"Essential Things for Leaders" (Interview with Andy Stanley)

Here is a few thoughts from a interview with Andy Stanley. I would encourage all you leaders to go to www.catalystspace.com. One of the most important things in being a leaders is maintaining a learning posture. Leaders who become cynical and say "I have tried everything it doesn't work for me" or " That is their opinion" are short sighted and stuck in a non growing posture.
You may not be able to fly halfway across the country to learn leadership secrets but "Catalyst" has done it for you. Bishop Tony has said many times, "The only difference from five years from now and today, is the people you meet and the books you read".

Andy Stanley:

What is the most important thing for a young leader?

Courage to try new things.

* To ignore critics, be willing to try things that may have failed in the past or nobody has ever attempted.

* Surround yourself with people smarter than you, be willing to overcome insecurities, find the place where your fear is so big that it inflates your insecurity causing you to miss out on opportunities.

* Courage distinguishes between an average leader and a great leader. Leaders who are doing the same thing they they have always done will not grow.

* Look for the leaders in the organization that have the courage to initiate new things. They are not the smartest, brightest, but they are the ones who seize a opportunity (make things happen).

* If you don't initiate, somebody else will. The first one to seize the opportunity is the one who steps into greatness.

How do you maintain accountability in your organization?

I have established a three tier accountability structure which includes:

1. Elders
2. Staff
3. Stewardship team

* When making major decisions I go to all three, if they all agree then I know it is God. We then begin to explore the idea in greater detail.

* We never have all the information, sometimes we have to move out in faith on partial information (navigation).

How do you measure success?

Most organizations measure by things they can count. As people say if you can't measure it, you can't monitor it. Although this is true, we have found success by measuring through life changing stories.

* Rally around the idea of life change. You can't measure it but you know when you see it and if it is not there you can tell.

* We call this a win for us.

* For us it is stories of people crossing the line of faith.

What is the one thing you would say to a new pastor?

Your success is tied to your ability to find out what you are good at, and what you are not good at. Staff based on your weaknesses and build on your strengths.

* If your vision requires a gift that you don't have, staff that gift.

* The sooner you figure out where you excel and don't excel, the sooner you position yourself for success. Spend the majority of your time in your sweet spot. Operate out of your giftedness.

What is one thing you did in the early days that helped you succeed?

Before we started we made a organizational chart for a large organization.

* Fill in the spots with your present team (most will have several areas when start), as you grow you work yourself out of each spot as new people step in.

* This helps your volunteers and team to understand the scope of responsibility, that ministry is not easy and that people are needed. It also gives a sense of vision of something that is bigger than you.

How do you run your staff meetings?

* Meet every Monday to read through a book together and we dialogue about concepts in the book. For example one of our favorites is a book by Marcus Buckingham called "One Thing".

* Every other week, we deal with the nuts and bolts of the Church.

We have been doing this for ten years. We found out early that we couldn't afford to bring in people to train our staff but we could read their books and discuss them.

* Once a month all of our leadership gets together and half of the time is spent with me training them (leadership) and the other half we bring someone from the outside to train us.

* Three time a month we get together and discuss wins for us (stories) of success in our ministries. If it is not happening in you and your staff, it isn't happening in the rest of the organization. We then pray together.

Years ago a leader asked us "Is what is happening here worth exporting to other Churches? If it is not happening with us, it is not happening in our organization. Stories tell us if we are accomplishing our mission.

Blessings,
Craig