I recently read a post at Learnings at Leadership Network, by Warren Bird, Ph.D., Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation. This was posted on May 16, 2008 in Church Visits.

Warren wrote, “Unfortunately, too many churches exist where the senior pastor is a tremendous leader but an even bigger bottleneck. In such churches nothing of importance can happen unless the senior pastor is at the hub of it. Neither long-term volunteers, nor senior staff, feel empowered to take initiative on anything major. They feel underutilized – and they are.

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I’ve been working with a couple of organizations that are “stuck” but motivated enough to get moving toward becoming “healthier.” As I witness the process of working with the leaders and employees of both organizations I’m reminded of some fundamental truths about systems. First, while motivation is a necessary component for bringing about change, it’s not sufficient. For example, if the motivation is to simply ease acute anxiety or pain a system will settle on pragmatic “instant” solutions that will ease the symptoms.

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Emily Kittle Morrison presents a concise, yet comprehensive resource on the subject of leading a volunteer organization in her book Leadership Skills: Developing Volunteers for Organizational Success (Fisher Books, 1994). Morrison provides helpful instructions, practical tips, and valuable resources on fifteen different foci of volunteer leadership from time management and listening to conflict management and board skills. The book, more of a resource manual with pithy points and assessment tools, has an easy to read and approachable layout that will serve well its purpose. The book easily lends itself to a field resource guide and would likely work as a supplement to many areas of leadership and volunteer training. Morrison covers quite a bit of ground in Leadership Skills making this book a valuable asset for anyone associated with a volunteer organization.

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I finally got around to watching a DVD from Netflix that’s been sitting on the coffee table for about a month (thank goodness for that “no late fees” policy!). The movie was House of D. In the movie a thirteen-year-old comes of age through loss, grief, and escape. As an adult, and a father, he returns to the place of his childhood in order to reconnect and move on.

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In his book, Celebration of Discipline (pages 7&8), Richard Foster shares a meditation exercise that I’ve used often and find helpful. Foster says,

“In your imagination picture yourself walking along a lovely forest path. Take you time, allowing the blaring noise of our modern megalopolis to be overtaken by the sound of rustling leaves and cool forest streams. After observing yourself for a bit, take the perspective of the one walking, rather than the one observed. Try to feel the breeze upon your face as if it were gently blowing away all anxiety. Stop along the way to ponder the beauty of the flowers and birds.

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Listening to your learners means more than just hearing the words they use. Being a positive listeners takes skill and like every helpful teaching skill, requires practice. Test yourself to determine if you are a positive listener:

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My friend Marty and I are just finishing up a book project on how to plan and organize congregational Christian education. In a couple of weeks we’ll send off the manuscript for Planning and Organizing for Christian Education Formation: A Community of Faith Approach. It will be published by Chalice Press and should be out in the fall.

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