Tim Spencer

Serve. Grow. Lead.

Archives for April 2015

Use Medium-Term Goals to Stay on Target

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dart_boardMedium-term goals are a natural extension of weekly goals, details and to-do lists. They are the incremental checkpoints that have to be reached on the way to annual goals and objectives.

Let’s define the duration of goals this way:

  • Short-Term – 30 days or less
  • Medium-Term – 2 to 11 months
  • Long-Term – 12 months or more

We often associate goal-setting with annual goals—the type of goals typically set as a part of performance review processes. But while annual goals are important, they aren’t very effective as standalone objectives. In fact, recent evidence confirms that goal-setting should happen more frequently than once a year:

The traditional once-a-year setting of employee goals and performance review is totally out of date,” says Kris Duggan [co-founder of Silicon Valley startup firm BetterWorks]. “To really improve performance, goals need to be set more frequently, be more transparent to the rest of the company, and progress towards them measured more often.

Consider 3 ways that medium-term goals help you stay on target:

  1. Medium-term goals bridge short-term and long-term goals. While short-term goals form your daily and weekly nuts-and-bolts task list, you need bridge goals to steer you toward your long-term objectives. Medium-term goals fit the bill, providing a progress report at set times throughout the year.
  2. Medium-term goals are a natural time to make adjustments. If there’s a problem with your “big picture” plan, you’re more likely to discover it as you set and evaluate medium-term goals. Intermediate goals help you adapt to changing conditions and, if necessary, adjust the long-term objective.
  3. Medium-term goals focus on quarterly results. A study of big companies by consulting firm Deloitte found that: “Those which set quarterly goals are nearly four times more likely to be in the top quartile of performers.” It pays to set incremental checkpoints as you strive toward annual goals and objectives.

Quarterly and semi-annual goals can be applied in your personal, professional and organizational worlds. Whatever the area of your life, apply medium-term goals to stay on target:

  • Personally – Family, self-improvement and life development goals
  • Professionally – Career, work and leadership development goals
  • Organizationally – Business or ministry vision, values and OGSM-driven goals

So what’s the Big Idea?

It pays to set medium-term goals, especially quarterly and semi-annual ones. They bridge short-term and long-term goals and provide incremental checkpoints to make adjustments as you strive toward annual goals and objectives.

Resources


Source

“The Quantified Serf” (Schumpeter), The Economist (March 7, 2015), 70.

From Self-Reliance to God-Reliance

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handsThink about the ways that being independent gets sewn into your life. It happens in school from the first day you go to Kindergarten. It happens in business as you learn to promote yourself and advance your career. It happens as you move away from home and take responsibility for things your parents used to do for you.

But after all those lessons in becoming independent, you have to live in the opposite direction. For most of us, the first big lesson happens in marriage. We discover the limits of self-reliance and the beauty of a collaborative, loving relationship with someone else.

But the greatest lesson in dependent living is the one we learn as a child of God. Jesus said:

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. – John 15:5 (NIV)

Abiding in Christ means that you depend on Him in every corner of your life. That happens most readily through prayer. Bill Hybels said it this way:

From birth we have been learning the rules of self-reliance as we strain and struggle to achieve self-sufficiency. Prayer flies in the face of those deep-seated values. It is an assault on human autonomy, an indictment of independent living. To people in the fast lane, determined to make it on their own, prayer is an embarrassing interruption.

Interruption or not, prayer is the indispensable ingredient in any relationship with a communicating God. Without it, the faith relationship breaks down and your independence asserts itself once more. To break the chains of self-reliance and self-sufficiency:

  1. Start your day with prayer. Confess your sins before God and commit to an attitude of worship and Spirit-sensitivity throughout the day. Taking that simple step at the start helps build a supernatural perspective for the daily grind.
  2. Live with God-reliance vs. self-reliance. Approach your daily routine with healthy skepticism about old habits and tendencies. Ask key questions to keep the proper perspective for living a life on mission for God. Pray short prayers throughout the day, asking God to help in both the big and small things.
  3. Consider the source of every decision you make. Are you making decisions with human wisdom, knowledge and motivation, or is a supernatural God transforming and directing your life? Remember that prayer and meditation is not an interruption, it’s at the heart of your relationship with a communicating God.
  4. Acknowledge your inadequacy at every turn. Demonstrate humility and servant leadership, remembering that God is holy and you are not. Believers are not meant to operate independently from the sustaining presence of their God. Your humble words and actions make that task a lot easier.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Live with God-reliance vs. self-reliance in every aspect of your life. The key is regular communication with God in the big and small things of life. That unnatural activity pushes self-reliance to the side and leads you to embrace total dependence on an eternally faithful God.

