Leadership Lessons from the Surgery…

I had knee surgery two weeks ago.  I’m progressing well, thanks to a good surgeon and good physical therapists. 

I’ve thought about my orthopedic surgeon and what he taught me about time management.  Prior to my surgery, I was given a list of instructions and what I needed to take care of prior to surgery.  During my pre-surgery visit, the surgeon sat down and explained what the surgery would entail, what recovery would like, and answered my questions.  He was giving information that only he could give.

The day of my surgery, I met with the usual round of nurses, anesthesiologists, and aides.  Then my surgeon came in, spoke words of encouragement, marked which knee would be replaced, and prayed with me (a very kind gesture).  Then I was wheeled into the operating room.  One man was mopping the floor, which I was glad to see!  Nothing discourages you like the bone fragments from the last surgery.  The nurse was getting me up on the operating table, the anesthesiologist was giving me my spinal block, and then… I don’t remember a thing until I woke up in the recovery room.  I was glad the spinal tap worked!

The recovery room nurse’s job was to tell me to move my toes.  It’s a weird feeling to have toes, to see them, and not be able to move them.  Eventually I was able to wiggle them and get up to my room.

So what Leadership Lessons did I learn?  First, good leaders prepare people for what they will face.  No one likes surprises.  People are more likely to trust a leader who tells them what’s ahead.  Even more, good leaders assure people they have been through this before.  I could tell this was not the first rodeo for my team.

What if it is your first rodeo?  That’s when you “rent” an expert.  When our church decided to relocate, I was 38 years old and had never been through anything like a complete relocation.  But a relocation consultant was recommended to me.  He had consulted with 30 churches about relocation.  He came in for a weekend, then stayed with us through the design and move in stages.  People trusted his experience and in time, came to trust me.

Second, a good leader has a good team.  While the surgeon was important, so was the transport guy, the shave guy (don’t ask), the guy mopping the operating room floor, and all the rest.  Imagine if the surgeon had to do all these things!  A good leader makes sure his team knows their role, trains them in their role, and then gives them room to do their jobs.  The surgeon was not checking behind the team; he trusted them to do their jobs and they honored his trust.

Finally, I admired my surgeon’s time management.  He was focused on doing what he did best.  What he did best was surgery (and I was glad).  It made me rethink my schedule.  What am I doing out of guilt?  What am I doing that someone else could do better?  Where can I add the most value to our church? 

Every leader needs a “stop doing” list.  You may not be able to stop doing everything at once, but you need to have goals of what to stop doing and a timeline to shoot for.

My main leadership lessons from my surgery?  A good leader prepares people for what is coming; a good leader develops and is part of a good team; and a good leader focuses on doing what only he or she can do!

Chemistry...

This morning’s New York Times featured an article about New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll.  For those of you not tuned into the NFL, Coach Daboll has taken the Giants from a team that finished last in wins and losses in the NFL for five straight years, to a berth in the playoffs this year.

The article focused the chemistry of the coaching staff and Daboll’s hiring method.  Most head coaches in the NFL hire people they have met on the coaching journey: friends, buddies, people who shared the vagabond life of a coach.  Daboll has focused on chemistry and competence.  Chemistry is how people mesh on the team.  Competency is “Can they do the job?”

Daboll involves his coaching staff in the hiring process.  They get a chance to interact with candidates.  Daboll askes them to vote; if the vote is a tie, he says, “Let’s think about this a little bit.”  Position coaches participate in the hiring of their bosses, the coordinators.  This approached created chemistry for the existing staff; their voice was heard, their opinion mattered. 

Daboll believes that strong chemistry among the coaches leads to strong chemistry among the players.  He said, “When you’re bringing people in, as a leader, you’re also looking at how everybody meshes.  Because just as important as players are to team chemistry, I’d say the coaches are as important and they have to set the culture and the chemistry.”

The leader is responsible for the chemistry of the team!

My neighbor recently complained about his church staff team.  “They are two good people who refuse to work together,” he said.  That’s a chemistry problem.

In church world, where hiring is often done by committee, the leader must be part of the process.  He or she must be courageous enough to speak up and say, “I do not feel a connection with this person.”  Otherwise, bad chemistry is headed your way.

