Wednesday, May 29, 2019

LESSON 15 – Do Not Interrupt!

Welcome to Lessons From the Church Boardroom—The Blog, a 40-week journey through the new book, Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Each Wednesday, we'll feature a guest blogger’s favorite snippet from the week's topic. Ryan Britt is our guest blogger this week for the first of three lessons in "Part 5: Boardroom Bloopers.”


LESSON 15 OF 40 – Do Not Interrupt!
Don’t assume board members know how to listen.

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: In order for a board to operate at its highest potential, its members need to practice diligent listening. If a board is full of people who are waiting on their turn to talk—instead of listening in order to understand—the board or team will quickly find its lid of effectiveness. For some, listening is a desire to cultivate—and for others it is a discipline to choose. But regardless of the ease in which you practice healthy listening, it is the critical ingredient to healthy relationships and interactions, especially on the board level. 

MY FAVORITE INSIGHTS from Lesson 15, pages 84-88:
Ruth Haley Barton: 
• “Do not formulate what you want to say while someone else is speaking.”
• “Don’t take for granted that people know how to listen. We live in a culture where people are much more skilled at trying to get their point across and arguing their position than they are at engaging in mutually influencing relationships.”

MY COLOR COMMENTARY:
On our team, we hold each other accountable and sharpen each other in the area of listening with this question, “Are you listening to hear or listening to respond?” 

I have to confess that I am guilty of preparing my response as someone else is speaking. I am, as this chapter outlines, a “driver” (one of the four social styles), so I process information fairly quickly and I come to convicted responses almost as quickly. I have learned over time—while serving on and leading different board-type environments—that you can lead with quick thinking, quick talking, and passionate communication. But one day you will find yourself frustrated in feelings of leadership isolation—and it is most likely because you have been more interested in getting your preferred opinions validated than you were in creating a relationship with your board.  

Listening to hear, in my opinion, is a kindness or gift that is supernaturally charged by the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. I have experienced times when leadership teams and boards are in all-day meetings and almost nothing gets accomplished because one or two people are talking over everyone else the whole time, regardless of the topic. (I’ve actually been that guy!) 

I have also had the opposite experience, where people are leaning in with spiritual ears, listening to discern what God might be stirring or where He might be leading the team. When this is happening, it is a beautiful exchange and the outcome is ALWAYS fruitful. 

Listening for me is a discipline I have learned—and am learning to choose—and in my life it requires pen and paper. Pen and paper help me capture key words or topics others are sharing and internalize them as we process toward our end goal. This small practice helps me ask better questions—which is the result of good listening! 

It also helps me focus by eliminating distractions. I can’t have my phone out or my laptop open because if I get out of focus for any real amount of time—I am dishonoring the people I am serving with. I am also communicating to myself that whatever other thing I have going on is more important than what the team has going on. 

If I prioritize self over team in just these simple ways, I almost certainly will be quick to speak and slow to listen. For me, it’s all connected.  

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY RYAN BRITT:


Ryan Britt is the Executive Ministries Pastor at The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Fla. He is married to Jennifer and has two beautiful daughters, Anna Kathryn and Abigail. Ryan has served at Eleven22 for five of the six years since the church launched. The Church of Eleven22 has grown to five campuses averaging 11,000 on the weekends. Prior to serving at Eleven22, Ryan served as the Director of Global Missions at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, GA.  

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Buy and read Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Pursuing God’s Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups.
• Take your board through the exercise in Lesson 15, “10 Guidelines for Entering Into and Maintaining a Listening Posture” (pages 86-87) and discuss your findings.
• Visit the ECFA Knowledge Center and read and share the short chapter, Lesson 15 – Do Not Interrupt!”






NEXT WEDNESDAY:
On June 5, 2019, watch for the commentary by Werner Jacobsen on Lesson 16, "The Bully in the Church Boardroom. God, the pastor, the board chair, and other board members must neutralize the board bully.”


ORDER THE BOOK TODAY!



BULK ORDERS: Click here.  For more resources and to download the book's Table of Contents, visit the book's webpage.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

LESSON 14 – Be Intentional About Your First 30 Minutes

Welcome to Lessons From the Church Boardroom—The Blog, a 40-week journey through the new book, Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Each Wednesday, we'll feature a guest blogger’s favorite snippet from the week's topic. Steve Stroope is our guest blogger this week for the fourth of four lessons in "Part 4: Epiphanies in the Boardroom.”



LESSON 14 OF 40 – Be Intentional About Your First 30 Minutes
Does your board meeting need a refresh—so you experience holy moments more frequently?

