A little over 800 words … quick read now and dig deep after the last Christmas Eve Service!
T-minus 16 days until 2022. Seems hard to believe that another one is about to be in the books. One of my end-of-year rituals includes reviewing the past 12 months, celebrating the wins and noting the learning that came from the rough spots and beginning to make concrete some of my plans for the next year.
One of the most important parts of the process for me is taking a look under the hood … taking some time to not just look at the external results but also the interior. What do I need to be reminded of to continue to lead at my best? Are there patterns that need to be leveraged or changed? Is my focus on the right things? Am I good with God and my family?
If you’ve been reading Church Leader Insider long, you know that I am a fan of all kinds of business literature and organizations and one of my favorites is McKinsey. I came across an article a number of years back that has proven helpful for me in my end-of-year under the hood routine. The highlights follow and you can read the full article here.
Find Your Strengths
A surprising amount of our time and energy is focused on our shortcomings—the gap between 100 percent and what we achieved. What if you start with your strengths instead? What are the things that are unique to you? How are your passions aligned (or misaligned) with your day-to-day?
Practice the Pause
Take some time to … STOP. One of the best pieces of advice I heard during COVID was to “Do your best and then take a nap.” In a world addicted to activity, including the church, resist the urge to do the next thing and simply take the time to pause and be reminded of who and whose you are.
Speaking of pauses, the thoughts continue after this brief note about some ways that I would like to serve you and your team.
Consulting Solutions
There are seasons in every organization where a team must lean in and solve a pressing problem or maximize an opportunity. My process helps you uncover solutions for the season you’re in and execute these strategies with speed and effectiveness. I help you leverage change for positive impact.
One Day Assessment
The one day assessment takes you and your team through a focused and results oriented on-site session that drives to a diagnosis of what is and an exploration of what could be.
Comprehensive Consult
This multi-stage team oriented process will lead you and your team to strategic outcomes and measurable results.
Areas of focus include multisite movement, organization change strategy and leadership succession
LeadWell Cohorts
Through LeadWell Cohorts, leaders gain unique insights from peer learning environments. LeadWell Cohorts leverage the group setting for leaders in similar roles. The wisdom of well seasoned mentors and expert resources from multiple disciplines empower participants to tackle some of the most pressing issues and opportunities of our time. This collaborative community helps leaders bust through their leadership lids and create plans for accelerated results.
Why be involved in a peer cohort?
There is significant power in the gathering of true peers that results in organizational health and accelerated results. Participating in a LeadWell Cohort prevents you from leading in isolation and provides a diverse set of perspectives on some common leadership challenges and opportunities.
You have led through one of the most difficult seasons this world has ever faced in the midst of a global pandemic, seeking to discern what's next and what's the new normal? And though some things are becoming clear, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Community brings clarity.
Some of the best learning comes through interaction with leaders from other disciplines. You will have access to subject matter experts in areas as broad as business, science and the arts who will share successes from their context that lead to application in yours.
Not only do you have the support and insight of your peers, each group is served by mentors. These leaders see their role and calling as helping you to avoid some of the dumb tax they have already paid.
The next groups are forming now including senior pastors (under 40), second generation megachurch pastors and executive pastors. If you are interested in applying for a spot, email me at greg@ligongroup.com or select a time to talk that works for you here.
Forge Trust
We were not created to do life alone. Life in relationship requires trust. How are you doing on trust building with your team … family … friends?
I like the following test that is laid out in the McKinsey article. Score yourself to see what aspects of trust matter most to you. For each of the elements below, score yourself from 1 (I rarely do this) to 7 (I regularly do this):
Reliability. I don’t make commitments I can’t keep; I always clarify expectations and deliver on promises.
Congruence. My language and actions are aligned with my thinking and true feelings.
Acceptance. I withhold judgment or criticism; I separate the person from the performance.
Openness. I state my intentions and talk straight; I’m honest about my limitations and concerns.
Choose Your Questions Wisely
I always want to operate out of an abundance mentality as opposed to a scarcity mindset. Oftentimes a simple shift in how I ask questions (of myself and others) makes a world of difference.
Try this exercise from the article. Find a discussion partner and ask that person to discuss his or her most pressing work problem with you. However, at first use only these questions to guide the conversation:
What’s the problem?
What are the root causes?
Who is to blame?
What have you tried that hasn’t worked?
Why haven’t you been able to fix the problem yet?
In a few minutes, stop, thank your partner, and ask for a redo. Restart the discussion, using these questions instead:
What would you like to see (and make) happen?
Can you recall a time when the solution was present, at least in part? What made that possible?
What are the smallest steps you could take that would make the biggest difference?
What are you learning in this conversation so far?
This exercise works with conversations with yourself as well!
Make time to recover
We already talked about the need to take a break … practice the pause. But taking time to recover goes deeper. One of my favorite books is Your Life in Rhythm by my friend, Bruce Miller. His overall premise is that “a balanced life” is not possible in the traditional sense and actually not even biblical. Throughout the gospels you see Jesus engaged in intense ministry and at times taking time away … to recover, to be restored. Where do you need to recover .. physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually? Make time to recover.
I know that you have a 10 day hard run through Christmas. You are in my prayers. May God richly bless you and your church as you share the good news we celebrate in this season. But once the last songs are sung and candles are extinguished, I hope that you will take a few minutes to look under the hood as you prepare for 2022.
Email me your innovation experiments and stories at greg.ligon@generis.com.