Eric's INNER REVOLUTION

Monday Rant: Churches who fire without cause

February 16, 2015 in Church with 12 Comments

So it happened again last week. Another cool, growing mega-church told a friend he needs to find a new job because he is no longer a fit for their corporate chemistry. Even though they said he consistently hit his goals, and theyhad no complaints about the results he was achieving, they decided he wasn’t the style leader they wanted to work with. So now he has to uproot his family from a church they love, leave friendships formed over years of ministry together and find another place to work. The church he is leaving will likely employ a search firm to find someone whose chemistry they prefer who happens to be currently employed at another church. And the merry-go-round continues.

In case you haven’t picked it up yet, this is going to be a rant. I am over the corporate practices so many American churches have adopted that run counter to basic biblical principles of leadership and Christian relationship. Here are my thoughts:

• If you can’t find a direct correlation between your HR practices and how Jesus treated his disciples, you need to change how you do HR.
• Jesus never fired a disciple. He didn’t fire Peter for mouthing off in front of Elijah and Moses, he didn’t fire Thomas for doubting the outcome of the mission, and he didn’t fire Philip for missing the point entirely. He didn’t even fire Judas for betraying him. If Jesus didn’t fire, we should be very cautious about how and why we fire.
• Forcing someone to resign is the same as firing.
• If the church fired (or forced the resignation) of your predecessor, they will fire you eventually. Trust me on this.
• Being unwilling to work through relational messiness is a terrible excuse for firing someone. Peter and Paul had serious issues, but they worked it out.
• Your mission is never more important than your staff; your staff is your mission. If you can’t develop, love and care for your staff, how in the world are you going to develop, love and care for your congregation.
• There are times when staff should be let go, but this should never come as a surprise. Unless there is a major moral issue, firing should always follow multiple conversations and a well-defined growth plan.
• A revolving door of staff members is indicative of a deeper problem, and hiring more staff isn’t going to solve the problem. To quote a friend, “How long are you going to work on what’s not the problem before you work on what is the problem?”

That’s probably enough rant for one Monday morning. I’ll leave you with two things to think about:

• If you lead a church that has a high turnover rate on staff, you may be the problem.
• If you work at a church that has a high turnover rate on staff, you should polish your resume. Your time is coming.

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Why pastors get fired; the myth of leadership

April 7, 2014 in Uncategorized with 6 Comments

Over the past few years I have heard the same story from several different churches; a talented and popular pastor steps down under pressure from the church elders. Usually the pastor has been at the church for many years, sometimes he is the one who planted the church. The church grew under his leadership and to the average attender the church is healthy. There is no moral lapse, no money missing, no hint of scandal. Why did the elders force the pastor out? In each case the staff and leaders are worn down from the leadership style of the pastor. They are fearful, wounded and burned out. After months, or even years, of attempts to bring organizational health the elders finally decide there has to be a change. They ask, and then require, that the pastor step aside. How does this happen?

I believe it often comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of healthy leadership; the pastor confuses leadership with control, he operates through authority which flows from his position. He believes his role is to hire people who will execute his vision for the church. Staff members who execute the vision are promoted, staff members who do not execute the vision are punished or fired. The measuring stick for health is results, and for many years a talented pastor can get results. Eventually, however, the body count of discarded staff and wounded leaders becomes a price too high and the pastor finds himself on the outside looking in.

Confusing leadership with control is something we learn from a very young age.

“Why? Because I’m your mother!”

“Do what the teacher says.”

“When I say ‘Jump’ your only question is, ‘How high?'”

“The boss makes those decisions.”

We come to believe the higher we climb the more leadership (i.e. control) we can exert. We dream of the day we can call the shots, we can make the decisions, we can set the course because we are now in charge.

There are many situations where control is necessary. When my three-year old granddaughter decides riding her scooter in the street is her highest priority her mother uses her authority to curb Maggie’s enthusiasm. This, however, isn’t leadership. It is tight control for a specific situation. Leadership is something very different.

