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King Of The Hill — Church Staff Mentality

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It’s not collaborative. It’s not efficient. And it’s not Christ-honoring.

It’s silo building – also referred to as empire building. And in my experience, it’s much too prevalent within churches. In fact, its genesis is typically a staff member.

Silo building (or empire building) has this kind of thinking associated with it:

I need to gather up all the available resources (budget dollars, the best volunteers, the coolest graphics for my ministry, the best rooms, technology, and platform time) so I can build my ministry empire. This will ensure my silo is not only separate from other silos, but others will pale in comparison to mine.

Now, although I’ve never heard a blatant statement like that from a staff member, I’ve seen evidence of that mentality.

We can say our staff is all on the same a team. We can say we want other ministries to succeed. But if we don’t information share and consider other’s interests before our own (Philippians 2), we’ll likely revert to building up our own silo.

A leader must exhibit the value of a silo-free zone to avoid this. Amongst your staff, it’s a value that has to be talked about and lived out.

When I was in elementary school, we played on a dirt hill on the corner of the playground. The game: king of the hill. The objective: do whatever you have to, in order to be standing alone on top of the hill. Lie, bite, tackle, manipulate, or punch… sounds fun, doesn’t it?

As leaders and ministers, we might have the talent and skills to be on top of the hill… to have the tallest silo. But I’m pretty sure God isn’t impressed. And in the process of building up our silo, we’ve metaphorically bitten, scratched, tackled, and punched fellow believers and ministers to get to where we are. For that reason, others will resent us. And the saddest part is, they’ll typically go elsewhere and build their own silo because you wouldn’t share the top of the hill with them. You’ve then perpetuated silo building, instead of building up God’s kingdom.

Here are a few characteristics of a silo-free thinker:

Asks the question “Who’s in most need to receive this on our staff team?” when they come across a new resource.
Talks about other ministries more than they do their own.
Finds ways to serve in other ministries, with no strings attached.
Finds ways to repurpose resources among teams and departments.

What silo-building tendencies do you or your ministries have?

How can you avoid the ‘king of the hill’ mentality?

Talk about it with your staff. Pray about it.

It’s not wrong to have a successful ministry (a tall silo). But if you look around and every other ministry has a short silo, it’s a problem. Build theirs up, or let them share yours.

Leadership and Art — A resource

Throughout my life, there’ve been many people who have positively influenced my work in the local church. My dad was the first (serving as pastor), and I’ve continued to be around great people all my life who have served as supervisors and mentors. The last two years I’ve been influenced by Jim Baker (@SacredStructures).

Jim was serving at Brentwood Baptist as Executive Pastor when I first became connected with them. The context of my first interaction with Jim was this discussion: the idea that I might come and serve alongside him at the church. In that first conversation, he began to teach me.

For almost two years, I’ve had a front-row seat to witness his excellent leadership. Selfishly, I’ve enjoyed being the primary focus of his development. But now I’m going to have to share him. Jim and his wife (Lisa) are beginning a new adventure, where they can enjoy some of retirement’s benefits while devoting more time to things they love… art, and the development of others.

Lisa will continue her ministry as a spiritual coach (The Sacred Within), and Jim has begun a ministry called ‘Sacred Structures’. (One element of Jim’s ministry is his art… and not just any art. Trust me – you should see what he can do with biblical metaphors.)

With the launch of ‘Sacred Structures’, Jim now will have the ability to influence even more churches through consulting. Like Jim himself, his website hosts a vast array of resources. If you serve a church and want to improve as a spiritual leader, I suggest at a minimum that you check out his website.

I’ve benefited greatly from Jim’s influence, and I hope he can have a similar influence on you.

Jim’s website: Sacred Structures, Organizational Tools and Resources for Minister and the Churches they serve.

Abdicating Responsibility Is Not A Leadership Luxury

If you’re a leader, at some point you’ve probably shared ownership of your team’s successes. But being a good leader sometimes requires you to own their mistakes, too.

It’s this idea of owning it. All of it. It’s personal responsibility, and it’s also a responsibility toward those you lead.

A staff that has the value of “owning it” doesn’t pass along criticism. It doesn’t point the finger or say “that’s not my responsibility”.

Owning It is part 3 of 4 on staff values. Click on the values Information Sharing **and Saying the Last 2% to read.**

Like most people, I don’t like dealing with any customer service person (restaurant server, home improvement guy, or the help center phone agent at your preferred cellular company) who says something like this when you’re trying to get help:

“Well, that’s actually not my area, it’s their area…”

They point the finger, assign blame, or do whatever it takes to push responsibility elsewhere. They abdicate responsibility.

Minsters aren’t traditionally considered customer service representatives, but many times we function in that role. And I’m pretty sure church-goers don’t like it when their ministers avoid responsibility.

It happened to me this past Sunday. I was walking through our church’s atrium at 8 a.m., and one of our volunteer greeters at the welcome desk waved me over. She said, “I know it’s not your area, but I don’t know who to tell… We’ve had ants at the welcome desk for a couple weeks. I told a facilities person about it, but the ants are still here.”

I had several options at that point. I could:

A. Tell her where I’m at on our org chart, and let her know I’m not the ant guy;

B. Feign an allergic reaction to ants;

C. Provide her the email address of the senior leader who oversees the hospitality team, and ask her to report it through the correct department;

D. Tell her to look for the facility guys with the blue shirt and radios, and ask them for help;

E. Say “I’m sorry it didn’t get taken care of”, and personally commit to getting it solved.

Most readers would answer D or E. But you’re wording in E is key. We have to take personal ownership, which means saying “I’m sorry” instead of “I’m sorry someone else didn’t help you.” The volunteer that approached me last Sunday didn’t care about my title or the details of my job description. All she knew was I’m paid to serve the church. She was right.

Now, I didn’t spend my entire day Monday scouring the church for ants. But in this case, I did email facilities about the issue, asked them to address it, and update me when it was complete. (Owning it includes follow-up, too.)

Leaders and staff who own it:

Don’t look for others to blame. (Another way to say it is, “Don’t throw others under the bus”.)
Do take responsibility for issues publicly, and then privately deal with the need and determine who can handle it best.
Don’t view themselves as above certain tasks – it’s an “everyone serves” mentality.”

The restaurants and stores I frequent faithfully are full of employees who own it.

I bet the same could be said for a lot of church attendees, too.