by Dan Rieland

It seems like I should be writing more on the responsibilities of staff members, if for no other reason, the raw numbers. But curiously, more Senior Pastors have been recently talking to me about the core of their role and responsibilities.

One church planter said, “I’m doing literally everything, that can’t be right.” Another pastor told me he wants to study the Word, teach and do nothing else. Yet another pastor who has a great staff, confided that he won’t delegate and empower basic roles to his team.

Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you are leading from the “First Chair”. Between the board, staff, parents of teens, choir, first time visitors, benefactors, and local officials (and on it goes) you may feel more like the caboose than the engine. It is however, not only possible for you to truly lead, it’s at the core of your job to take the reigns and go for it. Responding to all these people and their agendas can take you off track. You can lose sight of what your job is. My hope is to encourage you and give you fresh permission to lead. Not to make everyone happy, but to lead. You can’t do that if you are running on everyone else’s agenda. You need to know what your job is and stay ruthlessly focused on it.

Your personality and unique passion contributes heavily to what you choose to do and how you choose to carry out you role and responsibilities. The culture and community of your church have a significant influence as well. In some churches, the local church board has a strong say in what the Pastor does. In other churches there is so much freedom that the freedom itself presents its own set of complications.

Every leader is different and every church is different, but there are some basics that hold true for all. There is more than one way to lead from the First Chair. This article does not attempt to offer the unique nuances that are just for you, but the baseline that you build upon so you can arrive at a unique job for you without compromising the basics. Here’s the list of basics. I trust they will help you stay on track.

Call upon God

Your non-negotiable responsibility is that of chief intercessor. Your whole church prays, but you lead the way. It is unlikely that many in the church pray with more zeal and commitment than you do. You set the pace. It’s not that your prayers are more spiritual or God listens to you more, but there is something deeply sacred about the office of Senior Pastor. It’s not a power thing, it’s about calling. God chose you to lead your church and frankly, God has stuff He wants you to know. Your uniqueness is not as much about how you pray, or even what you pray. It’s about what you hear. That’s the key, hearing the voice of God. I don’t think there is anything more important. Everything starts with God’s direction for you and your church. Hearing His voice often and clearly is essential. What is He saying to you today?

Communicate the Word

For most Senior Pastor’s this is the fun part. You can’t wait for Sunday! There is a grind and discipline to the preparation and the “every seven days” nature of it all, but what a cool thing! You get to teach, literally, the Words of God!

Unlike your prayers where your words are very important, but not critical, now every word counts. And The Word, counts even more. On any given week, these thirty or so minutes, (the “or so” covers a lot of latitude for some of you!) may be the greatest public work you do. You can’t overestimate the need and value of your preparation. If you are a gifted communicator, please, you still need to prepare. The same is true for those of you who aren’t as gifted – if speaking isn’t your sweet spot, go shorter rather than longer. Wrap it up in twenty-five minutes. Your church will immediately think you just got better.

Cast the Vision

This is where direction for the church and your leadership kicks in. You are the primary vision-caster. Great vision is collaborative in its execution, but not so much in its origin. More often than not, God speaks to a man or a woman, not a committee. The team matters huge, but God sends the dream to the leader and the team helps the dream come true. This is not to infer a dictatorship. Leaders can “hear” incorrectly. That’s why you need other trusted leaders around you to test what you believe God is telling you. But when it’s settled, cast vision and lead. That’s what you’re there for. Leadership. The people are counting on you to point the way.

What if you don’t have a sense of direction from God right now? That happens. My best advice to you is to call your church to stay focused on core activities of the Great Commission (Matthew 28 – Evangelism and Discipleship), while you and your key leaders seek the mind of the Lord for the specific direction.

Carry the Stewardship

Let me be blunt, the church needs money to move forward. We don’t like to say it, read it, and sometimes even admit it. It doesn’t sound spiritual, but it’s deeply spiritual. Scripture is very clear about our hearts and our treasures. In that way it’s not as much about money as it is about priorities and passion. It’s not as much about money as it is calling and commitment. Money reveals the depth and maturity of your church and their level of buy-in to the vision.

Pastor you cannot escape the reality and responsibility of raising faith and raising funds for your church. In contrast to “preaching” most pastors don’t like this role, and either partially ignore it or attempt to have others cover it. That never works well over the long haul. Pastor, embrace the biblical nature of what giving reveals about the maturity of your congregation. And if giving is down, especially in this economy, don’t be upset with your people. Instead, ask yourself what you can do to make the beauty, power and promise of God’s Word more evident to your people. In other words, how can you better inspire your people to embrace God’s Word?

