Learning Leadership

How to allow your organization/program to succeed when you are gone (part 2)

Yesterday I wrote about one of the two reasons I believe A Day of Hope has had success over the past two years without my help.

Another reason A Day of Hope has been successful (from what I can deduce) is that I have modeled good leadership, then I got out of the way.

This is something I learned from John Maxwell when listening to one of his leadership lessons where he described the final days in his last church he served as Senior Pastor. On his last day as Senior Pastor he made it very clear to his congregation that when he was leaving their church he was no longer the people's pastor. He was not going to perform weddings, he was not going to guest speak, he was not going to provide counseling, and he was not going to provide any consultation to the church. Since he was leaving the church to devote himself to full-time leadership teaching he was turning the church over to another pastor. And from that day on, the new pastor was the people's pastor. The last thing the new pastor needed was for the old senior pastor to get in the way and prevent the success of the new pastor.

I believed the same principle applied to my role at A Day of Hope. For a short period of time I attended a few of the A Day of Hope meetings, gave some help in specific areas, and provided my input. However, I noticed an unhealthy habit I had of wanting to provide input on the way I would do things. This was a new team going in a new direction and they didn't need the founder and past leader talking about the good'ol days of how he did the project in past years.

They were a new group with new ideas and they needed to be let free to try new things. Even if they failed that was not my place to inject myself to tell them what would and would not work. 

One of the reasons I believe A Day of Hope has been successful without me is because I modeled good leadership for them, then I got out of the way. Me getting out of the way might have made the project tough for them at times because they were unsure of how to run things or operate (which is why I wrote them a book). However, I think the program has been more successful without me helping than it would have been if I tried to help.

Question: Have you seen an organization where the leader stepped down and got out of the way? Did it work well?

Staying on the Road as Long as Possible

While reading a devotional titled, Bridges to Contemplative Living, one statement stood out to me much more than any other: “It is better for us to die on the road than to have never started out at all” (pg 24-25).

As a Christian man I want to courageously pursue God’s calling on my life and realize that I might fail along the way. A life following Jesus Christ promises many hills and valleys which I need to embrace and be prepared for as I begin to walk the “road.” In walking that road of ministry I want to be able to stay on it as long as possible (God willing, of course). I want to be able to endure is as a godly man of character and virtue, and I find Fernando’s statement insightful that “long-term effectiveness in ministry is a result of a life characterized by the fullness of the Spirit” (pg 36).

In his book, Jesus Driven Ministry Ajith Fernando teaches us that as we minister to people and continue to do that over time, we need to constantly allow the Spirit to search us and find out the faults that we have. In this way, we are able to maintain that godly character and slowly make those small adjustments along the way of our ministry with the help of the Spirit to teach and guide us where we should go and serve who we should serve. With that Spirit’s guidance I hope that I can die on the road of ministry after a long trip of faithful service because I allowed the Spirit to correct me along the way.

Question: How do you plan to stay on the road of ministry/leadership as long as possible? 

How to Leave an Organization Well

Recently we had a staffer leave our organization who sent everyone a nice email on her last day.

With her permission I'm sharing it with you (my blog readers) along with my thoughts of how to leave an organization well.  Here's her note.

Hello Everyone!  This is just a little thank you for the breakfast potluck this morning.  The food was very good. Thank you for sharing!

I am glad that I got to work at United Way for the last 4 months.  United Way is a wonderful service and I learned so much about the services that they provide.  I am saying good bye to working here at United Way but I do not plan to be a stranger.  I still plan to work with the Power of the Purse and will plan to attend events as my schedule permits. 

I enjoyed the work that I did here at United Way.  I am not one who likes to just sit around, so keeping busy was a good thing.  I know that I stepped on a few toes along the way, but that was not my intention.  I was just trying to do what was asked of me.  Thank you (name omitted) and (name omitted) for having the confidence in me to allow me to intern as the Administrative Assistant.

Thank you Christopher and (name omitted) for being patient with me in typing up the minutes for the Impact Councils.  Thank you Mr. Wonnerful for keeping the RC stocked.  

Thank you (name omitted), (name omitted) and (name omitted) for helping me to find assistance through the services that United Way provides.  You are greatly appreciated by me and the others that you help in this community.

Even though I have not mentioned everyone specifically in this email, you ALL do a fantastic job at United Way and I know that you will keep up the wonderful work.  I will definitely be referring people to United Way when they need assistance for I know that you will be able to direct them in the right way.

Again, thank you for everything!  I appreciate the thoughts and prayers. 

Sincerely,
Sheila Bys

Sheila is currently looking for a job.  You can view here resume here.

Here are my tips on How to Leave an Organization Well:

1. Say thank you to everyone at the organization - Say thank you to as many people as you can for anything you can think of.  It can be as simple as thanking an administrative assistant for always making coffee in the morning for the entire office, thanking someone on your team for always having an upbeat attitude, or anything else you're grateful for.
2. Share your favorite memories - People love to share memories.  And when you tell your coworkers your favorite memories which includes them, it shows them that they meant something to you. 
3. Say something nice to everyone you can - If you can find ways to compliment your fellow staffers, do it.  Tell them the good qualities that you see in them.  Speak into their lives and show you have confidence that they will go on to do great things at the organization.

If you're curious about what you can do when someone leaves your organization, you can read one example of what I recently did for a staffer who left our organization back in May.

What others thoughts do you have about how to leave an organization well?

Leaders Leave a Legacy

Leaders know what they want to be remembered for.

They know what they want to accomplish, who they want to become, what they want to have done, who they want to be remembered for, and for why they did what they did.

As a leader, I want to be remembered as someone who loved and who served.

Who loved people in all walks of life. Regardless of status, disability, race or color. To be remembered for having compassion, respect and honor for everyone by showing it on a daily basis.

Who served people in all walks of life. Someone who knew what his God given gifts were, and who used them to the fullest extent that he could. Who did everything he could to serve and help people, and in the process also served as a great witness of a Christ Follower at work for nonbelievers.   

Honoring the Leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Last year I wrote this post honoring the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Recently I read a book outlining more of who he was as a leader entitled, Martin Luther King, Jr., on Leadership: Inspiration and Wisdom for Challenging Times by Donald Phillip.

After reading the book there were a few more distinctions I've made about the amazing leadership qualities of Dr. King.

Here they are:

• Communication - He prepared and worked extremely hard to communicate effectively and passionately. He was known to be very serious when we spoke, but always had a message that was uplifting, inspiring and full of vision for a greater America where blacks enjoyed equal rights.
• Consensus - He was known well for building consensus with people in all walks of life.
• Passion - He was in the front lines of many of the protests, marches, sit ins, and stand ins that took place during the social rights movements.
• Sacrifice - He often had to sacrifice his own safety and the safety of his family in order to lead the civil rights movement. That sacrifice ultimately led to his own death.

On this day that we honor and remember Martin Luther King, Jr. Let us remember him not just for what he did while alive, but for the picture of what a true leader should look like.

No one remembers how many shots you miss

In 1962, Philadelphia Warrior's Center Will Chamberlain scored 100 points in one basketball game.

100 points!

What's ironic is that no one remembers how many shots he missed that game. People only remember how many shots he made and how many points he scored.

When it comes to you and your leadership legacy, no one is going to remember how many times you failed.

People will remember you for what you created and what you did, not for what you failed to do.