Archives For Management

Can an introvert be a strong president?

September 18, 2012 — Leave a comment

In a wonderful article in the New York Times, Susan Cain asks the question: “Must leaders be gregarious?” Read it here. I’ve written on the topic as well giving some reasons why I think introverts make great pastors.

Americans often assume that excellent leaders come in only one shape: the hand-shaking, back-slapping, everyone’s your best friend, All-American extrovert. Cain offers us Bill Clinton as an example. Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney stand in sharp relief. Does that mean they are not effective leaders?

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Far from it notes Cain:

“Many of this nation’s finest leaders have been extroverts — but plenty have not. Jim Collins, in his study of the best-performing companies of the late 20th century, found that they were all led by chief executives known primarily for their fierce will and dedication — and were often described with words like “reserved” and “understated”.”

Apparently no less a figure than Peter Drucker has reached the same conclusion as well:

“The one and only personality trait the effective ones I have encountered did have in common was something they did not have: they had little or no ‘charisma’ and little use either for the term or what it signifies.”

In the end it seems that the qualities of vision, determination, focus, and integrity are more central to effective leadership than the elusive “charisma.”

In Campus Ministry, Discipleship, Leadership, Management, PCUSA, Vocation
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Too much to do and not enough time?

August 7, 2012 — 2 Comments

For the last two years I have had the privilege of walking with InterVarsity staff as they carry out the calling God has placed on their lives–to serve as missionaries to faculty and students at premiere universities. Over the course of my eight years on staff with InterVarsity, I have come to the conclusion that being a campus staff is a job that requires brutal focus, significant discipline, and persistence in discerning prayer.

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There are an almost unlimited number of opportunities to ‘spend’ time and energy in something that is related to an element of your job description. Sometimes the thing that seems like the most inefficient use of time will be thing that God is inviting you to do–like, leaving a couple of hours free to prayerfully wander the campus and engage in conversation with staff, students, visitors, anyone who comes into your path. At other times, doing that may not be a wise and faithful use of your time.

One of the persistent realities that I have encountered, as have other staff, is that it seems almost impossible to plan a realistic amount of time to tackle an important project. Stress ensues as well as a sense of guilt at the thought of the missing the deadline. Not a fun way to live.

It turns out that this is an almost universal problem–it even has a name, Hofstadter’s law. The law simply states: “any task that you are planning to complete will take longer than you plan, even when factoring in Hofstadter’s law.” Read a piece in the Guardian on Hofstadter’s law.

So what’s the solution? It seems that there’s something about our brains that almost necessitate that we miscalculate the amount of time it will take to complete a task. There seems to be no way around it. The best way to account for this is to avoid trying to plan using estimates of time. Instead, try to keep a casual record of how long it took you to do a project like in the past. When you come around to a similar project, don’t plan it out step-by-step as a way to budget time. Simply appeal to past projects that you have actually successfully completed.

An example from my own ministry…

Ministry newsletter.

Initially I insisted that I could write, edit, and send a ministry newsletter in one day. After all, there’s not too much copy in a newsletter. In reality, the limitations of space and the desire to communicate effectively in a small number of words means that I need to budget two days. I figured that out after several years of always being annoyed at how long it took to get my newsletters out. If the letter is one of the two hard copy versions I send out then I add an extra day. Note: on newsletter days I am still accessible phone and may have meetings scheduled–the main project I’m working on, however, is the newsletter.

In your work, how do you get around Hofstadter’s law?

In Discipleship, Management, Ministry, Spiritual Formation , , ,
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How to handle public criticism

July 6, 2012 — 1 Comment

If you’re a leader you will receive criticism. The only people who are immune from criticism are people who fail to take action, express an opinion, make an argument, or create something. In many ways, receiving criticism is a sign that you’re making a contribution to your organization, your church, or to society. Criticism is not necessarily the mark of a dysfunction organizational culture, although it can be. In many ways, the absence of criticism (disagreement) can be more symptomatic of organizational dysfunction.

The ability to effectively deal with criticism is a critical competency for leaders, especially for leaders of public organizations (like churches) that include people from a variety of backgrounds and fundamental beliefs. Not handling criticism well often leads to very public flameouts.

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I’ve had my fair share of criticism over the years from more than one source and in more than one context. Dealing with criticism can be very difficult, especially it is about something that matters deeply to you. It can be tempting to throw in the towel. However, the places where we are most vulnerable to criticism, the places we care about most deeply, are also the places where we are most needed to invest ourselves.

In light of that I offer five ways to handle public criticism:

1. Do your due diligence. Think about what criticism may arise around your decision. Are they merited? Is the cost of the criticism greater than the value of the decision? Think about this before you place yourself out there so it will be settled in your mind.

