By Carey Nieuwhof: Chances are a big chunk of what you’re going to do today in leadership is think.

Really, thinking is a big slice of what any leader is paid to do.

You try to solve problems, analyze opportunities, listen, facilitate and chart paths.

And this last year has likely required more thinking from you as a leader than the entire decade before it.

As a result, you’ve probably noticed that how you think will determine how well you lead.

Not surprisingly, there are four kinds of ways leaders commonly think that can actually damage your leadership.

You See It All The Time

Sometimes all we need to do is put language to things we see.

I’ve just been keeping notes on the kinds of thinking to which various leaders default. So this post isn’t scientifically about anyone, but if you’re like me, as you read through this list, specific people will come to mind.

I’d encourage you to focus on your own thinking, rather than theirs.

Nobody Intends to Sabotage Themselves

Few people intend to sabotage their leadership. They don’t plant landmines throughout their day and wait for them to go off. But let’s be honest. Many leaders end up sabotaging themselves every day despite their best intentions.

Intent has little to do with effectiveness.

When you and I can see how certain patterns of thinking trip us (and others) up, progress becomes easier.

Here are 4 kinds of thinking that can sabotage your leadership and have often tripped up mine:

Intent has little to do with effectiveness.Click To Tweet

1. Undigested Thinking

As a leader, I hate to admit I see this all the time in the church. You’ve seen it too.

Someone goes to a conference and comes away with two good ideas. Then they go to another conference and come away with three more. Add a dozen podcasts, blog posts, webinars and books into the mix, and they end up with a 9 raw ideas they’re intrigued with.

And then they make their critical mistake.

They implement the ideas without thinking much further about it.

And here’s the problem.

None of the ideas are compatible with each other.

Some of them directly compete with each other.

No idea is fully integrated into their existing model of ministry (which might actually be scrambled eggs to start with).

They didn’t digest any of it, synthesize any of it or even critically process it.

They leave their followers confused. And their systems dis-integrated (literally).

2. Overthinking

This is a leadership epidemic, especially in the church. I’m guilty of this sometimes.

Leaders often overthink issues.

They think about:

Everything that could go wrong

Who might feel left out

Why it might not work

How much it could cost

And they often wrongly believe they:

Need a bullet-proof plan before they start

Have to have every potential problem worked through before they begin

Should plan for every contingency ‘just in case’

Hey, in a perfect world that would be awesome. But last time I checked, this wasn’t much of a perfect world.

Great leaders often have a bias for action (I wrote about that here). Overthinking kills action.

If you want to be challenged to stop overthinking issues, read this account of how Sir Richard Branson started Virgin Airlines. It might freak you out, but it will show you why he has been so successful.

When it comes to church leadership, I believe we overthink. The pendulum has swung too far. It’s time to start acting.

Great leaders often have a bias for action. Overthinking kills action.Click To Tweet

3. Indecisive Thinking

The indecisive thinker may have some well-digested thoughts, and might even be ready to act.

But they come to a fatal point in the road.

They have usually narrowed the options to two, but they just can’t pull the trigger. And they really have no idea why.

I’ll tell you why I think leaders end up being indecisive.

One word: FEAR.

If you’re an indecisive thinker, drill down on your fear and you’ll find your future.

Don’t rest until you ask yourself “What am I afraid of?” Seriously, answer that. If you can’t, ask others. Go sit with a counsellor. Pray. Fast. Do what you need to do.

Keep asking. Don’t stop until you get a real, honest answer.

Then when you get an answer, take your fear to God in prayer until it no longer owns you.

Great leadership isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the courage to push through it.

Figuring out your fear and pushing through it will kill your indecision for good.

Great leadership isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the courage to push through it.Click To Tweet

4. Underthinking

I put this last because I think it’s a problem in the church, but because the church is dominated by overthinkers, most would criticize anyone who underthinks.

Sure, sometimes leadership is poor because leaders have underthought an issue – or underprayed it.  But like I said, that doesn’t often happen.

Do you think Paul pre-thought the explosion of the early church through to its conclusion before he started out on his first mission trip? Nope. He just went, and was blown away by what God did.

