Brian Dodridge

The Needed And Under-Developed Skills Of Ministers

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto®

I’ve gotten to learn from Jeff Young and be his friend, for more than a decade now. No matter where Jeff has served, he’s always made it a point to serve other churches and ministers. Many people can claim Jeff as a mentor – he purposely looks for opportunities to care for and develop those around him.

Jeff serves at Green Acres Baptist Church in Texas (at the time of this interview, he served at Prestonwood Baptist Church Plano, Texas.

I recently interviewed Jeff regarding what he’s found to be the core competencies of successful ministers. Specifically, I asked him which skills ministers should be developing, and what are the weaknesses he’s seen in those who serve in mega churches. (Jeff has served in multiple.)

My questions to Jeff are in bold, followed by his responses.

What are the skill sets you feel are must-haves for any minister coming into their first full-time position?

Obviously, there are matters of character that are critical for any minister, but from purely a “skill set” perspective, I believe (1) a bias toward action (both with relationship building, and current issues that need to be solved); and (2) teach-ability (a willingness to listen, read, understand… all are critical and will endear them to their supervisor, peers, and volunteers). If I can find a young minister who has a bias toward action (both relationally and in problem solving), who is eager to learn (absorbing information and changing as a result)… I’m all in!

What skills sets do you see that are most under-developed in ministers, and cause issues for them and the church?

(1) The ability to coach and develop volunteers in small group settings. Honestly it’s easier to have a large-group equipping session and disseminate the prepared vision, ideas, etc., than it is to discuss these same matters with a small group of leaders and get push-back or specific questions about implementation. (2) Lack of confrontation skills. – Everyone wants to be liked, and “after all, they are volunteers”. (3) Execution abilities. Developing strategies isn’t our issue… it’s the self-leadership that’s necessary to make those strategies soar, that holds many back.

For you and others you’ve developed, what have been the best places to get training in these important areas?

Honestly, I think it comes from experience and the people leading you. I realize that could be frustrating to a young leader, due to the fact that they might be serving under a weak leader and/or experience takes time… but I believe I’m right. Obviously there are books on building relationships or execution (I highly recommend Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan’s book, Execution), and other helpful topics. I believe reading and discussing what you read with a teammate is extremely beneficial to skill development.

As church sizes get bigger, what are the biggest shifts in mindset needed for ministers serving larger churches?

The old adage, “you give up to go up” applies here. (1) You have to focus on equipping and development of volunteers more, because you can’t be aware of everything that is occurring in every setting. While you may garner more oversight, you will also give up some control. (2) Your delegation skills will need to expand (because your time will be spread thin), and [you’ll need to learn how to] leverage meetings. Preparation for meetings is extremely important due to your time being spread thin, (i.e. learn to use meetings for hearing prepared updates vs. simply assigning tasks). While you must spend time thinking through who needs to have reports to share, this will save you multiple meetings, it allows the team to see the big picture, and provides accountability laterally all at the same time. (3) [Understand that] while you will know more people, you may not know as many “closely”, due to your influence being spread wider. (4) Finally, you will learn to allow others to attempt things that you never would in a smaller setting. Most likely, the church you are serving became larger because people took risks; they tried something new/different. That can be scary, expensive… and things can fail. But you have to learn to allow your team the freedom to “swing and miss”. It’s critically important.

What are the assumptions/attitudes made by ministers at larger churches that you feel hinder their effectiveness?

(1) “We can’t have close friends in the church.” I understand their concerns, and we must be very, very wise – but I disagree with the “absoluteness” of the concept. (2) “I can’t disciple a small group of men because some will feel left out.” That’s the worst reasoning I hear. After all, who is our example? Jesus left quite a few out! (3) “Email/texting is the best way to communicate.” Nothing beats a face-to-face meeting or a phone call – even if it’s a voicemail. (4) “I said it, so they need to do it.” While I understand this thought in its purest form, volunteers rarely respond well to this attitude and, honestly, neither do the ministers on our team. Think relationally versus powering up. Clearly there will be times when you need to say “because I say so”, but make those the exception versus the rule.

Jeff and his wife, Carol, live in Carrollton and have three children, Emily (married to Dave Kinney), Brett and Bryce. You can follow Jeff on Twitter via @JeffYoung7.

The Hardest Thing A Leader Says…The Last 2%

This is post two of four on church staff values. You can get context from my first post, here: Information Sharing.

“Your work is not meeting expectations and must improve for you to continue working here.”

“The way you are treating me and others on the staff is unacceptable.”

