Christian Leadership Training: Seven New Rules To Live By
Robert Moment
August 14, 2008
It´s inevitable that when leading your ministry, leadership demands a powerful role to play in it. Because the purpose of ministry is to foster the life and vision God desires to Build His Kingdom to win souls and save souls, the right leadership style then becomes imperative to facilitate God´s plan, purpose and will. It can be said without argument that leadership is one of the most important components to building God´s Kingdom.
So, here are seven leadership rules to live by as you lead your ministry effectively in the 21st Century:
1. Adaptability
As a Church Leader, adaptability means reacting efficaciously to shifting circumstances in your community and environment. Everybody experiences adaptive challenges, but leaders are keen to resolve these issues with a carefully thought-out plan of action. If there is one trait that a Church Leader needs most in today´s environment, it is adaptability.
If adaptability is not your strongest asset, then hone your skills by:
Learning to accept difference.
Preparing backup plans of action for problems you anticipate to happen.
Keeping an open mind and committing yourself to learning constantly, learning fast, and reacting accordingly.
Adopting an approach of flexibility when faced with any adaptability issues.
Also, build your ministry for adaptability and you´ll find dealing with adaptability a more pleasant and fulfilling experience.
2. People Skills
Experts classify people skills as a term to indicate four sets of skills:
The ability to observe people in your ministry. This gives you the insight needed to take the appropriate action required for the right result.
The ability to communicate effectively. Contrary to popular belief, it is not easy to get ideas across to a group of people when attempting to make the right decision or reach a solution. A leader should be able to communicate effectively to be productive.
The ability to inspire and motivate gives you the leadership edge to get the best out of those who work for you.
And as previously mentioned, adaptability.
Developing better people skills, specifically in the four areas highlighted above, helps you attain your ministry objectives much faster by working more productively with today´s very knowledgeable X and Y generation. It is about genuinely connecting with your members , non-believers and earning the people´s trust.
3. Self Awareness
Church Leaders who are aware of how they´re perceived by others or how they impact the behavior of others are more likely to succeed as leaders than those who aren´t self aware. Most of us are guilty of believing we are better than we really are because of intent, living our lives assuming others can read our minds and intentions.
On the contrary, others can only judge us based on our behaviors which can often lead to misunderstandings and miscommunication. So as Church Leaders, practice self awareness to establish a more positive working relationship with your members and staff by identifying first your personal strengths and weaknesses.
4. Decisiveness
Decisiveness is an exercise in good judgment, affording well-informed, fast and sound decisions when needed from a leader and it is not to be confused with inflexibility. It´s often conspicuous, which sometimes makes it difficult for Church Leaders to enforce their leadership for fear of being liable for a conspicuous, albeit incorrect, decision. But by being indecisive, although being inconspicuous, chances of facing more tragic consequences are higher.
Decisiveness is an important rule in leadership and the decisions you make as a Church Leader will have a direct impact on how you´re accepted as a leader. Deciding by going with your gut feeling or intuition wouldn´t hurt either.
5. Purposefulness
Every ministry needs a vision to set its direction and every Church Leader envisages attaining their ministry vision. The Bible clearly states the importance of having a vision, but having a vision in the 21st Century may not be enough for a Church Leader.
What may be more advantageous today is the ability to own a strong sense of purpose and the ability to convey this purposefulness to your members and non-believers along with your vision. Purposefulness can be more powerful than a vision because it shares the ambition of growing your ministry with your members and your team. A purpose and a vision is a powerful component in ministry leadership.
6. Collaborative Skills
Technology has forced our hands on this and Church Leaders have no choice but to adopt the skill of collaboration. Today´s fast pace society requires you to develop a culture of collaboration within your ministry and reach more people where they are in life and how they communicate, both internally and externally. The Internet makes this extremely easy to do at a very low cost.
Collaboration is a method that can quickly add to ministry growth if you´re able to develop a system where everyone can play their part in contributing ideas or increasing ministry membership.
7. Innovate And Execute
Another advantage of inculcating a culture of collaboration is the constant exchange of innovative ideas within your church. This means you are not forced to come up with ideas by yourself, but your members can work in teams to constantly push the boundaries and put forth new ideas for church growth.
Nothing happens without action and without execution of a vision. If you´d lived by the 7 rules of leadership, you would have developed an execution strategy. With an execution strategy, not only would you be able to see progress being made daily, but your staff would be more than capable of handling their tasks without the need of supervision.
It is this clarity of an execution strategy that binds everything together and propels your ministry in the direction you had envisaged it to follow.
