Where’s the Apprentice?

Welcome to Session 5, Where’s the Apprentice? During this session, you will learn how to identify and develop an apprentice.  An online journal has been provided for you to record your notes and thoughts, or feel free to use a notebook of your own.  Be sure to bring your notes when you meet with your mentor.
Part 1
Our Group Edutainment Video
“The Group Outing”
Watch Episode 4 of the video series, “Our Group” where Doug and Michelle hand over the leadership to Chris.  As the group serves together we see different group members taking on different leadership roles.  When you have finished watching the video, reflect on the following questions:

Episode 5: “Where’s the Apprentice?” from Seacoast Church on Vimeo.

• What stood out to you the most from this episode of Our Group?
• Why is it important to give other group members leadership opportunities in your small group?
• What keeps leaders from sharing leadership roles in their group?
• What challenges do you face when you share leadership among group members?

Part 2
Video Teaching with Josh Surratt
Apprenticing new leaders

During this session, Josh shares practical steps for mentoring a new small group leader.  Watch this video teaching and then answer the questions below.

Mentoring Your Apprentice from Seacoast Church on Vimeo.

• What do you look for in a potential apprentice?
• Which of Josh’s principles come easiest to you?  Which one will be the most difficult for you?
• What are some ways you can share leadership within your small group?

Part 3 Explore

Read the following Bible passage, 2 Timothy 1:1-11, and reflect on the questions

• What do you learn about Timothy from these verses?  What challenges did Timothy seem to be facing?
• What do you learn about being a good mentor from observing Paul?
• What are some general principles for a good mentoring relationship that you see in this passage?

Part 4  The Challenge
1.  If you don’t have your own small group yet make a list of people you could possibly invite to start a new group with you.

2.  If you have your own small group share the name of one or two people you could potentially mentor as future group leaders.

3.  Make a list of leadership possible leadership positions in your small group (ex: prayer leader, serve leader, social leader, etc).  Recruit people from your group into these various leadership roles.

• Pray that the pastors we’re training will be encouraged, inspired and learn practical leadership skills that will increase their leadership influence.  For several years now Seacoast Church has partnered with Pioneers Togo to support their efforts of planting churches for unreached people groups.  These pastors are truly on the front-line of ministry and our desire is for God to use us to energize and encourage these men.  Pray for those accompanying me @jasonsurratt our Missions Pastor and @ernestsmith our Young Adult Pastor.
• Pray that God will direct us to one or two specific communities that He wants to do a special work in.  As part of our mission we will be identifying a couple of communities that are in need of clean water.  Water Missions International Kenyan Country Director will be joining us to help assess where the greatest need may be.  Once the community is identified we will work with the local church there to install a water system so they can use it as an opportunity to share Christ with their community.
• Pray that God will keep us safe and protect our health.  We’ve had our 5 shots and are ready to go.  
• Pray for open doors of opportunity for God to do what He wants to do.
• Pray for Pastor Francis who heads up Pioneers Togo.  Francis is one of the most amazing leaders I’ve met who has a passionate heart for God and the gospel.  Here is a video where he shares more about his ministry.

But somewhere in that process of learning to live like Jesus something switched.  Discipleship took on a different dimension for me.  It didn’t just happen one day, in fact I can’t tell you when it happened, all I know is it happened.  My growth journey went beyond learning to live like Jesus to learning to lead like Jesus.  Suddenly there was a greater recognition that my life wasn’t about me.  There was a strong awareness that God wanted to use me to influence the spiritual journey of others.  I don’t know that anyone clarified this distinction for me, it came from simply watching and catching the spirit of the leaders around me.

As spiritual leaders we must help others experience that switch.  Yes, learning to live like Jesus is a lifelong never ending process.  But at some point we have to challenge people to that level of surrender that expands the influence of their lives.  We must challenge them to lead like Jesus.

Who are the mature believers in your life that need to be challenged to learn to lead like Jesus?

Every Tuesday for the next 4 weeks I will be posting one video from the different conference speakers which included:  Reggie Joiner (How to Cast Vision for your Family), Ray Snyder (How to Cast Vision in the Workplace), and Steven Furtick (How to Cast vision as a Ministry Leader).  Enjoy!

Leadership Conference – 2010 – Greg Surratt from Seacoast Church on Vimeo.