2. Get the advice of trusted counselors. There is wisdom in a multitude of counsellors so make sure that you run your idea by several friends who can help you think through your decision.

3. Filter the voices. You need to think, in advance, about who are the voices you will listen to. If you have settled 1 and 2 it will be easier to deal with number 3. Don’t listen to any old Tom, Dick, and Harry as the English say. There will be online chatter. Some of it will be criticism that is helpful and constructive and offered in a generous spirit. Some will simply be snarky. You cannot defend your decision against all voices–choose well the voices you will engage.

4. Take action or make changes when appropriate. Sometimes you will have to change your decision based on the reality in the organization in which you lead. Don’t rush to do this and do not make your default a willingness to change as soon as there is push back. Do, however, have an idea of what or who will influence you to rethink a decision. When necessary, be willing to make a course alteration.

5. Own your decision. Nothing is more counterproductive than failing to own a decision. Often this comes in the form of blaming others for a change of course (#4) that you feel coerced into. If you change your mind, backtrack, or otherwise alter your course, admit that. If you’re not wrong, don’t back down. If you do back down, don’t play the victim. Simply state that given reality on the ground, you’ve decided to pursue a different direction.

In Discipleship, Leadership, Management, Ministry
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Dealing with the low-grade noise in your life

June 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

I was up early this morning, like most days. Unlike most days, one of the first things I did was open a window. It was drizzling with rain–a sound I welcome. On opening the window I was confronted by what I can only describe as a dull hum. It took me a second to place, but I quickly realized I was hearing the sound of traffic. A dull hum is a persistent low-grade noise that is always there, but that often fades out of consciousness. You don’t realize how loud it is until it goes away. Traffic isn’t the only hum in our lives, is it? What low-grade noise affects your life? How can you deal with it?

Low-grade noises come in all shapes and sizes. Some are important things that need to be dealt with immediately (financial planning, investing in your marriage), others are relatively minor issues that need to be managed and put into perspective (managing email). What is common to all is that they produce stress, which is often counter-productive, especially since it most often comes into our conscious mind late at night.

Pay attention to the dull hum, the soundtrack of stress in your life. If you ignore, it will go away for a season but over time it will deplete you and make you less effective.

Here are five ways to respond healthily to the underlying stressors in your life.

  1. Acknowledge underlying stresses, don’t ignore them. You might want to write it down or tell a friend. It’s important to get the stressors out of your mind and onto paper or into a conversation–it makes them more real and positions you to begin considering how to resolve the issue.
  2. Take some time in an unfamiliar location to reflect on them. It’s important to get out of your normal working environment in order to really deal with these underlying stressors. Sitting at your desk you have limitless distractions nanoseconds away. It’s human nature to resist dealing with the unpleasantness of stress by substituting some action that we justify as important. Those other tasks can wait–give yourself a couple of hours to really think through your stresses.
  3. Honestly evaluate what you can do differently. In most situations there are a lot of things we can do differently in order to better handle elements of work and life. Solutions could be as simple as blocking out time weekly to balance your checkbook and review financial statements. It may be as challenging as changing the internal narrative about your life.
  4. Honestly evaluate what cannot be altered. It’s important to realize that some things are not going to change, at least not in the short-term. Acknowledge this reality and try to think of ways to minimize the impact of those things.
  5. Invite a mentor to review or participate in discussing these things. It always helps to have another pair of eyes take a look at a challenge. Invite a friend or mentor to lunch and share your process of reflection and analysis and invite his input.

The truth is that we rarely grow through comfort. Growth involves stretching and pushing through old limit. Embrace the underlying stresses of your life as ways in which you have the opportunity to grow.

In Discipleship, Leadership, Management
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[Repost] How to follow well

April 5, 2012

I am on vacation this week so I am offering some older posts that remain relevant. I’ll be back online Monday.

Brad Lomenick of Catalyst posted this excellent list of characteristics of good followers. Every leader is a follower so take some time to scan the list and ask yourself: how good am I at following?

So here are a few thoughts on following:

1. Good followers are great finishers. They get the job done. Take projects across the finish line.

2. Good followers anticipate. They understand what needs to be done next before others, and are always looking for ways to make the process better.

3. Good followers criticize in private, and praise in public. Enough said on that.

4. Good followers are trustworthy. When given an assignment, a leader can be assured that it will get done. This is incredibly important.

5. Good followers are vision copycats. They take on, embody and live out the vision and mission of their leader, and of the organization.

6. Good followers make their leader better. They push their leader, and know how to lead up appropriately and intentionally.

In Discipleship, Leadership, Management, Ministry
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