Has today’s economy put a squeeze on your church budget?  Do you find yourself reducing costs, cutting staff or stressed over making the monthly budget?  Are you questioning how you’re going to get more money for ministry?  Well, LAUNCH wants to help you find answers.  On Monday December 6 we will be hosting our first Whiteboard session entitled, More Money for Ministry, featuring Casey Graham of The Change Group.  During this two hour highly interactive learning experience you will have the opportunity to share best practices, hear stories of financial victories and failures, discover 5 Key financial drivers, walk out with an action plan and best of all be coached by Financial expert Casey Graham.

Casey worked for 10 years in the trenches of local church ministry.  He most recently served at Mountain Lake Church as the Chief Financial Officer.  He is the author of Funded and Free and works with hundreds of churches across the United States helping them establish healthy financial systems.  Learn more about Casey’s ministry by visiting his blog at www.beancreator.com

The Whiteboard session, which is being held at West Ridge Church, in Dallas GA, will be followed by a FREE lunch where you will have the opportunity to hear about a new model for inspiring, equipping and resourcing next generation church planters.

I hope you can join us, sign up today at www.launchstrong.com

Have you ever had someone tell you “don’t be unreasonable”?  Unreasonable is “bad” right? It means you’re unwilling to compromise, your standards are too high or your expectations are out of alignment with reality.  Unreasonable leaders can be a pain.

But unreasonable leaders can also produce outstanding results. Who says unreasonable always has to be qualified as “bad”?  Not wanting to be “unreasonable” we’re tempted to accept excuses, allow compromise, ignore mediocrity or settle for second rate. But when we do so, we devalue the significance of our mission. Perhaps we could stand to be a little more unreasonable. Maybe it’s time to raise the bar for ourselves and others around us.  Being unreasonable in things that matter may be just what your organization needs in order to see that next big break through or experience new levels of performance.

Take a minute today and consider if you’re being unreasonable enough.  Look at…

• your mission – are you being unreasonable enough?
• your values – are you being unreasonable enough?
• your vision – are you being unreasonable enough?
• your calling – are you being unreasonable enough?
• your schedule – are you being unreasonable enough?

Be unreasonable; don’t settle for less in things that really matter.

As leaders we consider a management position to be a big matter…and it is.  But it’s the small daily interactions that make a big difference and determine the greatness of our management. The way we manage matters not only to the organization but more importantly matters to the individual.  Management is made up of our small daily interactions: the words we say, decisions we make, responses we give, level of responsibility we share and accountability we provide.  The way we lead on a daily bases produces courage, complacency or caution in the soul of our followers.

Want to know what kind of leader/manager you are, look at the sprit of your people.  What do you see?  If you see caution or complacency they’ll hold back and maintain the status quo at best.  If you see a spirit of courage you’ll find people who are comfortable with risk and innovation. It’s not just your BIG VISION but the small matter of your daily interactions that will determine your followers engagement in the vision.

What are the small things you need to change in your leadership behavior this week?

How effective are your meetings?  If your meetings feel unproductive perhaps it’s time to count what those meetings are costing you. Most people look at meetings as a waste of time, and too often they are.  But unproductive meetings are not only a waste of time but a waste of money as well.

Imagine for a moment that you have a one hour meeting each week with seven of your employees.  Of those seven, one makes an annual salary of 80K, another makes 60K, two make 40K and three make 25K.  This would be $38.46, $28.85, $19.23 and $12.02 per hour respectively.  So your meeting adds up to an investment of $139.83/hour for your organization. Since that meeting is a weekly occurrence that means your organization is paying $7271.16 each year for those employees to meet..

So here’s the question:  Are you getting the biggest bang for your buck from your meetings?

As leaders we typically have little problem with change because we’re the one’s initiating it.  Change is frequently needed, often difficult and always an adjustment. A big part of a leaders job is to initiate change.  And as leaders of change we’re not always sensitive to the impact that it has on the lives of those around us.  When we’re the initiators of change we have the added benefit of processing the change in advance.  So when it comes we’ve made the emotional, mental and spiritual adjustments that ready us for the new normal.

But those we lead don’t always get the privilege of extended process time. That’s why they often fight, resist and rebel.  Change requires adjustment because it produces a shift in our rhythms.  And shifts in our rhythms make us feel uncomfortable and insecure. For example when you step off dry land onto a boat, you’re keenly aware of the rolling sensation of being on water. At first you may feel unsure of your footing but in time you make the mental and physical adjustments and the floating sensation becomes your new normal.