ACTION STEPS

1.  Watch Pastor Greg’s teaching on Vision and take notes in the space below

What I know About Vision

• A clear vision _______________________ in your life.
• A clear vision ________________________ to keep moving forward
• A clear vision ________________________________
• A clear vision _______________________________ of other people

How to Get a Vision

• Create _________________ in your life to listen to God.
• Ask God to _______________________ in the process.
• Keep a ________________________
• Write the _____________________________ of what the future looks like.
• Set ___________________ so every day you get closer to the vision.

2. Set aside several hours and write “the story” of the future for your family, work and/or ministry.  Follow the five steps Pastor Greg listed in his talk.

3.  Identify the major distractions that are keeping you from being lazer focused on your vision.  What adjustments do you need to make in your schedule to gain greater clarity and focus?

4.  Buy a good book on vision and read it over the next 30 days.  Here are a few good reads…

• Making Vision Stick, Andy Stanley
• The Power of Vision, George Barna

Every day we’re surrounded by small golden opportunities to develop the leaders around us.  But if we aren’t looking we’ll miss them. They come in the form of a short conversation in the hallway, a quick pop in the office Q and A session, or a casual exchange in the middle of a ministry event.  These “teachable moments” can take place every day if we simply take the time to look for them.

So how do we recognize them?  Teachable moments tend to come when someone is struggling with a task, project or person.  These struggles create feelings of fear, anger, frustration, disappointment or discouragement.  And there’s no doubt people are most teachable when they’re experiencing these types of heightened emotions. So when you see their struggle engage their emotions by asking questions that stir thinking.  Ask, listen, then carefully provide the coaching they need to help them get past the barriers they’re facing.  For example ask:  What’s causing your frustration?  What have you done about it so far?  What’s not working?  What are your options?  What’s your next step?  These types of questions help them wrestle through their situation.  Then follow up by asking:  What’s the leadership lesson we can learn from this experience?  In these golden moments of opportunity you identify their challenge, coach them in how to handle it and reinforce a leadership principle, and often times this can all be done in a matter of five minutes.

While I may not be able to remember the specifics of the circumstances I do know it was in emotional moments like these that key leadership principles were branded into my mind.

This Weeks Leadership Challenge:  Look for and sieze one of these 5 minute  teachable moments with someone you lead.

Dealing with Difficult Situations
Introduction

Welcome to Session 4, Dealing with Difficult Situation. During this session, you will learn how you how to effectively handle difficult group situations as they emerge.  An online journal has been provided for you to record your notes and thoughts, or feel free to use a notebook of your own.  Be sure to bring your notes when you meet with your mentor.

Part 1
Our Group Edutainment Video
“The Group Outing”

Watch Episode 4 of the video series, “Our Group”.   During a group outing, Chris learns about the different personality’s of the group members.  When you have finished watching the video, reflect on the following questions:

Episode 4: The Group Outing from Seacoast Church on Vimeo.

• What stood out to you the most from this episode of “Our Group”?
• Which of the personality types would be most difficult for you to deal with?  Why?
• What are ways you have seen these different difficult personality’s express themselves in the context of a small group?

Part 2
Video Teaching with Josh Surratt
Dealing with Difficult Situations

When relationships deepen in your group, conflict is often bound to arise.  During this session, Josh discusses the importance of Biblical practices in handling difficult group situations.  Watch this video teaching and then answer the questions below.

Dealing With Difficult Situations from Seacoast Church on Vimeo.

• What are some examples of difficult situations you may face as a Small Group Leader?
• What could possibly happen in a group when a group leader doesn’t address the problems that come up with various difficult people?
• Review the following key concepts that Josh discusses.  Which of these principles do think you will need to work on the most?
  o Commit to telling the truth
  o Deal with issues quickly
  o Always speak positively about group members
  o Seek to understand the need of the difficult person
  o Clear the air – don’t let resentment settle into your group
  o Act in a loving way toward each group member
• Reflect on a difficult situation that you have been involved in either at work, as a small group member or with a friend.    How did the experience make you feel? How could the situation have benefitted from the application of the conflict principles that Josh discusses?
• What would your strategy be for managing the following types of group conflict:
  oIf someone in the group constantly turns discussion into debate?
  o If someone in the group is too needy?
  o If someone in the group dominates the discussion?
  o If someone in the group never participates in group discussion?

Part 3
ExploreRead the following Bible passage, Ephesians 4:25-32, and reflect on the questions below:

• How would you describe what was going on in Ephesus?
• List four or five of the basic principles Paul mentions in this passage about dealing with difficult people.