Subconsciously I held this erroneous view of leadership for a long time. Although I read everything John Maxwell wrote, as well as dozens of other leadership books, deep down I believed that to lead I needed authority. I could only exercise the skills I’d learned if I had the right position from which to lead. As I moved up the positional ladder I exerted control through authority. I thought I was leading, but all I was really doing was treating people like three-year olds. Inside I longed for more authority, a higher position, so I could exercise more leadership. I understand how this blind spot about leadership becomes destructive.

Over the past few years I’ve finally come to understand that leadership, the kind of leadership Jesus demonstrated, is influence that flows from relationship. Growing as a leader isn’t about exerting more control from a higher position, growing as a leader is experiencing more influence through deeper relationships. As a leader matures control and authority fade. People follow not because they are have to, they follow because they know their leader loves them, listens to them and wants to see them become the fully developed person God created them to be. They follow because they know the primary goal of their leader is to serve.

After three years leading a group of 12 men Jesus had a choice; he could exert his authority as God to force these followers to execute his vision, or he could get down on his knees and wash their feet:

“Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.”  John 13:3-5 (NLT)

As pastors (and spouses, parents, managers and coaches) we live as though Jesus’ model of leadership doesn’t apply to us. We control, we dictate and we require rather than serve. Outwardly we agree that leadership is influence flowing from relationship but internally we believe leadership is control flowing from authority. That is why followers are fearful, wounded and bitter and elders ask successful pastors to step away from the church they love.

What are the implications of Jesus model of leadership? Here are a few ides on applying relational leadership to our everyday situation:

• A org chart doesn’t make a leader
• You don’t need more authority to lead at a higher level
• If you want to grow as a leader invest in relationships
• The ultimate test of a leader’s heart is how well he serves his followers
• Growth doesn’t always equal health; nothing grows faster than weeds

What about you, do you lean more toward leadership from position or leadership from relationship?

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The real reason you were fired (Hint: “Team fit” was a cover up)

January 12, 2015 in Church, Leadership with 7 Comments

I recently met with a young man who is reeling from being fired by a rapidly growing megachurch. The reason they gave for firing him just a few months after he was hired; “You’re not a team fit”.  I don’t know the young man well, and I’m only vaguely familiar with the church he was fired from. There may be solid grounds for letting the young leader go. But the “not a team fit” label has become the wonderfully vague catch-all phrase when firing staff members. To quote the 70’s theologian Dave Mason:

There is no good guy, there is no bad guy. There’s only you and me and we just disagree.

Wouldn’t be fascinating to hear what’s really going on when a leader throws the “not a team fit” card. It might sound more like this:

Why we’re really firing you

1. We don’t develop people

We talk about people development, but we just don’t have the time. We are hyper-focused on our mission and we can’t slow down to help someone we think is a B player become an A player. That’s why we almost always hire from the outside and why we have a ‘hire slow/fire fast” philosophy.

2. We value results over people

We have a set of metrics we have to hit, and our staff is simply a means to that end. If you hit your goals you have a seat on the bus, if you miss the mark its time for you to go. Producers advance, non-producers move on.

3. Our ingrown culture is our top priority

Our culture is defined by cronyism, inside jokes and unwritten rules, and we like it that way. It is difficult to understand how things really work around here and even harder for an outsider to break in. We thought you might be “one of us”, but you’re not.

4. We can’t afford to pay you anymore

We thought we had room in the budget for you, but it didn’t work out that way. Income hasn’t increased they way we thought it would,, and we’re unwilling to cut anywhere else. We could try to be more fiscally responsible, but the easiest way to balance the books is to fire you.

5. You’re a goober

We thought you were sharp when we hired you, but it turns out you’re a goober. You’re opinionated, lazy, and infuriating. No one wants you on their team because you constantly make excuses and irritate everyone around you. You may be a fit somewhere, but we’re just tired of you.

The challenge, whether you are firing someone or being fired, is to be honest. Don’t hide behind phrases like “team fit” and “cultural differences”, get to the root of why you are parting ways. It’s the only way organizations and leaders can grow.