My boss is taking a whole month off of work?? PT 2

Yesterday, I talked about how our Lead Pastor is taking a few weeks off next month for his summer study break.  I talked about reasons and benefits to his doing this, and today I thought I’d share a number of ways I think you as a staff member can help make this a great, productive, beneficial time for him.

Some ways to help:

-       Pray!  Pray that he really rests and takes his minds off the day-to-day of the church.  It’s important that he really recharges his batteries.  Pray that he really connects with God- this is SO important.  I can tell you that Scott is leading the way he thinks God is leading- so I and the rest of the staff NEED him to connect with God during this time.  I’m praying and trusting that he will.

-       Think of ways to pick up the slack…  over the next few weeks, I’m going to look for ways I can pick up the slack around the office and in our teams so he doesn’t have to worry about it.  Are there little things you can do that will save your leader from worrying about them?  Look for them and take care of it!  This obviously depends on your role and job description, but everyone can pitch in even in little ways that make a big difference in the leader’s ability to disconnect from the day-to-day, trusting that things are being executed well in his absence.

-       Leave him alone!  It’s all too tempting to make little issues seem like big issues that need to be solved by the senior leader, but in reality, most things he doesn’t need to be bothered with.  Before you pick up the phone or type an email, ask yourself this question: “Is this issue something serious enough that it’s worth interrupting the potential rhythm of rest and refreshment my senior leader is having?”  If it’s not, don’t do it!  (let me give you a little tip based on experience: there’s very little worth this interruption).  Wait until he’s back or see if someone else on staff can help you.  Most things that in the moment feel like a crisis end up being minimal.

-       Be a buffer.  When people in the church come up to you and say, “Can you get in touch with so and so, it’s really important?” run interference and keep unimportant stuff from causing an interruption to your senior leader’s important time away.  See the above, leave him alone.

-       Get ahead.  It’s natural when the “boss” is around to have a million little things you are doing.  While he’s away, take the slightly lighter pace and get caught up but take it a step farther and get ahead.  What upcoming events can you work on now?  What things in the church (painting a room, cleaning carpets, etc) can you ensure get completed?  Get ahead so there is room in your schedule to respond to the things your leader feels God wants the team to respond to in the upcoming year.

-       LEAD!  He needs you to lead.  It’s your church and your responsibility too, so step up and when you see things that need to be done, do them and lead out!

-       As a staff, think of creative ways to welcome your leader back when he returns from break!  This might include getting a gift card to a nice restaurant and offering to babysit, hanging a banner, getting a card or Starbucks gift card, etc.  Be creative!

What things can you think of that would help your senior leader have a great, productive time off?  If you’re a senior leader, I’d love it if you’d chime in here with some things that help you during your time away.

 

My boss is taking a whole month off of work??

My friend, pastor, and boss is about to start his weekly summer study break.  This is a season where he takes off the whole month of July (from teaching and much of the day-to-day) to refresh his spirit, recalibrate his priorities for the upcoming year, and prepare to lead us the next year of ministry.  I think this is one of the most important things he does every year for a number of reasons.  If you’re on a church staff, you need to read this post to help you understand the why behind the what.  Today I want to discuss some reasons why this season is so important.

