Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the tag “Team leader”

14 Sep 2015
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Leadership Jazz – 2

Max DePree in his great leadership book, “Leadership Jazz” has some excellent thoughts regarding a leader’s promises.

“Though I’m still learning things about being a leader, I can tell you at least two requirements of such a position:  The need to give one’s witness as a leader—to make your promises to the people who allow you to lead; and the necessity of carrying out your promises.

“Followers can’t afford leaders who make casual promises.  Someone is likely to take them seriously.

“For no leader has the luxury of making a promise in a vacuum.

“A leader who backs away from her promises under duress irreparably damages the organization and plants the seeds of suspicion among her followers.

“The best leaders promise only what’s worth defending.

“It’s important to understand that leadership is a posture of indebtedness.  The process of leading is the process of fulfilling commitments made both to persons and to the organization.

“Knowing what not to do is fully as important as knowing what to do.

“Remember to think of followers as volunteers.  Remember, too, that the goals of the organization are best met when the goals of people in the organization are met at the same time.

“Here are several questions that leaders should expect to hear.  The answers to these questions, you see, are some of the promises leaders will make.

  • What may I expect from you?
  • Can I achieve my own goals by following you?
  • Will I reach my potential by working with you?
  • Can I entrust my future to you?
  • Have you bothered to prepare yourself for leadership?
  • Are you ready to be ruthlessly honest?
  • Do you have the self-confidence and trust to let me do my job?
  • What do you believe?”

If you are a verbal processor you can unintentionally make promises that you never intended.  As a leader your words carry extra weight and your thoughts expressed are assumed to be decisions.  You did not intend your words as final, just talking and thinking aloud, but others remember and will quote you in the future.  Beware of communicating what to you are just thoughts in a process but others hear as final decisions.

Are you a faithful leader?  Are you faithful to your word?  Can you be counted on to do what you say you will do?

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , ,
07 Sep 2015

Leadership Jazz

Max DePree has a second leadership classic titled, “Leadership Jazz.”  Here are some of his thoughts on the subject of faithfulness in the section, “Finding Your Voice.”

“Let me suggest five criteria as a way to start thinking about faithfulness.

  • Accountability for others, especially those on the edges of life and not yet experienced in the ways of the world, is one of the great directions leaders receive from the prophet Amos.  Amos tells us that leaders should encourage and sustain those on the bottom rung first and then turn to those on the top.
  • Integrity in all things precedes all else.
  • The servanthood of leadership needs to be felt, understood, believed, and practiced if we’re to be faithful.
  • There is a great misconception in organizations:  That a manager must be either in control or not in control.  The legitimate alternative is the practice of equity.
  • Leaders have to be vulnerable, have to offer others the opportunity to do their best.  Leaders become vulnerable by sharing with others the marvelous gift of being personally accountable.

“One becomes a leader, I believe, through doing the work of a leader.  It’s often difficult and painful and sometimes even unrewarding, and it’s work.”

Are you becoming a faithful leader?

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
03 Aug 2015

Leadership is an Art

Max DePree in his classic work titled, “Leadership is an Art” had the following thoughts regarding a basic definition of leadership.

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.  The last is to say thank you.  In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.  That sums up the progress of an artful leader.

“Leaders don’t inflict pain, they bear pain.

“The measure of leadership is not the quality of the head, but the tone of the body.  The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers.  Are the followers reaching their potential?

“Leaders are also responsible for future leadership.  They need to identify, develop, and nurture future leaders.

“Leaders owe people space, space in the sense of freedom.  Freedom in the sense of enabling our gifts to be exercised.  We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity.

“Another way to think about what leaders owe is to ask this question:  What is it, without which this institution would not be what it is?  Leaders are obligated to provide and maintain momentum.  Leadership comes with a lot of debts to the future.

“Leaders are responsible for effectiveness.  Much has been written about effectiveness—some of the best of it by Peter Drucker.  He has such a great ability to simplify concepts.  One of the things he tells us is that efficiency is doing the thing right, but effectiveness is doing the right thing.

“To be a leader means, especially, having the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those who permit leaders to lead.”

Leadership is an art to be developed over time.  It is attention to  development of ourselves, seeking to be the best leader we can be.  And the amazing thing is that the Lord allows us to ‘practice’ on His people.  This should serve as a good reminder that we are not that important in the total equation.

