Tweet Some of the best leaders on your team… Have yet to be recruited… Will have to be asked… Are anxious to serve… Need this in their…
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We have a healthy team. It’s full of grace, which works well, since that word is in our name. We consistently laugh together. We encourage each other to accomplish our goals. As a leader, I solicit feedback consistently. (I even allow the staff to anonymously evaluate me each year. Read about that process HERE.) We are generally flexible and laid back as an organization, yet we accomplish much towards our mission. I’ve worked in lots of environments and this is a good one…a healthy place to work. I’ve written articles about healthy teams, many of them based on the team on which I serve. (Read some of them HERE, HERE, or HERE.) I think our team would agree.
Still, I’m not sure we have eliminated what I call organizational fear. I’m not sure there is 100% freedom to share what’s on a person’s heart. I consistently address this concern. I’ve even said that sometimes we are too “nice” as an organization. We need to challenge more, even enter into healthy conflict, but sometimes it seems we are timid towards sharing our true feelings; especially some on the team. Problems exist…people see them…they continue for months…everyone recognizes something is wrong….yet no ones brings them to the surface. This is not a huge problem, or we wouldn’t be as healthy or successful as we are, but for whatever reason, some I may not understand, team members at times shy away from sharing what’s really on their mind.
Why is that? ….
Tweet Recently in Costa Rica I saw a tradition that’s common in my country too.  A child was placed in time-out…  For a certain amount of time, a child is not allowed…
Recently I was speaking with someone about their experience with a controlling leader. My friend said, “He’s just one of those humor him and move on kind of guys.” I thought to myself, “What a sad commentary to be said about one’s leadership!”
It reminds me of a similar experience I had with a controlling leader…
You see, I once had an idea…
It was a dream…a big vision…
I knew it would require risk, extra energies, and the assistance of others, but I was confident this was something worth pursuing…
I even felt it was a call of God for my life…
I was a volunteer for the organization, not an employee, but I had been given a certain amount responsibility and authority…
The only problem…
The leader of the organization was a controlling leader…
That fact alone changed the way I approached (or didn’t approach) the opportunity…
Many controlling leaders receive that kind of attention…
I’ve noticed from my own experience and watching others, that we tend to respond to controlling leaders by:
The main battle for your organization’s long-term success doesn’t exist where you are…it exists where you are going…
Regardless of how great something may be now, this moment will pass. The successes created today will soon fade.
Take writing for example. Unless you are Rick Warren or a handful of others, the best selling authors have to continue to create new stuff to stay on the best sellers list for long. In the business world, the hottest products are only as hot as the next great update or until another “greater” product is introduced.
The fact is momentum dies. People lose interest. Motivation for what you are promoting fades. That’s more true now than ever before. If an organization wants to be successful over time, then it must be winning the battle for the future.
Here are three aspects or planning for future growth every organization must have:
I was talking with a doctor recently. He said increasingly physicians are deciding not to attempt private practice. They are choosing to work only for guaranteed salaries at a hospital, afraid to take a risk of self-employment. In his opinion, it’s changing the way healthcare is done in America. I can’t speak with authority about the field of medicine, but I have noticed the same trend occur in other fields. I talk with people regularly who are settling for security rather than take a risk in this economy.
In a way, it’s completely understandable….
What’s your opinion?
Since 9/11traveling has become much more difficult and time consuming. Our government has assumed new responsibilities as we travel. I am thankful for the diligence of people involved in keeping us safe. Their work should never be taken for granted.
The most active story on my radar this week, however, has been that of the new TSA restrictions on travel.
Recently I had the opportunity to meet with a group of my Sigma Chi fraternity brothers from college. Some of them I have seen, but not really connected with in twenty years. It was fun, good to remember old times, and reminded me that they had made positive impacts on my life. I was a crazy college student sometimes, but the experience has since been used for good many times.
Right after that hang out time, I Tweeted that I should write a post about what I learned in my fraternity days that helped prepare me for ministry. I got lots of reaction, but one in particular appeared to be it’s own post.
Ky Bishop is currently Pastor Of Ministries at Woodlands Church in Houston Texas where Kerry Shook is Senior Pastor. He’s been married 25 years to Terri and they have 3 sons ranging from 16 to 20 years of age. Ky lists his fraternity experience as Delta Tau Delta – UTA – 81
Here are 7 ways Ky’s fraternity experience prepared him for ministry:
Part of being a good leader is not taking opportunities even though you can. Sometimes letting your staff do something you could do, maybe even would like to do, is a better for the entire team.
When we launched our church eleven couples took a risk on a dream we felt God was leading us to pursue. We empowered this core team to do things the way they felt best doing them, as long as they were achieving the vision we knew God was calling us to achieve. We encouraged them to explore new ideas, become experts in their field of interest, and then released them to dream and build. It became part of our DNA and we are still allowing people to explore new opportunities.
For example,
The two extremes of leadership I see that drive me crazy are the controlling leader and the hands off leader.
Have you noticed these extremes?