finger prints sends a message to every person walking in. It says we’re neat and orderly. It creates a feeling of security where people know their money will be properly handled and accounted for. You’re the first person to give them that message.”

Reaching out to shake Leonard’s hand, he added, “Thanks for doing a great job!”

The exchange took less than a minute. But in that brief encounter, the president communicated his vision—a friendly atmosphere, a safe and secure environment, a place where you will be known as a person and not a number. With a few simple words, he commissioned Leonard to further that vision.

Leonard told several co-workers about his encounter with the bank president. After re-telling the story, he would add, “This is a good place to work. This is a good place to do your banking. They take good care of you here.”

With those words, vision was communicated.

A pastor who commissions

The business world recognizes that employee commitment to an organization’s vision is a key factor in the organization’s success. The church is not a business, but the way this president communicated the vision of his organization illustrates for pastors how vision can be caught.

Church vision must go beyond cute slogans, colorful logos, and catchy phrases. Emotional hype quickly fades. What fulfills vision is people who see how their contributions connect to the whole.

Recently I had a hallway conversation with the woman who coordinates our volunteer cleaning crews. She was lamenting that her responsibility for the church’s cleaning prevented her involvement with our small group ministries.

“I wish that I could be involved with discipleship and relationship building,” Karen said, “and helping to pray for people’s needs.”

“You’re already doing that,” I said. “Think of your cleaning crews as your small groups. You have the potential for a great small group ministry of your own.”

Karen was skeptical. A few days later, though, she admitted our brief conversation helped her see something she had not seen before.

“This week, before we scrub the first toilet or turn on the first vacuum cleaner,” she said, “we’re going to take time to study a verse of Scripture and pray for one another’s needs.”

She added, “You’re right, this is my small group. We are going to meet every Saturday to pray for one another.”

It’s vital for pastors to help people see how their service accomplishes the church vision. When that happens, pastors commission every member of the congregation to be a messenger of the vision. That motivates people to make a difference.

After a Sunday morning service, Jim expressed concern about our teacher rotation schedule in the children’s church: “Every week the children have a new teacher. That’s like having a new pastor every week.”

My immediate reaction was to get defensive, but instead I said, “It sounds to me like you have a burden for our children. That kind of passion makes a great teacher. Would you like to work with the children’s church on a consistent basis?”

“I’d love to,” Jim said, “but I’ve never worked with kids before.”

That was two years ago. Today Jim is a gifted children’s minister.

—Gary J. Blanchard Assembly of God Christian Center 2805 Brittany Court St. Charles IL 60175

LEADING STAFF

What Your Team Needs from You

6 questions for better staff development.

In Fatal Flaws Managers Make, management expert W. Steven Brown writes, “The successful manager grasps the essential difference in personalities of those on his staff and, aware of their strengths and weaknesses, manages them as individuals.”

Our youth pastor, who connects with high school students in their environment, likes and needs to work unconventional hours. But our children’s ministry director is a highly structured individual. She prefers to work on a schedule. The temptation is to manage different people the same way, but each will perform better if given the chance to work according to their strengths.

In Masterplanning, Bobb Biehl suggests asking six questions in supervisory meetings to guide staff for better results. These help me focus on the individual needs of each person rather than assuming I know what his or her needs are:

1. What decisions do you need from me?

2. What problems are keeping you from reaching your goals?

3. What plans are you making that haven’t been discussed?

4. What progress have you made?

5. On a scale of one to ten, how are you personally? Why?

6. How can I be praying for you?

—Kurt Bjorklund

Ogden Community Bible Church 4014 Station Road Blissfield MI 49228

UPGRADE THEIR MINDS

Performance-enhancing substance

I used to try to improve my staff’s ministry by directing their behavior. But that’s not the most effective way, long-term.

People respond best when their thinking is changed, not when they are coerced into a different course of action.

The role of a leader is to influence thinking, though that takes more time and energy than trying to control a behavior. That means I must spend time understanding the assumptions and thought processes of my staff.

When I asked our worship coordinator, for instance, to include certain types of music, she did so, but only when I specifically requested something. Since then, I’ve been communicating the reasons behind my request. Influencing her thinking positively affects her choices.

—Kurt Bjorklund