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Myths

April 2, 2010 — Leave a comment

You did it today. So did I. At least once. Probably without realizing it, we made an assumption about someone’s job–how easy or hard or menial or vital that job was; how untrained or overworked or under-appreciated or uncaring the person at the tollbooth, behind the counter, at the other end of the phone conversation, or in the corner office–having never really experienced it for ourselves.

I know there are ‘myths’ about every career, position, ministry, and activity; there are stereotypes and misinformed assumptions about what life there is like. In the past few months, I’ve discovered some of my own misled assumptions and myths about church planting/church planters, and a few that other people have about those of us on this side of the church planting adventure. So, the next few posts will have the common thread of debunking “church planting myths.”

In church planting church, church planting, Leadership, Pittsburgh

Whatchamacallit…

March 31, 2010 — Leave a comment

courtesy of stock.xchng

As we have announced the name for the Pittsburgh Church Plant, The Bridge, reactions have been interesting to gauge. Most people a generation before mine are thrilled with the name. Most people in my own generation seem to like it, but don’t have a particularly deep affinity for it. People in the generation after mine could care less about the name and what to see something done before they develop any connection at all. That really doesn’t have much to do with anything, but I thought I’d throw it out there as food for thought.

Regardless, in my last post, told you I would share the highly scientific, market research-intensive, professional process we used for landing on a name. I’m not sure how ‘real’ church planters do it, but this was our process:

Talking.
Praying.
Talking.
Killing bad ideas.
Praying.
Discussing names with people.
Killing bad ideas that we thought were good ideas.
Starting over.
Praying.
Talking.
Dealing with pressure about the need for a name from different sources.
Praying and talking.
Sensing ‘this is it’ from the Holy Spirit, other people, and launch team members.
Announcing a name.
Getting an EIN and checking account.
Continuously sharing the name and why it’s significant.

In church, church planting church, church planting, Leadership, The Bridge

Retail Reflections: Training

October 29, 2009 — Leave a comment

<Image courtesy of DawnAllyn>

One of the things I very much appreciate about my current place of employment is the value they place on training. I’ve had jobs before where training consisted of being given a list of duties/responsibilities and being told to “go and do.” Where I’m working now, however, places such an emphasis on properly training their management staff that I spent the entirety of my first two weeks learning hands-on how to function in my new role. This season of training culminated in a daylong ‘evaluation’ of sorts wherein a training manager made sure I knew what I was supposed to know; it was made clear even then there will be other focused learning opportunities along the way.

Granted, I was hired because there was a sense of chemistry and I have a certain skill-set which appealed to the person responsible for finding a good fit for the open position. But certain skills and being something of a people-person only go so far… so before I was to be trusted with higher levels of responsibility, I had to be trained. All of this quality (and costly) training did more than just prepare me for job responsibilities—it demonstrated that I had value and granted accountability.

I feel valuable—this company invested hours and hours and hours of payroll in me knowing they wouldn’t see immediate return on that investment. People took the time from their other responsibilities to make sure I was equipped to succeed. In doing this, the company began forging a relationship from day one with a new employee, making it less likely in the high-turnover world of retail that I would leave before bringing any value to the team.

I’m also accountable—all of that training and being evaluated means I should know how to operate according to the standards of the company. The organization fulfilled its part by ensuring I was given the tools and understanding necessary to fulfill the functions of my job. That means I now need to fulfill those same functions according the standards and practices outlined during the training process. This way, I know when I’m doing well without anybody needing to tell me (although it’s still nice to hear)… and I know when I’m not doing so well. There’s no question about whether enduring the consequences of personal error is fair or not because I cannot claim ignorance or faulty education. This kind of training/accountability lays the framework for doing better and better work as well as bringing more and more value to the organization as our relationship continues.

Too often in organizations and ministry we are so excited that someone wants to serve we train them with the ‘go and do’ mentality, heaping task upon task which must be done upon them… rather than cultivating them to take on real responsibility.

What if we took more time to invest in our workers and volunteers—showing them value, ensuring the organizational culture and standards were being modeled and providing boundaries of accountability while helping to define a ‘win’ both for them and us. This type of approach is different depending on the organization and the person being trained but it means a greater likelihood of reproducing quality leadership and having confidence in those who serve. This kind of training is certainly costly and it is a little risky (what if the person we invest so much in leaves? takes what we taught and uses it somewhere else? is a jerk?)… but the potential reward far outshines the risk.

