Question 4 PART 2: What are some of the best ways you have found as a leader to invest in yourself and the leaders around you.

Investing in others is not just a vital part of having a successful ministry, it is vital to who God has called me (and most likely you too) to be as a person.  Just as in investing in self, investing in others must be intentional.  Of course, it does depend on the type of relationship that you have with the other person as to how you are going to invest in them but for the sake of this post I am going to stick with thinking about how to invest in ministry volunteers.

• PRAY FOR THEM! First and foremost we need to ask God to work in their life.
• Passionatly communicate the vision. Set them in the right direction.
• Lavishly resource them. Please don’t make volunteers go in search of resources that they need for ministry. Let them use their energy in ministry, not on your lack of prep.
• Do life with them.  What better way to learn who they are and what they need than doing real life stuff together?
• Build in family time.  If neccessary use their regularly scheduled service time to send them on a date!
• Write them notes! NOT EMAIL!
• Make sure they are hearing the stories of life change, they need to know what God is doing through them. Don’t assume that they know this.

Of course this is not exhaustive and there are many, many other ways to invest in people, these are just some ideas from me   Check out Full Of It for some great ideas!
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Question 4: What are some of the best ways you have found as a leader to invest in yourself and the leaders around you.

Wow, this could certainly be two different questions. So I will answer it in two different parts

So how do I invest in myself?  Well, I have to have a plan, otherwise it will not get done.

Here are some of the things that I intentionally plan into my life in addition to my personal times with God:

•  Weekly date with Sarah (it’s not just for her!)
• Always have a book with me so I can use the time I spend waiting for meetings, appointments…
• Monthly meeting with mentor
• Semi-annual spiritual retreat
• Semi-annual goal setting/goal review retreat
• Never violate  my day off.

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Question Series: Wise Leadership Decisions

Question 2: The Decision of Hiring

Hiring the right person at the right time can be a catalyst to increased impact and growth in an organization. Hiring the wrong person at the wrong time can lead to severe set backs, team disunity, and decline. The decision to hire someone that fits is crucial.

Question 2: When hiring someone to join your staff, what are some criteria that you follow? Do you have an outline? Do you go by gut feeling? Do you rely on relationships?

My Answer:

My disclaimer: I do not directly hire people at my church, so read on if you wish

Phil is right, staffing is critical to the health of the church or any organization for that matter. There was a time when churches searched far and wide for people with the right educational background to lead their congregation. I do believe that process was a good one, for a certain time and place. Today’s world, with information at our finger tips is a little different though. We have a great advantage, education and training is abundant! The danger is that there are now so many people out there with the right education. So, what are some core values on hiring staff in an information rich culture?

Here are a few thoughts:

First Test:

• They must be faithful to their relationship with God & the church community.
• They must have proven theselves available – ministry is a priority.
• They must be teachable – someone who knows it all has no place on a team.
• They must be responsible – this build trust among other staff & community.

Second Test:

• They MUST live the core values, mission, and vision of the church.

Third Test (optional):

• Ministry background/experience
• Education

I really believe that the in the hiring process if a person does not pass the first test, there is no need to even move on to see if they understand our church. Charachter is key! The second test is critical as well because God has called this church to a particular mission in a particular community and we need to have everyone aligned to keep moving in the right direction. The third test is helpful, but in this information age we can resource people and get them the training that they need if they are people of charachter with a passion for what God is doing through this church.

Once on the team there are a number of expectations that we have, but instead of me writing them all here I think Mark Batterson covered them all HERE.

There are a few people that have some good posts already out there on this stuff! Here is one:

• Paul Peterson

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Applying Wisdom to Life

Question Series: Wise Leadership Decisions

Question 1 – Leadership Culture

What is your leadership culture that you try to build in your organization? Do you have a hierarchical approach? Do you have a team approach? Is it a mixture of both or something entirely different? Why do you choose to develop this style of leadership?

This is a great question because we all have a “leadership culture” the question is if we have taken the time to evaluate what it is so we know the reality of our situation along with knowing if we are intentionally nurturing that culture.

Personally it was probably time that I reevaluate so this was perfect timing. The leadership culture of the youth ministry that I lead is a direct reflection of the leadership culture of my church. I would say that this culture has definite hints of a hierarchical approach with a major team emphasis. Confused? Well, it is really pretty simple. Like most churches we have a set of core values along with a vision statement, all decisions that are made are with those items in mind. We also, like most churches, have a number of ministry teams that are always doing new things. The goal is for leadership and decisions to be made at the lowest (hierarchical) level possible. If there is a question about an action or decision fitting with the goals and vision then the decision moves up to the team leader, or supervising staff member, or supervising pastor, or lead pastor.

I attempt to maintain this culture within the youth ministry as well, there may be many reasons out there for people to operate like this, one great reason is to avoid a bottle neck at one leader but I think the best reason is because it allows many people to be a part of the vision and helps them to develop as leaders. What if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I can’t let this ministry die because I wanted to whole thing to revolve around me!

For a highlight and summery of this question offered to great Christian leaders around the world and other valuable wisdom, visit SOPHOS.