Greg Lee gave this talk at the recent ‘ReLaunch Australia’ conference, helping Pastors prepare their churches for re-launch as restrictions ease. To watch Greg’s presentation, click here. To find out more about the practical help on offer for Pastors from ReLaunch Australia through their “Learning Labs”, click here.
COVID’s been a long, hard road… and the hardest part’s still to come! COVID’s like a traffic jam on the freeway. We came careering into it—fast and fearful. But it’s a long, slow road out and we’re tired already.
But let me give you three things your team needs you to be as you lead them out.
1. Your Team Needs You to Be a Sheep With Them.
Long before any of us became shepherds, we were always Jesus’ sheep; and the most encouraging thing a team leader can be is be an open, authentic Christian.
Has it ever struck you how much we discover about Paul’s own Christian walk in his letters? Paul talks about his fears, his frustration, his poverty, his illness, his anger, his singleness. He is incredibly transparent in his letters. And I don’t think Paul was being calculating or strategic. It wasn’t a leadership strategy for Paul. I think he just didn’t see a great gap between his ministry and his own walk with Jesus.
Long before any of us became shepherds, we were always Jesus’ sheep; and the most encouraging thing a team leader can be is be an open, authentic Christian.
That’s still true. One of the most powerful things you can do is be open and authentic with your team. Take off your bullet- proof vest! Tell them you’re tired! Tell them about your prayer life … or lack of it. Tell them about your passion… or lack of it. Tell them about your fears and your insecurities about relaunching
And also your joys.
Tell them about your real trust in Jesus—that he will lead us out.
Be a sheep with them. It won’t decrease your ability to lead; it’ll increase it, because instinctively, your team knows you’re a sheep first and they want to see it.
One of the hardest times in my life was a three year period of depression between 2010 and 2012. I lost so much energy and confidence. But it made my ministry because in my weakness, I became approachable. And it gave others the opportunity to shine around me.
In God’s timing, as COVID-19 began I could feel myself struggling with depression again. And I have just had to press on. But my team knows I’m well short of my best. And they’ve shone even as I’ve been dim.
Your team needs you to be a sheep with them too.
2. They Need You to be a Shepherd for Them.
But the second thing they need is for you to be a shepherd for them. This might involve a shift in thought—especially if you’re leading a staff team.
Before they joined your team, they joined your church. You didn’t just employ them; you invited them into your flock, and they still need you need to shepherd them as well as deploy them. They need to know you love them. They need to know you pray for them. They need to know that you care more about their welfare than their performance.
A team will forgive all sort of vulnerabilities and weaknesses in a leader who loves them. I have seen that. Our senior team’s been together literally for decades: Dave’s been with us for 20 years; Jenny for 18 years; Sam for 15 years; Dave and Richard 12 years; Pete and Andrew 10 years.
And people ask, “Why? Why do these people stay at HBC?” (Because there are obviously other leaders with more gifts and capacity than me. And my team knows that).
But they also know I love them. They know that their welfare matters more to me than their performance.
How do you do it?
Well everyone’s different; we all have different personalities and situations. But let me give you two key thoughts.
1. Weekly habits matter:
(The phone calls, the meetups, the conversations).
2. Crises matter:
But the really key moments which show your true colours are when they’re sinking; when they’ve sinned; when their marriage is failing.
There’s a key moment in every ministry relationship when they need to know that they can come to you as their shepherd, not just their boss, and COVID’s a key moment like that. Our teams are tired. They’re not sure they’ve got what it takes to relaunch. But they’ll go with you if they know you love them … that you’re a shepherd for them.
3. They Need You to Walk Half a Step Ahead of Them.
Shepherds are people we follow. We follow them because we trust their character and plan. And so you do need to be half a step ahead of your team, calling them forward—especially when it comes to direction. As you relaunch church, you will need to build a reasonably clear picture (call it ‘vision’ if you want) of where you want to be in two years’ time.
I think the “now, where, how” language really helps: NOW, we’re in COVID19 … WHERE do we want to be in two years’ time?
As the leader, you need to bring clarity to that. Some of us will work it out alone. Some of us will workshop it with our team. But my instinct is that most teams don’t necessarily want to decide the “where”. They’re happy for the leader to inspire them with it.
But they DO want to know about it. They DO want to ask questions about it. They DO want to know where they fit. They DO want to know you really believe it. They want to know you’ll sacrifice for it (you’re gonna be here in two years’ time). And they’re also hoping you have some idea HOW to get there: that’s where they want to help; they want to be part of the how!
So sit down with a piece of paper. And write…
“Two Years’ Time”
Then dream and hone it. And then take the result to the team and sell it to them. Inspire them with where your church could be in two years’ time.
And once you’ve inspired them, you’ve got three jobs:
1. Stay Above the Detail.
You have to keep your head above the detail enough to drive towards the where. I sometimes use the image of flying in a helicopter above a parade. The team is down there driving their floats. They’re focussed on driving and they can really only see the float in front of them. You’re in the helicopter, pointing to the destination, helping them to drive straight. Stay above the detail.
2. Give Them Power
But to do that, you need to really give them decision making power. Team members frequently complain about leaders who lack vision and leaders who give responsibility but not decision-making power.
That’s why I love Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership model: S1-4: Decision-making power is the key moment in the relationship … when I hand it over to you.
So get used to not deciding everything. Get used to not knowing everything. Get used to small things not being how you’d do them. If your team’s going to reach where you want to be in 2 years’ time, you need to hand over decision making power in the how.
3. Oomph
But the third thing your team needs from you is the oomph.
For all their differences, one thing I’ve seen in common between Andrew Heard, Paul Harrington and Ray Galea is an indefinable oomph they bring to their team: a personal, determined input of energy; a focus; a singlemindeness.
It’s the personal expenditure of will- power from the leader: “We will not lose focus … We will not be distracted … I will throw myself into keeping us on track.”
This is something team members never understand about being the leader. But they all thrive on it.