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: In Lesson 14, the authors note that what happens at the very beginning of our board meetings—signals to everyone the tone and tenor of the entire meeting. This is an important reminder that we must orchestrate the first 30 minutes to create the expectation that every board meeting can have eternal consequences.

MY FAVORITE INSIGHTS from Lesson 14, pages 77-81:
• The Dilbert cartoon about being late for meetings!
“How many holy moments can you recall from last year’s board meetings?”
• The insights from the book by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, The Power of Moments: “With examples from education, business, hospitality, and church sectors, they call leaders and teams to break out of the routine and defy ‘the forgettable flatness of everyday work and life by creating a few precious moments.’” 

MY COLOR COMMENTARY:
Perhaps you read the tongue-in-cheek research from The Babylon Bee that recently reported, “According to new findings by biblical scholars published Monday, the phrase ‘a day is like a thousand years,’ found in 2 Peter 3 and originally thought to refer to God’s patience in bringing judgment upon the earth, is actually better interpreted as a reference to the slow passage of time in church staff meetings.”

Our church board members might have similar thoughts about the slow pace of our board meetings! So when I read Lesson 14, I was reminded that the pace of church life is rapid—and very, very challenging. With eternity in view, we seek to be innovative, relevant, and even prophetic. Consequently—it seems—our tanks are almost on empty when it’s time for another board meeting. 

So in just five pages, I was refreshed with the idea of refreshing the first 30 minutes of our board meeting—creating the right environment from the get-go, rather than meandering into another mediocre meeting.

I especially appreciated the self-imposed “report card” concept for wrapping up every board meeting: “Create unhurried space at the end of your meeting for around-the-room ‘One Big Take-Away’ responses.” And this poke-in-the-ribs reminder: “How you launch will impact how you land.”

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY STEVE STROOPE:



Steve Stroope was called to Lake Pointe Church shortly after its founding in 1979 and today he serves as Lead Pastor to a congregation that has grown from 53 in attendance to more than 12,000 each week at Dallas metro campuses. In addition to leading Lake Pointe, Steve provides coaching to partnership churches throughout the world. Steve’s spiritual gifts are evangelism, leadership, and teaching and he has a passion for seeing the Gospel presented to unchurched people in a culturally relevant style without compromising its truth. Steve also believes that one of the keys to an effective church is keeping a balance between evangelism and discipleship.

A speaker and leadership coach, Steve is also the author of Tribal Church: Lead Small. Impact Big. His book challenges senior leaders to create a strategy for spiritual formation at home. Steve and his wife, Marsha, have two grown daughters and five grandchildren. 

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Read The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.
• Instead of a hastily prepared thought to launch your board meeting, be intentional about inviting a board member (or a staff member) to share a spiritual insight that will be relevant (not random) to the focus of the board meeting.
• Visit the ECFA Knowledge Center and read and share the short chapter, “Lesson 14 – Be Intentional About Your First 30 Minutes.”


NEXT WEDNESDAY:

On May 29, 2019, watch for the commentary by Ryan Britt on Lesson 15, "Do Not Interrupt! Don’t assume board members know how to listen.”

ORDER THE BOOK TODAY!

BULK ORDERS: Click here.  For more resources and to download the book's Table of Contents, visit the book's webpage.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

LESSON 13 – Caution! Understand the Governance Pendulum Principle

Welcome to Lessons From the Church Boardroom—The Blog, a 40-week journey through the new book, Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Each Wednesday, we'll feature a guest blogger’s favorite snippet from the week's topic. Phill Martin is our guest blogger this week for the third of four lessons in "Part 4: Epiphanies in the Boardroom.”


LESSON 13 OF 40 – Caution! Understand the Governance Pendulum Principle
You have limited time to act when the pendulum oscillates in a positive direction. 

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: In Lesson 13, the authors note that “opportunities for substantive change only occur when a board’s pendulum oscillates in a positive direction.”

MY FAVORITE INSIGHTS from Lesson 13, pages 71-76:
Change is not easy or automatic: 
• New board members may be the best source of discovering opportunities for change.
• A vision for governance improvement is a key to change.
• Large boards experience more difficulty implementing change. 

MY COLOR COMMENTARY:
One of the few clocks left in my life—that requires my weekly attention to remain operational—is an old grandfather clock my dad built from a kit. My young grandson finds fascination with its swinging pendulum and chains and weights. Teaching him the importance of honoring the position and movement of the pendulum is critical for him to understand how the clock works. A pendulum at rest, or out of balance, results in the clock stopping and time standing still. 