I really began to understand this on a greater level when my family and I recently experienced a major change.  We moved from Charleston, SC to Atlanta, GA.  While this change has been very positive, I’ve experiencing the impact of a changing rhythm of life.  Twelve weeks ago I left one job and took a new one.  I sold my old house and bought a new one.  I left old familiar friends and developing new ones.  I abandoned my PC and started using a Mac.  I gave up my Blackberry and bought an Iphone.  I gave away my old car and bought a new car. I now work on different projects, have a different team, work on a different set of goals, adjust to a new work culture, maintain a different schedule, the list could go on and on.  Everything felt so different…but I’m gradually getting my “sea legs” and these changes are quickly becoming my new normal.  It’s good for me as a leader to experience the impact of change; maybe it will help me lead people through the rhythms of change better in the future.

Are you experiencing frustrations because of recent changes?  If so be patient with yourself as you find the  rhythms of your new normal.

All of us want to give our best and be recognized for a job well done.  However some people spend their time, energy and efforts seeking a promotion or higher position in their organization.  When this becomes our focus we make decisions based on what’s best for “me” rather than what’s best for the organization. Instead of building relationships with the whole team, emphasis is put on relationships that will benefit my career ambitions.  Rather than giving everything for THE MISSION, everything is given to SELF-PROMOTION.  Living for a position can be a very frustrating and unfulfilling pursuit.

Contrast this with living your passion.  When we live out of passion our time, energy and efforts are focused on producing results that move the mission forward. It’s passion that leads us to gladly sacrifice for the cause.  It’s passion that makes us give our best without thought of who is noticing.  It’s passion that breeds unrelenting perseverance.  It’s passion that produces a rich sense of joy and satisfaction in our lives. Nothing great was ever accomplished without a passionate person behind it.

How will your passion find expression in your work today?

If we want to maximize the God given opportunities of our lives then it’s essential that we operate in our strengths.  Marcus Buckingham defines a strength as “consistent near perfect performance in an activity.” This is a simple but profound description of a strength.  When we operate in our strengths results come easy, our work is almost effortless and we experience a deep sense of satisfaction and joy.

While I’m a big proponent of knowing and developing strengths, yesterday I sat down and did an inventory of my weaknesses.  It was a very insightful and helpful exercise to begin my week.  As leaders there are times we need to focus on our weaknesses…not to develop them but to design systems and structures to minimize their influence in our leadership.

As you begin your week give this a try…

• Write down your top three weaknesses
• Look at your top performance priorities for the upcoming week
• Review your schedule for the upcoming week
• Decide how can you minimize your weaknesses and maximize your strengths to produce the intended results for the week.

Today’s Leadership Challenge: Write out a Strong Week Plan where you are functioning 80% of your time in the areas of your strengths.

There is no shortage of opportunities for each of us to do good things.  And not just good things but significant things that will have eternal impact.  While this can be exciting for a leader it can also be debilitating.  The leader who naively says “yes” to every opportunity will soon find himself frustrated and ineffective. Choosing to narrow the focus of our lives is a difficult discipline, but essential to maximizing the impact of our giftedness.

If you feel your a little scattered lately here are a few questions that might help you narrow your focus:

• What’s the ONE problem in this world that God wants to use me to do something about?
• What’s the ONE thing I’m doing today that will make an impact in that area of need?
• What’s the ONE gift or strength God has given me to make a difference in that area of need?
• What’s ONE thing I need to stop doing to make me more effective in my mission?
• Who is ONE person that can regularly check on my progress and hold me accountable for staying focused?

Take ONE hour today to process these questions.

Sometimes we become so busy doing what we do that we forget to stop and ask if what we’re doing still matters.  The culture around us changes, people change and needs change.  This is why it’s crucial to build feedback systems into everything we do.  An organization that doesn’t solicit feedback will soon become irrelevant and eventually non-existant.

So find ways to ask your customer about their experience with the services you provide.  Ask: What did we do well?  In what way was it helpful to you? What could we do better next time?  Seeking this type of feedback and then acting on it will help improve the reach and impact of your organization.

Where do you need to ask for feedback about your organization?

When leaders allow themselves to be overwhelmed by uncertainty fear will grip their spirit and stall progress toward their calling and mission. Ultimately fear is rooted in a belief that God is not in control. So when a leader is struggling with anxiety it’s a matter of changing their mindset more than changing their circumstances.

One morning i was meeting with an individual who talked to me about the problems he was facing and expressed a sense of defeat in the overwhelming odds against him.   Later that day I had another meeting with an individual who held a similar position and was facing similar circumstances.  But instead of talking about the problems he was facing he told me about the opportunities in front of him.  He acknowledge the challenges yet spoke with hope and optimism as he anticipated the hand of God to move in his situation. Both men were facing financial difficulty, relational challenges and lack of resources.  The only difference between the two was their perspective.

Paul told the Philippians “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6) Paul expresses a strong confidence that the work God has begun in us will be brought to completion, perfection.  He’s certain of it.  That Greek word for “confident” (peitho) means persuaded, already convinced. I’m reminded of that every time I begin to feel fear and uncertainty.  My circumstances may not be what I would like but I can be confident that God is in control.  And when the conviction that God is in control grips my heart it changes the way I lead.