People Follow This

    I was invited to speak to business leaders recently and was asked to share a leadership thought. I had shared on leadership many times before. As a pastor, I am always calling people up to lead in our church. I am serving leaders in our community and caring for people who carry responsibility within our church.

    But this season felt different. What could I share with these business leaders that would help them? When I prepare to speak to a group of people, I first seek to know my audience. This group is living in uncertain times. We have just come out of a riveting year, 2020 where the pandemic, politics, and racism have shaken our world. No one knows when Covid cases will decline. House prices soar as does the stock market, but people watch in fear with a picture of another 2006 crash soon on the horizon.

    Nothing that we once believed in business seems believable. What used to work may no longer work. We live in a world that has been catapulted forward into a new digital and global age leaving the working man not sure how to navigate in this new normal. Where does he invest? Where should he focus?

    Suddenly, subjects like vision seemed unhelpful. Strategy, though important did not seem inspiring. All of the aspects of leadership that I would normally teach felt as if they would fall upon deaf ears. These business leaders needed to be encouraged. They needed to be fortified. What would be the one quality that would help them stand back up and lead through this unknown chapter?

    Before I reveal what I shared, I think it is logical to first define what makes a leader. When we think of leaders, we usually start with qualities like vision. We move next to their ability to communicate and to inspire. We think of their authenticity so that we can relate to them. People love caring leaders and sacrificial leaders. We could make a long list of qualities that people love in a leader.

However… 

the definition of a leader is simply that others are following

I get to lead our Stuart Campus together with friends

It is not a quality, it is an outcome. There are a lot of people that cast great visions. Other leaders are inspiring when they speak. Others show brilliance in developing systems and strategies. But, my question still remained, what is the one quality that leaders possess that others will follow? When the going gets rough and the way forward is unclear, what do leaders need that will move people forward?

Certainty

These Pastors have all helped me to build a great church in Martin County

People follow leaders who lead with certainty. Right or wrong, people eventually move in the direction of the leaders who move with a strong belief. They follow commitment.

We can lead in uncertain times.

You may not think of yourself as a leader, but people are following you.

On social media, they are following.

            At home, they are listening.

                At work, they are watching.

 

You may lead many at work or just a few who care about you. Don't diminish your leadership because of what you can't do well. You may not be a visionary. You may struggle to build systems. You may not be a public speaker. But, you can lead with certainty.

I define certainty like this:

Hopeful potential for an intended outcome

Leading with certainty is not making guarantees that it will go well. It is saying that you are committed to getting there, no matter what it takes. Leaders see the potential and live with hope.

There are three dynamics that happen in others when you lead with certainty:

1. Your Certainty Creates Certainty

Confidence breeds confidence. When you say it will happen, your team will believe it will happen as well. Really? You know otherwise...

You must understand that people need time to process. They will not be easily convinced. I have learned that people need to hear my vision and plan at least seven times in seven different ways before they feel certain.

This great leader has become my great friend

I call this the process of seven:

1. Resistance - most people are late adopters, not early adopters. Don't give up when you bump up against their no's.

2. Doubt - they are critical and doubtful that you will ever achieve the dream. Push past the noise and share it again.

3. Apathy - your team will trudge along because you are asking, but they are still unwilling. Pull them behind you and lead forward.

4. Curiosity - this is where they begin to turn. They still don't believe you, but they have not left you. They want to stay to see what happens next.

5. Testing – They are willing to try. They will participate in order to experiment.

6. Acceptance - your insistence has led to their acceptance. You have proved your plan is working gradually. Keep challenging them to stay committed.

7. Buy-in - now that they have experienced growth, they have become believers. They will market your message and multiplication will begin.

Your certainty will take inviting and explaining seven times to help people process from skeptics to sellers.  Be patient but stay persistent as you lead.

These pastors have come together to lead Church United in the Treasure Coast

2. Your Certainty Creates Space

When you cast your vision to people, you create a gap that their minds must fill. They are trying to figure out how that vision could be realized?

What now?

What if?

Understand that most people hear your bigger dream and ask what now? They begin picking apart the ten reasons why the vision will not work. Your team will complain that you are adding more work to their already full plate. What you need are what if? people on your team. What if? people don't complain, they create. They hear your vision and create their vision within the vision.

What if? people begin to dream:

• What if we created a fresh strategy?
• What if we invited some new talent to our team?
• What if we raised more capital so we could add resources?
• What if we stopped doing current tasks so we could embrace new tasks?

Your certainty in pursuing a hopeful potential will create space for your team. Be patient with your what now? people, but embrace your what if? people. Your what if? people will fill your space with new possibilities.

3. Your Certainty Creates Motion

Leaders do not have to have the best idea. They do not have to be the most creative. They do not need to be the smartest person in the room.