Create the Culture

Many can help you carry this out, but you set the scope and direction. Every church has a culture. It’s either the one you want or the one that created itself. I’ve never seen the later go well. You can cultivate and guide it or just go on its own and land who knows where.

Whether your culture is casual or formal, local or global, traditional or edgy, mercy or justice, caffeinated or decaf, you need to know you who are and be yourself. There is no right or wrong. Well, the only wrong is to not know who you are or pretend to be something you’re not. An interesting experiment is to ask visitors to describe your church culture to you. They often see it more clearly than you do!

Coach the Staff

If you are in a mega-church environment, you may have an XP (Executive Pastor) to coach the staff for you, but most of you who are Senior Pastors carry this responsibility as well. This is what I do so there is great danger of me writing for pages! I will discipline myself to hold back!

Let me just say that you have primarily two avenues by which to invest in your staff: Nurture and Leadership Development. Everything else falls into the large category of “getting stuff done.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you want a world class team scoring large in competence, character and chemistry, investment is the key. Let them know you care and give top quality leadership training on a consistent basis. If you do this well, month after month, year after year, I promise you it will make a huge difference.

Cultivate the Community

Last but not least, its time to leave your office and get out into the community. I know, after the first six, it’s easy to feel like there is no time left. The good news is that you don’t need to give huge amounts of time to this, but you do need strategic time. Cultivating the community includes your personal evangelism, connecting with key leaders in your county, and a general awareness of what is going on outside your church. A few hours a week can get this done pretty well. The cumulative effect is powerful. Keep out in the community on a consistent basis and though not immediate, this will come back to you with strong results over the long haul.

I hope this basic set of responsibilities is helpful to you. Whether you are recently out of school and in your first or second church, or you are a veteran of many years, this list will hold true for you. Add your personality to it and give it 100%. Let the other leaders carry the rest of the load.

This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland’s free monthly e-newsletter, “The Pastor’s Coach,” available at www.INJOY.com.”

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by Dan Reiland

Making a change from one church to another can be the healthy, right and God-directed thing to do. I want to stress in part one of this two part series that it’s important to leave at the right time in the right way. I want to talk with you, as a pastor, on life and ministry before you leave. Part two will deal with life and ministry before a church member leaves.

Pastor, sometimes it’s difficult to know how and when to leave. Let alone discerning the right reason. Obviously, if you are fired, most options are eliminated and leaving on a high note is a challenge. But candidly, it’s done all the time. Even under adverse circumstances you can still leave well. For the good of the church, through a series of mature conversations, both parties agree to a resignation and a win-win is created. That is the best route if a termination may be inevitable.

There are other troubling circumstances that make leaving difficult such the case with a church is meaner than a junk yard dog. These churches are sometimes called “Pastor Eaters.” The church extends an invitation with smiles and apple pie — then chews the pastor up and spits him out. Believe or not these churches exist. I hope you are not at one, but just in case. They are usually run by a church boss who intimidates everyone. (Or sometimes the church is run by a few key families who have been there for a very long time.) If you start to change too many things, or gain too much influence, you may be out. The amazing thing is that the often near evil tactics of the church boss are tolerated by the rest of the church members! The members say things like, “Well, the pastor will leave in a couple years any way and I’ve been friends with Harvey (the church boss) for 30 years!” My advice is to leave as fast as you can. Those people will have to account to God one day. So shake the Bermuda from your loafers and seek a congregation that wants to see the Great Commission come alive! If you must, take a secular job for a short time. Better to enjoy life and your family rather than be held hostage by a “mean” church.

More than the difficult church settings, I want to focus on getting clarity on leaving a normal and healthy church. What should happen before you leave? I’m referring to the many churches that you and leaders like you may serve where things are going anywhere from okay to good and even great.

Because there are literally limitless numbers of possible scenarios, I will pose seven questions for you to ponder and answer. If you cover these well you will have the insight you need to leave at the right time in the right way. Or perhaps discover that you should not leave at all.

Have you given 100% of your effort and energy?

Every church deserves your best shot. Have you worked smart and worked hard? Be careful not to get sidetracked with “stuff” on the side. You may have freedoms to teach or write or consult or whatever, but always keep your church in first position. Make your church your priority. When time constraints become tight, cut the “outside” stuff for a season. Your freedoms may be of a different kind, like how you use your day. Going to the gym, having lunch with your wife and seeing your child sing in the school play are all good, but don’t count them as work time.

Here’s my point. Don’t leave if you haven’t given it your all. You may be surprised at the difference in results and get excited about staying.

Do you have a sense that you have completed what God sent you to do?