If you really sit down and talk to successful (and faithful) leaders, they will tell you they are the most surprised at what happened. All they did was start. They knew they didn’t quite know what they were doing, but they acted while everyone else sat in a boat and watched someone else walk on water.

Entrepreneurial business leaders are often more likely to underthink things, but I still applaud their efforts. And a surprising number of times, they go on to succeed anyway.

In the church world, few have underthought their future. Far too many have underacted on it.

If you really sit down and talk to successful (and faithful) leaders, they will tell you they are the most surprised at what happened. All they did was start.Click To Tweet

What’s Your Next Step?

Normally this is where the blogger-type-person says “what about you, what do you think?” and “leave a comment” (which you can certainly do).

But today I want to challenge you to work through this.

Seriously. Which kind of thinker are you?

And then consider taking this to your team or board. Because the truth is as much as you have a bias toward kind of thinking that sabotage your leadership, so does your organization.

There is a ‘group think’ that has developed among your organization that shapes your culture.

Do you generally overthink or underthink?

Are you indecisive?

Does fear rule you?

Are you trigger happy with undigested thoughts?

Work this through, and we’ll all be better off. So will our organization and the people we lead.

That’s what I’m going to do.

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The post 4 Types Of Thinking That Will Sabatage Your Leadership appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 4 Types Of Thinking That Will Sabatage Your Leadership

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Source: Leadership Development in Your Church

The post Leadership Development in Your Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Source: 3 Keys to Raising Women Leaders in the Church

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Source: Building Vision and Culture

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By: New Churches

In Episode 501 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Ed discuss what thriving looks like and the importance of spiritual and emotional health.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How church leaders are seen as second and third responders
Why creating sabbath rhythms are important

 Shareable Quotes (#NewChurches):

“The work we are in is crisis prone work.” – @edstetzer
“I don’t know of a crisis where we are not as church leaders second or third responders where we are there to help, providing for needs for people who are hurting and struggling.” – @edstetzer
“What can we do now so that we can build up more healthy systems of prevention so that there is not so much intervention personally as pastors?” – @danielsangi
“If you are not in crisis mode, I think ultimately it is a question of building the type of structure that can support you in the downtimes.” – @edstetzer
“We want you to find a team of people who will commit to praying for you every day.” – @danielsangi
“This is not a sprint. This is a marathon and we cannot be burning the candle at both ends.” – @danielsangi
“You need to have healthy daily and weekly rhythms. What does your sabbath look like?” – @danielsangi

Recommended Resources:

Read “Darrin Patrick’s Death, His Love for Pastors, and How We Need One Another”
Learn more about ResilientChurchLeader.com
Learn more about Soul Care

Help us Multiply the Mission:

Please subscribe
Leave a rating and review on iTunes
Ask a question by clicking Send Voicemail on the right hand side of NewChurches.com
If you’re on a phone or a tablet, then go to www.speakpipe.com/newchurches to download the app and record your message
When you’re recording, introduce yourself and your context in about 15 seconds and then record your question for 30 seconds

The post Episode 501: Thriving in Leadership appeared first on NewChurches.com – Church Planting, Multisite, and Multiplication.

Source: Episode 501: Thriving in Leadership

The post Episode 501: Thriving in Leadership appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Source: A Healthy Team Ratio

The post A Healthy Team Ratio appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Source: Outside the Box Multisite Church Launch

The post Outside the Box Multisite Church Launch appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by unSeminary: Thanks for joining us for this week’s unSeminary podcast. This week we’re talking with Ben Cachiaras, lead pastor of Mountain Christian Church. Mountain Christian Church was founded back in 1824 and currently has four campuses in Maryland.

Ben is with us today to talk about how to foster thriving relationships between the elders and the senior staff at your church.