Leaders just have to go first

Your action causes others to take action. They follow movement, not messages.

The challenge with motion is that you will cause commotion. Change creates chaos.

Let it be chaotic. In the beginning, let it be broken and imperfect. While others are slowly dying by paralysis through analysis, you are moving forward. There will be time later to bring clarity, to organize lanes, and systemize a plan. But, at least you are moving forward, leaving a dusty trail that others can follow.

Conclusion:

The one quality that people will follow in uncertain times is certainty. Your certainty creates certainty. It creates space for others to fill. And, it creates motion that catalyzes action in others to move with you.

Lead with certainty

You may not know if it will work, but you are committed to making it work.

You may not know how it will work, but you will find a way to make it work.

Your certainty with your consistency will allow others to follow

Personal Touch

Personal Touch

Today, we wake up to check the news report for an update on the coronavirus pandemic that has halted the world from moving as we know it.  

Louis Hoffpauir loves people.  He is helping me start men's Crew groups at Stuart Campus.

Business-as-usual has shifted to watch-and-wait.  All of us who had mastered our business skills are sitting paralyzed at home wondering how to get anything done.  The way of the world has been to show up to our job site to plan events and gatherings.  Commuting to places of businesses and lunch meetings was the daily routine.  But with social distancing becoming the recommended practice, gathering in groups is prohibited.  And, even in a small group of 10 or less, experts are strongly cautioning to keep within 3 feet from one another.  This makes interacting quite difficult.

While many were already using social media as part of their life, they are now completely dependent upon it.  People who have never created a profile are learning in record speed how to create usernames and passwords so they can log on.  Older generations are having to navigate where to find the elusive link to join a video conferencing call so they can talk to loved ones.

What Do We Do Now?

What do we do now? How do we get work done if we cannot work? 

Not knowing what to do next is frustrating.  

Once we get past the feeling of confinement and frustration, we eventually start using the greatest business tool that we possess: our mind.

Ashely Murphy brings the fun to our church family. She makes people feel loved and special!

Rather than staying stuck on the limiting question: what do we do now,

we then begin to ask the activating question: what could we do now?

what could we do now?

At Christ Fellowship, we asked this question: what could we do now? One of our leaders had long desired that our pastors and staff team could call each and every person who was part of our church family, simply to check in on them, tell them we love them and ask how we could pray for them.  He reminisced when years ago he and his wife had started attending Christ Fellowship, one of the pastors, Todd Mullins had called him during the week to personally welcome him and get him connected within the church.  My friend, Bill shared what a powerful impression that made on him, that the pastor would take time to seek him out for no other purpose than show a desire to get to know him better.  That connection kept Bill and his wife not only connected to Christ Fellowship, but committed to the mission of the church.  That was over 20 years ago.  

What if our pastors and staff could make use of this time when we are having to work from home and start calling our church family? What would it take to prepare the lists of our people and re-organize our work schedules and focus to do this? 

Verania Velazquez just joined our team at Christ Fellowship Stuart Campus.  She is a joy to work with!

Suddenly, our team began working through a large list of phone numbers, reaching out to people, making notes from the conversations. The result has been that people are elated to get a call from their pastor or church leader.  Especially with the anxiety that people are facing, they are very open to a listening ear and a caring prayer.  

Pastor Todd shared with some of our business leaders how he was re-focusing his team on these connect calls within our church.  The business leaders thought this was a brilliant idea! They said that they needed to emulate this idea by having their teams reach out personally to each of their customers and clients.  

While we can’t touch people physically, we can touch them personally.

While we can’t touch people physically, we can touch them personally.  And, while Social Media posts and videos are a great strategy to connect with people, they still lack the feeling of touch.  Video conferencing is a great tool for holding face-to-face meetings where distance is a barrier.  But even these lose the sense of community and sharing that meeting in person affords.  

Greg Gorman and his son, Josh are great friends of mine.

In this unique season where the world has stopped, what could you do to reach your audience? 

I would suggest that this is an opportune time to go old-school.  Make personal calls.  Write hand-written notes.  There is power in reaching one at a time.  Even though digital platforms allow us to reach many at once, it dilutes the level of connection that comes in reaching the one.  

Psychology of Connection

Take a moment to think about the psychology of how someone feels when they feel connected to another person.  How did that come about? What made the connection so powerful?

I think back to significant people who took the time to make a personal connection with me.  It impacted me.  I think of them as very special moments in my life.  And, I have a sense of love and appreciation for them. 