What were your dreams and visions when you came to the church? Have you fulfilled them? Are you happy with the results of your leadership? Is there more that you know you can accomplish?

There is a difference between restless and finished. As a leader, you may be restless, but you need to finish well. If you haven’t truly landed a clear vision, you owe it to yourself (as a growing leader) and to the church to stay until you at least give it a try. I promise that if you fail at your best effort for the vision, that is so much better than succeeding at mediocre same old — same old Sunday after Sunday ministry. Safe feels good in the moment but it’s empty in the long run.

Are you leaving the church in a good financial situation?

These are tough economic times in which to make this a reality. But even now you can lead in smart and prudent ways to keep the church in a stable financial position.

You may be sensing a stir within to leave, but if six more months or so of your consistent leadership would strengthen the church’s financial position, then staying may be the right thing to do.

Paying down debt, finishing a capital campaign, completing a building project, or even smaller things like refinancing a key loan in the church can make a big difference in your legacy as a pastor. Maybe just preaching a strong tithing series, whatever it is, be sure you have done all you can do.

Are you considering leaving because you are tired or frustrated?

We’ve all experience the Monday morning blues where we’d take nearly any call that comes in for a new church. That’s not the time to go. The steeple may be taller and the pay may be higher, but the grass is never greener. Every church environment and culture has its challenges. It’s true that some have more than others, but this side of heaven there is no perfect church.

You may just need a good vacation. Get some rest. If you’ve been there for more than ten years, perhaps a short sabbatical is in order. It’s amazing how that can change your perspective. Something as simple as relaxation can give you great clarity on leaving or staying. And if you are to leave, it helps you leave with the right spirit.

If you are frustrated about something, or perhaps you are under a lot of pressure, try bringing in a consultant to help you think through the issues.

Are all relationships, as far as it depends on you, in peace?

Don’t leave if there are relationships that need to be cleaned up but you don’t want to do it. You will regret leaving relationships undone. Not everyone wants to be at peace with you. That’s not your responsibility, but for all those where peace is possible, you take the lead and get healing, harmony or at least agree to disagree. If you are to leave, it’s such a breath of fresh air to know that you love the people and they love you.

Have you discussed this with those in your inner circle?

What do those closest to you think? Is this the right time? Would you be leaving the church in good shape or at a low? What does your spouse and key advisors think?

Ultimately you must decide, but never make this decision rashly or without counsel. Too much is at stake. Leaving the right way or leaving at all is a big deal. It’s a major stress in your life and the life of your church.

Again, are you able to lead your church to the next level but just don’t want to because you want something new? If you can take it to the next level, and the people will follow, it is likely that you have another season in front of you at your current church.

Do you have a clearance from God that you are released from your ministry?

This is the bottom line. What does God say? If He says go then go. But candidly I have found that if you can’t answer the kinds of questions above with ease and integrity, you may be listening to yourself more than God. I don’t mean that harshly, I would just hate to see you make a move when it wasn’t time, or if you haven’t done what you need to do.

Of course there are other things for you to consider before you leave, but these will get you well on your way to discovering the answer and doing it the right way.

“This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland’s free monthly e-newsletter, “The Pastor’s Coach,” available at www.INJOY.com.”

Visit The Pastor’s Helper for all your ministry needs — www.pastorshelper.com

By Dan Rieland

My kids remind me that I’m no longer young. I feel young, I try to think young, but apparently there are limits! Hey, I even have an iPhone! Of course, my college student daughter laughs when I hand it to her to add the latest app or make something else on it work.

The future is always young. But it’s the wisdom of those who are not young that help navigate the future successfully. The new ideas of young leaders combined with the wisdom of veteran leaders is a powerful combination. My daughter will ask me for advice on dealing with new territory she’s never traveled before. I offer the counsel, provide guidance if needed, but let her take her own steps. I love watching her invent her future and take part in the new culture around her.

I love watching the church find its way too. It’s changing faster than ever. Don’t misunderstand, some elements of the local church should never change. The Gospel of salvation, The Great Commission, and actually caring about people are just a few of the many things that must never change. Methodology, philosophy and practice will always change.

When a church is healthy there is young life in abundance. This doesn’t mean an aging church isn’t good, it does mean however, it is aging and without new life it will stall and eventually die. That’s the circle of life itself and church doesn’t escape that reality.

So my desire is to encourage you by sharing just a few ideas about how to help keep your church young and thereby keep its future bright. You may be able to add several more thoughts, but this will get you started.

Stop protecting

This is hard if you’ve be leading for a long time. This is especially true if you’ve been leading at one place for an extended period because you are so deeply invested. A good Shepherd does protect his flock, but a good leader doesn’t protect his turf. There is quite a difference.