In church church, Leadership

Doing the right thing…

October 27, 2009 — Leave a comment

…isn’t always easy. There are times and circumstances that we face which when right and wrong are more like shades of gray than they are black and white. There are those moments when a choice presents itself when both (or all!) options seem more than ‘okay;’ times when we have to decide about jobs, health procedures, organizational strategy, whether to stay or go in any number of things, or the best course of action for a loved one and their future… and the details, options, and consequences are anything but simple.

In Joshua 9 & 10, there are principles demonstrated to the reader about how to handle those times when we don’t know what the ‘right thing to do’ is. The people of Israel are in the midst of a progressive military campaign as they work to conquer & claim land promised in generations past. They have faced and overcome many obstacles; individuals have risked their own lives and families for the sake of a greater cause; all the while God has shown he alone is the Leader, Provider, and Conqueror.

Word comes to these same people that an army unlike anything they had faced thus far had amassed… and is heading directly toward their position. Israel’s battle tacticians and warrior-leader, Joshua, begin planning strategy, knowing there are many battles which still lie ahead… and that if they can’t deal with the obstacle heading their way, all will be lost.

In this midst of this, a band of tired, road-weary, seemingly desperate travelers comes their way seeking a treaty of peace. And the Joshua, the Israelites, (and us, too!) learn some hard lessons in doing the right thing. Over the next few Joshua posts, we’ll discover what some of those lessons are.

In Joshua Encouragement, faith, history, Joshua, Leadership, Scripture

<image courtesy of vierdrie>

A little while ago, I shared my experience interviewing for a home improvement retailer. You can read that post here. During my recent journey of searching for and being given work, I experienced some interactions with the retail world that might be useful in informing different aspects of the Church world.

One of the other potential employers who needed ‘very open availability’ was only able to commit to five hours a week of work. Again, the pay rate wasn’t anything spectacular. But here’s how the interview process played out:

Brief, initial phone interview focused mostly on verifying information from the application and confirming ‘very open availability.
One-on-one interview with a potential supervisor. Questions covered everything from experience to hypothetical ‘what-if’s.”
One-on-one interview with the potential supervisor’s supervisor. More questions, but mostly casual interaction much more conversational in tone.
One-on-one conversation and clarification with the “HR Lady.”

Pretty involved for a part-time, low-paid position, wouldn’t you agree? Much of the questioning and conversation centered around two things: availability and chemistry.

In a retail world, availability is king. If you can’t actually be at work when people are going to be buying things, you’re not going to be much of an asset to the company. The question was, “are you actually willing to commit to being here and making this a priority?” Through experience as well as recognizing the ramping-up for the holiday shopping season, this potential employer knew they needed to clarify issues of availability. Not being able to show up when they most needed to show up meant not getting the job. Period.

Remember, we’re talking about a guaranteed *five hours* of work a week here… but needing wide-open availability all week long.

Chemistry was also important. Everything related to serving in this environment was about ‘teamwork.’ Each shift contributes to the success of the store as part of a team; preparations for the next day’s selling activities are completed as a team; training is administered to staff as a team. The concept of the ‘team’ is very, very important. Someone coming on who is focused too much on themselves will have a negative impact on the team; likewise, someone who can’t take personal responsibility will also negatively impact those around them and the store’s bottom line.

It was clear this working together aspect was incredibly important… and why, I believe, I interacted with so many people in the course of pursuing a job offer.

When it comes to finding people for our ministry teams, we would be wise to consider these aspects of the process as incredibly important, too. If a retailer spends so much time checking to see if commitment and chemistry are so important before investing a small hourly wage in their employee, maybe the Church should care for these things in pursuit of advancing the Kingdom of Christ.

What level of commitment are we expecting from our people? Now, I’m not saying we push people too hard or too far; and I’m not advocating the idea that every member should sacrifice everything outside of church for church (that’s not really ministry… but I’ll save that for some other post some other time). In my experience, people rise exactly to what we expect of them. Expect half-hearted participation and that’s what you’ll get. Expect deep commitment from those who serve out of love, and watch them rise to the occasion.

How much are we looking for chemistry and teamwork rather than ‘rising stars?’ I got the feeling this particular retailer had passed ‘qualified applicants’ by because they lacked the ability to work on a team. Maybe we could take a page from that play book and again realize that a ‘qualified‘ ministry team member does not always the right ministry team member make.

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