I remember when I had the opportunity on two occasions to meet Senator Rick Scott of Florida.   At the time, he was Governor Rick Scott.  The first occurrence happened when I was scheduled to play the piano and sing at a home gathering of financial donors for the Governor’s Senate race.  I was not a guest, per se; but rather, the “help.” I was to play and sing soft music in the background.  My musical set up was set off to the side of the reception area.  When the Governor arrived on the scene, he was greeted by many donors. However, he was intentional to greet every worker serving refreshments.  When he noticed me over in the corner playing the piano, he made his way to welcome me.  He took a moment to ask my name and thanked me for providing such nice music.  At the end of the event, he again came over to shake my hand and thank me for doing such a great job.

The second time I interacted with Governor Scott was at a small meeting I was invited to with two other young leaders in Martin County.  He sat down with us to hear the concerns of Martin County.  He was warm, not in a rush, and down-to-earth.  I reminded him of my first meeting at the reception.  He remembered.   A week after this meeting, I received a hand-written note from the Governor thanking me for the time together.  

Wow.  Can I tell you that I am now a BIG fan of Rick Scott? Not so much because of his politics, but because of my personal interaction with him.  He did not promise anything to me.  He did not do me any favors.  But his intentionality to reach out to me made an indelible impression.  Now, I have a positive view of him.  There are politicians that may have gifts that Rick Scott does not have.  But, their gifts do not impress me.  Rick Scott impresses me.

If you would get a list of your people, your customers, and clients and start calling them personally through this season, you will make an indelible impression.  Don’t try to do business as usual.  Don’t try to sell or market.  No one is buying right now anyway.  Simply care.  Listen.  Get to know them a bit more.  Don’t try to learn their business needs.  They will sense that you have an agenda.  Simply make your agenda as getting to know them as a person.  

I believe that the businesses and ministries that take time to reach out personally to their people will create such a sense of care and attention, that they will have earned a higher sense of trust and loyalty.  When the time comes for people to “buy” or buy-in, you will have so much business coming your way, you will have to double your staff and company! 

If you can’t touch their hand, touch their heart

Make a personal touch

Be the Church

Listen to my DROP THE MIC teaching on how to preach.

Join me for my prayer walk to start the year.

A 

Simple Song

Enjoy this little song I wrote on a beautiful, rainy, slow day home with my family, with my piano and with God.  (...and with my dog, who is scratching next to me as I was recording :)

Big Dreams Start Small

We celebrated our 10 Year Birthday as Christ Fellowship in Stuart, Florida!

Dreams are exciting.  Dreams are what living is all about.  To dream is to move.  Without a dream, there is no forward motion.  Life would become boring.  Static.  Monochromatic.  

What a privilege it has been for me to get to do ministry with my nephew, Alex Burns! Such a gifted Leader.

All of us are designed for dreams.  It is in our DNA, implanted by God.  

If you are privileged to have a dream, you have experienced the absolute joy and excitement that is produced in your spirit.  Your dream wakes you up in the morning.  It gets you searching on the internet.  You become distracted by your dream because it has captured your heart, and fills your mind.

However, at some point in your dream journey, you will inevitably experience what I call "dream-drain.”  I am talking about that point where, after months, or maybe years of working towards your dream, you are not seeing the results you had hoped for.  You have invested so much time and energy, only to see that your dream has not yet been fulfilled.  Not even close.  

A dream-drain makes our heart sick.  We go from dream to depression.  From faith-filled to frustration.   Our dream becomes our detriment.  What once filled our heart with oxygen now fills us with pain.  Are you there right now? Did you dare to dream only to become disappointed?

I had a dream to start a church.  I was raised in church.  Not only was I raised in church, My parents were the Pastors of our church.  My mom and dad started a church with a few families in a small town called Turlock, California.  Growing up, I had a front row seat in watching them launch, lead, and love.  I saw them sacrifice. I saw them sow. God used my parents to build a church made up of great people.  That church reached their community.  Many lives were transformed by the power of Jesus Christ.  The church grew and thrived.  It stands today and continues to have impact in that community.  

So proud to have our daughter, Madison leading worship in our church!

Ten years ago, an opportunity came for me to start a church.  Up to this point in my life, I had always focused on music.  I served in the church, but always as the musician, the back-up to the Pastor - never the Pastor myself.  When my Pastor at Christ Fellowship church called me up to help launch a Christ Fellowship campus in Stuart, Florida, my dream leaped inside of me.  It was if God was confirming to me “Matt! This is it.  This is your time I will begin to fulfill the dream I planted in you years ago.  I AM going to do it in you.” I was so excited, I began planning, recruiting, and working.  I began dreaming.  I had big dreams, big goals.  I remember driving around the little town of Stuart one day by myself praying big prayers for what our new church campus would do, where we would serve.  I was scared AND excited.  I was faith-filled AND fear-filled, all at the same time.  Is that even possible?