Theology of eldership. // The sad reality about many relationships between elders and senior church leaders is that they can be antagonistic. Navigating the challenges of this relationship are vitally important because the mission of the church is at stake, and so is the health of the pastor. Where does one begin in taking steps toward unity and strong, healthy relationships? First ask what is the theology of eldership at your church. Are the biblical descriptions checklists, or descriptions of the kind of elders you’re looking for? Why or why aren’t they important to your church?Ask important questions. // Mountain Christian Church has a high view of eldership. Among some of the qualities and characteristics they look at are: someone who has mission of the church at stake, someone who is a person of character and competency. Would they have chemistry with the other people on the team, and are they ready for the commitment? What does their stewardship and contribution at church look like? Lastly, do they have a Christ-centered home? Developing elders is part of the leadership pipeline at Mountain Christian; these individuals are already serving and demonstrating leadership and MCC seeks to help them rise to their next level.Develop a year-round process to find and create elders. // Some years ago Ben began this leadership pipeline process for elders by inviting some people to talk with him and two existing elders about developing their skills and leadership in the church. This led to a 13-week period of development where they met and studied scripture, holiness, character, and skills such as how to develop a team and cast vision. Now there is a booklet and curriculum developed to walk people through everything from their gifting and personality tests to spiritual disciplines and leadership skills. This leadership pipeline has become a great source for discovering future elders.Relationally connect. // Teams that are relationally connected lead better. The elders need to be in deep relationship with Christ and bring their strengths to the table. And Ben and his elder team care about each other and know what is going on in each other’s lives. When the elders are taking their walk with Christ seriously and their relationship with each other seriously, they can lead the church better. Meet regularly. // At Mountain Christian there are regular meetings to nurture these relationships. During monthly business meetings they examine high level metrics and trends at the church together. There are also monthly study meetings in which they talk about non-business things. This might include reading and discussing a book together as well as meeting over a meal at someone’s house and spending time in prayer. Lastly, go on offsite retreats annually. MCC uses this time not only to build camaraderie but also to prepare for new challenges. Sometimes it’s just the elders attending the retreats and other times their spouses come along too.Trust each other. // The role of elders is vitally important at a church. But in order for their role to be effective, there must be trust between the pastor and elders. Elders need an instinct not to control everything, but rather function at a higher level to protect the church. On the other side, if the lead pastor is defensive about questions he’s asked, that’s a big yellow flag. Create a culture that validates the relational component of eldership and makes time for it. When you have a team aligned, you’ll be able to lead well with vision.

You can learn more about Mountain Christian Church at mountaincc.org. Ben also has a blog at outofmymind.cc.

Thank You for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally!

Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live!

Thank You to This Article’s Sponsor: Risepointe

What is the facility lid that is preventing your church from living out its Mission? Let the team over at Risepointe get to know what makes your church unique and craft a realistic plan to help you continue to grow!

Head over to Risepointe.com/360 for your free Facility 360 Evaluation.

Source: Insights into Thriving Relationships Between Elders & Senior Church Leaders with Ben Cachiaras

The post Insights into Thriving Relationships Between Elders & Senior Church Leaders with Ben Cachiaras appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by NewChurches.com: In Episode 466 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Todd discuss developing plans for leadership in your church.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why a leadership pipeline is helpful
How to provide effective training to the entire church

 Shareable Quotes (#NewChurches):

“Whatever you are going to do, make sure it aligns with your vision and values.” – @toddadkins
“The fruit of a volunteer is another volunteer. The fruit of a leader is another leader.” – @toddadkins
“When you get to the systems portion of pipeline, it is administratively heavy and the wheels fall off.” – @toddadkins
“Getting down to one application, with addendum where necessary, means that we can keep one data repository and when a person moves horizontally they have already filled out an application.” – @toddadkins
“Talk to one or two of your leaders and ask them where they think you are being unclear with them in expectations or information.” – @toddadkins
“Where you need to start is developing an equipping culture.” – @danielsangi
“Across all departments, 60-70% of what makes a leader effective at every level is the same.” – @danielsangi

Recommended Resources:

Watch the free course on leadership pipeline on Ministry Grid
Attend a Leadership Pipeline Coaching event
Listen to more episode of the New Churches Q&A podcast
Listen to the 5 Leadership Questions podcast

Help us Multiply the Mission:

Please subscribe
Leave a rating and review on iTunes
Ask a question by clicking Send Voicemail on the right hand side of NewChurches.com
If you’re on a phone or a tablet, then go to www.speakpipe.com/newchurches to download the app and record your message
When you’re recording, introduce yourself and your context in about 15 seconds and then record your question for 30 seconds

The post Episode 466: How to Develop a Plan for Leadership in Your Church for 2020 appeared first on NewChurches.com – Church Planting, Multisite, and Multiplication.

