Posted by: Frank Chiapperino in resources on
Sep 25, 2008
Miles, Senior Pastor of The Rock Church, will be one of the featured speakers wrapping up the Group life Conference this year. And don't forget - as a reader of this website you get a discount by using this code - GLC8BLG
Click here to view a quick video from Miles.
Source: Dave Treat
I was reading some blogs on Small Groups recently and I ran across this post that focuses on the qualities and practices of effective leaders.
1. Leaders Model the Way
- Leadership is not about personality; it's about behavior.
- Leading means you have to be a good example, and live what you say.
- Leaders must find their own voice, then they must clearly and distinctively give voice to their values.
- Leadership is about the power of spending time with someone, of working side by side with colleagues, of telling stories that make values come alive, of being highly visible during times of uncertainty, and of asking questions to get people to think about values and priorities.
2. Leaders Inspire a Shared Vision
- Every organization, every social movement, begins with a dream.
- Leaders have a desire to make something happen, to change the way things are, to create something that no one else has ever created before.
- In some ways, leaders live their lives backward... it is their vision of the future pulls them forward.
- Leaders cannot command commitment, only inspire it.
- Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue. Leaders must know their constituents and speak their language.
3. Leaders Challenge the Process
- Leaders venture out. They are pioneers. They are willing to step out into the unknown.
- Leaders search for opportunities to innovate, grow, and improve. They are constantly looking outside themselves and their organizations for new and innovative products, processes, and services.
- When it comes to innovation, the leader's major contributions are in the creation of a climate for experimentation, the recognition of good ideas, the support of those ideas, and the willingness to challenge the system to get new products, processes, services, and systems adopted.
- Leaders are learners.
- Life is the leader's laboratory, and exemplary leaders use it to conduct as many experiments as possible.
4. Leaders Enable Others to Act
- Grand dreams don't become significant realities through the actions of a single person. It requires a team effort.
- Leaders foster collaboration and build trust.
- Leaders work to make people feel strong, capable, and committed.
- Authentic leadership is founded on trust, and the more people trust their leader, and each other, the more they take risks, make changes, and keep organizations and movements alive.
5. Leaders Encourage the Heart
- It is part of the leaders job to show appreciation for people's contributions and to create a culture of celebrating values and victories.
- Encouragement is, curiously, serious business.
- Leaders make sure people see the benefit of behavior that's aligned with cherished values.
- Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow. It is the quality of this relationship that matters most when we're engaged in getting extraordinary things done.
Source: The Leadership Challenge, First Groups
In my previous posts on this topic we covered Small Groups 2.0 for social groups and traditional (study) small groups. In this post I want to cover task groups.
Some churches that are working on being churches of groups instead of a church with groups classify their ministry teams as small groups as well. These type of groups would include ushers, security, parking, tech teams, and the band.
Our CCV band also uses a website to enhance their productivity as a ministry of our church. Here is how they use the website:
To schedule and manage auditions for the student (teen) and adult band
To schedule the student and adult band
To schedule the student and adult tech teams
To access the song list for each Sunday service
To access the song library to download sheet music (password protected)
For task oriented groups technology has everything to do with productivity and very little with social purposes. These groups spend significant time practicing, and serving together so the need to enhance the social experience just isn’t there because their social experience is in the act of serving together as a group. When trying to deterimne how technology can enhance our groups we must always start with answering the question, "What does our group need?" Then look to technology to help meet that need.
Next Post - using tech to track your group ministry
.jpg" alt=" " width="108" height="108" align="left" />Tomorrow at noon I will be leaving with a team from our church (
Christ's Church of the Valley) for the Group Life Conference at Willow Creek. Each night I will be posting about my experiences that day so stay tuned. I am sure it will be an exciting week!