Posted in #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
26 Jan 2015

Simple or Simplistic?

General Colin Powell [Chairman (Ret.), Joint Chiefs of Staff] in his work, “A Leadership Primer” describes the following principle:

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.”

Complexity and its accompanying confusion are often challenges for good leadership. The more responsibility one has the greater the challenges one must address. These challenges are frequently very complex with multiple consequences both real and imagined. How does a leader lead with simplicity without becoming simplistic?

A leader must listen carefully to all sides of a complex issue, not jumping too quickly to conclusions or solutions and thinking through possible consequences. It is a must to withhold judgment on a matter, especially for the intuitive leader, until others on the team have weighed in with their thoughts or have had time to input their ideas. Bringing the team to a point of decision together is an art form to be developed. Know your team members and their respective styles and lead accordingly.

Practice speaking is short, concise sentences. Try to use fewer words. Think in terms of memorable sounds bites and share accordingly. Speak in terms of word pictures that can create mental images for others to clarify the complex and make it simpler and memorable.

Beware of becoming overly simplistic on an issue. The simple becomes simplistic when we leave out essential points or ignore key factors. Simple is good….simplistic is bad!

It addressing complexity seek to break the issue into more manageable parts. Address some of the easier parts first to create a sense of progress and momentum on the team so that you can have more confidence when dealing with the more difficult pieces. Work off of the 80/20 rule where 80% of a solution can be enough to move forward, rather than spending a lot of time and energy to hammer out the final 20%.

Are you communicating in a way that leads to simplicity or complexity and confusion? Ask your teammates for some feedback on your communication.

Posted in #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
15 Dec 2014

The New Testament ‘Overseer’ Leader

In First Timothy Paul lays out a very clear list of qualities for Timothy to use in appointing overseers for local leadership.  This list is both descriptive and prescriptive, depending upon our application of it, as we think about the qualifications for Kingdom leadership.

1 Timothy 3:1-7
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

The Role of Overseer

Overseer; Bishop – ‘episkope’  –  one who inspects, oversees with the aim to help

• note that one can set their heart on becoming a spiritual leader; godly ambition vs selfish ambition

• “task” = “office” – emphasis on the work of an overseer, not upon the position

• Acts 20:28 – Holy Spirit raises up overseers for His Church

• Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5 – elders were appointed

• 1 Peter 5:1-5 – elders functioned as shepherds

• 1 Timothy 5:17 – elders are rulers; functioned as preachers and teachers

Qualities of New Testament Overseers

1) Above reproach
– blameless
– not just clean, but clean enough that they won’t even be accused

2) Husband of one wife
– probably refers to not having more than one wife at a time; that is, not polygamous
– note that this assumes the overseers are men

3) Temperate
– not controlled or influenced by intoxicants
– this could relate to drug use of any kind (i.e. alcohol, other addictive drugs)

4) Self-controlled
– sober-minded, sensible, prudent
– not controlled or influenced by anything other than a sound mind  (2 Timothy 1:7)

5) Respectable
– having good behavior, modest, admired by others

6) Hospitable
– able to make guests feel comfortable and at home
– Isaiah 60:11 – a promise for hospitality

7) Able to teach
– a skilled teacher of the Word;ability to pass on truth in a simple, easy to understand manner (2 Timothy 2:15, 24)

8) Not given to drunkenness
– not addicted to wine or intoxicating drinks to the point of loss of self control

9) Not violent
– not pugnacious
– not a fighter – probably related to physical violence  (see #11)

10) Gentle
– patient with those who oppose
– kind in relation to dealings with others, able to build harmony (2 Timothy 2:25)

11) Not quarrelsome
– not divisive or contentious
– builder of harmony rather than divisions or factions (notice the relationship to # 9)

12) Not a lover of money
– not covetous or pursuing a life built around temporal values
– free from the love of money; content with their economic station in life (Hebrews 13:5)

13) Manages his own family well
– proactively leads with diligence; cares for and watches over
– “family” = wife, children and household

14) His children obey him with proper respect
– children are under control; not rebellious
– children are obedient with respect for the authority of their parent

15) Not a recent convert
– not a novice or someone who is immature in their faith and therefore easily deceived
– someone with enough maturity so that they are not pursuing the position or power (1 Timothy 5:22)

16) Has a good reputation with outsiders
– a good reputation with those not yet in the faith; well thought of by others
– a good witness by word and deed

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is and tagged , , , , , , , ,
08 Dec 2014

How the NFL Develops Leaders – A Case Study

The following is from a Sports Illustrated article written by Jim Trotter in October 6, 2009.