Source: Episode 466: How to Develop a Plan for Leadership in Your Church for 2020

The post Episode 466: How to Develop a Plan for Leadership in Your Church for 2020 appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Dan Reiland is the Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He previously partnered with John Maxwell for 20 years, first as Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, then as Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at INJOY.

Dan is one of many outstanding mentors for our Leader Groups – leadership collaboratives for senior leaders of large churches, focused on helping leaders break through their toughest challenges and leadership lids.

THE ART OF HIRING GREAT LEADERS
by Dan Reiland

Hiring a staff member can be stressful.

It’s a big decision, and you never know for certain how it will work out.

Smart leaders will do everything possible to make a wise choice when hiring, not the fast choice. When it comes to hiring, fast seems expedient, but more often than not, it’s expensive in the end.

It’s been my responsibility as an Executive Pastor for many years to make good hires and to lead a team that makes good hiring choices. I’ll admit that on occasion, this process keeps me awake at night. It matters that much. Building a great team is an art. You will make mistakes, I have, but there is much you can do that will help you choose wisely.

Of course, there is much more to it, but if you are on the go today, here are eight Quick Tips that will help keep you out of hot water when hiring.

   1. Know what you want.

When I’m coaching leaders in hiring, I hear this phrase far too often. “I’ll know the right person when I meet them.” That may indicate good instincts, but it’s not a good strategy. Be very clear on what you are looking for before you begin your search. If you don’t know exactly what you want when hiring, you’ll be tempted to change your mind in the moment based on emotion.

Stick to your hiring criteria

When it come to hiring, never lower your standards. It’s easy to lower your standards when you are under pressure and need some help. But hold steady and wait for the right leader. It’s better to continue with an unfilled position, even with some extra work to do.

After you write a clear, concise bullet point job description, write a list of criteria (standards). Here’s an abbreviated example: 7 years experience, at least 2 years in a church of 500 or more, college degree, carried primary responsibility for a minimum of 40 volunteers, strong people skills, etc. Write down what you desire and stick to it.

Always make team-based hires.

Hiring staff was never meant to be a solo endeavor. We all have blind spots, personal biases, and favor certain personalities. We like who we like!

You can easily remedy personal bents and hiring biases by working with a team of 3-5 people who will do all the interviews. Each person then interviews the candidate with a specific set of questions.

Always interview more than one good candidate.

A good rule of thumb for smart hiring is make it a goal to have at least three viable candidates to interview. By viable, I mean leaders that you would seriously consider hiring. Not one sharp leader and two that you would never consider. This practice dramatically enhances your process because with three great candidates, you quickly see which one is best for your team.

Make your reference calls. I know not all reference calls are fruitful, but make them anyway — touch base with friends who might know the candidate. Sometimes that one call can seal the deal or save you from great heartache.

Use personality testing. There is no need to bombard your candidates with several tests, but one or two is a wise practice.

Invest maximum effort in matching people to your staff culture.

You can’t overestimate the significance of team culture when hiring a new staff member. The candidate may be a sharp leader and have an amazing track record, but that doesn’t mean they will be successful on your team. Take plenty of time to get to know them as a person and a human being, not just someone filling a position.

Don’t sell the virtues of your organization.

When hiring, don’t sell the virtues of your church team, just live them, the candidate will pick them up quickly. Of course, you can speak favorably about your staff team and the culture you enjoy, but you must be honest about the shortcomings that need improvement.

Be direct and very candid in your interviews.

When you interview a potential staff member, don’t hold back. Ask candid questions. Ask the tough questions. This isn’t the time to be polite and reserved. Kind and respectful, yes, but don’t take an easy and surface approach. As you consider hiring someone, you need to really know this person, and they need to know the real you.

Pray and trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

It’s OK to trust your gut, but as I mentioned earlier, that’s not enough. You need a process and a team. And equally, if not more so, you need to pray and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

God cares about who you hire; it’s His church. Ask Him who He wants on your team!

More resources from Dan Reiland can be found on his website https://danreiland.com/

The post The Leader’s Dilemma appeared first on Leadership Network.

Source: The Leader’s Dilemma

The post The Leader’s Dilemma appeared first on Passion for Planting.