It’s important to give way to new ideas. Many of our staff do things differently than I would do them. That’s not only OK, it’s good. For example, I don’t tell our student ministry how to minister to Middle School and High School students. They are better at that than I am. My role is guidance and big picture leadership.

When we reshaped our purpose statement for the whole church, a staff member who was barely past twenty years old came up with the dominate theme and idea for the whole thing! That’s wonderful! Everyone over forty could resist it or even block it, but we thank the Lord for it!

If you are in a church that has no young leadership to tap into, get out and talk to some young people. Ask questions. Seek their thoughts about a young and relevant church. It could be the best cup of coffee you’ve had in a long time. Don’t be afraid to take a risk on new things. Your risk is much greater if you don’t. It’s alright to make mistakes, its not alright to remain the same.

Hire young staff

The HR specialists who read this will likely twitch and consider sending me mail. Save your time, I know the laws on this stuff. This is not about discrimination. We hire all ages. My point is to hire young every time you can.

Some churches don’t like to hire young. It’s messy. Young staff are energetic but lack experience. I know. But that keeps things alive and fun. You never know what they might blow up next. OK, I’m kidding, well, a little kidding. Young staff bring a wonderful sense of perspective and great ideas. They also attract young people!

I’m going to follow up soon with an article focusing on leading young staff, so I’ll be brief here, but let me offer a few thoughts. Ask your younger staff for their ideas, input and perspective. Really listen. You are not obligated to implement everything, but listen and learn. I love asking our young staff about their ideas. It’s always productive, and I gain insight to how they think which is also helpful.

It’s critical that you invest in young staff as a coach and mentor. Do this with the big picture in mind of empowering them to lead people as effectively as they can. Team ball and alignment is important, but a little messiness is a small price to pay for all the value that comes to leaders who help keep the church young.

Design your Sunday morning service with a young feel

This is perhaps the most subjective of all. It’s like looking at a painting and asking someone’s opinion. Art is art. So with the church, everyone has a different idea of what a young look and feel really is. Yet, with all the subjectivity, we all know what young isn’t, and if we are honest, making that distinction isn’t so difficult.

The big issues are clear. First, choose your music wisely. If you are in your forties or fifties and you know the tunes and words to everything played on Sunday morning you are in trouble. And if you are in your forties or fifties and you don’t think the music is too loud, it’s not loud enough! OK, this last one is a little tongue in check, but if you are still reading I suspect you are at least open to what I’m saying and are smiling with me. Bottom line, try new stuff!

Second, involve young leaders on the platform. This is probably the key to the whole thing. The young musicians will lead you to younger music and a younger vibe overall. Again, this attracts young people! You might be thinking, “What about the older people, don’t they matter?” Of course they do. But they should be more mature. They should know that this is not about them. They understand the need to reach the next generation. And, remember, we had the Beatles, let this generation have theirs!

Last, make sure all the components reflect a young culture. I don’t recommend attempting to capture all age groups. You can’t. It takes enough energy to capture all the different spiritual and cultural demographics in your church. Trying to do that and hit every age group ends up in a schizophrenic church service. So, as you think about humor, film, tech, drama etc, think young.

Place a premium on children’s ministry

Don’t pass over this one too quickly. When I say premium I mean top dollars, top staff and top energy to the kids. Without this you are absolutely capping your ability to reach your community.

You don’t have to be experts on children’s ministry. There are dozens of outstanding resources available to you today. You need not be paralyzed because you don’t know what to do or how to do it. There are people who have paved the way for you and are more than happy to help you resource your ministry. Your job is to find people in your church who love kids and offer them a compelling vision so they will help you create an environment that kids love and can’t wait to be part of.

Please don’t confuse relevant ministry to children with childcare. They aren’t the same. In order to reach kids you need to keep up with the world they live in. That world is fast-paced and built around technology. When you add to that mix loving adult leaders who truly care about the kids, you create a winning program that the kids will love.

Invest in the next generation

This last thought picks up where the previous point on Children’s ministry leaves off. The full line of investment in the next generation starts with children’s ministry and continues through Middle School, High School and College ministries.

The vision of the church must capture the young people, and at the same time be compelling enough that older generations get excited about it in such a way that they will invest both time and money. Let’s face it, middle-aged and older generations have no trouble loving and believing in kids. Just watch a grand-parent with a grandchild. I’ve seen some of the wisest, most sophisticated and successful adults act entirely goofy around their grandkids! It’s great! Love and hope for the next gen is not in shortage. Its all about leadership and vision and that’s up to you.