“I’m forever indebted to the Patriots for what they did for me and for what they’ve allowed my family to accomplish in terms of my professional career.” [Josh McDaniels]
It is a career that was aided greatly by New England coach Bill Belichick, who gave McDaniels his first NFL job in 2001. While climbing from personnel assistant to coaching assistant to quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator, McDaniels, now 33, absorbed many of the Belichick’s teachings and adopted many of his football principles. You can see it in how the Broncos run practice, evaluate personnel, write scouting reports, and attack opponents on offense and defense with situational football. They’re all so … so … New England-like.

Still, perhaps the most important lessons McDaniels learned came in February 2008, two weeks after the Patriots’ quest for an undefeated season ended with a 17-14 loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLIII. When the coaches returned from a two-week break, Belichick called McDaniels into his office and handed him a five-page, typed report on what it takes to be an effective coach and have a winning organization.

“I had been talking to Bill for a few years about being a head coach, and after I didn’t do any interviews during the bye week in the ’07 playoffs he said, ‘I will help you in any way I can to get you ready for all the other things that go into the job,'” McDaniels said. “Just being around him every day was going to help me from a football standpoint because I could see what he did and how he did it. But he was saying he would help me with some of the things that you won’t really get a chance to witness or understand or become knowledgeable about until you’re in that position.

“I remember when we first came back after our break, that very first day, that very first morning, he brought me into his office and he gave me five pages, typed, of all the topics and things that he felt like I needed to be educated about to become an effective head coach. I’m thinking to myself, here he’s got 10 or 12 days where he can do whatever in the hell he wants to do — we’ve just come off a season where we were 16-0 and lost in the Super Bowl — and the very first day back he gives me this? That was kind of like my bible.”

During the 2008 season, the men met for an hour here, 30 minutes there, until they had addressed every point in the report. From there McDaniels developed 60 to 65 questions of his own that he carried into job interviews with Cleveland and Denver earlier this year.

“When you say where did the questions come from, it was Bill’s background,” McDaniels said. “He had been a head coach in Cleveland and New England, he was a coordinator in a number of different places, and he understands the salary cap, free agency, the draft, contracts, all that stuff. He gave me as much of that information as I could possibly ask for — and then he gave me a whole bunch of information that I never would have asked for. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”

McDaniels had his opportunity to lead the Denver Broncos after this article was written.  He struggled to apply what he had learned and is now once again back with Belichick as the offensive coordinator.  It will be interesting to follow what happens next.

Posted in #4 REPRODUCE - Developing More Leaders and tagged , , , , , , ,
24 Nov 2014

What a Leader Does – DO

We continue to reflect upon a good way to organize our understanding of the complex subject of leadership.  Using the simple outline of Know – Be- Do – Reproduce we can categorize the important functions of this vast subject called leadership.  Today we will address the category of “Do – What a Leader Does.”

1. Leading and your family

Offices in the home can create unusual stresses

  • Regarding your spouse when your both are at home – respect each others ‘turf’ when working at home
  • Put in a good day’s work; discipline yourself to focus and stay on task
  • Set ‘office hours’ when working at home and actually do your work during these times as planned

Love your kids and help them love God and God’s work

  • Involve your children in prayer for people in the ministry
  • Have people in your home as guests and ask your guests to tell stories to your kids about their walk and experiences with God
  • Give your kids responsibilities at ministry activities, when appropriate – it can be as simple as greeting people at the door or serving refreshments
  • Build a positive identity and a sense of ‘being special’ because they are children of a staff who is serving in this ministry
  • Avoid building a child-centered home – see Mark 10:29-30; Luke 18:29-30

2. Leading meetings

Learn to lead a better meeting!

