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

Follow Me

Those two words define what being a leader is all about.

As a Pastor of a church, I am constantly looking for leaders.  Would you be surprised to know that they are difficult to find??  You would think in a congregation, surely, there would be at least SOME who could lead, or would WANT to lead.  

These are young students who each lead by example in their church - come on!

What I find when I ask people to lead is that people look at me like I just asked them to sell their house and move to Africa and be a Missionary.  I get a “deer in the headlights” stare.  When they think of being the leader, their mind races with scary thoughts:

Responsibility                         Public Speaking

Organization                            Recruiting a Team

Problem Solving                     Time Commitment

Conflict Resolution                  Hard Work

Under lying in all of these words is a foundational fear that they have about taking the leader position:

I’m not good enough to lead

When we think of a leader, we envision greatness, wisdom, strong at all times, vision.  We look at others who lead so well and we feel we don’t measure up.  We reduce ourselves so much by our weakness, our loss for answers, our lack of skills or experience, that we tell ourselves before we even get started:

I am not worth following

no one would follow me

Believe it or not, I get scared sometimes when I endeavor to lead others.  The way I am able to overcome this paralysis of fear and self doubt to lead is by looking at the life of a man who led the church in the 1st century.  This man preached the story of Jesus to opposing audiences.  This man established groups of those who believed his message of hope, calling these groups “churches.” This man recruited people among those groups who he saw potential in, and developed them to take leadership in the group.  He began coaching his leaders and his churches through writings.  We find these writings in the Bible, that were letters written by this great leader, the Apostle Paul.

Paul, however, was actually a humble man, a man who admitted he had flaws and fears.  He experienced the lonliness in leadership, and the fear of failure.  Yet, he understood that he must step up to the calling of Jesus Christ to become a leader, so others could follow.  

Listen to Paul’s bold statement:

Follow Me as I Follow Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1 MEV

Paul puts himself out there to be a leader for others to follow, to anyone who will listen.  Wow - that is a bold move.  And yet, notice how he follows with his admission that he, too is following someone.  Paul wants everyone who dares follow him to know that he is also a man under submission.

Paul sets a great example of what Biblical Leadership looks like:

Follow me, as I follow Christ.

Lead with Confidence, Lead with Humility.

With this two part formula, ANYONE can lead.  Knowing that even a person who does not have all of the answers, all of the gifts can still lead because true leadership is remembering you are just leading others to the true leader, Jesus Christ! You can take the pressure off of yourself feeling like you are the perfect leader - your objective is to simply point people to the one who is perfect - Jesus Christ.

Some of the greatest leaders I know are our Founding Pastors of Christ Fellowship in South Florida, Pastor Tom & Donna Mullins

Some of us lean towards the confidence-side of this equation.  You are an over-achiever, a take-action kind of person.  You may have been blessed to have had someone invest in you and build you up so that you have a strong self identity and a defined calling on your life.  This is awesome! The challenge for you is to remember that you alone are not enough, that you need others in your life to hold you accountable.  And above all, you need to realize that it’s not about you - it’s about pointing people to Jesus.  Don’t be too self-reliant.  Your skills and strengths are gifts given to you by God, so use them.  But, be mindful that you are just PART of the equation.  As my wife as coached me, “don’t get in front of God.  Give God room to lead.”

Others of us lean more towards the humility-side.  We don’t think we have anything to offer.  We don’t know where to start.  We are quick to jump in to serve, to follow. This is awesome too! What a great servant’s heart.  Always keep that mindset.  But, you need to know that God has called you to lead others, bring others along.  As my Pastor, Todd Mullins says often at Christ Fellowship “others are waiting on you, others who are far from God are depending on you to step up to make an impact!” As followers of Christ, we are called to take our place of leadership.  You can lead boldly, because you are not leading alone.  Jesus Christ lives in you and will give you the strength, the vision, the wisdom to lead.  YOU CAN LEAD.  YOU ARE CALLED TO LEAD.

My parents taught me so much about self leadership and leading by example - I have so much respect for them!

I want to challenge you today.  I want to light a fire under you.  You can lead.  You should lead.  Lead somewhere, in some place.  Someone is waiting on you to lead.