Take some time to dream about what you can do for the next generation in your church. You’ll feel younger just doing that! And by the way, if you are in your twenties, hang on, there is a generation that thinks you are old! Save this article.

“This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland’s free monthly e-newsletter, “The Pastor’s Coach,” available at www.INJOY.com.”

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Why do some leaders consistently seem to be a step ahead of others? More specific than that, why do some leaders of similar intelligence and dedication to God appear land leadership better than others? Have you noticed that working hard, sound strategy and even great vision doesn’t always work? What is in play that makes the difference?

It is something I call “leadership intangibles.” They don’t normally find their way into a book, seminar or mentoring session but make up the critical difference in leadership. The reason I call them “intangibles” is because they are difficult to describe, they change according to situation and are complicated to evaluate. They are more art than science. But they are all doable. It’s like choosing the right color, name, or birthday card, it’s often difficult, but definitely doable.

I love connecting with great leaders and I’ve been taking notes. What is it that makes them stand out that is not on the typical list of “what a leader does?” What a leader does and how she does it is important, but these intangibles seem to create the tipping point. Now, here’s my wild idea. I believe that if these things don’t come to you naturally, you can learn them. You may never become a rock star, but you can lift your own leadership lid enough to make a big difference in your life and in the lives of those you lead.

Five intangibles to strengthen your leadership:

Energy

I’m writing this on a Sunday afternoon. Shannon Whaples (Next Gen Pastor at 12Stone) and I drove from Atlanta to Anderson, South Carolina to connect with some colleagues and friends on the staff of New Spring Church. Perry Noble is the pastor at New Spring but wasn’t delivering the message. The guest speaker was Perry’s friend, Steven Furtick, Lead Pastor of Elevation Church. (North Carolina) Both New Spring and Elevation are fast-growing mega-churches. Both churches have leaders that love Jesus and teach an uncompromised gospel message.

I’ve known Perry for awhile now, and I greatly appreciate his leadership, but just had the opportunity to meet Steven today. The first thing that jumped out about both of them this morning was their energy. These guys bring energy into the room. I’m not talking about only on the platform, but where ever they are they bring energy to the mix. Energy draws people, stirs people, and enlivens people. Its no accident that Perry’s church is full of leaders with energy. Jason Wilson is a key leader on Perry’s staff, one of the best leaders with people I’ve ever met. Jason brings people energy where ever he is. People like Jason and want to follow him.

Leading with energy doesn’t mean you walk into a room and try to act large and in charge. It means you show up 100% engaged and in the game. You translate the leadership passion in your heart to the people in the room for the sake of the mission, regardless of the size of the room or how many people are in it. This is more about intensity as a leader rather than being an intense leader. No one likes an intense person, but everyone loves intensity for the mission.

Intuition

I’ve got good news for all you scientists, this is not as mystical as it sounds. And I’ve good news for you touchy-feelys, this is more concrete than you think. First let me say that I distinguish between discernment and intuition. My intuition is high but my discernment is often low. It’s a fine line, but hang with me. When I meet someone for the first time I can’t tell you if they were an axe-murderer or some other evil thing earlier in life. In the more classic sense, I probably can’t tell you about their spiritual standing either. But I will “intuit” the room very accurately. I will get the feel, connection, vibe and be able to interpret the person(s) in context with others in the room and what is happening in the moment. (Or supposed to be happening.) That’s the difference for me. The discerner’s primary focus is on one person at a time. The intuitive leader senses what’s going on “in the room” in the larger context of mission and people.

Intuition is internal and can’t be put on a diagram. It’s like trying to put the relative value of poem on a chart. You can’t do it, or more accurately, you shouldn’t try. But intuition is also about things you can lean into. Leaders who are high in intuition pay attention. They are observant and understand how to connect the dots. They are good students of human nature and can read the vibe of a room. They are the opposite of clueless. They know what is going on and rarely miss much. Intuitive leaders can interpret behavior (which is not that difficult if you watch behavior for years and begin to understand the patterns of people). Intuition isn’t magic. Intuition is in everyone. It’s up to you to cultivate it.

Presence

I will admit that this one is complicated. When you say “He is larger than life”, you know that person when you see them, but try to explain that to someone. If you really want to have fun, try to explain that to someone from another country who doesn’t speak English. Yes, I tried that while teaching a leadership lesson in Ukraine. Now that was fun!

Leadership presence isn’t entirely about stature and God-given gifts. We can’t deny those realities, but there’s more to it than persona.

