Leadership Evaluation Summary & Observations 2011

Recently I posted about the annual review process where our team evaluates me in my leadership of Grace Community Church. (You can read more about that process in the initial post HERE.) I ask the staff to anonymously evaluate my performance as a leader. After a few weeks to answer, we met yesterday for lunch to go over the responses.

I was nervous about their responses this year, because our growth and the personal life changes have stretched me this past year. This year, unless they told me separately, I was not able to tell who said what in the evaluation, so it was good feedback without taking reading anything into the responses based on personalities.

Below are the questions and the most repeated answers. I tried to pull out the themes of the comments, summarizing the most repeated responses. I am not leaving any out that were mentioned. There were a few private comments/suggestions made that were not directed at me personally, so I left them off this public list. I’ll make some general observations after the answers.

What am I currently adding to the team? What do you see as my strengths?

• Leadership
• Wisdom
• Vision
• Strategy
• Team Building
• Communication

What is my greatest weakness? Where do you think I still need improvement? (The goal here is to be helpful, not hurtful.)

• Speed of decision-making
• Management
• Abnormal pace of life (fear of burning out)

Knowing my skills, where should I be placing more of my attention these days?

• Staff leadership development
• Teaching
• Long-term planning

What do you need from me that you are not currently receiving in the way of leadership/direction?

Communication

Do you feel I have your best interest at heart?

100% Yes

Do you feel I am supportive of your area of ministry? If not, please explain.

100% Yes

Would you feel comfortable bringing problems to me? If not, why?

100% Yes

The larger the church and staff get, do you see my role needing to change? If yes, in what ways?

• Concentrate more on strengths
• Less managing responsibilites
• Less direct responsibilities
• More oversight responsibilities

What would you like to say to me or what questions do you have for me, but you haven’t said them or asked them, for whatever reason?

• Are you a Christian?
• Please take care of yourself and have more down time
• Will you be here in 5 years?
• Thanks for being open to challenge

Here are some general observations:

• I am a Christian, and will be contacting Survey Monkey (The tool I use to do this) to see who the person asking this is…then I’ll show him (I know it’s one of the guys) how a Christian can still kick butt.  Ha! Got to have one clown in the bunch.
• I’m very pleased that our team feels I’m approachable, that I have their best interest in mind, and that I remain supportive of their individual ministry area. This is a high value for me and I haven’t always had 100% here. I must work hard to maintain this level of agreement.
• Ben Reed, our Groups Pastor, made the comment that the list of suggestions is getting shorter each year, perhaps because we are getting better as a team. I really do consider the suggestions for improvement and try to make changes in how I lead following this annual review.
• The follow up luncheon is critical to the success of this. The open, honest dialogue helps solidify the central themes and flushes out some things I don’t completely understand, such as the suggestion that the person needs more “communication”. That was more of an organizational issue than a personal issue, and the point was well taken. It’s a area in which we need to continue to improve.
• Sometimes I’m guilty of neglecting to lead my own team. I admitted that I am often, because they know me personally, bashful about sharing leadership principles with them. They want more direct and intentional leadership development from me.
• We have some organizational and leadership changes that will be needed in the coming months and years in order to remain effective as a staff and team. My role will need to change.
• It remains a matter of discussion concerning the pace of life I live. I assured our team that I never expect people to repeat my pace, I’m at a different stage of life, and I am in a very healthy place in my life right now. I do realize the potential for burnout and appreciate the accountability and concern in this area.
• The pace of the church’s growth demands that I make dozens of decisions each day. I need to slow down in some areas, perhaps delegating more decision-making and developing systems that allow me more time to make other decisions.
• Improving the management of the staff is a continual need. Admittedly, I’m a much better leader than I am a manager. Someday this will be an additional staff position, but in the meantime, I must work hard to grow as a manager.
• Well, the evaluation is finished for another year, but my part is really just beginning. Taking this information and feedback and using it to make me a better leader (and manager) is a year-long process.

What are your thoughts based on this post?