Let's Hang Out!

Leadership and "Hanging Out" So many leaders take no time to hang out with the team. The leaders that are most effective know how important it is to take time to hang out with the team. They are also the ones who develop the most loyal followers. People on the team who do not know each other or vaguely know each other become close allies as the spend time together - Because they become friends, they are more committed to the vision and the goals of the total organization. The people in the organization must know that the leader cares about them. When they hang out, they learn that is so. This often takes an investment of time and some money. The dividends to this type of investment are well worth the investment! In our ministry, we approach many people from different denominations with the vision of reaching the boys and girls with the gospel in our public schools. 1. We recruit them because they are caught by the Holy Spirit and catch the vision. 2. We then train and train them so more. 3. We also provide all the needed support, materials and supplies. 4. We ask them to be accountable to our leadership. 5. Then we say, "sick-um" and turn them loose in the schools! 6. We Praise God that the Club is started and children's lives are transformed for eternity. 7. We ask them to stay connected to the ministry. Often we offer additional curriculum training. 8. We cap it off by sending them a request to give through one of our well designed prayer letters, but we forget one of the most important keys to solid Leadership and successful ministry. Just hanging out! Recognition is another missing element in building teams. We leave out being a friend and team building. Maybe this is one of the reasons why the ministry only has reached 4500 -5000 schools out of the total schools available. We must be very careful as we work with the people that partner and volunteer with us in ministry. We must see them as valuable assets in the kingdom and treat them as the treasure they are. I am afraid we sometimes are more concerned about the success and the needs of "our ministry" than their concerns and needs. We sometimes act like they are there to serve us. The truth is we should be serving them. Trust and collaboration is built when the leadership intentionally looks for ways to build friendships with the next layer of leadership. This is not done at another ministry meeting; this is done at social events and personal connecting intersections with just a "touch" of ministry meeting. It is a time for getting to truly know the people that make up your team. How well do your volunteers and staff really know you? What do they really know about your hopes, dreams and goals? And what do you as the leader know about theirs? What feedback are you getting? The best way to communicate is in a "no business /ministry meeting" - Informal and hanging out is best! When is the last time you recognized either formally or informally someone for their gift to the ministry? Have you recognized the efforts of the teams already working in the public schools? In the ministry we work with a force of volunteers. This makes it even more important to build the team. Recognition is so important, a simple plaque, a certificate and other team-oriented awards drive the success of any team. Somehow we have left this out of the equation of ministry. This is what drives leaders to lead and to become the best promoters of the cause. We have an amazing resource; we are not honoring or encouraging the hundreds of thousands of people, each with individual gifts and talents. We have committed volunteers giving their time and energy. All good first steps. Do you realize the power God has provided us as a ministry that is squandered daily? If each of those volunteers or those who are in our classes caught the vision and told just one person, just imagine the possibilities. It is important to recognize the doors that could open if we only promoted it properly. How many more pastors, friends and relatives could be impacted if we would only share the need and the idea of reaching out, and encouraged volunteers to be the leaders. What would happen? The next step to building the team is to hang out with the next level of leadership .. leadership is the key. Build committed leaders. Finances are often the excuse from the leader as to why we don't do more socially. But we might want to think about how to allocate the funds more effectively to produce more funds. Sometimes I see such unwise decisions and choices because we are looking to the immediate rather than building for the future. Maybe we need to rethink our budgets and build more into them for Hanging Out and recognition. There is a big difference between a caring and appreciative leaders, and a controlling leader. We must see far beyond the needs of the ministry and the identity of the ministry. We must build followers and leaders to lead more followers and leaders. A leaders of leaders listens with their heart. Focus the team on the vision and watch for those who truly catch the vision. Then begin to build those into the great leaders needed to move the organization forward. Much of this work is accomplished through hanging out. How much time do you as a leader spend thinking about what would make an act of recognition special and unique for the team member? It has been said that... Recognition- "grown men die for it and baby's cry for it." There are two distinctive forms of recognition. Number 1. General recognition which is catching people doing things right and paying attention to the significance of what they are doing. Number 2. Competitive recognition which is designed to promote excellence and the stretch for success. This is a celebratory recognition which draws a competitive spirit to excel and thrive. Celebration delineates the "truth"; it helps separate high performance from those performing less. It is at these events the team grows to new levels, and new starting points are initiated as others with competitive juice are touched and the spirit of team grows. This is a great moment for awards and trophies. Think creatively and award creatively. Let's all do a better job of just hanging out, stretching our teams and encouraging ongoing success!