Firing might be easier in the corporate world, but hours will be wasted in frustration and decision making.  A wise friend told me, “You are better off wanting someone you do not have, than having someone you do not want.”

How do you know if you have good chemistry with someone?  Personality tests can give language to the comfort and the discomfort you might feel in the interview.  Spend time with people.  Patrick Lencioni suggests spending time with people outside the normal interview environment (see The Ideal Team Player).   Involve your team in the interview process.  Respect their feedback.

Chemistry is an accelerator!  It helps your team win!

When is the Hill Worth Dying On?

We’ve all heard the question:  Is this a hill worth dying on?

During a recent conversation with a young man I’m mentoring, he asked me, “How do know what hill is worth dying on?”

Great question.  Simple answer: There are fewer hills worth dying on than you think.

More complicated answer:  there is a two part answer.

The first part:  what hill should you not die on?  Quick guidelines:

·        Don’t die on hills of tactics.  When and where are rarely issues to sacrifice yourself on.

·        Don’t die on a hill of strategy.  There are always multiple paths to achieve goals.  Yes, your way may be faster and less expensive.  Maybe your organization needs to do it the hard way first to learn something.  It can be such a little thing to be right.

·        When you are feeling anxious or rushed.  Anxiety distorts reality.  Does the decision need to be made now or can it wait?  People in anxious states become defensive and want to battle because they want to relieve the tension instead of winning the battle.  Often they lose the battle and get more tension.

·        When the hill is irrelevant.  The island-hopping strategy of Admiral Chester Nimitz in World War II was to avoid Japanese strongholds and let them wither on their own.  Instead, he located strategic islands to advance his mission to threaten the Japanese homeland.  There are programs you did not need to battle.  You need to wait for natural deaths.

·        When time is your ally.  In every organization there will be visionaries, early adopters, middle adopters, late adopters, and resistors.  If every hill is a battle, you will alienate the late adopters first, and then the middle adopters.  If you can be patient, the early adopters will convince the middle and late adopters that it is okay to get on board.

The second part:  what hill should you die on?  Quick guidelines:

·        Die on the hill of your mission, once you have buy in.  It takes a church about three years to buy into an understanding of its unique reason for being.  Once that is known, fight for it.  Protect your mission from the leaches who want to add one more thing.  Encourage people who want to do other things to find other churches or organizations to do their thing. 

·        Die on the hill of your core beliefs.  With all due respect to Martin Luther, if you have 95 core beliefs, you have too many.  There should be a few core beliefs that serve as anchors for your organization.  Fight for these.  For example, our church has four core values:  People matter to God, Church is a place of grace, people need to be like Jesus, and everyone has a purpose.  Are there other beliefs that are important?  Sure.  But these four are what we die for.

·        Die on the hill of organizational health.  It shames me that business leaders often feel more protective of their businesses than pastors do of their churches.  As a pastor, I answer to Jesus about the health of my flock.  When unhealth exists, it must be addressed and treated.  Cancers need to be understood and treated.  Some cancers can be eliminated.  For example, if your church has the cancer of poor communication, that can be treated over time.  Fight for that health.  Some cancers must be killed.  For example, if your core leadership says, “We just need to take care of the people we have, not go after new people,” then that cancer needs to be killed by teaching it to death.  Some cancers are incurable.  Jesus himself told us what to do: “If a town will not receive you, shake the dust of that town off your sandals and move on.”  If you are in a church or organization that is toxic, shake the dust off your shoes and leave.  As you leave, someone needs to know the truth about the cancer:  a key lay leader, the body of elders, or the body of deacons.

The Wisdom Challenge:  When the hill is disguised.

Early American pioneers headed west would see the Rocky Mountains rising on the horizon.  They would think they would reach the mountains the next day.  The hills from a distance looked like the mountains back east.  Weeks of travel later, they realized the these where not like the mountains they knew at all; these were mountains like they had never seen before.

The leader must be wise enough to know when the issue isn’t the issue.  An attack may come on a strategy, but it represents a deeper attack on mission and values.  Most “worship wars” present as strategy arguments, but are in fact attacks on mission and values.