I challenge you to see the people around you - God has put you in their life for a reason.  

With Confidence, and with Humility, boldly say to them:

Follow me as I follow Jesus Christ!

Lead, Don't Pull

I love serving with great Pastors and Leaders at Christ Fellowship!

If you have a big goal that you begin working toward, if you have some set objectives and numbers you want to hit in your job, your ministry, or with your team, you soon realize that you need to enlist the help of others to get there.

Rebecca Vardian (right) is one of the best leaders I have ever worked with.  People love serving along with her! #ServantLeader

I work in church ministry for my career.  I love it and feel called to it.  Working and serving in a high impact church like www.gochristfellowship.com requires that I build a team of great people around me who can help me accomplish all of the needs of people and the ministries that we offer.  In fact, it takes me getting high impact leaders who can lead teams of people to manage all of the demands of building our church!

Philip works at Christ Fellowship, but serves along with our teams  #ServantLeader

In your job, in your ministry or in your team, I imagine you must also depend on other people to help you manage.  If you don’t, you will never hit your goals, and you will never survive the pressure of responsibility!

The challenge comes in getting your team to follow your direction, to get them all moving together in harmony and working effectively toward reaching the goal.  Easier said than done, right?

Tim Leads a team at our Stuart Campus, yet is always serving  #ServantLeader

THIS is why I write so much on leadership.  THIS is why I am so intrigued with leadership, learning it myself.  I talk with so many great high impact people who struggle with getting team to come along with them.  They feel like they are herding cats! Or….horses.

I love the movie THE HORSE WHISPERER with Robert Redford.  I own it, and watch it every once in a while when I am in the mood for a heart-warming story.  The story is about a girl and her horse who are in an accident with a car hitting the horse, throwing the girl out of the way to protect her.  The horse is badly injured and the doctor advises that the horse is beyond repair and should be put down.  The girl can’t stand the thought of “punishing” her horse after saving her life, and demands that they find some way or some one to restore the horse.  The family find this man living in Montana who is affectionately called The Horse Whisperer.  He has an unconventional, untested practice working with horses, having almost magical powers of getting unruly horses to follow his lead.

Robert Redford, the Horse Whisperer agrees to work with this girl’s horse, inviting the family to his Montana ranch.  In the first encounters with the horse, Robert Redford does no training, no talking, no rehabilitating.  He simply watches the horse, sitting a far distance away from the damaged horse.  The family grows anxious and frustrated with him after a while of “nothing happening.” The are expecting some type of conventional training to happen.  However, the Horse Whisperer is taking plenty of time to establish some deeper things to happen between him and this horse.  He does not use a whip or tools.  He does not pull or tug at the horse.  He almost “whispers” to the horse, slowly wooing the animal to his voice and his presence.  Redford continues building repoire with this damaged animal, eventually begins testing the horse, and ultimately invites the girl to ride the horse - something that is highly risky and dangerous.  Miraculously, the girl rides the horse with ease and the once damaged horse is now healed and restored, along with the girl! Beautiful story.

I see great leadership principles in this:

Don’t Pull the Horse,

Lead the Horse

Our Church got to serve Paul and Dunbar Childrens Center!

When you are working with High Impact People, you cannot pull them along.  As a leader, you want to get your team to get in line and follow you, follow the plan.  But High Impact people many times are slow to follow your direction, hesitant to adhere to your system.  Sometimes out of impatience to get our team to perform, we treat them like horses trying to pull them along.  Or, like a Horse trainer, we may even pull out the whip and start beating them with intimidation.  This may work with weaker people or followers, who will comply out of a sense of fear; but High Impact people are like high-performing horses that will not budge, no matter how hard you pull, no matter how much you whip.  

You Must Lead Them

Leading is different then pulling.  Leading, by definition means that others are following you, not because they HAVE TO but because THEY WANT TO.  Leading takes a lot longer, but it is so much easier on your back 😃 You do less pulling, less cracking the whip, and more interacting with your High Impact People.  

I once heard John Maxwell, a great teacher of Leadership say:

Before people follow a leader, they first ask themselves three questions about the leader:

1. Do They Love Me?

Is this leader using me? Or do they truly care about me? 

