Five New Year's Resolutions for Leaders

1. Remember that people, not product or service is what matters. I’ve seen too many mission statements in large and small companies that talk about the importance of their customers and employees.  Posting it on the wall is a good idea; embracing it as a value is even better.

2. Find something to stop doing before you add any more tasks.  This is just as important in your private life as it is in your public life.   There are limits, don’t exceed them.

3. Continually add value to your customers and they will keep coming back. Most of us intuitively know that the cost of acquiring new customers is much greater than the cost of retaining them.  Add value and the ‘be-backs’ will be back!

4. Work on your communication skills.  Continuous improvement is the key to leaning how to communicate.  That includes not only the way we speak and share information but also the tools we use.   Keep email short, learn how to use social media properly, listen more and speak less.

5. Be thankful.  While there is typically something we can complain about, our problems are minuscule compared to the blessings that we have received.  Your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers will all respond positively to a thankful attitude.  It’s good for your health too!

These are just five resolutions and they may not be the right five for you, but they have worked for me.  I find that I need to continually renew the resolutions from the past years, as some are just too important to forget.   

If you need to lose weight, stop drinking, spend more time with your family, read the Bible more often or get out of debt, feel free to create that list as well. Then, make sure you don’t need to renew those resolutions in 2016.

Just Ask!

All of us know that in today’s work environment and particularly in our larger organizations we need to delegate authority and responsibility.   Learning how to delegate, how to train and create environments where people that are close to the situation and close to the customer are the ones that are making decisions are critical factors in individual as well as organizational success.

While it can be difficult to cede authority to someone else, true delegation of authority happens when that transfer has happened and the supervisor is no longer micromanaging but has set parameters.  These parameters are more than just the goals and objectives but are the cultural bumpers that describe now only the ‘what’ but also the ‘how’ of things are to be accomplished.  

Leaders forget that when authority is truly delegated the final authority is delegated as well.  As an example, imagine a subordinate has been told they have the authority to schedule employees in their department.  However, when the schedule is about to be posted, the employees manager reviews the schedule and makes 11th hour changes.   In this case, the authority was never delegated and the employee is likely frustrated thinking he had been given the authority when actually he was only given another task.

Delegation is not abdication, and the manager is still accountable for the success of the organization.  How does the manager then provide leadership and maintain influence in those areas that have been delegated?

The answer is actually quite simple: “Just ask”.

One of the lessons we teach our children is to not just take things but to ask.   Being polite, asking rather than taking and using the word please are learned behaviors that we don’t want to unlearn when we become organizational leaders and managers.

Learning how to manage by asking questions rather than giving orders can be a huge win for both the manager as well as the organization.   People feel empowered and enjoy their jobs when they feel supported and coached rather than watched and micromanaged.

Remember that managers delegate not only to reduce their workload but also to develop leaders and future managers.   Leaders that have the appropriate authority to match their responsibility thrive and grow which benefits both the individuals as well as the organization.  

Still Buying IBM?

I was a business manager in the 1990s, and at the time there was an axiom that said, “No one ever gets fired for buying IBM.”

IBM was “Big Blue,” and they had a commanding share of the market.  Their computers were well known and built to last; yet, at the same time, anything but cutting-edge.  The saying was true in that buying IBM was safe, predictable and boring.

I was one of those people who didn’t like doing or recommending things because they were safe.  

To me, it seemed like there were great opportunities for those that had taken risks.  I became one of those managers that was known as a risk-taker.  It served my employers well, but sometimes made my career felt a little shaky.  Nevertheless, risk-taking is not an option but a requirement.  Every business today started because someone took a chance; someone started something that was risky.

If innovation and risk-taking are necessary in all organizations, that certainly includes the church.  One of the reasons we have many local churches today that have 10,000 or more members is because church leaders were willing to take risks; they were willing to be innovative.

Creativity and a willingness to change and fail are qualities that we need in our local churches.   While these are traits we desire in our lead pastors, they’re just as important in all other roles – from youth minister to business administrator.

Creativity can be as simple as introducing a new song or event, and can be as challenging as selling all of the church’s existing buildings and relocating in the inner city.  “Buying IBM” was an easy way to not get fired back in the 1990’s.  However, some of those employees and companies eventually lost everything because their organizations were no longer growing; their products and services had become irrelevant; and their competitors had taken over their customers.

Reprinted with permission from Church Executive Magazine  March 2013

Healthy Conflict Resolution

Conflicts occur in some of our best-run organizations. Christians and Christian organizations experience conflict likely at the same rate as any other group or organization.   Resource allocations, communication deficiencies, economics, environmental stress, confusion over roles and responsibilities are just some of the likely reasons for conflict and each can damage an otherwise healthy organization.

While Christian organizations are not exempt from conflict, there certainly are more reasons to quickly resolve these conflicts amicably and hopefully positively in Christ-centered organizations.  Our mission, purpose and calling are more important and the work that we are called to is truly life giving.