• It gives him a chance to recharge his batteries. Leading a church is HARD work.  Make no mistake- the pressures of leading a ministry, staff, other ministry leaders, and balancing that with being a great husband and father are HUGE.  He needs this time to get out of the rhythm of leading day-to-day and simply fill his tanks that have been depleted from leading all year.  He needs to build some margin back into his life.  His emotional, physical, and spiritual tanks are empty, and this gives him time and the resources to refill them.
• It gives him an opportunity to connect deeply with God. Without the day-to-day pressures of “running” the ministry and teaching 40+ weeks a year, he can make sure his study and praying time has no agenda other than meeting God and hearing His voice.  Staff, this is SO critical for your leader, I cannot stress this enough!  You are depending on your senior leader to take this time and connect with God so he can be sensitive to the leading of God.  I don’t want us moving forward based simply on our creative ideas.  I want Scott to connect with God and find His heart for Aurora, The Orchard, the surrounding areas, and other areas of the world, so he can lead us to serve in ways that bless the heart of God.  If you were in the military, you’d want your leader making well-informed decisions prior to launching an offensive in battle.  It’s the same with ministry.  I want my leader taking us into battle with the best intelligence there is- the Voice and Heartbeat of God.
• It gives him a chance to give his family some quality time. His kids need him to just be dad for a bit.  The church takes much of his time (and many church leaders are guilty of not setting good boundaries and let the church do this) so the kids need to see dad focused on them.  I’m guilty of this.  My wife has often said, “You’re here but you’re not here.”  My body is there, but my mind is on church junk.  My senior leader needs to be able to get away and invest in his family in some quality, uninterrupted time.  This is a win for the team.  We’ve all seen people in ministry bite the dust because they neglected their family and have gotten their priorities mixed up.  I don’t want that- so this time is very important!
• It gives him a chance to step back and see things from a fresh perspective. Too often when we are in the leading daily routine, we don’t zoom out to 30,000ft and see things from a renewed perspective.  I once read a quote from Mark Batterson that has stuck in my mind: “A change of pace + a change of place = a change of perspective.” I’ve found this to be true.  Your senior leader will benefit from some time away to think big-picture and to see things he might miss when he’s in the grind of it.  He might visit some other churches and get fresh ideas.  Some staff hate it when their senior leader takes this time because he comes back with a laundry list of things to tweak/change, but that is an immature, non-team attitude.  Don’t fear the “notebook filled with things he wants to change;” trust that God is speaking to him in this time and it’s for a good purpose.  Remember, you’re co-laboring together, and he’s the leader, so follow well!
• Finally, it gives him a chance to learn and be a better leader. How often has your bookshelf lined up with more and more books that you “intend” to read but just get busy and put it off?  The other day in a meeting, Scott talked about how it has been awhile since he’s been really able to dive into some good leadership books. This time off will be spent reading some great leadership material and I have no doubt it will give him some added umph going into the fall.  Every professional career has continuing education, so this is a great time for your leader to learn some new skill, to engage in an ongoing global dialogue about leadership, and to ultimately learn some tools that will help him lead even better.

This list certainly isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a start.  Tomorrow I’ll be back with a look at some ways you can ensure this is a healthy, productive season for your senior leader.  I’d love it if you’d comment with your thoughts and perspective and share some other reasons this is a good thing.  Invite your friends to stop by and give their .02 cents as well!

 

Killing Cockroaches Review…

I’ve followed Tony Morgan‘s writing for quite some time now, from the Simply Strategic books (fantastic) and his blog as well. I love that Tony is obviously a very intellectual guy but also deeply practical in his approach to life and ministry, and his writing shows it! It makes everything he writes easy to take and internalize and apply immediately. Killing Cockroaches is one of those books you could crack open at any point and start reading and you’ll immediately be putting the nuggets of truth you’re learning into action. This book is laid out much like an encyclopedia or dictionary- it’s alphabetized by title and features short articles about each particular topic. If you’ve read the Simply Strategic books, you’ll love the short nuggets of truth you get. This is the type of book any leader could pick up and read 3-5 entries a day to help stay focused on the important, big-picture items of church leadership.

Here are some of my favorite quotes/thoughts from the book…

•  ”It’s amazing the kind of grief you get when your sole purpose is simply to point people to Jesus.” (11)
• “We learned long ago that to try to make everyone happy, you have to be comfortable with mediocrity. It’s a place where there are few critics. It’s also a place where few people have become really passionate about ministry and their relationships with Christ.” (11)
•  Tony loves to make lists- they are throughout the book, from 10 Easy Ways to Make Church Services More Boring (my favorite), 10 Things I’ll Remember after Experiencing Disney, to 10 Signs You’re Not A Rock Star.
• “For me, hearing stories of the real pain in others’ lives increases my sense of urgency. It helps me realize there’s no such thing as “normal.” It forces me to become more intentional about how I interact with people.” (194)
• Speaking of Starbucks, he says, “we complain about and try to discredit the ministry of churches that are approaching 40,000 people while this company (that’s just trying to sell more coffee) is trying to open 40,000 unique locations.  Aren’t we thinking too small?” (207).  This article is probably worth the price of the whole book.

Tony effectively discusses leadership, family, communication, marketing, and best practices in a way that is easily approachable and grasped. His mixture of “smarts” combined with practical application and his humility and candidness make this an extremely engaging read. You may not agree with every idea he has, but he does an excellent job at getting leaders to think through what they do and make sure they are focused on the right things!

Go buy your copy of “Killing Cockroaches” today here… and if you’re not already following his blog, you can catch it here.