Healthy Soul

Too many people consider soul work to be primarily interior and valuable only to the person doing the work. The most important reason to attend to our souls, however, is that spiritual health and vitality determines the quality of our contribution to our world. What good is a healthy soul hidden away on a mountaintop or “purified” to the point of divorce from reality? Spiritual wholeness is not an end in itself; it is a means to participate fully in a world that is spiritually hungry. A healthy soul cannot help but love.
-- Traci Mullins and Ann Spangler, Vitamins for your Soul

Some Thoughts for the Day

What if your work expressed your own highest values?
What would your relationships be like?
How would you be?
What message would you be expressing?

Urgency from Vision Not Guilt

Good leaders understand that the presentation of vision must always, always be accompanied with a presentation of urgency for that vision. Without the consistent presentation of urgency, people vote with their behavior for the status quo. A good leader makes the status quo so unacceptable that people are willing to embrace a new vision.

If one creates urgency from a prophetic perspective so that everyone feels guilty about all that could be happening but is not, there will be no change. Prophets create guilt, and guilt is designed to produce repentance, which is a type of change. But changes in congregations, which may start with repentance, must be led by leaders rather than prophets. Shame and blame do not produce change.’ [healthy change or positive growth]
--Paul D. Borden, Direct Hit

Pastor as Chaplain vs. Leader

While the pastor is sewing the seeds of vision, the pastor is fulfilling well those ministries and responsibilities that are designed to keep the congregation small and effective at meeting member needs. Failure to do so will cause the pastor to lose credibility and reduce any future leverage for change. The pastor still functions as a chaplain: visiting, caring, and counseling.

At this time the pastor is really living a double life, or at least performing two jobs: a chaplain and a leader. This is one major reason why change is so difficult and why most pastors decide, often unintentionally, not to pursue it. The job is just too demanding. It is much easier to go with the flow.
--Paul D. Borden, Direct Hit

Three necessary Teams for Change

All three of these teams are necessary. Many fail because they try to bring change on the strength of vision alone. - Ed

While the new pastor is communicating urgency and developing vision, he or she is also recruiting three key teams of people. Team One is a prayer team that will commit to pray regularly for changes that lead to health, growth, and reproduction.

Team Two is the vision or dream team. Certain people find new ideas and ways of thinking intriguing and are energized when put with others who think as they do. Also many declining congregations have some individuals who are dissatisfied with the status quo and make quite clear how they feel. Idea people and critics should be recruited for this team. The purpose of this team is to help the pastor develop arguments for urgency and create vision in order to address the urgency.

Team Three consists of leaders whom the pastor recruits and trains to help implement change. A pastor should not recruit these particular leaders or potential leaders for Teams One and Two. The pastor will need all the leaders that can possibly be recruited for Team Three.
--Paul D. Borden, Direct Hit

Communication Skills

Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can’t get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn’t even matter.
—Gilbert Amelio, President and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp.

Signs of Outstanding Leadership

The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving? Do they achieve the required results? Do they change with grace? Manage conflict?
--Max De Pree, Leadership is an Art