Effective Leading, continued

Posted on June 20th, 2008 in Church Life, General Leadership, On Leadership, Worship Leadership by Fred

Hello Everyone,

A couple of days ago I posted “Effective Leading” and asked for your comments on two words:
1 - communication
2- leadership

Your comments were incredible and continue to come in.

I’d like to further discuss these as we dive deeper into this discussion about Effective Leadership. These comments are inspired by the time we had in staff meeting and the notes I took from Pastor David’s discussion with us.

Communication:

This is critical. We cannot expect people to follow our leadership if we do not clearly communicate. It’s far easier to under-communicate than to over-communicate. Think about your role as a leader. What are the non-negotiable aspects of your ministry? These need to be communicated over and over to those who are following. As you define your mission and vision statement, find ways to continually communicate this.

As a church, we have asked ourselves these important questions:
1 - Who are we?
2 - Why do we do what we do?

Answering these questions gives some good direction in finding a vision statement to clearly communicate this to others.

Our response at SSCC:

Our mission is to help people discover God’s purpose for their lives as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We seek to create environments where people are encouraged and equipped to reach up, reach in, and reach out.

As leaders, it’s easy for us to focus on the “big communication” - like our church vision, our business model, our strategy, etc. Let’s not forget how critical basic communication is with those who serve with us.

As a Worship Leader:
1 - communicate your gratitude to your team OFTEN
2 - communicate your gratitude to your tech team OFTEN
3 - communicate your thoughts and vision for introducing a particular song, or flow
4 - communicate the vision behind actions.

For example, we’re encouraging our singers to make every effort to memorize their lyrics each week so that we can get rid of our music stands. Just giving them instruction without communicating vision is critical here. I have to explain to them WHY it’s important, and the BENEFIT that we’ll have in doing so - both on an individual basis and a corporate basis.

What are some examples of good (or bad) communication that you’re experiencing. Feel free to share your business, church, or personal mission statement that you are communicating as well. Let’s discuss.

For the Kingdom,

Fred

Effective Leading

Posted on June 18th, 2008 in General Leadership, On Leadership, Worship Leadership by Fred

Hello Everyone,

We had a great staff meeting at SSCC yesterday and Pastor David (link to his outdated, inactive blog!) shared some of his thoughts regarding effective leadership.

It was good stuff, and I’d like to share my notes, but before I do .. I thought I’d give us a day for discussion.

David mentioned two important words for us to discuss, and what they mean:

1.  Communication
2.  Leadership

As it relates to your field of ministry, work, and relationships, what are your thoughts on each of these two traits?

Start the discussion.
Fred

McKinnon Marriage Exposed

Posted on April 1st, 2008 in Church Life, Family, On Leadership by Fred

Hey Everyone,

This is the promised “Part 2″ to the blog entry I shared yesterday about the Barna Group’s new stats on Marriage, Divorce, and Cohabitation. Marriages are perhaps one of the biggest targets these days. I believe that Satan himself knows that if he can destroy marriages, families, he will wreak havoc on us. I see this so often.

Joy and I will have been married for 10 years this August. My oldest brother (congrats Billy and Celese) just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. My neighbors across the street (congrats Darrel and Lynne) are about to celebrate 25 years as well. My parents will be celebrating 47 years of marriage this year, and Joy’s parents will celebrate 50 years. What a wonderful, rich heritage we have to celebrate.

I’m not ashamed to tell you this … Joy and I over the last couple of months started “marriage counseling”. Yep, you heard me right. We’re not the ones doing the counseling … we are GOING to counseling. Is our marriage on the rocks? Heck no. Are we at the end of our rope? Heck no! We’re MADLY in love with each other. Like any other marriage, we have our ups and downs … our arguments, our barriers that seem we just can’t agree to climb. So, we decided that for the good of our health, of our family, and of our marriage, it would be wise to lay down our pride and meet with our counselor at church.

I call it “PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE”.

At first Barby (our staff counselor at SSCC) asked if we needed to come in the evenings, etc., … outside of “church hours”. I said, “no way, I don’t mind strutting through the main staff hallway and telling everyone in there that we’re going to marriage counseling”. I hope that if nothing else, it will INSPIRE others to do the same.

One of the pastors that I love to follow on the ‘net is Pastor Steven Furtick from the phenomenal “Elevation Church” in Charlotte, NC. Steven proudly boasts and confesses from the pulpit, for all to hear .. that he meets regularly with a counselor. Not because he’s crazy, not because he’s in sin and addiction, not because his marriage is on the rocks … because he feels it is HEALTHY to meet with someone and sort through your feelings in a SAFE ENVIRONMENT. It’s healthy to get FRESH PERSPECTIVE and “NEW EYES AND EARS” on the subjects that we all wrestle with.