Resources


Source

Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not to Pray: Slowing Down to Be with God (10th Anniversary Edition, Revised and Expanded), 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 9.

Confidence, Uncertainty and Spiritual Leadership

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uncertain_leaderLeading with confidence is highly valued. The 1984 TV commercial for Gillette’s Dry Idea antiperspirant ended with the famous ad slogan: “Never let them see you sweat.” In recent days, Duck Dynasty’s Jase Robertson deadpanned: “When you don’t know what you’re doing, you might as well do it quickly.”

Most people and organizations value leaders who exude confidence at every turn. Hesitation indicates flawed thinking and indecisiveness marks weak character. For those reasons and more, young leaders learn early in their careers to push uncertainty aside and project an air of confident decision making. It’s a key character trait that usually leads to positions of status and influence.

But do leaders always have clarity and confidence about their decisions and plans? The honest answer has to be no. Don Moore’s Harvard Business Review article sums it up well:

In the long term, honesty is the only sustainable strategy. Rather than fooling themselves, or us, we should want our leaders to represent the truth, even when it makes their jobs harder. That is, after all, one of the great missions to which we entrust them: to take the complex information and broad vantage point to which they have access and convey it to the rest of us in a useful way. Doing so represents authentic and courageous leadership, even if it means being less certain.

Courageous leaders find a way to embrace confidence and uncertainty together as key characteristics of humble and honest leadership. What are the appropriate moments to be less certain about the future? Be honest when:

  1. You don’t have enough information.
  2. The pace of change—with positive and negative outcomes—is too rapid for accurate forecasts (and decision making).
  3. The opportunity cost for a decision isn’t clear.
  4. Sharp disagreement exists on your team.

None of this means that a leader should stop leading or making decisions. In fact, these are the times when honest leadership is most needed. Communicate with others that uncertainty exists. And recognize that there are times when God calls you to pause and wait. That’s not a comfortable place for many leaders, but it may be your calling for a season.

For leaders who find it difficult to practice uncertainty (and I count myself in this group), consider a few ideas for more honest and open leadership:

  • Wait on the Lord. Waiting is not easy in a culture of doing, but it’s a God-called place for every believer. If you spend too little time considering what God is saying in the quiet moments, then the watch word is “wait”—create some space in your day to pray, study the Word and worship. Read more
  • Expand your prayer habit. Make prayer part of your daily routine for greater effectiveness in every area of your life. Expand that principle to your family and church to appropriate divine power for living the everyday mission of God. Most of all, believe in the power of prayer. Read more
  • Practice humility. Demonstrate “serve first” leadership at every opportunity. Serve your leader with humility. Encourage a “serve first” attitude in the people you lead. Seek a “serve first” attitude in potential hires. Read more
  • Listen to learn. Discuss key challenges and decisions with team members at all levels of the organization. Collaborate with team members and listen to what they have to say.
  • Protect yourself from over-confidence. Check your motivations, your knowledge and your heart when you have a high level of confidence in a decision you’re about to make.
  • Conduct due diligence. Analyze the situation and research the facts impacting a decision. If you don’t have enough information to proceed, then it’s time to wait on the Lord.
  • Pause before big decisions. Plan an intentional pause before making an important decision.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Courageous leaders find a way to embrace confidence and uncertainty together as key characteristics of humble and honest leadership. Communicate with others that uncertainty exists. And recognize that there are times when God calls you to pause and wait.

Resources


Source

“Smart Leaders Are OK with Seeming Uncertain” by Don Moore, Harvard Business Review (February 10, 2015), https://hbr.org/2015/02/smart-leaders-are-ok-with-seeming-uncertain.

Ministry Strategy Planning with OGSM

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mountain“Oh Great, (just) Shoot Me!” Those OGSM words have been heard more than once when a new strategy planning process is about to begin. Born in the fear and anxiety we feel about increased accountability and evaluation, that’s a natural response.

Of course, OGSM isn’t an abbreviation for “Oh Great, (just) Shoot Me!” It’s an acronym for classic strategy planning in four steps: Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Measures.

Start with the strategy planning pre-requisite—vision and values. Vision answers the question: WHY does the organization exist? A model vision statement is the one adopted by Willow Creek Community Church:

Willow Creek exists to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

Values are an outgrowth of ministry vision. They are a set of PRIORITIES that govern everything that happens in a ministry. Everything that you do—every event, program or initiative—will somehow address these priorities.

For example, a church might have values that clarify its priorities like this:

  • Prayer – Prayer is our foundation.
  • Worship – Worshiping together is important to us.
  • Missions & Evangelism – We actively share our faith with neighbors and nations.
  • Discipleship – We grow spiritually in small groups.
  • NextGen – Faith at home matters for the next generation.