2. Can I Trust Them?

Is this leader trustworthy? Do they have credibility? Have they demonstrated wisdom in their life? Have they achieved prior success?

3. Can They Help Me?

Can they help me accomplish what I feel I am called to do? Before I am willing to help you achieve your goals, I need to see that you are helping me achieve my goals.  

If High Impact People can answer YES to all three of those questions, they will follow you to the ends of the earth.  On the front end, you must proof your love, your trust, and your desire to help them.  This takes time.  This takes investment.  This takes sacrifice.  

I want to give you one action step in how to accomplish your goals:  STOP

Stop trying to achieve your goals and your tasks.

Start Investing much time and energy in being with your people, in serving them, in listening to them.

Stop trying to pull them along with your plan, cracking the whip when they question or hesitate.

Start learning what their passions are, what their questions are, and help them get where they are going.

Stop demanding they they follow you, stop asking them to trust you.

Start loving them, start modeling servant leadership.

Proud of my daughter, Madison Pilot!

If you shift your focus to people, you will discover you will achieve your goals.  If you slow your pace in the front end, you will accelerate your progress on the back end.

Leading people is easier than pulling people; but it takes more time

Pass the Ball

Diana is a great leader who has a growing team at our church!

If you are a leader in some way, in your church, at work, in your neighborhood, good for you! I’m proud of you.  Leadership is hard! Easy to read a blog or book about it.  But when you try to accomplish a project THROUGH PEOPLE, it feels almost impossible!

So when the pressure is on to make something happen, as leaders, we tend to bear down and work hard.  Great people are willing to exert energy and invest their time to make the dream become a reality.  We know that as the leader, we are supposed to get out in front and lead.  That’s what leaders do.  They take charge.

So when we are feeling the pressure to perform, to create momentum and make something happen, our tendency is to get on stage and grab the microphone.  We start “preaching.” We sell.  We make our appeal.  After all, this is the image we know of great leaders.  The leader is the person up on a platform giving a rousing speech.  The locker room talk, the stump speech.  Inspire the troops!

Now...I love a great speech.  I love to hear great leaders and communicators inspire their team.  After a good speech, I am ready to charge the hill!

But here is what I am learning in my season of leading as a Pastor.  Sometimes the right move is to give the speech.  But sometimes the right move is to:

Pass the Ball

OK - basketball analogy coming.  I love the game of basketball.  I love watching great players do amazing things.  A slam dunk, an impossible shot.  But the most exciting thing to watch is a team win.  And how do teams win? By passing the ball.  The team that wins championships know they have to win consistently.  In order to win consistently, they cannot rely on one or two great players to make great plays.  That is not sustainable.  Great teams understand they must involve ALL of their players in the game.  They pass the ball.  

Pastor DJ showing our church family his beautiful new baby, Callie Ray!

I play basketball with some guys once a week, some of them leaders in my church.  One of those leaders is my friend and a Pastor, DJ Cabrera.  DJ is a great basketball player, having played at Martin County High School as a Point Guard years ago.  DJ has a great strategic mind, and it shows not just in his work at the church, but also on the court.  When I am playing on his team, and we are passing the ball, he sometimes shouts “one more pass!” What he is coaching us to do is to not settle for an average shot, but to keep passing the ball until one of us on the team gets an optimal shot.  He is trying to get us to play as a team, not just as a few individuals.  When we pass the ball to the open man and he makes the shot, we cheer! It’s awesome.  (DJ makes fun of me because I shout really loud with excitement - I can’t help it, I get excited!)

I have been attempting to apply this philosophy to my style of leadership.  As a Pastor at Christ Fellowship in South Florida, I have a lot I am responsible for -  a lot of people I care for.  How I endeavor to lead all that I am responsible for is through other leaders, other voices.  I realize that I need older voices, younger voices, female voices, different voices other than mine who are speaking the vision, giving the direction.  This doesn’t mean I abdicate my leadership, or that I cease from speaking vision.  Rather, I share the platform with others.  

