Barnabas File

On Saturday, I attended a Celebration of Life for friend and former colleague, Stan Braley. During the service, a person who had served on staff with Stan at a church he pastored told of the positive relationship they had as co-workers and the wonderful way their families got along. This was a good word. Healthy relationships among co-workers, especially in a church staff where one is the supervisor of the other, are a blessing.  This happens only when both persons are committed and willing to make the relationship worked.  It was clear that Stan and his fellow minister were willing to do this. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to be in such situations.  When you like the persons with whom you work, you are more productive, supportive, and creative.  How does this happen? First, you have to trust one another. The leader is the one who must model this behavior.  He or she must be trustworthy, a person of in...

Many ministers falter or burn out because they do not attend to their personal spiritual health. The justification for failing to invest in one’s spiritual life is often, “I am just too busy.”  The same is true for the church staff. They are so busy doing good things that they may not spend time encouraging each other as disciples and facilitating each other’s spiritual growth. Sam Rainer dealt with this in a recent article on “4 ‘Must-Haves’ for Weekly Staff Meetings.”  Here are some of the things he suggested and some additional ideas. First, prayer is essential. Many churches collect prayer requests during weekend worship, then the staff prays about them during the weekly staff meetings.  The staff should also pray for each other, other needs of congregational members, and the challenges of the ministry. Second, sharing of scripture keeps everyone on track.  The pastor might share the scripture for the coming weekend’s service...

Like death and taxes, staff meetings seem unavoidable.     With the best of intentions, a leader calls people together with the intention that they be informed, share important information with one another, and leave better equipped to do their jobs.    Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.   Here are some guidelines about effective staff meetings (or meetings of any kind for that matter) that might be helpful. First, is this meeting really necessary?  Does it require the presence of this specific group of people for a designated period of time?  If the answer is “No,” don’t bother to meet.  If “Yes,"  then proceed to the next questions. Second, what is the meeting’s purpose?  The best way to define this is to create in advance a written agenda for those who will be expected to attend.  Provide them with the opportunity to adjust the agenda either prior to the meeting or at the beginni...

Several years ago, I was coaching a lead pastor who had served two other large congregations in associate roles.     He recounted that in one church, his only personal conversation with the pastor was when they did an annual performance review.     In the other situation, the pastor did not even do his performance review and sometimes he did not even speak when they passed in the hall way!  The pastor I was coaching wanted to invest himself in developing his church staff and was seeking guidance as he did do. I conducted a staff development day in another church last week at the invitation of the lead pastor. We spent the morning in a community-building workshop using the Peoplemap Personality Inventory.  In the afternoon, I had individual sessions with each staff member to discuss the inventory results, their current work, and their roles in an upcoming staff realignment.  It was a good time for fellowship, learning, and explorat...

Several years ago, I facilitated a one-day church staff retreat.  Both ministerial and administrative staff were involved.  One administrative assistant stayed to help pack up at the end of the day.  As we talked, she said, “You know this was really good.  We never have staff meetings and this is the most time we have spent together as a staff.” I did not respond openly, but I was both thankful and surprised.  I was thankful that someone on the staff had taken the initiative to advocate for the retreat.  However, I was surprised that any staff team could function without having regular times for planning, encouragement, and development. When the team leader is not intentional about staff planning and development, it is unlikely to happen.  An effective team leader realizes that when his or her colleagues are functioning effectively and making the best use of their gifts and abilities, not only the team will prosper, but the organization as...

In a recent blog for the International Coach Federation, Diane Craig discussed leadership styles for aspiring leaders.   Some are suited for short-term situations where immediate impact is needed.   Others are best when there is time and space to provide leadership over the long term.   Most pastors find themselves in situations where long term strategies of leadership can be implemented.   Craig identifies those as Visionary, Participative, and Coaching. According to Craig, a visionary style “establishes standards and monitors performance in relation to the larger vision.”  This might be called an inspirational or aspirational style.  The participative leader “invites employees to participate in the development of decisions and actively seeks opportunities for consensus.” The goal here is to develop a smoothly functioning, cohesive team of people to accomplish something.  This often complements a visionary style. Participat...

You would think by now that we would have learned to play well together, but until we do, there will be place for books like the latest from Patrick Lencioni.   The Ideal Team Player follows Lencioni’s usual approach.   He tells a fable or story about the principles he wants to present and then provides additional information and applications of the model. This time he tells the story of Jeff Shanley who suddenly finds himself at the head of a large construction company founded by his uncle.  As he solidifies the leadership team already in place, attempts to deal with troublesome employees, and add new team members, he and his team learn what (according to Lencioni) makes the ideal team player. In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team , Patrick Lencioni laid out an approach for tackling the group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team p...