“When you come to meetings late and unprepared, it reflects poorly on you, your ministry, and me as a leader.”

“As I reviewed your receipts from the most recent conference you attended, I saw some expenditures that caused me concern, and I want to discuss them further with you.”

These are “last 2%” statements. Last 2% statements are the most important things we need to say in a conversation in order to make it effective – but often, they never get said.

We talk around them. We say the other 98% which hints at them. But when the meeting is over, we find we never said clearly that one thing we really needed the other person to hear. And when that happens, the behavior or issue in question will continue on.

If your staff can develop a last 2% culture, you can get to the crux of matters. But that means you have to do these things first…

…Say goodbye to passive-aggressive behavior.

…Say goodbye to ambiguity in conversations.

…Say goodbye to indirect supervision that doesn’t lead to change behavior.

Having a last 2% staff culture doesn’t give permission to constantly lower the boom on people. It doesn’t ignore what you know about their personality and how they receive information best. It just means that what you have to say is important, and they need to hear it clearly.

Here are some takeaways, about how to have a successful “last 2%” conversation.

The last 2% …

…Must be the clearest statement you make in the conversation.

Think through your statement(s). People are only going to remember a few phrases from these conversations (maybe less if it’s really stressful), so make sure you have a simple and clear message.

…Is seasoned with grace.

If the last 2% comes out of a healthy relationship, it shouldn’t rock anyone’s world. It may not be pleasant, but it’s not a relationship killer. Saying hard things can be done gracefully. Jesus and Paul did it often.

…Invites accountability, and requires a follow-up plan.

A good last 2% delivery lets them know the issue and also what needs to be done in response. Just as your 2% statement should be free of ambiguity, so should your plan of action and expectation. It should be followed with a timeline and a plan for follow-up accountability.

…Is a statement you’re committed to.

You don’t want to say the hard thing unless you’re convinced it’s the right thing to say. You only have so much relationship and leader capital, and you have to use it when it’s right. You also have to show commitment to delivery. Once you get into a conversation and they share an excuse, cry, or some other distraction occurs, it’s easy for them to walk out of the office without you ever saying the last 2%. Write it down and know that you have to get your last 2% across, no matter what.

Excellent leaders can deliver thoughtful last 2% statements as needed.

Excellent Christian leaders can deliver thoughtful, prayed about, grace-based last 2% statements as needed.

I’ve found that a last 2% culture allows church staffs to do effective Kingdom work, even more efficiently.

Note: The last 2% concept is not original with me. I believe I heard it first as Willow Creek conference. And I’ve also heard it referred to as the last “10%.”

Making Your Church Staff Better, With Information

A couple years into my role as Executive Pastor at my previous church, I saw a need to develop some staff values. These weren’t published for our church member’s consumption or developed for official use by our personnel team. These were merely created by and used for our staff, as a way of communicating practical expectations. Specifically, they provided a common language for ministry and accountability.

We settled on four values to focus on. As a staff we taught them, lived them, measured against them, and ultimately began to reflect them. They were:

1. Information sharing

2. Silo-free zone

3. Owning it

4. Saying the last 2%

Over the next couple weeks on this blog, I’ll unpack the practical takeaways for each of these four values.

Today, I’ll begin with Information Sharing.

The concept is simple – what information do I have and need to share with fellow staff that’ll make them better at their jobs? Determine what that information is, and then share it freely.

This sounds like something everyone would do, right? Not really.

Here’s the struggle. If you share too much information with others, they will be able to do things more effectively. Maybe more effectively than you. You might even find out you’re dispensable.

For example, if you share a church-member’s pastoral care need to a fellow staff member, they might respond quicker than you or your ministry area. If that happens, you may not get all the attention for your pastoral care response to them.

It sounds selfish, but it happens a lot.

Another scenario I’ve witnessed often:

You find out that a member has felt God’s call to begin serving, or perhaps to designate money to a ministry in need. Do you keep that information to yourself so you have first dibs on their time or their financial gift?

Or do you share the information with your staff, determine together what the greatest need is, and let the ministry with the biggest need follow up with the church member?

Information sharing means you have to:

Be mindful of others and how they might benefit from the information you have
Not care who gets the credit
Live out Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.”

When you ‘information share’ on your staff, it becomes a cultural norm – and ultimately, it’s reciprocated. When information sharing happens freely, your whole team improves. And when leadership improves, so does your church.

Practice this week. When you get information, ask yourself if anyone else could benefit from having this same information. And if so, provide it and see what happens.

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