Board pendulums have positions as well. A board whose pendulum has landed in a resting position finds change or forward movement difficult. A board whose direction has become negative can result in a downward spiral for the organization. 

However, when a board’s pendulum moves to a positive position, change and forward movement are possible. Governance improvement can happen—when church boards thoughtfully seize the opportunity to act when those fleeting time periods occur!  

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY PHILL MARTIN:


Phill Martin is the CEO–Elect of The Church Network. He has been a member of the association for more than 30 years, having served twice on the board of directors before joining the staff. A native of Huntsville, Ala., Phill joined the staff of TCN in June 2000 as Director of Education. In March of 2006, he became the Deputy CEO of the association. In January of 2019, he was named CEO–Elect to become CEO in August 2019 at the retirement of current CEO Simeon May. Phill has completed 24 years of service in various ministry positions in local churches in Alabama, Georgia, and Texas.

A graduate of Samford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree, Phill received a Master of Arts in Religious Education from Southwestern Seminary and has done post-graduate work at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Administration at Rice University.   

He is a Certified Association Executive through the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). He holds the ACC certification with International Coach Federation. He has completed church consultant training with the Center for Congregational Health in Winston-Salem, N.C., and was ordained by Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Phill is a member of the International Coaching Federation and ASAE, and has served on the board of Dallas Fort Worth Association Executives.

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Assess the current position of your board’s pendulum.
• Identify the most important changes needed in governance.
• Be ready for action when the pendulum moves to a positive direction.
• Visit the ECFA Knowledge Center and read and share the short chapter, “Lesson 13 – Caution! Understand the Governance Pendulum Principle.”






NEXT WEDNESDAY:

On May 22, 2019, watch for the commentary by Steve Stroope on Lesson 14, "Be Intentional About Your First 30 Minutes. Does your board meeting need a refresh—so you experience holy moments more frequently?”

ORDER THE BOOK TODAY!

BULK ORDERS: Click here.  For more resources and to download the book's Table of Contents, visit the book's webpage.

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

LESSON 12 – Looking for Consensus but Finding Division

Welcome to Lessons From the Church Boardroom—The Blog, a 40-week journey through the new book, Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Each Wednesday, we'll feature a guest blogger’s favorite snippet from the week's topic. David Fletcher is our guest blogger this week for the second of four lessons in "Part 4: Epiphanies in the Boardroom.”


LESSON 12 OF 40 – Looking for Consensus but Finding Division
Finding consensus on challenging issues requires deft handling and a flexible approach by the board chair. 

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: In Lesson 12, there are several keys for reaching consensus on agenda items. This glorifies God by making God-honoring decisions in a peaceful, thoughtful, fair, and open manner. 

This process takes some work. To consistently achieve consensus, a focus on five “right” things is required: right purpose, right people, right board chair, right agenda, and right approach.

MY FAVORITE INSIGHTS from Lesson 12, pages 65-70:
From the storyline, I found this section that illustrates a wise approach: 
• “The board chair could have moved to a vote and the issue would have passed. But he discerned it would be wiser to table the motion until the next meeting. Over the next month, the board chair met with Roger several times to discuss Roger’s misgivings. By the time the board met again, Roger had reached a comfort level with the property acquisition and the issue passed unanimously. The results—the board moved to a stunning level of congeniality and even consensus, thanks to the grace-giving way the board chair handled this significant decision.” 

MY COLOR COMMENTARY:
Often a board feels a false sense of urgency to make a decision. We see this in the Bible. The Gibeonites pretended to be weary travelers from a faraway land. Joshua and the leaders of Israel were fooled because they rushed into a decision and “failed to ask the Lord’s advice” (Joshua 9:14).

Why rush? Why not pray a little more? Have that extra discussion with the one not ready to vote. Perhaps that person has good insight into the issue! Perhaps that person needs to work through his or her concerns.

I have been a part of over 800 board meetings. At one, the board wanted to bring on a new member, except that three people had reservations about the candidate. The chair wanted to vote. One person said, “When there is dissension in the room, and it’s about a new board member, we can’t vote. We must wait.” The chair listened and the board waited—and they came to a good decision at the next meeting.

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY DAVID FLETCHER:



David Fletcher was an executive pastor for 35 years and is the founder of XPastor.org, a global site for helping churches of all sizes with leadership and management issues.

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Focus your board on the right purpose, right people, right board chair, right agenda, and right approach.
• When needed, slow down and table an issue. Work between meetings to gain consensus on the issue, then vote on it at the next meeting.
• Visit the ECFA Knowledge Center and read and share the short chapter, “Lesson 12 – Looking for Consensus but Finding Division.”