Before dying on these hills, fight for clarity.  What is the conflict really about?  I once consulted with a church that had a major conflict between a deacon and the Music Director.  Toward the conclusion of the three-hour meeting, it became clear that the real conflict had to do with an incident that occurred years earlier.  The deacon had extended financial help to the Music Director and did not feel properly appreciated.  This hurt was harbored for years until a strategic decision at church became a flash point.  Once we clarified what the conflict was about, the two parties reached an understanding and reconciled.  A battle over a hill was avoid, because that hill was never the real issue.

Clay’s rules of thumb: 

·        If you are in moderately healthy church, you should face no more than two hills on which to die each year.

·        If you are in a dysfunctional church, you will face a battle to the death that will result in someone leaving.  Decide in advance if it will be you or them.  Don’t fight the battle until you are sure you know the outcome God desires.

·        If you are new in a position in a church, try to put off battles to the death for at least two to three years. 

·        If you are constantly fighting on hills worth dying for, you have a major spiritual issue you need to address.  You probably need the spiritual fruit of patience.  You may be expressing anger stored inside you in an unhealthy way.  Find a mentor, see a counselor, but don’t take it out on your church.

If I Pastored a Country Church

I’m a product of a good, strong country church.  When I was in high school, I noted I was related to every deacon, one way or another (I was related twice to some).  I love my home church.

Country churches (and small town churches, too) are different.  Donna Chisum once reminded me, “The smaller the community, the greater the need for community.” 

So what would I do if I pastored a country church?

If I pastored a country church, I’d remember relationships matter more in the country.  Cousins are closer in the country.  Relationships can be tangled, and not easily discarded.  If a friend lets you down, there may not be a deep pool of replacements to choose from.  You may put up with a difficult boss because he is your wife’s second cousin and good jobs are hard to find.  I’d also remember relationships last a long time in the country.  The relational economy moves slower and memories are long.  In one of the country churches I served, I did not know that one of my stalwart deacons and key leaders in the church had been married and divorced.  Everyone else knew but me.  Once I discovered this fact, the dynamics of many deacon’s meetings became sense.

If I pastored a country church, I would visit a lot.   Kennon Callahan wisely advised, “For every hour you spend preparing to preach, spend an hour visiting.”  Visitation is not dead, it’s just relocated.  There’s a place in most rural communities where the men gather for breakfast.  If I pastored in the country, I’d eat breakfast there three times a week and touch a dozen people.  I would visit house to house at least two afternoons a week.  It is still possible to do door to door visitation in small towns and in the country.  I’d tell people if they ever need a pastor, call me.  I’d invite them to church.

If I pastored a country church, I would make sure my sermons had stories.  I’m not saying content needs to be watered down.  Country folks are not dumb.  But most country folks I know love a good story.  I’d make sure my stories related to their world.  When I pastored in rural Kentucky, my stories about growing orange trees didn’t connect very well.  But my stories about dealing with cows did;  almost everyone had twenty acres and five cows.  When I moved into Louisville to pastor, neither my cow or orange stories worked very well.

If I pastored a country church, I’d find out who makes the decisions.  In every church there a couple of people who really make the decisions.  They may or may not be on a committee.  But if one of these folks think it’s a good idea to paint the church, the church will get painted.   Young pastors particularly bristle at the idea of needing the permission of lay leaders to get things done.  I know I did.  But the reality is these key leaders have seen pastors come and go and they consider themselves as protectors of the church.  They may not approve of everything you do, but if they are on your side, whatever it is you think God is calling the church to do will get easier.

If I pastored a country church, I’d show up.  I know, you can’t be everywhere.  But I’d show up at every high school football game (or basketball game, depending on what part of the country you’re in).  I’d serve in a booth at the county fair.  I’d go to the local hospital to visit at least four days a week.  If something was going on at church, I’d stick my head to say “Hi!”  I might not stay the whole time, but I’d show up. My sister-in-law serves on a key committee at her church.  She recently told me the pastor didn’t come to the meetings.  What the pastor was communicating, intentionally or unintentionally, was “I don’t care what you do.”  Bad message to send. 

Finally, if I pastored a country church, I’d spend time on the job.  Most country folks work a job and then have their side job.  They may work in town (old timers in Kentucky called it ‘public’ work), but as soon they come home, they are on a tractor, or fixing a car in the barn, or welding something for a neighbor.  They appreciate a pastor who gets up early and puts in time on the job.

I thought I would be country pastor like my grandfather and uncles.  God had other plans.  But if I had the chance, I’d try these things!