Part 4
The Challenge
1. Ask your mentor/group leader how they have handled each of the various kinds of difficult people?

2. Faciliate group discussion and have your mentor observe you and give you feedback on how you handled various people.

3.  Look for an opportunity at home, work or small group to practice one or more of the principles from Ephesians 4.  Journel the interaction, then talk with your mentor about the experience.

Being a visionary is patient business.  However the irony is most visionaries aren’t patient people.  I was struck with this truth recently when I was having lunch with a staff person who said, “You know you’ve been talking about leadership development here for years.  I’ve always heard what you’ve said, but I’m just now really beginning to understand.”  (Okay, you’re saying, “Mac is a lousy vision caster so I probably shouldn’t read any further“…but stick with me for a minute)

As leaders we have this misperception that a vision caster is like a carpenter who nails or duct tapes his vision in people’s minds and it’s supposed to stick.  But the truth is visionaries are more like artists who etch, sculpt and paint on the canvas of people’s minds until they see the image of what’s in the artist mind.  Vision isn’t something that STICKS immediately, it’s something that’s SHAPED over time. 

So don’t get discouraged when people aren’t getting it.  Vision casting takes time.  The artist knows when people need to hear it, see it, feel it, experience it, or share in it.  All of these are tools the visionary artist uses to bring the vision to life in the minds of their followers. 

How are you going to share and shape vision in the minds of your followers this week?

When we start someone out on a new job we aren’t thinking about who they will develop or how they will replace themselves, we just want the job done. But what if we changed our approach. What if we talked to them about developing others from day one…no from before day one. What if we talked to them about being a “Developer” rather than a “Doer” during the interview process. What if we told them we were hiring them not just to do a job but to teach others to do their job. What if we put developing others in their job description. What if a portion of their performance review was based on how well they’re developing others. This could radically change our culture over the course of time.

Are you teaching people to be “Doers” or “Developers”?

• Is it a Relational Problem?  Influence generally begins with relationship.  The greater the level of relationship the greater the potential for influence.  Perhaps others are not following because they don’t feel like you know them or like they know you. 
• Is it a Credibility Problem?  Trust is the most important element in the leader- follower relationship.  So when a leader acts in a way that damages trust people will not follow.  There are many factors that can damage a leaders credibility: a lack of experience, lack of integrity, lack of follow-up or lack of follow through.  A leader must do all he can to guard his integrity because once it’s lost he’s lost his influence as well. 
• Is it a Vision Problem?  Having a vision is not enough.  As leaders we must show people how their gifts and strengths fit into that vision.  It’s not hearing, “we want to baptize 100 people”, “build a new bulding” or “transform a local neighborhood” that excites people.  It’s seeing how they can help contribute to the vision that ignites their passion.  People aren’t interested in just sitting by and watching “your vision” happen, they want to be a part of a God thing. 
• Is it a Performance Problem?  People will not follow incompetent leaders.  If they sense you don’t have leadership competency they will subtly or not so subtly distance themselves from you.  This is why it’s important for every leader to have a commitment to self-development.   
• Is it an Empowerment Problem?  Be aware and maximize the strengths of those on your team.  If we don’t pay attention to the giftings of our team members then we tend to treat everyone the same.  This is a recipe for frustration.  Simply giving out tasks makes people feel like a cog in a machine.  But when a leader asks someone to use their gift to make a difference it electrifies their involvement.   
• Is it a Development Problem?  Leaders are responsible for coaching their followers job performance.  An underdeveloped team member easily  becomes complacent.  One of the most important things a leader can do is ask questions, listen and coach the individuals on their team.  This makes people feel valued and increases their desire to make you successful as well.

What else would you add to this list?

This type of change or abandonment is sometimes necessary.  But too much change can lead to a continual starting over and have a destabilizing effect in your organization.  Staff will lose confidence, become cynical and fail to comply to the continual changes.

So next time something isn’t working in your organization instead of looking for something new, first  ask “why”.  Examine your execution to find out why it’s not working like you want.  You may discover that you have a good management approach, solid program, wise process or workable strategy that just hasn’t been executed well.    Understand that the disciplined execution of the right process leads to success.  Evaluate before abandoning, it may save you a lot of starting over and end up being the best thing for your organization.

This Weeks Leadership Challenge:  Evaluate one thing in your organization that isn’t working like you want.  What needs to be done to improve the execution?