  • Meetings are a part of organizational leadership, so learn to lead good ones!
  • A nice outline for setting meeting agendas is to remember that good meetings have 3 parts – ‘business,’ development, relationships
  • Leading your team in development does not mean you have to be the development expert – just bring some intentionality to this function and lead your team in seeing that all are being developed

Have fun together with your team!

  • Don’t be so serious all the time!
  • If you are not creative at having fun, ask as team member to lead the team in this area with your oversight

Set realistic agendas and schedule with a margin when you lay out the meeting plans

Help others accomplish their work by including them in your meeting plans, but remember that it is your meeting, not their meeting

Be sensitive to time zone changes for those who travel, need for  regular breaks, free time, recreation needs, individual sleep patterns (individual rooms for those who snore?), and personal dietary needs

3. Increase your leadership capacity

Work with an administrative assistant

  • A good assistant will greatly increase you capacity to lead
  • Personal chemistry is very important in your ability to work together with your admin assistant
  • Know what you need and want in an assistant before selecting the person
  • Do you want someone to keep you organized, or are you by design well-organized and you want someone to implement your ideas and plans?
  • Be sure your assistant knows your calendar and schedule so that they can assist others who may need to contact you
  • Keep an on-going Action List with both short-term and long-term action items to be focused on and scheduled when appropriate
  • Review your calendar and Action List weekly with your assistant and update it as needed

4. Additional ‘How To’ Leadership Ideas

  • Seek to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry” from your daily life and schedule
  • Prepare to transition your leadership well – be intentional in the transition and plan ahead; don’t wait to be forced to transition your leadership in a crisis
  • Operate with “Planned Neglect” – you can’t do it all now; so decide what will have to wait in order for you to give your attention and effort the most important things now
Posted in #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
20 Oct 2014

Good Leaders Assess!

A year ago (12 Aug 2013) in this blog I discussed in principle the concept of assessment for Kingdom leaders.  This week we will address that same subject of assessment, but with much more detail.

Assessment is a Kingdom Value

a. God Will Assess

Mat. 25:14-30 – the master of those servants returned and settled accounts
Lk. 19:11-27 – the master called each servant to see what they had gained
1 Cor. 3:10-15 – the fire will test the quality of each man’s work
Heb. 13:17 – your leaders…men who must give an account
Jam. 3:1 – we who teach will be judged more strictly

b. Spiritual Leaders Must Assess

1 Kgs. 3:9-12 – give your servant a discerning heart to govern the people
1 Cor. 5:12 – Are you not to judge those inside [the church]?
Heb. 13:17 – your leaders…they keep watch over you
Paul’s letters to Timothy were based upon assessment of Timothy’s needs

 

What Three Things Do Kingdom Leaders Assess?

a.  The Staff and Co-laborers
• Personal walk with God – basics; Are they continuing to pursue Christ wholeheartedly?
• Family – talk with the spouse; spend time with their children
• Christlike character;  Are there obvious flaws / trends that need to be addressed?
• Spend time with them in their mission responsibility; Ask God for discernment and ability to see root issues.
• Funding;  Are they raising sufficient funds to meet their family needs at this season of life?

b.  The Ministry / Mission
We want to assess using the same calling, vision, and strategy that we have agreed to as our purpose, outcomes, and direction.

• Preparation Phase
a. Seeking God
b. Determining and clarifying their mission focus
c. Choosing an identity for the context
d. Determining resources needed to accomplish the launch and move to sustainability

• Launch Phase
a. Evangelism and relating to the lost
b. Establishing young Christians
c. Broad-base methods and networking
d. Recruiting, not just inviting
e. Creating your identity

• Building Phase
a. Equipping laborers for the harvest
b. Selection of those who demonstrate heart and commitment to the calling and vision
c. Teams and teamwork – building teams towards a common vision

Essential Building Blocks
a. One-to-one
b. Small groups
c. Large groups
d. Training in vision and skills for producing spiritual generations
e. Leading

Leadership Skills
• Communication Skills – public and interpersonal
• Organizational Skills

c. The Key People
• Personal walk with God – basics; Are they continuing to pursue Christ wholeheartedly?
• Do they have a vision for spiritual generations of laborers?
• Do they have a heart for and are they personally laboring?

