Leadership

How To Play Church Politics & Win Pt 2

Part 2: What Are The Rules?

Office politics will continue to be played regardless of what we think, say, feel or do. So, is it possible to play the game without giving up our core beliefs or judging those who continue to play by their own unhealthy rules? The answer is, yes, you can.

Author Daniel Goleman and others would say that having organizational awareness and the ability to read the currents and politics within an organization is an emotional intelligence asset not a liability. Noticing and understanding the politics within our office environment does not mean you have to play the game but you must understand that if you don’t play the game you will end up loosing by forfeit.

Here’s My Unconventional Observation
Playing office politics can be as unhealthy as ignoring them all together

I think of Jackson Browne’s Lyrics to his song “Boulevard”
“They say it can't be won, The way the game is run
But if you choose to stay, You wind up playing anyway, It’s okay.”

What Are The Rules of The Game?

How To Play Church Politics & Win Pt 1

How To Play Church Politics & Win Pt 1

Part 1: What Are Church Politics?

The title startles us, doesn’t it?

I guess the more friendly or much safer titles would have been, “How To Survive Church Politics” or “How To Understand Church Politics But Not Get Involved,” but here’s my titling dilemma. I don’t want to survive in my environment, I want to thrive in my environment and if I want to thrive I can not fully embrace church politics nor can I deny they exist and that puts me (us) in an awkward position.

The title “Play Church Politics” suggests it’s a game we play and that feels a little discomforting too. We may think church or office politics don’t exist. I think it may a bit naive to assume as much and you may think, “I don’t want to play, let alone try and win!” I hear you, I am with you, I agree with you.

However, if the game board is out and everyone is at the table ready to play, what do you do? How do you behave? Do you roll the dice when

5 Gates Every Leader Must Open

Each leader has a choice to make…
Go through or go around.

Good leaders may take the easier path and go around while great leaders take the more difficult path and go through. Over the last few months I have thought about the important gates leaders must open and walk through in order to be successful. As a result, here are the five gates every leader must open.

1. The NaviGATE
Leadership is often described using words like vision, future, goals and strategy. Each of these words would also describe the important gate every leader must open, The NaviGATE. A good leader can take people where they should go and should be however, a great leader will take people where they don’t want to go but should be. The difference between the good and great leader is

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3 Things You Must Understand Before Leading Change

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hange is like throwing a rock into a pool of water, it's going to make a significant splash and the ripple will be felt for quite a while. With that in mind let me ask if you have ever thought or said one of the following statements?

I just read a book and I have some great ideas!
I just attended conference and learned some new things!
I just listened to a podcast and I want to try something new!

I have both thought and said those things as well, but what comes next? I think "what’s next" is another great question to ask and it also lends itself to many other questions when it comes to change. Have you ever thought or asked one of the following questions once you knew you wanted to make a few changes?

How do I turn one of those statements into action?
How do I implement some of the things I learned about, read about or heard about?
How do I stop doing some things I have been doing for years? (toughest question for church leaders)
How will my team respond to the changes I want to make?
How will people perceive me if I implement something they don’t like?

Again, I have both thought and said those same questions, but again, what’s next? The answer is simple, “UNDERSTAND!” Before blindly jumping in to change we all need

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How To Change Something You Don't Like

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change question.jpg

Are you frustrated with the direction of a current plan or program? Do you have a healthy sense of discontent about the outcome of a current path or direction? If so, it may be time for change. If you are thinking about leading change in the near future you may want to consider the following actions to help you achieve your goal.

1. Cast Your VISION
Most people who set out to lead change understand this step. I just want us to think differently about it. If your goal is to have 100 people attend your next event why not change your thinking? To do this simply add a zero to the end of your number. Planning an even for 100 is much different than 1000 and it will cause you to at least rethink your vision and possibly expand it. Be bold!

2. Unite Your TEAM
You can’t lead change with one charismatic personality. Sure, a charismatic personality can spark a change but without any fuel nothing will be accomplished. A united team with like minded personalities is what it takes to really accomplish change. I can't begin to tell you what one short-sighted team member can do to the change process. The following story, an urban legend, tells us the perils of people going in the opposite directions.

On March 2, 1944, Train 8017 departed from Salerno, Italy.  A few hours after Train 8017 left Salerno, it brought death to more people than perhaps any other train wreck in history. Yet, it wasn't derailed, burned or damaged in any way.

Shortly after 1:00 AM, the heavy train with 600 passengers lumbered into the Italian tunnel called Calleria delle Armi.  Precisely what went wrong inside the tunnel no one knows for sure.  The one certain fact is that when the two locomotives pulling the train reached mid-tunnel, the drive wheels began to slip.  The wheels lost traction and the train stopped.

