In his book The 360 Degree Leader, John Maxwell includes a brief synopsis of the two motivations that good leaders must balance.  The first is the motivation to fulfull their Vision.  The second is to see others succeed.

As a leader in the church commissioned with accomplishing the Vision through volunteers, these two motivations are realized even more fully.  In the church, I cannot lead through positional leadership - “you must do what I say because I am your boss and I control your paycheck.”  I must lead utilizing relational leadership - “I have earned your trust and respect now let me walk alongside you as we move into the future together.”

Relational leadership is about helping others succeed.  It is seeing the potential in people and helping them accomplish their realized and unrealized dreams.  It is adding value to their lives and celebrating their victories - both great and small.  And to be a great leader, you find ways to channel this individual success into organizational success.  You find ways to align individual’s dreams with your organization’s dreams.

When you are in a position where relational leadership is required, here are three questions those you lead are sub-consciously asking:

1. Can I trust you?
2. Do you have a passion for this?
3. Do you care about me as a person?

If you are attempting to be a relational leader, those you lead must be able to answer “Yes” to all three of these questions.  If they cannot, you are running the risk of being out-of-balance in your two motivations and of losing your leadership influence.

I do not believe I am the smartest, the wisest, or the most intelligent person in the world.  (No comments, please!)

Because of that, I believe strongly in seeking input from a network of friends and leaders in my life.  Whenever I am developing a new strategy to accomplish the Vision that God has given me, I seek their advice.  Whenever I am considering a major financial purchase/investment or considering a life-changing shift for my family, I seek their advice.  Oftentimes, these advisers open my eyes to areas I have overlooked or introduce me to perspectives I would never have considered.

“Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed.” - Proverbs 15:22 (The Message)

What are you working on now?  And whose advice are you seeking?

One of the things I love about being a pastor is walking alongside people as they grow in their faith and understanding/obedience of the Word.  Here’s some snapshots of recent conversations…

• “Chris, when you & Bill talk about the Bible, it’s so real for you.  I know I need to start studying the Bible, but I don’t even own a Bible.  What should I do?”

• Another guy took me out for breakfast and said, “Chris, I need to find an accountability partner.  How do I do that?”

• During another conversation someone else said, “Chris, I need to start tithing.  What does that process look like?”

• And in an email from a small group leader earlier today, “Chris, my small group wants to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together each time we finish a study.  I need to know how to do that.  Can we talk?”

One of my seminary professors once explained why he did oral exams instead of written exams.  He stated, “At no point in your leadership of a church will someone come up and say, ‘Can you give me a 5-page written essay on _____________?’  They will always expect an answer on-the-spot.”

I can tell you from experience that this prof knew what he was talking about!

I was sitting in Panera the other day with a good friend & pastor of another church when he asked me, “Who do you like leading most - followers, leaders of followers, or leaders of leaders?”

After some initial contemplation, I determined that - while I enjoy leading all three types of people - my greatest joy is in leading those individuals who are “leaders of leaders.”  I am humbled by the opportunities I have had to add value to a business, an organization, or a church by speaking into the lives & leadership of its leaders.  There are levels of conversations that I am able to have with “leaders of leaders” that I simply cannot have with “followers” or even with “leaders of followers”.

Don’t get me wrong…I love meeting with and adding value to people who will never serve in a leadership role as well as those who will only serve in an “entry-level” leadership role.  I simply feel like my giftedness and abilities are most beneficial - for the business/organization/church as a whole - when I can invest vast amounts of time in those who are leading the leaders.  This is where I feel like I can make the greatest difference in the Kingdom.

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” - 2 Timothy 2:2

So…how has God uniquely gifted you and designed you to make a difference in the Kingdom?  And what are you doing to make sure you are leveraging your time & talents to make the greatest possible difference?

Here’s another great quote from the book Activate…

“Average leaders focus on what happens next.  Extraordinary leaders focus on what happens after what happens next.”

Right now, we are gearing up for the launch of our Spring Semester of small groups.  December is a natural time to rest, so many small groups do so with the intention to renew their focus in January.  As the Small Groups Pastor, I am working to make sure we are set for that launch in January.

However, if we are to be truly successful in accomplishing our Vision for small groups at Great Oaks, I know that I also need to be focusing upon the Summer & Fall of 2009.  To that end, I am working diligently with my coaches to make sure we are prepared for a major overhaul of our small groups come Fall of 2009.