First, there is confidence. There are many highly gifted people who have a negative presence. They take energy and life out of a room when they walk in. They are emotionally needy or simply narcissistic and require everyone’s attention. You can be an average to above average leader with great confidence and your presence will rise dramatically. Confidence comes from a number of things, but primarily from listening to God and putting to practice what He tells you. I like to call that divine experience! It’s all about doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time for the right reason. Do that over and over again and your confidence will soar.

Second, you can tap into relational charisma. I talk about this a lot. Here it is again. When you walk into a room and you intentionally endeavor to cause everyone in the room to feel better about who they are; rather than try to make them feel better about who you are — you just gave a major boost to your relational charisma. And that is a primary factor in personal presence.

Third, there is something about just showing up and preparation. These are two important components. Showing up is the first. I never thought I would see the day when leaders gained favor merely because they showed up. But time compression is real and leaders can’t be everywhere at once. What you choose to show up to matters. Your presence counts. It may be a funeral, a party, an optional meeting or just Starbucks with a friend – don’t underestimate your presence. Second, being prepared is huge. Sometimes there is no preparation required, just showing up with your heart engaged. Other times you need to do your homework. I’ve seen some average leaders show up very well prepared and their presence was noticed in a big way!!

Thought

Leaders think differently than non-leaders and their life reflects it. The average person doesn’t come to the end of a year and spend time reflecting on lessons learned and how to make the greatest impact in the following year. If you take the time to write out your thoughts, what you learned, the mistakes you made, and what you want to achieve in the year ahead, you have just separated yourself from the pack.

What you think about matters. What makes you wonder? What captures your imagination? What do you dream about? What makes you angry? What do you want to change? These are the kinds of things leaders think about. To miss these practices is to be a doer. There is nothing wrong with being a good doer, the world needs them, but they don’t lead.

Don’t spend your time fussing about little things that don’t matter. That makes you a picky and petty person. People don’t want to follow a picky and petty leader. People don’t want to follow negative people. They follow positive people with ideas of how to make life better.

Think in terms of ideas and how to make them happen. You may not believe you are a creative person. but most people are more creative than they think. Keep in mind that if you have just a few well-timed and good ideas a year, you are way ahead of the game.

Belief is a leadership intangible that could be listed on its own, but can also be combined under thought, so I’ll place it here. What do you believe about leadership, God, and people? What you believe about these things matters. What you believe, in many ways, is the result of thoughts you have landed. Belief is a product of your thinking. Belief is also about faith. Faith and thought are highly interrelated.

Belief shapes your values, convictions and how you know the mind of God. As Christian leaders we don’t like to say that God is intangible, but He is. That doesn’t make Him less real or powerful, it’s more about our finite human limitations on fully knowing the mind of God. The beauty of the mystery is that we have full access. It’s up to us to pursue God’s invitation to His presence and power.

Desire

Here’s the last one on my list of leadership intangibles. Let me put it in the form of a question. What do you want? Too many leaders don’t know what they want. You need to know. They often know what they are supposed to want, but it comes out sounding like the beauty pageant answer of “world peace.”

You will never lead well if you don’t know what you want. Yup, I said never. You can’t. If you don’t know what you want, you don’t know where you are going and you therefore lack the passion to get there. (Let alone a plan.)

Don’t let this point make you uncomfortable. Lean into the freedom it gives you. Don’t let this become loaded with the pressure of another thing on your to do list. “Monday morning. . . figure out what I want.” This is oxygen to a leader. You know what you want, you just need to give your self permission to say it out loud and find the courage to actually do it.

It’s never too late. What do you want? How is God calling you to make a difference? What do you see that needs to be changed? How would you like to do that? Don’t worry about all the strategic plans just yet. There is time for that. And definitely don’t focus on all the reasons why it won’t work. Others will do that for you. Know what you want and set out on your path to get there.

As you think about these five leadership intangibles, where are you strong? What do you need to improve? Tackle one at a time, becoming a better leader is a lifetime process.

“This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland’s free monthly e-newsletter, “The Pastor’s Coach,” available at www.INJOY.com.”

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From time to time I meet someone and think, “Now there’s a natural leader.” They have a certain something about them that makes them stand out. This is not about a flashy personality, but more so a conviction of soul that is unwavering. It’s more about a sharpness and quickness that puts them a step ahead of the pack. When this is combined with evidence of a track record of vision and accomplishment, the natural leader truly begins to rise above the norm.

But what makes them a natural leader? What does that mean and how does that matter? The curious thing about natural leaders is that some leverage their influence for significant and meaningful ministry and others flame out. Character matters.

The last edition of The Pastor’s Coach was Part 1 of this two part series, and it focused on Learned Leaders (click here to read Part 1). Allow me to repeat one paragraph to refresh the context.