That being said, I hope to encourage all of you blog readers … don’t keep your issues bottled up on the inside. Talk to someone. Counsel with someone. Make it a matter of preventative maintenance. We get dirty in this world - our views and selfish ambitions (yes, we ALL have them) cause us to have twisted views of reality and truth … so why not schedule an appointment and meet with someone you can trust today.

How ’bout it ya’ll? Would you, or will you consider it?

For the Kingdom,
Fred

On Leadership: 3 Nuggets, Pt. 3

Posted on March 11th, 2008 in Church Life, General Leadership, On Leadership, Worship Leadership by Fred

Hey Everyone,

Back to the series on leadership nuggets … you can catch the background behind this series and the first “nugget” in this post, and the 2nd nugget is discussed (or shall I say, “being discussed”) here.

In the discussion on #2, “Vision Casting”, there was a great segue comment by Jordan of Worshiptrench.Com about momentum. He wrote:

Yes, whenever momentum/attendance drops I can ALWAYS track it to a lack of casting vision and purpose. I have found even doing a study of the content of a new song and tying it to a theological perspective on our or purpose tends to ignite their leadership of the song that weekend. Sure there are times we need to do a fellowship to lift moral, but if worship leaders think that will overcome a lack of vision they are nuts.

… great call, Jordan, because the 3rd “nugget” deals specifically with momentum.

3. Sustaining momentum.

David said something that I had to think twice about. He said “it’s fairly easy to get momentum going … it’s sustaining momentum that is difficult”. At first, this didn’t sound right to me. I think about “the snowball” and how it’s hard to get it rolled up, and pushed down the hill - but once it starts going downhill - lookout. But at the same time, I can see the wisdom in this.

So many times, “momentum” can happen for reasons outside of our control. Or, an outside event or set of circumstances happens that creates momentum … such as our moving into a brand new, 74,000 ft2 facility. If you could’ve seen our grand opening services last weekend - you would have seen incredible momentum. But 3 months from now - when the “wow” of this new facility is wearing off, and we’re back to the grind … it won’t be so easy to ride that wave. We have to be intentional in sustaining momentum. Don’t take momentum for granted, as if once started, she’ll always be there.

Well, that’s a wrap on this mini-series.
1. Listen
2. Vision Casting
3. Momentum

Would love to get your input!

For the Kingdom,
Fred

On Leadership: 3 Nuggets, Pt. 1

Posted on March 7th, 2008 in Encouragement, General Leadership, On Leadership, Worship Leadership by Fred

Hey Everyone -

Leadership is critical when we’re in positions of influence and ministry. Whether it’s my role as the Worship Director of St. Simons Community Church, my role as the owner of my own businesses, or my role as a Christ-follower in the marketplace and in the public arenas of life … leadership is important.

One of the things I love about working @ SSCC is being part of a large staff with some incredible leadership. Pastor David Yarborough is only a couple of years older than I am … but he’s got a lot more grey. (haha). Seriously, just about anytime you hear someone introducing him, they always say something like “this man is wise far beyond his years”. That’s so true.

Over the last few days I’ve had the privilege of walking through some church-related issues w/ him and I’ve been blessed to just sit back and listen to wisdom and be built up in leadership. I couldn’t help but jot down a few notes on a legal pad as we just talked.

Let’s introduce them in a 3-part blog series and discuss in the comments section.

On Leadership:

1. People need to be heard. Listen.

A good leader will listen to those he or she is leading. Personally, I think that’s one of the big differences between a leader and a dictator. Personally again … I can’t help but confess it’s one of my greatest weaknesses. If Joy (my wife) were an online/blogger/reader … she’d comment with a hearty “amen” there. But, I’m becoming better in this area. I’m trying to become more intentional about listening. The people may not be saying the right things … but they still need to be heard. They need to know that THEIR OPINION MATTERS.

I also think good leadership creates an environment where listening is possible, but also creates boundaries … there are times when we need to sit back and listen to those we are leading. Then, there are times when those who are being led need to just trust their leadership, yield when necessary, and hold their questions for the appropriate time. Giving people the opportunity to “be heard” shouldn’t be a free-for-all …. so, leaders should be intentional on setting aside quality time to “listen”. Maybe a lunch 1-on-1 … or maybe a smaller group “forum” from key people who are involved with the ministry or business area you are leading … or even a simple phone call.

Evaluate yourself. Are you listening to those you lead? When was the last time you were intentional about creating a dedicated time, forum, or appointment to just allow those you are leading to “be heard”?

Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 … in the meantime, let’s discuss “Listening Leadership” now … add your comment below!

PS: as a blogger/leader, I want to “listen” to those of you who read this blog … so I have a specific question, and I’d love for you to include your answer in the comments of this blog. I’m releasing this “Part 1″ on Friday. How are your weekend reading patterns? Would you prefer to have Parts 2-3 starting on Monday of next week - or to go throughout the weekend? “I’m listening ….”

For the Kingdom,
Fred

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