95% Rule -- Power Struggles
Dan made me think about Wood's comment -- 95% of problems in churches are power struggles. My experience would say this is true. Whether a minor little pout or a major subversive coup, the problem is that it stinks worse than a skunk and people scatter at the sight of struggle. Those who don't scatter often see power struggle as a sign of democracy in the church.
So as a little test (everybody should try this -- it would be an interesting conversation), I'm going to take the Missional Tools post and then comment in what I'm doing. This isn't to show you a model, this is to take an assessment.
1. what leaders pay attention to and control; that is, those things in the life of the community to which the leader gives special attention including having a 'yes' or 'no' role in whether an idea moves forward or not. This sends a signal to the rest of the community that "this is important."
I control the feel of Sunday morning. We don't do many "specials." We keep music pretty contemporary.
I control who is in leadership.
I currently control the spending, though I'm going to put much more authority into a team this next year.
2. how leaders react to critical incidents and crises; that is, do major incidents produce a paralyzing crisis, are they taken in stride, or are they avoided/ignored? this sends a signal to the rest of the community of what can be expected in future situations from their leader, and therefore community behaviour will change to accommodate to the leader.
I avoid/ignore way too much. When I do confront people about their remarks/actions, they often counter with "I didn't mean anything by it." Monthly, we have a leadership meeting and I plan to spend more time each month talking about how we communicate problems and solutions with each other without creating more conflict.
3. deliberate role modeling and coaching; that is, those activities or ministries in which the leader takes an active role in defining how they should be developed or conducted, and then provides means for coaching others to carry on. This sends a signal to the rest of the community about how ministry should be conducted and what leadership models are valued.
I'm trying to do more community outreach, helping the poor, helping Habitat for Humanity. I'm also trying to hang out with more non-Christians. I do have some relationships -- neighbors, my wife's co-workers.
4. criteria for allocation of rewards and status; that is, the leader sets the pattern (defines the categories) for how "successful" ministry should be rewarded and what roles the leaders of "successful" ministries might play in the wider community. This tells the community what "success" looks like to their leader.
This is mainly in how we recognize leaders at The Crossover. We do not elect leaders. We recognize people who are leading and who are in agreement about the vision. A leader is someone who is helping a group of people accomplish a specific task. Some want to be "rewarded" for time served, but we do not reward with leadership titles.
5. criteria for leadership selection and recruitment; that is, the leader established criteria for the kind of leaders they will work with as well as the the process for identifying and devleoping such leaders. (Schein 2004, 224-225)
See # 4.
How about you and your ministry? I'd like to see some people jump in on this.
posted by Brian at 1:19 PM
1 Comments:
#1. I control pretty-much everything. I control the feel of Sunday morning. The music. We hardly ever do a special or anything. I've tried to back away from this, because I don't think I should, but it just doesn't work.
I am also chairman of our five-person board, and it's the only committee we have. We don't hold elections or vote on anything other than consitution changes.
I control what is on the bulletin boards; what kinds of things we do and don't do as a church; etc.; etc.
I am probably too controlling though.
#2.I don't like to tolerate immature behavior -- meaning -- people who expect to get their way by complaining or pouting. I probably ignore it for too long, and too many innocent people get hurt. I wish I could be more gracious in how I handled it though.
On another note, we had a major leader die from cancer last year. He was my biggest encourager and also who did more than anyone else in the church. I had to be honest with people and tell them it was all I could do to get through the summer of 2004. We had some people try to gain control and they eventually left, but we are just now starting to get back on track.
#3. I too am trying to hang out more with non-Christians.
Also,I tried leading devotions in our council meetings for the first 1/2 hour, but have recently went to having each member alternate leading the devotions.
#4. We have no titles, really -- just council members/teachers/etc. I try to reward for things that fit with the vision of the church - rather than somebody having a birthday or getting a good report card (I hate when people bring up that crap - sorry, stuff). And I reward on the front end often... meaning, when people step forward to try something - even if they haven't done anything yet. Our new teachers are rewarded in the same way as our veteran teachers. It's not what we "earn", it's what we're willing to try.
#5. My only criteria for leaders has been "Do they love Jesus?" "Do they care about people?" I have had mixed results. We don't have a lot of natural leaders in my church. Something I always thought I would try if I ever hired staff was to play that Eminem song about hating his mother (can't think of the name of it), and if it broke their heart -- they were hired. I'll probably never hire staff; and it's probably a good thing.
Post a Comment
<< Home