With many long months of preparation, we launched our church in Stuart.  It was awesome! We had 1250 people attend our first service.  I had my Pastors, Tom and Todd Mullins come.  Many friends from other Christ Fellowship campuses came to support.  But, when all of the friends and Pastors went back to their campuses, I was left with 300 people in a high school and a portable church to tear down.  In the beginning years, we did not have as many people give their life to Jesus.  We did not have opportunities in the community that I had hoped.  Doors were not open to us.  I could not preach very well - I had been the musician, remember? Other Pastors from great churches would share great stories of life transformation and community impact.  Hearing these stories did not inspire me.  Instead, they drained me.  Dream-drain.  

Portable church events were awesome!

Moment of honesty: In those times, I had moments of temptation.  I was not good at being a Pastor.  I did not have the developed skills.  I felt like I was playing catch up to Pastors much farther along than I was.  When I received opportunities to go be a music leader in a church, I must admit, I was tempted.   I remember refreshing my resume, if not for anything else, to just remind myself that I was good at something, even though not as a leader or Pastor.  However, God did not release me from my role as Stuart Campus Pastor at Christ Fellowship.  If God was not clearly leading me away, I knew that I needed to just bear in and stay committed to where I was. 

Teachable Moment #1

If God does not say GO, you STAY

When the dream does not seem like it is working, our logic tells us that we missed it. It’s time to quit, time to re-focus.  In these seasons, we must slow down, get quiet, and go back to the dream that God gave us.  Is God changing His mind? Did God miss a detail? No! God did not put this dream in you to frustrate you.  He gave you this dream to fulfill you!Just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean it’s hopeless.  If God does not clearly say GO, you STAY.

We met in High Schools for seven great years

I remember my mom encouraging me when I would share my insecurities with her.  She understood all too well the dream drain I was experiencing.  She could relate with my tendency to move on, having lived through starting their church in Turlock.  She would quote me a verse in the Bible: “Despise not the day of small beginnings.” Zechariah 4:10.  

Teachable Moment #2

Big Dreams start small

What my mom was teaching me was that BIG dreams start small.  Dreams take time to develop.  Just like a child does not start going to college at one year old, neither will your dream take off and be all that you see it could be.  We think that if we are not seeing big results now, we had the dream wrong.  No! You are sowing the sacrifice now that will reap the success later.  

Pastors Todd and Julie Mullins recently spoke to our Christ Fellowship students before they were starting a new year of school.  They taught them that there is a gap between their dream and where they are now.  They said “fill that gap with faithfulness.”  Faithfulness is the path to your dream.  It’s the quickest way from point A to point B.  It’s not talent.  It’s not who you know.  It’s not cutting corners.  God honors our faithfulness.

Luke 16:10 Whoever is faithful with little things can be trusted with much

God was teaching me lessons as we were building a church in a High School in Stuart.  We worked hard. We gave our best.  We remained teachable so that we could be usable.  God kept me in the background, in the hidden.  Every week, set up, tear down.  Loving people.  Earning trust in the community.  We were proving ourselves.  We were demonstrating our heart for God and our passion for people. I learned the power of staying faithful and staying committed, whether I saw great results or not.  God would honor our faithfulness.  

The last service in a high school.  We were finally moving to a permanent church location!

Teachable Moment #3

God is Faithful

What was amazing was that as I was faithful, God was faithful.  While I was working, God was working.  We began to see impact within our church family.  Leaders began to emerge, the most unlikely people.  The community slowly began to embrace our church and doors began to open.  Our church started to grow and reach more people.  God provided a beautiful piece of property in Stuart.  Our church family all pitched in to purchase the property, from all Christ Fellowship campuses. God was developing my skills.  The best training is not in the classroom – it is on the battlefield.  

So many lives transformed.  This is my friend, Dorothy!

This Sunday, August 19, 2018, Christ Fellowship Stuart Campus is celebrating our 10 Year Birthday - Wow! Our first Sunday in Stuart was August 24, 2008.  I was 35 years old.  My kids were very small, and I was full of dreams.  Our church has had great impact, and God has done great things:

• Hundreds of people have made decisions to follow Jesus 
• Our church property and building are paid for
• Stuart Campus helped birth the Port. Saint Lucie Campus
• Pastors, Community leaders and ministries have emerged from Stuart Campus
• Stuart Campus supports ministries and Martin County churches through Church United

This is what I do at church - I see the God-potential in people.  Here, I am talking with an up-and-coming leader for Stuart Campus!

I want to encourage you.  Hold on to your dream.  Do not go.  Stay. Fill the gap from where you are to where you want to go with Faithfulness.  God measures success not by results, but by our faithfulness. Remember that as you are working, you are sowing.  As you are grinding, God is working.  I can tell you from experience that God will fulfill the dream He planted in you!