All else is speculation, for both engineers died at the controls. Carbon monoxide snuffed out the lives of nearly 500 passengers.

Ironically, when authorities began clearing the bodies, they found the leading locomotive unbraked with its controls set in reverse.  The second locomotive was unbraked with its throttle set full ahead.

Apparently, when the train stopped the two engineers had fatally different ideas of what to do.  They were pulling and pushing against each other.  Some have speculated that no lives would have been lost if the engineers had both been clear in the direction they were going.

3. Decide Your STRATEGY
You have cast a vision and you have a united team, now what? It’s time to get moving! Most visionaries stop at step two when real change takes place here, at step three. Strategy is the plan, the blue prints to the building. Strategy involves systems, structure and process. Do you have a plan beyond your vision? Here are five questions you can ask yourself to get thinking strategically.

What is my end result? (Outcome)
Who is helping me? (Team)
When will I start? (Time)
Where is the biggest challenge? (Risk)
Why am I doing this? (Reason)

How! The biggest question of all. I will address this in the next post as we talk about the 10 steps you need to take in order to lead change.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthurjohnpicton/4383221264/
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How To Accomplish Your Goals Part 2

Goals in three steps.png

In part one we looked at the What, Why and Where of Goals. Today we will take a look at the How.

How do we accomplish our goals? I believe It takes two components in order to see a goal through to a successful completion. The first is Power and the second is a Process.

The Power

The power (will power) to accomplish the goals you have set are critical. If you don’t “want” to accomplish your goals then the best plan will not work. As a believer we have the power of God at our disposal as well. Ephesians 3:20 GW says, “Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”

I can think of at least three traits that give us the power we need to accomplish any goal we have set.

1. Ownership
It’s your goal. You are responsible for the nurturing, care and completion of it. Don’t blame others if you are not being successful.

2. Faith
Set big goals. The bigger the goal the more faith you will need to accomplish it. Keep in mind that “without faith no one can please God.” Hebrews 11:6a CEV.

3. Determination
Determination carries the idea of single mindedness and resolve. It’s the willingness to complete the goal regardless of circumstances.

The Process

There are several ideas when it comes to setting and accomplishing smart goals. In fact, a quick Google search on “SMART Goals” will reveal hundreds of different thoughts, plans, ideas and acrostics on the topic. The bottom line is you need to have a process in order to turn your goal in to reality. Here are three steps to get you going.

Step One: Pick Your Category
Take a look back at How to Accomplish Your Goals Part 1 for a deeper look at categories but as a quick reminder you should identify the life categories you feel are important to you. Some of the areas include, personal, family, spiritual, career, friends and hobbies.

Step Two: Prepare Your Goal
Be specific and make sure your goal is attainable.

Be specific when you write your goal. Part of being specific is making sure it’s measurable and has a time frame attached to it. Also, make sure your goal is attainable. If your goal is to big you will get frustrated. If your goal is to small you will get complacent. Find a good balance and then break it down into bite sized chunks.

Step Three: Plan Your Steps
Steps are part of the process and we must plan our steps in order to achieve our goal. Each step we take will get us closer to accomplishment. Some goals may have two or three steps and others may have seven or eight.

Regardless of how many steps it will take for you to accomplish your goal it is important that you see them. When you see your goal and potential steps it gives you perspective. You can see where you started, where you are going and how far you have come.

Example of The Three Steps

You can download the following example along with a practice worksheet here.

Step One: Pick Your Category
Family

Step Two: Prepare Your Goal
To Live a Balanced Life With My Family This Year

Step Three: Plan Your Steps
1. Identify 3 other people struggling with work-life balance.
2. Ask them to be in an accountability group.
3. Meet with group weekly for three months.
4. Purchase and read one book on work life balance.
5. Create a family calendar with vacation times and family days.
6. Attend a conference or workshop on balanced living.
7. Schedule a one hour block time each week to stop and reflect.
8. Evaluate success with my family in six months.

What is the biggest goal you have set for yourself this year?

Photo Credit: shutterstock.com Image ID: 42547162 Copyright: Eugene Sergeev

 

How To Accomplish Your Goals Part 1

What Are Goals?
Start at the beginning I always say. For a quick review on writing, setting and accomplishing goals, I thought we could start with a few different definitions to get us goaling.

  • Webster says, “a goal is something that you are trying to do or achieve.”
  • Wordsmyth says, “a goal is a result or end that one desires and works for.”
  • Wikipedia says, “a goal is a desired result a person or system envisions, plans and commits to achieve.”

I like what Wikipedia says, especially the four key words near the end of the sentence. Envision, Plan, Commit, and Achieve. These are four great steps to starting and accomplishing any goal we set but more on that in part two. Let’s move on to our next question.

Why Should We Have Goals?

We should have goals because