Is all leadership innate and natural? Is leadership limited to a spiritual gift? Or is it possible that leadership can be learned? This is a controversial subject, but I am of the strong opinion that you can learn leadership. I have watched far too many people who don’t fit the typical leadership image emerge from the fray and assume substantial responsibility and carry it well. Not as a manager, but as a leader – someone who has true influence and leverages it toward a clear and compelling preferred future.

In this article, I will address the profile of a Natural Leader. I urge you to study these two articles side by side because the real insights do not show up in independent readings, but in comparison and contrast of the Learned Leader and the Natural leader.

The Natural Leader

Characteristics

• Natural leaders lead easily.

I won’t say it’s like riding a bicycle, but its close. Leading is so innate and instinctive that it’s almost automatic. If you are a natural leader, it’s just what you do. When you were young you may have been seen as a “problem kid”. You weren’t. You were a leader in the making. Or perhaps as a young adult you were the one who saw things a different way, often interpreted as “your way.” These are often signs of an emerging leader. Regardless of your age and stage as a leader, the key is what you do with these natural instincts. Do you leverage them to get what you want or to help others? Can you submit to other more seasoned leaders or are you prideful and insist on doing it all your way? Having followers and leading easily is only the beginning, its what you choose to do with that ability over the course of a lifetime that matters.

• Natural leaders possess undeniable vision.

Candidly, I’ve never found an exception to this characteristic. Sometimes the vision isn’t completely clear, sometimes there is no written plan to achieve the vision, but the vision is present and there is passion to achieve it.

I have talked with many pastors who are “between” visions… sort of. It’s typically more about the partial death of a vision and a transition to another church than truly the lack of a vision. But it may feel that way. This is especially true if the pastor was wounded in one way or another.

So, this is the great divide. This is the characteristic that separates, to a large degree, learned leaders from natural leaders. So, how about you? Do you have a vision? Is it known and embraced by others? Are you passionate about fulfilling that vision? If so, you’ve passed the first gate… keep reading.

• Natural leaders are idea factories.

The formation of ideas has a potential upside and downside. The upside is that you are creative, solution oriented and have lots of ideas. They are not all good, but you have so many you are bound to hit gold sooner or later! The downside is that because you have so many ideas, you may bounce around in direction and therefore none of the ideas get enough attention to develop and make a difference.

Tagging on to the previous characteristic, it’s kind of like the “vision of the week.” You get so excited about something you read, or that you heard at a conference, or that you thought up yourself that you just “gotta” do it. The idea generation is good, the enthusiasm is great, but the lack of ability to “pick it and stick it” will kill you in time.

• Natural leaders have a strong ego.

This refers to the healthy ego strength that is necessary to accomplish any worthwhile vision. This is not about a self-absorbed and narcissistic approach to life and leadership.

It’s important that you know yourself, love yourself, and enjoy being you. It’s important that you have a sense of your gifts being fruitful and productive. Yet at the same time, you fully grasp your utter dependence upon God in such a way that reminds you it was He that gave you all your gifts and abilities. On your own you can do nothing that lasts or matters. It’s important that you know that God is the One who granted you the vision that is within you.

• Natural leaders need to lead.

In contrast to the learned leader who doesn’t “need” to lead, you do. In part one I stated that if a learned leader walks into a room where there is a leader who is engaged, in charge, and things are working well, he or she will feel no real compulsion to take over. This is very different for the natural leader. Natural leaders just can’t help themselves. They walk in and always see how they could do it better. It’s not necessarily arrogance. It’s more about wiring. Natural leaders naturally assess. It can sound arrogant or critical, but at the heart of any leader is the desire to make things better. It’s about progress, its about improving things… thus vision. If you as a natural leader assess yourself as a better leader than the one in the room (for good or bad, this is often the case) it is difficult for you to remain in the room and do nothing. The irony is that the leader is often doing a good job. The issue is that you would do it differently. If this is you, take hope, it does get better with maturity. In time you begin to realize that God can actually run a few things well without you!

Strengths

• Confidence

Confidence comes with the territory for natural leaders. There are times when fear creeps in, but overall you are confident in yourself and your abilities. It is also common that when you make a mistake that you get over it quickly, rebound and move on. People not only notice your confidence but draw from it personally.

• Communication

This is not about “preaching” abilities, though you may be a gifted preacher. This is more about leading from the platform and interpersonal communication in one to one and in small groups settings. Natural leaders do not struggle with making their thoughts known and clear. Words are easy for you and people not only understand you but seem to enjoy listening to what you have to say.