I build a platform that others can stand on

Luiz and Jen are new to our church and have immediately started serving, helping others find their place - awesome people!

I have learned that leadership is not best played like golf, where you are a solo act.  Leadership is best played like a basketball game, as a team endeavor.  In basketball, you don’t win unless the team wins.  The leader doesn’t achieve success unless he or she can empower his or her teammates to be effective in their roles.

Here are some practical ways I attempt to pass the ball to our team at our church:

Lead without the microphone

I am challenging myself to find other avenues to earn influence with people so they will follow my lead.  While the platform is a powerful and visible place to speak directly to people, I am learning the power of serving with my teams off platform.  Recently, I have been serving with our Traffic Team by parking cars and welcoming people in to our church services.  

That's me!

This has been one of the BEST things I have EVER DONE as a leader.  People love seeing their Pastor out serving with the team.  I have enjoyed actually DOING ministry, not just LEADING ministry.  It has been good for my heart to serve in this way.  And, I get to spend lots of time interacting with our people - something that fills me up.  I caught this idea from my friend and fellow Campus Pastor, Travis O’Neal who often serves with his teams at the Port Saint Lucie Campus.  I highly recommend you get down from the platform and serve WITH your team!

Share the microphone

Many times, we are afraid that if we share our platform with someone, they will mess it up.  Or, even more scary, they might outshine us because they are more gifted at communication! It takes a very secure and big-minded leader to be willing to allow trusted leaders to share the platform with them.  

Jake is a great Worship Leader and a "Go-To" Team Player in our church

When you take a chance and share part of the platform with gifted and committed people, it actually elevates your influence.  Here’s why: when others share your vision, it is an indication that you have effectively instilled your vision in them! Remember, the greatest communication does not come from your mouth; it is revealed by how well it is repeated by those around you.  

Hold the microphone for others

Secure Leaders are willing to share their microphone with other gifted Leaders.  Seasoned Leaders will go a step further by identifying potential leaders and helping them develop.  Many leaders can spot a gifted person quickly.  Most people struggle with seeing the potential in a person who is undeveloped or untested.  But because there is always such a great demand for gifted, committed, courageous people, we must look beyond the obvious choice to the risky choice.  As leaders of people, it is our job to help others develop their gifts and realize their dreams.  This means we have to adopt a process mentality with our people, realizing that they are going to need YEARS of development, not just WEEKS.

Many people comment about my beautiful daughter, Madison Pilot, how gifted she is in music and in ministry.  Now that she is seventeen years old, many leaders are seeking after her to sing or to lead.  My wife, Kellie and I love it.  We love seeing her getting many opportunities to use her gifts.  People will ask me “how did she get so good?” I tell them that it took 12 years of teaching her piano and singing.  12 Years of instilling in her healthy habits, learning life values, skills in learning to interact with people well.  What you see Madison doing now is a product of daily, weekly and monthly training, nurturing and challenging.  She did not develop just magically.  There is no secret formula or 30 day training that helped her.  She worked hard, she stayed committed to training and growing.  She paid the price and still pays the price today to develop.

(I am SO PROUD of her.  Can you tell?)

Pastor Ismael has more people serving on his team because he cares for people well!

There are people on your team that, if you evaluate them now, may not show signs of greatness or giftedness.  Let me challenge you: IT’S THERE - YOU JUST HAVE TO DRAW IT OUT OF THEM.  Like a hidden treasure deep within the earth, you must take the time to dig it out and help develop it.  This is like holding the microphone for them as they learn to develop their skill.  Whether it’s organizational, gift of hospitality, strategic gifts, public speaking, motivating people and recruiting, writing, the gift to start or build a business, etc.  Look for the hidden treasure in your people.  Begin to dig - keep digging - encourage, affirm.  Help them see a bigger vision for their life.  Show them what COULD BE and begin to give them small opportunities to develop their gift.  And when they step up to your challenge, hold the microphone for them until they can hold it for themselves.

Here's Asher walking next to his father, John.  Asher makes everyone around him feel valued and included

Pass the ball to others on your team.  Lead through others.  It’s harder, it’s riskier.  But, slowly, your people will begin to win championships.

When your team wins, you win!