We will soon be revealing a major paradigm shift for small groups at Great Oaks.  We believe it will result in greater involvement in groups and lead towards a more focused process of spiritual growth.  It will capitalize on the natural rhythm of life that most Americans follow, and it will allow for regular entrance & exit ramps for being a part of groups. Lastly, I believe it has the potential to increase the number of people who step up to experiment with leading small groups resulting in a natural process of raising up new leaders in the church.

The system won’t be perfect right out of the gates, but we’ll tweak it as we go.  After all, everything is an experiment, right?

I am currently reading Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups by Nelson Searcy & Kerrick Thomas.  Interestingly enough, they are espousing many of the conclusions I have been coming to in the last few months of prayer, observation, and strategic planning.  (More on that later.)

I underlined the following quote in the book…

“Only in the reflection of our potential do we recognize the truth of our current reality.”

There is an often impersceptible shift that we all make in our lives.  We begin (our lives, our marriage, our parenting, our business, our relationship with God) with a clear Vision and focused efforts but then the routine of life combined with a small side-step here and a barely noticeable shift there, and we are suddenly 10 degrees off our intended target.

Oftentimes it takes the keen observation of a trusted friend (or a brazen remark by a complete stranger) to make us realize that we are no longer moving towards our target with as true accuracy as we began with.  We suddenly come face-to-face with our current reality…and it is often far from our true potential.

What would your life look like if you suddenly got serious about getting back on track?  How would your marriage, your parenting, your job, your relationship with God be different if you re-aligned yourself and your efforts?  What are those things that are holding you back from realizing your full potential in all of these areas?

I frequently remind leaders to “only do what only you can do.”  If you can embrace this simple mantra, you will make strong headway towards making your “current reality” and “full potential” one and the same.

Are you realizing your full potential?

This past week I moved into a new leadership environment - Tiger Scouts!

I accepted the role of Co-Leader for Ethan’s Tiger Den for the 2008-09 school year.  We currently have nine First Graders in the group and have the potential to add 1-2 more in the coming week.

I didn’t grow up in the church…I grew up in Scouting.  My parents were always Scout leaders, and my brother & I are both Eagle Scouts (the highest rank possible in Boy Scouts).  I started in Scouting in Elementary School and continued all the way through High School.  I even volunteered a little bit while in college.

Scouting truly changed my life, and I want Ethan & the other boys to have as great (or better) of an experience as I did.  It is hard to describe how excited I am about this opportunity to lead - especially since one of the boys is my own son.

Yesterday, I met with Mark Warren & Jim Probst from Eastview Christian Church in Bloomington, IL.  We are partnering together to host quarterly roundtable discussions for Small Group Pastors.

I love sitting around with leaders and “talking shop”.  I always walk away inspired, challenged, educated, and encouraged.  I love learning from others and being able to share my experiences with others.  Our hope is to keep the pastors connected via Facebook between gatherings.

Really looking forward to our first roundtable next Thursday.  The topic is “Leveraging Small Groups to Accomplish the Vision of the Church.”

I’ve been talking for a few months with Mark Warren at Eastview Christian Church in Bloomington, IL about establishing a regional network of Small Groups Pastors.  As I’ve said before, leaders are learners.  And what better way to learn from other leaders than to sit down face-to-face and talk shop.

To that end, Mark & I are joining our efforts to host roundtable conversations with Small Groups Pastors who serve within a 3-4 hour radius from Bloomington.  It is going to be an informal one-day event with a single topic of conversation.  The pastors will all know the topic ahead of time, so they will be able to come prepared with ideas, resources, and stories of successes & failures.

I started making phone calls today to invite specific individuals to our first gathering.  All of the people I have spoken with have expressed appreciation for organizing the roundtables and are eagerly looking forward to being there.

From a purely selfish standpoint, I’m looking forward to learning from some of the best Small Group Pastors out there.  I’ll keep you updated as things progress…

I am constantly humbled by the people of Great Oaks.  You guys are the best!

On Wednesday I put out the call to several of our small group leaders stating that we needed to make more room in our groups.  We fell short of our goal of having 40-45 small groups for the 40 Days of Purpose campaign.  As a result, I needed some of our existing small groups to take in 2-4 more people in each group.  As I said to the leaders, a little bit of increase in each group will make a significant impact on the total available space for people to be involved in small groups.

In less than 48 hours, almost all of the leaders responded telling me they would gladly take in more people.  Several of them responded stating that they would rather squeeze people into their living rooms than have somebody not be able to be in a group.

In less than 48 hours, we increased our total small group capacity by over 20%.  Absolutely amazing!

It is truly humbling to be serving alongside people who love God and love people so much.  Thank you, small group leaders!