• Natural intuition

Natural leaders have a natural sense of intuition. You may find it hard to explain to others but like a seasoned cop on the streets, you know stuff in your gut, just because you know. You can’t always give a reason, but you know. You sense it and you sense it first. You make a decision, take action and things go well because of your action. There are checks and balances here. You need to be right much more than wrong. Sorry, but intuition isn’t of value if you are wrong more times than you are right!

Challenges

• Distractions

You may be smart, creative and fast, but the inability to focus will cost you dearly as a leader. Natural leaders like new stuff. They migrate toward the latest trend, best practices, and coolest technology. That’s all good as long as you don’t try to mix it all up in one local church pot. That makes a mess.

More importantly is the temptation to succumb to internal distractions. By internal distractions I mean the need to continually conquer new territory, when you haven’t yet fully conquered the territory God has given you. Frankly, though the load of the church is heavy, it moves slowly. You may get bored and tempted to do other things to an extent that your first love and responsibility suffers. Speaking events, writing books, consulting, starting new ministry ventures, launching your own conference or being highly leveraged in your personal endeavors are good things in and of themselves. But they can also be huge distractions to what you are called to do. Sometimes even networking can become a distraction. Meeting people just to meet people. Yes, its fun, we love people. But stay on purpose.

• Cutting corners

This can get the best of natural leaders. Because you are often the smartest and fastest “been there done that” kid on the block, you may be tempted to show up unprepared – simply because you can. You may be tempted to do less that your best. You can get away with this for awhile, sometimes for a long while, but eventually it will catch up with you. Good leaders never quit digging in, learning, preparing and growing.

• Humility

Pride is often the unwanted companion that comes with confidence. I said that a healthy ego is a good thing, and it is. But left to its own path, it can get out of control. Jim Collins talks about how tough it is for strong leaders to “subjugate their egos” and allow true humility to shine through. But without that, you never realize the “level five” leadership he writes about in Good to Great. More importantly, pride breaks fellowship with God. Conquering a zealous ego is tough, but it’s a must for your natural leadership to find its highest and most long term effectiveness.

Key Concept

• Strategic

The summary of strengths and challenges leads to the concept of leading strategically as the essential path to your maximum effectiveness. Strategic is not about being boring, monotonous, predictable, and over-structured. Strategic is being on purpose and staying on purpose. Leading strategically involves knowing where you are going, why you are going there, and how you will get there. Strategy is feet to your dreams – it is a plan to your purpose. To nail this down is highly freeing. It makes decision-making so much easier too.

Application

• Don’t get sloppy or lazy.

So think about it, if you are fast, smart, creative, confident, a good communicator and in general – ahead of the pack, your temptation to get lazy or sloppy can be off the chart. Discipline is essential. I’ve been blown away at the amount of talent that amounted to nothing because discipline was not exercised. Dig in and stay tough. Know your disciplines and stick with them. I highly recommend a book by John Maxwell titled Today Matters. It will help you with 12 daily practices (disciplines) that will help you strengthen your leadership.

• Understand and appreciate others ideas and input.

Be careful of impatience, and be intentional about seeking the contribution of others. This can feel like it slows you down, but if you will give them a chance, your top leaders have more to offer than you might realize. Mining their potential requires you to invest in them, but its worth it. This is especially true for your staff. (If your staff are not sharp, why did you hire them and why do you keep them?!)

• Include implementers on the team.

I’ve listened to some of the best natural leaders in very large churches give this advice. We all need people on our teams who are happy to be top notch sharpies that get the job done. You give them the ball and they gain yardage – every time. They don’t need or desire to be the top dog. But they can keep up with the top dog on their assignments. And if you give them some leeway, they just might run past you! How cool is that!!! Point out the right direction and let them run!! They aren’t wired to dream dreams and have visions. They aspire to purpose and meaningful ministry. Give them a shot at it.

• Stay focused.

I’ve given more than a hint to this under the topic of distractions. Its strange how difficult this is for driven and passionate leaders, but its true. Find your focus and stick with it. I know its tough, but you don’t have a choice if you really want to achieve all God has in mind for you and your church. Listening for God to speak and seeking wise counsel from a small trusted group will help you land your guiding principles and overall direction. Get that clear and never deviate. You have more room to play on the strategic pathways to get there, but even those should not be changing every few months. Again, what may feel containing is actually freeing. Focus allows you to get where you really want to go.

So, what do you think? Are you a learned leader or a natural leader? What makes you think so? You may feel you are a sort of “blend and blur” of both. That is likely true, but you are undoubtedly more one that the other. Knowing which one you are most like is vital. This is a huge gateway to strengthening your leadership.

“This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland’s free monthly e-newsletter, “The Pastor’s Coach,” available at www.INJOY.com.”

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