Issue No. 172 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting features a book for entrepreneurial pastors—and anyone else who has the entrepreneurial gift. To fan the flames of that gift, join us for the first ever Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit for Christian leaders in Phoenix, Feb. 21-24. And this reminder, check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings, including my Top-10 Books of 2009 and the index to 168 book reviews.
Coming Events With John Pearson:
The Barnabas Group: Feb. 9-11. I’ll be speaking in San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles on The 3 Critical Questions You Must Ask—Before Saying “Yes” to Serving on a Nonprofit Ministry Board of Directors. Visit the website.
Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit: Feb. 21-24. Join us for the first ever Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit for Christians in business, nonprofits and churches, Feb. 21-24, 2010, in Phoenix, in partnership with the Walker Center for Global Entrepreneurship at Thunderbird School of Global Management. Visit the website.
2010 Workshops: Buckets, Boards and Strategic Planning. Check out the dates and locations for our 2010 workshops. Visit the website.
5 Entrepreneurial Strategies
Pastor Ray Johnston of Bayside Church (Calif.) says that "Volunteers are under-nourished, pastors are under-coached, churches lack vision, and small group leaders lack spiritual foundations." Oh…and “87 percent of the churches in America are stagnant or declining.”
Sounds like we need a rebirth of spiritual entrepreneurship—or a revival—or both. So this week, I found encouragement in John Jackson’s book, PastorPreneur: Pastors and Entrepreneurs Answer the Call. If these zingers and insights don’t move you, nothing will:
• “What really attracts large numbers of the unchurched to a church are changed lives.” (Rick Warren)
• “I believe people ask two inherent questions: ‘What’s in this for me?’ and, ‘Is there anybody here like me?’”
• “A former Prime Minister of France once said, ‘If you are doing big things, you attract big people. If you are doing little things, you attract little people.’”
• “But incrementalism leaves a legacy of small dreams, small faith, and stunted leaders.”
Jackson suggests churches need five key entrepreneurial strategies: 1) grab the community’s attention; 2) build strategic partnerships (no more holy huddles); 3) conduct faith-building events (because big events shape leaders); 4) help people identify their strengths (see below); and 5) multiply your impact. Here’s more:
• “Everyone is a 10 somewhere. The task of a leader is to help people identify where they are a 10.” (Wayne Cordeiro)
• “A fresh, dynamic vision isn’t accomplished by trying to stretch your existing budget a little farther. Instead, look for new resources—both people and funds.”
• “Spend lots of time affirming your leadership team.”
• "In virtually every meeting, every service, every small group, and every one-on-one mentoring meeting, [leaders] need to include three components: vision, relationships, and programs.”
The author (now executive director of Thriving Churches International), quotes Ken Blanchard: “There are two parts to leadership…one is vision-casting and the other is implementation. You have to implement things that match your vision. And remember, the thinking that got you to where you are today will not get you where you need to go.”
John Maxwell (no slouch of an entrepreneur himself) wrote in the book’s foreword, “Strategic thinking is a different way of thinking.” Entrepreneurs understand that. Many leaders do not. Many churches and organizations have a binder on the shelf labeled, “Our Bold Strategic Plan.” As I read Jackson’s book, I know he would agree that all four words on the binder are a misnomer: “Our” is not owned by the troops. “Bold” is far from it. “Strategic” is calibrated in modest, if any growth. And “Plan” is a wish-and-a-prayer. As Elton Trueblood said, “Pious shoddy is still shoddy.” If you’ve painted yourself into the corner of mediocrity, this book will give you the vision and the strategy to break out.
PastorPreneur is visionary—yet practical. It will breathe life into a leader’s entrepreneurial gifts, but won’t get him or her in trouble. The take-aways are significant (for church leaders and all leaders) and I counted more than 50 quotes or paragraphs that grabbed me, like this warning for entrepreneurs: “Risk itself is not a goal of leadership. It is simply a reality for those who have a large vision.”
To order this book from Amazon, click on this title: PastorPreneur: Pastors and Entrepreneurs Answer the Call, by John Jackson.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) When he was the founding pastor at Carson Valley Christian Center (Nevada), Jackson cancelled a standing rule: no refreshments in the worship center. He discovered that this was teaching people that only certain rooms were sacred. How would you explain this new insight (bring your coffee in) to those who clean the carpets?
2) Jackson writes, “Certainly numbers are a significant measure of growth, but I believe another one is much richer: changed lives. This measuring stick doesn’t produce guilt, and it doesn’t thrive on comparison.” What does your organization measure?
Delegate Your Reading - Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit
One of the big ideas in the Delegation Bucket, Chapter 16, in Mastering the Management Buckets, is to delegate your reading. For example, if you have four direct reports—give a book to each team member each month and ask for mini-book reports once a week. While each person will read just 12 books a year, you’ll be enriched with 48 book reports. (P.S. You should read a couple also!)
Ask reviewers to highlight niche chapters, key ideas and their five favorite paragraphs or quotations—and then leave the book on your team’s resource shelf. For fun and appreciation, occasionally slip in a $5 Starbucks card into the monthly book distribution.
For more insights, resources and books on delegation, visit the Delegation Bucket webpage.
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