 

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
13 Oct 2014

Decisions of Wise Leaders

Kingdom leaders are called on to make wise decisions that honor Christ and accomplish God-given mission.  It seems that when we are just beginning our leadership careers the decisions we make are often choices between good and bad; right or wrong; black or white.  But the longer we serve and the more influence and responsibility we have the more challenging the choices.  Now it is a choice between good, better, and best; right or right for this situation and context; or it can seem as if all decisions are all different shades of gray.

The following are some decision-making principles that can help when having to make a ‘tough call’ —

• Spiritual leaders are called upon to make wise decisions. Wisdom comes from God. We can have it, if we ask for it!      James 1:5-8

• Wisdom in decision-making is insight into the true nature of things and discernment as to which option to take.      James 3:13, 17

• Decision making styles: vary; there is no right or wrong style for the context can determine which style is best to use at which time:  autocratic; participatory (consultative or consensus); or democratic

• Steps to Making Wise Decisions

1. Pray for Godly wisdom.      James 1:5
2. Believe that God will lead you.      James 1:6
3. Go to the Word for direction.      Ps. 119:105, 130
4. Think! Use your mind!      Prov. 14:8; 1 Pet. 1:13
5. Seek counsel from other leaders.      Prov. 15:22
6. Wait for God to clarify the options.
7. Decide!
8. Be responsible for your decisions.

• Obstacles to Making Wise Decisions

1. Fear of failure      Ecc. 11:4; Prov. 24:16
2. Haste      Prov. 19:2
3. Bad motives      James 3:13-16
4. Lack of emotional control      Prov. 29:11, 22

• All (I’m excluding involuntary reflexes) decisions have to go through our:  emotions, intellect, and will

• Time verifies good decisions and exposes the fallacy of poor decisions.      Luke 7:35

• Delegating helps insure that the team leader is making decisions concerning the most important issues.      Genesis 18:17-26

So what decisions are you making today?  Have you taken the time to reflect upon some of your previous decisions to determine what ones were wise and what ones not?  Is there a tough decision that you’ve been putting off?  It’s time to decide!

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
06 Oct 2014

Rewards for Service

The Bible has a lot to say about rewards for faithful and good service.  While salvation is a free gift, Jesus does take note of our service and will reward us for it.  It does appear that rewards can be lost as well due to unfaithfulness.  Again we note that rewards can be lost, not salvation.

The following is a Bible study on the subject of rewards.  Reflect on the passages and seek to find application for your leadership regarding recognizing and rewarding those you are leading.

REWARDS FOR SERVICE

1. Salvation vs. Rewards

Salvation a free gift, not worked for; results in eternal life and forgiveness of sins; through faith – Eph. 2:8-9
available to all – Jn. 3:16
never can be lost – Jn. 10:27-30

Rewards awards given for service to God; distributed in heaven; available only to Christians; can be lost

 

2. Rewards

Matthew 16:27  –  For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

• based upon the work we have done

1 Cor. 3:8  –  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

• based upon our labor (planting and watering)

1 Cor. 3:14  –  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

• based upon the quality of our work

2 Cor. 5:9-10  –  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

• based upon living a life pleasing to God

Col. 3:23-24  –  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

• is an inheritance from the Lord based upon working with a whole heart

Hebrews 11:6  –  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

• based upon seeking God earnestly

Rev. 11:18  –
The nations were angry;
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your saints and those who reverence your name,
both small and great–
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

• given to the Lord’s servants and prophets

Rev. 22:12  –  “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.

• based upon what we have done

 

3. Examples of Work That Will be Rewarded

Matthew 6:1-6  –  for acts of righteousness done with pure motives: giving to the needy and secret prayer

Matthew 6:16-18  –  for righteous acts with pure motives: fasting

Matthew 10:41-42  –  given for showing kindness and hospitality

Luke 6:35  –  for loving your enemies; being kind to the ungrateful and wicked

1 Cor. 3:8  –  for evangelizing (planting) and discipling (watering)

 

4. Rewards Can Be Lost

1 Cor. 3:10-15  –  lost because of poor quality of service

2 John 1:8  –  lost because we are deceived by false teachers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ

Rev. 3:11  –  lost for not enduring during a time of trial

 

Is there someone you are leading who needs some recognition or reward for a job well done?

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

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