VIEW THE VIDEO FOR THIS LESSON:








NEXT WEDNESDAY:

On May 15, 2019, watch for the commentary by Phill Martin on Lesson 13, "Caution! Understand the Governance Pendulum Principle. You have limited time to act when the pendulum oscillates in a positive direction.”

ORDER THE BOOK TODAY!


BULK ORDERS: Click here.  For more resources and to download the book's Table of Contents, visit the book's webpage.

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

LESSON 11 – Tap! Tap! Tap!

Welcome to Lessons From the Church Boardroom—The Blog, a 40-week journey through the new book, Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Each Wednesday, we'll feature a guest blogger’s favorite snippet from the week's topic. Peter F. Clements is our guest blogger this week for the first of four lessons in "Part 4: Epiphanies in the Boardroom.”

LESSON 11 OF 40 – Tap! Tap! Tap!
Does the Spirit hear a busy signal when nudging your board?

THE BIG IDEA FROM THE BOOK: In Lesson 11, the authors emphasize the importance of allowing space in your board meetings for members to be aware of and responsive to God’s gentle promptings while still efficiently completing the agenda. Failure to do so may result in missing prime opportunities for God’s power to be revealed in our meetings as members pray and discern together.

MY FAVORITE INSIGHTS from Lesson 11, pages 60-64:
The authors suggest a few ways that your board can avoid missing that important nudge from the Holy Spirit:
Develop a discipline of stillness: Scripture is full of examples of those who took the time to be still and hear from God at pivotal moments. Our boards should practice the discipline of being quiet and mindfully listening for His voice.
Commit to slow down—lower the RPMs: The tendency to be in a rush to complete the agenda can interrupt the flow of the Spirit in our meetings. We need to remind ourselves that it is possible to be aware of God’s promptings while still being attentive to the tasks at hand.
Understand that any board member can feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit: It is important to have clarity amongst the board that the chair is not the only one who can call for prayer during the meeting. All board members should feel free to interrupt the flow when they feel that it is time for prayer or to be quiet in His presence.

MY COLOR COMMENTARY:
As leaders, we are intuitively aware of the pressure to maximize our own time efficiency and that of our boards as a matter of practicing good stewardship. That drive to accelerate decision making and get things done can unfortunately pre-empt a necessary move of God amid our meeting deliberations. I can certainly attest to encountering situations as a leader and as a board member in which all the combined intellect and best devices in the room could not lead us to a resolution—and THEN we decided to pray and seek the mind of the Lord. What if we approached it differently and made prayer a priority in our meetings?

True empowerment from the Spirit can come in the form of divine wisdom, uncommon courage, increased confidence, or even a miracle. But it only comes when we as leaders exercise enough spiritual discernment to flow back and forth between fulfilling the meeting agenda and listening to the Father’s still small voice for direction.  

Let us commit to attending to the state of our own hearts so that we can be prepared when the time comes for our board meetings to be interrupted by a time of prayer or waiting on God for guidance, bringing eternal value and lasting impact to our time together. 

THIS WEEK’S QUOTES & COMMENTARY BY PETER F. CLEMENTS:



Rev. Peter F. Clements serves as the President/CEO of Church Extension Plan in Salem, Ore.  Church Extension Plan (CEP) is a ministry providing premier financial and administrative services to the churches and districts of the Assemblies of God and their constituents. Prior to his election as CEP’s President, Peter served as CFO for over 10 years. He possesses a strong background in finance and information technology, and his leadership strengths are in the areas of motivating team collaboration and strategic thinking.  He has served on both church and non-profit boards. Peter, and his wife, Karen, make their home in Salem and have three amazing children, Andrew, Allison, and Luke.

TO-DO TODAY: 
• Read chapter 10, “Get Set: From Decision Making to Discernment” from Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Pursuing God’s Will Together: A Discernment Practice for Leadership Groups.
• Take time to review and reflect on your last few board meetings to determine if there were moments where you should have stopped to pray but did not.  Make a commitment to one another as board members to be attuned to those moments in the future and to stop and pray. 
• Visit the ECFA Knowledge Center and read and share the short chapter, “Lesson 11 – Tap! Tap! Tap!

VIEW THE VIDEO!

 






NEXT WEDNESDAY:

On May 8, 2019, watch for the commentary by David Fletcher on Lesson 12, "Looking for Consensus but Finding Division. Finding consensus on challenging issues requires deft handling and a flexible approach by the board chair.”

ORDER THE BOOK TODAY!

BULK ORDERS: Click here.  For more resources and to download the book's Table of Contents, visit the book's webpage.