Interpersonal Leadership > Toolbox Do you believe in the people you're leading? Posted by Excellerators on Apr 12, 2006, 16:03

If leaders do not truly believe in their people, they will have an organization whose central activity is control, based on fear of what people will do if they are not controlled. David Stark, author of Christ-Based Leadership

Over the past decade, I have had the privilege through the LifeKeys ministry to empower thousands of lay people by helping them discover their talents, spiritual gifts, passions, and more. Fueled by the increasing awareness that each person has a God-given purpose, I have experienced firsthand the enormous excitement in people who discover who they are and why they are here. In the wake of this energy, however, a great need for a next step has surfaced in our churches. Simply put, it is time for our leadership patterns and our organizational designs to catch up with this movement of the Spirit, so that the release of this God-given potential becomes a reality within ministries and congregations reach their potential for impacting their communities.

This will require a fundamental shift in the hearts of leaders in how they view their staff and lay leaders. At its core, each pastor needs to wrestle with one question: Do you believe in the people you are leading? Most of us would get the answer right on an exam, but let me suggest why this question and belief is so central in real life to how we lead and what types of churches we create. If leaders do not truly believe in their people, they will have an organization whose central activity is control, based on fear of what people will do if they are not controlled. It can be diagrammed this way:

Organizations centered on fear do not trust their people. What is the result of this trust deficit? Leadership is compelled to create a contractual relationship with lay people (and employees, I might add) based on firm control and ongoing compliance. In this climate, the staff and lay leaders' relationship to the organization rests on three morale-draining and growth-busting foundations: contract, control, and constrain.

On the other hand, leaders who believe deeply in their people create a far different culture in their congregations. It is an atmosphere of trust and accountability, based on the love and faith the leader has in his or her people. It can be diagrammed this way:

What a difference in love-centered organizations based upon trust! Relying upon the self-discipline of the individual, leaders create a trusting relationship with all people in service with them. People receive the support they need to accomplish the goals of their volunteer and paid positions. They are then challenged to stretch to their highest capacity. In this environment, the staff and lay leaders' relationship to the organization rests on positive foundations: support, trust, and potential.

Two stories illustrate the difference this makes for a typical lay person. A church asked me to help "recreate their climate." The leaders wanted a structure and processes based on greater trust. I shared with them one of the implications of having a trust-based organization: volunteers receive genuine authority – and they notice the difference!

Months later, a volunteer compared the new trust-based structure with the "old way we used to do things around here." She said, "When I used to volunteer, the staff person would tell me exactly what he wanted done. Then I'd just go ahead and do it. Volunteering was so . . . booooorrring!" In addition, she usually felt underappreciated. Now, she's a vital part of the visioning and decision-making processes within her ministry team. "I'm excited and motivated," she said. "I finally get a say in where we're going and how we're getting there. It's like night and day for me!"

Now for the other example. A good friend, "Kathy," was a volunteer intern in her church before deciding to take a job in another state. After relocating, she immediately got involved in a local church there. Six months later she called. "I can't believe how much energy it takes to get anything accomplished in this church!" she complained.

She had thought about it in depth, comparing her experiences in the two churches, and concluded: "Dave, in permission-giving structures where trust is involved, the amount of time for a good idea to become reality is about three weeks. In my current church, which is a permission-hindering organization with all the control at the center, I estimate about three years to accomplish the same thing!"

Faced with such an organizational shift, a leader's mind may swirl with big questions. The internal monologue might be something along these lines: "I want to trust my people and delegate to them with appropriate authority. I also, in theory, want to give up some control because I know that can only help us grow. However, because of past experience and gut intuition, I'm skeptical. Am I abdicating leadership if I give up control? How do I relinquish control without losing it totally – or even creating chaos around here?"

The answer to the first question of whether creating a permission-giving organization is an abdication of leadership is a big fat NO! In fact, it takes a greater form of leadership to create a trust-based environment than it does to control people. You and your senior leaders still create the overarching mission and vision, the core values and accountability parameters that people are working within. After that, however, you allow the lay leaders and staff to create their own processes to reach those outcomes.

I was consulting with a senior pastor recently when he told this story. He said the only thing that seemed to work well this year was a situation in which he did not do anything. He said that after Hurricane Katrina hit, he told his congregation that he was forming a ministry team to respond to the crisis. He gathered the team members after a worship service and set out his vision for the congregation's response, the budget and time frame, and how they could stay in touch and accountable to him. Then he let the team form the action plan and run with the project and ministry. As he related the story, I broke in. "Freeze for a moment. Apparently you said you did not 'do anything' because you did not control every step of the ministry. In fact, you did a lot of leadership – the right kind. You gave them the vision, gathered those who were passionate, gave them the parameters and relationship accountabilities, and let them go!" It was a defining moment for the pastor and his ministry – he let go and believed in his people. 

In my new book, Christ-Based Leadership (Bethany House Publishers), I lay out all the nuts and bolts for creating permission-giving structures that will capitalize on the gifts, talents, and passions of lay people, but it all begins with this question of your heart: Do you believe in the people you are serving?

Believe, as Paul told the Ephesians, that "God can do far more than you can ask or even imagine by the power at work within you [and your people]."

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http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?printerfriendly=1&ArtID=9273