I have found through experience that conflict is likely not entirely preventable.  Since it is not preventable, it is actually much healthier for us to understand it is natural and expected.   This is particularly true when the stakes are high and when people need to work together in order to accomplish the mission.

There are strategies that can be employed in order to resolve conflict however most approaches taught in seminars and by experts typically start after the conflict has escalated to antagonism and beyond disagreement to collision.    A better approach starts earlier in the process.  As conflict is expected, learning how to navigate through conflict in a respectful and positive way is a primary management tool if we are leaders in an organization.

Smile-Pause and Listen

I’ve read a number of books and articles that say, “Don’t react, respond” but they all miss the point.   Our initial reaction is critical in dealing with conflict.    By definition our reaction to confrontation is immediate and it tells much about our attitude towards our ability to be open-minded, humble, honest, selfless and kind.  

Here are a couple of hints on how to react to an initial conflict or complaint:  

1)   Smile – there is an old saying that if you are happy, be sure to tell your face.  Maintaining eye contact and smiling will encourage the person to finish their statement, complaint or report and realize that we are at a minimum open to their comments.  

2)   Pause – Abraham Lincoln likely paraphrased Proverbs 17:28 when he said, “it is better to be quiet and be thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”.    Pause, take a breath and allow the mind to be open to what needs to be communicated.

3)   Listen – Effective listening is a process that is an acquired skill.   Jesus said in Matthew 13 that people hear but don’t listen.  According to Jesus this is because people have hardened their hearts, closed their eyes and stopped up their ears.  Failure to listen is a horribly limiting management flaw.  Habit 5 of Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”  Effective communication starts with listening and listening is a good way to react in conflict.

4)   Pray – 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says simply, “pray continually”.   There are lots of opportunities to pray throughout the day.  When conflict arises there is actually no better time to our mind and heart to turn to prayer.  In just a few moments and without words being spoken there is an opportunity for Godly wisdom to guide and direct the conversation.

Respond With Kindness

The biggest advantage Christian leaders have in resolving conflict is in knowing that God is always bigger than the problem.   In addition, because all good things are from God and the wisdom that is needed to resolve any conflict is available to anyone that asks, our response should always be positive and constructive.

One of the most important things we can do in giving a response is to remember to be kind.  Kindness is how we express our love.   The words we use the can heal or destroy, they can demonstrate our interest in reconciliation or they can push any wedge of division down even further.

Here are some simple things to remember:

1)   Ask clarifying questions.  Active listening actually starts in the first step, in our reaction.  As we respond we need to find ways to use clarifying questions to help both parties understand what is being said.  It begins with a positive and engaged attitude and an interest in truly understanding.    It’s been said that active listening is being ‘other-directed’, a quality that is consistent with the Biblical encouragement of our character development.

2)   Use inclusive and positive comments and statements.  We can always be positive that there is a resolution even if at first the solution isn’t readily apparent.   Own the fact that somewhere there has been a break-down and even if we are a small part, we are still a part of the problem.

3)   Keep the door open to future dialogues.  Often time is needed to be able to research and identify the actual problem.   The true problem is often disguised and leaders need time to sort through the symptoms in order to get to the heart of the issue.

Review and Reflect in order to improve

Finally, resolving conflict is not about winning and losing but it is certainly about improving processes in order to improve the results.  It’s been said that our processes are perfectly designed to achieve the results they are producing.    We need to review the dialogs and conversations we have with our colleagues and partners to make sure we are making progress to resolving conflicts and improving processes.

When we reflect on the challenges and opportunities that we have, particularly when it comes to resolving conflict, we actually can start to vision the opportunities for the future.    The outcome of conflict should never be ‘business as usual’.   Conflict is actually an opportunity to learn and to grow and to change.  Good leaders manage conflict; great leaders see conflict as an opportunity for improvement.

Dream your dream

Dreams are interesting.  In the Bible, we see that God used dreams to forewarn, to provide instruction and correction and provide spiritual enlightenment.  Another definition of a dream is also to hope or to create a future and alternative vision for yourself.   When we sleep and dream, some but not all of these dreams are from God.   In the same way, when we are awake and something inside us is causing us to hope and dream, that something inside could be from God.

Why does God give us a dream? Perhaps, God will give us a dream in order to shape us and motivate us. Perhaps it to show us what could be, an alternate reality that God wants for us.

All of us have non-utilized potential.   Dreaming the dream, identifying the opportunities that are all around us harnesses this potential that has the

Every ministry, every new church, every new nonprofit that establishes itself, recruits resources in order to go and make a difference starts with a dream.

Every new school, every new educational opportunity, every new food program, every new clothing program, all new training program, every hospital, the new water wells in Africa, new drug rehabilitation programs all start with a dream.

All new Christian parenting programs, ministry to singles, every new student ministry program, recreational center, sports ministry and every outreach program to single parents all start with a dream.

Don’t give up on your dream.  Regardless of where you are serving, what stage of life, your economic situation or present place of residence, God can use the dream He has given you to build you up, to strengthen you and to change lives.

And these changed lives....don't be surprised when yours is the first to change!