Robert Moment is a marketing coach and author . Robert´s soon to be released book is titled, "God Will Always Be There for You". Robert specializes in teaching churches how to "Tune In" for growth and coaching small business owners how to do business God´s way for profitable results. Visit http://www.Christianpreneurship.org and sign-up for the Free 5 day e-course titled, "Small Business Marketing Plan: A Blueprint for Attracting More Clients."
So, here are seven leadership rules to live by as you lead your ministry effectively in the 21st Century:
1. Adaptability
As a Church Leader, adaptability means reacting efficaciously to shifting circumstances in your community and environment. Everybody experiences adaptive challenges, but leaders are keen to resolve these issues with a carefully thought-out plan of action. If there is one trait that a Church Leader needs most in today´s environment, it is adaptability.
If adaptability is not your strongest asset, then hone your skills by:
Learning to accept difference.
Preparing backup plans of action for problems you anticipate to happen.
Keeping an open mind and committing yourself to learning constantly, learning fast, and reacting accordingly.
Adopting an approach of flexibility when faced with any adaptability issues.
Also, build your ministry for adaptability and you´ll find dealing with adaptability a more pleasant and fulfilling experience.
2. People Skills
Experts classify people skills as a term to indicate four sets of skills:
The ability to observe people in your ministry. This gives you the insight needed to take the appropriate action required for the right result.
The ability to communicate effectively. Contrary to popular belief, it is not easy to get ideas across to a group of people when attempting to make the right decision or reach a solution. A leader should be able to communicate effectively to be productive.
The ability to inspire and motivate gives you the leadership edge to get the best out of those who work for you.
And as previously mentioned, adaptability.
Developing better people skills, specifically in the four areas highlighted above, helps you attain your ministry objectives much faster by working more productively with today´s very knowledgeable X and Y generation. It is about genuinely connecting with your members , non-believers and earning the people´s trust.
3. Self Awareness
Church Leaders who are aware of how they´re perceived by others or how they impact the behavior of others are more likely to succeed as leaders than those who aren´t self aware. Most of us are guilty of believing we are better than we really are because of intent, living our lives assuming others can read our minds and intentions.
On the contrary, others can only judge us based on our behaviors which can often lead to misunderstandings and miscommunication. So as Church Leaders, practice self awareness to establish a more positive working relationship with your members and staff by identifying first your personal strengths and weaknesses.
4. Decisiveness
Decisiveness is an exercise in good judgment, affording well-informed, fast and sound decisions when needed from a leader and it is not to be confused with inflexibility. It´s often conspicuous, which sometimes makes it difficult for Church Leaders to enforce their leadership for fear of being liable for a conspicuous, albeit incorrect, decision. But by being indecisive, although being inconspicuous, chances of facing more tragic consequences are higher.
Decisiveness is an important rule in leadership and the decisions you make as a Church Leader will have a direct impact on how you´re accepted as a leader. Deciding by going with your gut feeling or intuition wouldn´t hurt either.
5. Purposefulness
Every ministry needs a vision to set its direction and every Church Leader envisages attaining their ministry vision. The Bible clearly states the importance of having a vision, but having a vision in the 21st Century may not be enough for a Church Leader.
What may be more advantageous today is the ability to own a strong sense of purpose and the ability to convey this purposefulness to your members and non-believers along with your vision. Purposefulness can be more powerful than a vision because it shares the ambition of growing your ministry with your members and your team. A purpose and a vision is a powerful component in ministry leadership.
6. Collaborative Skills
Technology has forced our hands on this and Church Leaders have no choice but to adopt the skill of collaboration. Today´s fast pace society requires you to develop a culture of collaboration within your ministry and reach more people where they are in life and how they communicate, both internally and externally. The Internet makes this extremely easy to do at a very low cost.
Collaboration is a method that can quickly add to ministry growth if you´re able to develop a system where everyone can play their part in contributing ideas or increasing ministry membership.
7. Innovate And Execute
Another advantage of inculcating a culture of collaboration is the constant exchange of innovative ideas within your church. This means you are not forced to come up with ideas by yourself, but your members can work in teams to constantly push the boundaries and put forth new ideas for church growth.
Nothing happens without action and without execution of a vision. If you´d lived by the 7 rules of leadership, you would have developed an execution strategy. With an execution strategy, not only would you be able to see progress being made daily, but your staff would be more than capable of handling their tasks without the need of supervision.
It is this clarity of an execution strategy that binds everything together and propels your ministry in the direction you had envisaged it to follow.
Robert Moment is a marketing coach and author . Robert´s soon to be released book is titled, "God Will Always Be There for You". Robert specializes in teaching churches how to "Tune In" for growth and coaching small business owners how to do business God´s way for profitable results. Visit http://www.Christianpreneurship.org and sign-up for the Free 5 day e-course titled, "Small Business Marketing Plan: A Blueprint for Attracting More Clients."