With vision and a set of values in your pocket, strategy planning can begin. The OGSM acronym spells out a straightforward process:

  1. Objectives – WHAT will you do to accomplish each value? Typically, you will develop 2-3 objectives for each organizational value. Use WORDS for your objectives.
  2. Goals – What is your numerical goal? Develop a goal for each strategy, plan and objective. Set goals either early or late in the process. Set incremental benchmarks (short and medium-term goals) to achieve throughout the year. It may be useful to establish goals as a FINAL step in the process. Use NUMBERS for your goals.
  3. Strategies – HOW will you accomplish each objective? WHAT will you do? Develop several strategies and plans for each objective. Use WORDS for your strategies.
  4. Measures – What does success look like for each strategy? How do you MEASURE success numerically for each strategy and plan? Brainstorm several ways to measure success for each strategy and plan. Use NUMBERS for your measures.

Objectives usually have a “we will” structure. In order to accomplish organizational vision and values, your objective is what you will do to accomplish those priorities. For example, ministry values might lead to objectives like:

  • Prayer – We will seek the face of God and pray for spiritual renewal as the first step in total commitment to Jesus Christ.
  • Worship – We will give our best offering to God with a worship blend that celebrates the old and the new.
  • Evangelism – We will build relationships to introduce friends and neighbors to Jesus Christ.
  • Discipleship – We will reach, teach and care for people through Bible Fellowship and community groups.
  • NextGen – We will equip parents to raise godly kids and be spiritual leaders at home.

Strategies are the action plan for each objective. They answer the essential HOW and WHAT questions with strategic plans, tactics and details. Quantitative MEASURES help you evaluate a plan’s success or failure. Finally, GOALS are the objective stated numerically.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Establish an organizational vision and a set of values. Then write your strategic plans in four steps: Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Measures.  It’s the way you achieve more for the Kingdom personally and keep the organization aligned with the Great Commission.

Resources


Source

“What Willow Believes,” Accessed March 5, 2015, http://www.willowcreek.org/aboutwillow/what-willow-believes.

The American Church Faces Its Kodak Moment

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kodakKodak is the textbook example of a successful company that failed to adapt to major changes in its core business. In a spectacular example of mismanagement and organizational hubris, it failed to anticipate the transition from photographic film to digital photography.

An organization’s Kodak moment occurs when peak success gives way to rapid changes in culture and the marketplace, producing a diminished organization unable or unwilling to adapt.

Is the American Church facing its own Kodak moment? Has it begun the inexorable slide towards ineffective witness, waning influence and spiritual complacency? Those questions hit me hard as I read John Dickerson’s book, The Great Evangelical Recession.

He documents 6 “Kodak moment” trends of decline in the American Church:

  1. We are an inflated church. – Evangelicals aren’t as big as we think we are. We likely comprise about 7% of the U.S. population or around 22 million people.
  2. We are a hated church. – It’s clear that the host culture is turning against Bible-believing Christianity in the United States. On a wide range of issues from abortion to homosexuality, Christians are seen as intolerant, bigoted and backwards.
  3. We are a divided church. – Evangelical unity has been undermined by doctrinal, political and social divisions that further marginalize and reduce our influence.
  4. We are a bankrupt church. – We are faced with the prospect of declining financial Wresources as older giving generations die off and younger generations give less.
  5. We are a bleeding church. – Millennials and other young people are leaving the church in large numbers. Many see it as irrelevant or unresponsive to their idea of a difference-making faith.
  6. We are a sputtering church. – Evangelicals are not making disciples like we should and we are unable, or unwilling, to evangelize the lost like we used to. As a result, each succeeding U.S. generation is less Christian than its predecessor.

Have we arrived at a point of no return? I believe the American Church is closer than it’s ever been to an irreversible slide to obscurity. With each year, the road back to spiritual vitality grows longer and harder.

But there is hope.

We rightly define growing Christian churches by their worship and their witness.  They are purposeful places of discipleship, ministry, evangelism and missions. They are Great Commission and Great Commandment places of authentic Christian fellowship and community.

We have to be those things again. We must:

  • Love and worship God above anything else.
  • Demonstrate unselfish love for unchurched people.
  • Value Kingdom-oriented, disciple-making outcomes.
  • Do more with less and become focused stewards of limited financial resources.
  • Address culture directly and confront difficult issues graciously.

So what’s the Big Idea?

The way back to spiritual renewal and revival begins with loving the right things. We must love Christ more than the world, love others more than ourselves, and love the Kingdom of God more than our material possessions. That’s the path to a spiritually vibrant and growing American Church.

Resources


Source

John S. Dickerson, The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors That Will Crash the American Church…and How to Prepare (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013) 21-120.