From a Good Church to a Great Church
I was first introduced to Jim Collins and his book Good to Great years ago at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit. Our church, Southcliff, hosted the WCGLS several years via live webcast. Collins’s talk was memorable. The concept that “good was the enemy of great” certainly stuck with me.
Having said that, it was only recently that I listened to the audio book of Collins reading Good to Great and read the follow-up article Good to Great in the Social Sector. I must say that I enjoyed listening to Collins reading his book that is now a “must read” in many business schools. Even though the audio book was recorded more than eight years after the book was published, Collins’ excitement for these principles came through clearly in his voice. I also appreciated the “updates” that Collins gave at several times during the reading. I do not know if the current edition of the book Good to Great has been updated with these insights. During the reading, Collins seems to pause, then give some commentary about his current thoughts on the subject, then goes back to the reading.
As a church leader, I fully understand that there are areas where the book Good to Great does not easily translate to church leadership. Yet, Collins addresses these in his follow up booklet Good to Great in the Social Sector. Here, Collins identifies some areas where churches, nonprofits, social clubs, sports teams, political organizations, etc. are very different than businesses.
First of all, in these organizations, money is not the bottom line. This is especially true for a church. The mission of the church is to share the gospel and to care for people. Success should not be solely measured by the size of Sunday’s offering.
Next, churches and other social organizations are usually not led by an autocratic leader who can make decisions unilaterally. A legislative leadership style is usually needed.
And finally, churches, charities, etc. utilize a large number of volunteers to accomplish their mission. One of the greatest challenges to an organization in the social sector has to do with motivating unpaid workers.
With these differences pointed out by Collins himself, I would like to comment on some of the valuable insights that Good to Great can give church leaders.
Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what’s best for the company.
The greatest insight for me in regards to “Level 5 Leadership” came at the end of the audiobook. Here, Collins reflected on some of the insights that he has gained in the years since the book was first published. He talked about his encounters with many people who felt discouraged because they knew that they were not “level 5 leaders.” Collins wisely stated that even level 3 or 4 leaders can make level 5 decisions from time to time. The goal is not to say “I give up, I am not a level 5 leader.” The goal is to make as many level 5 decisions as possible. I personally found this very freeing. I may not be a great leader, but I can make a great decision from time to time. I can strive to be “more level 5” next year than I was this year.
First Who, Then What: Get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Finding the right people and trying them out in different positions.
What struck me here was the fact that we should look at hiring people, not positions. As I reflect on some of my past hiring decisions, I can see that I have made some mistakes in this area. There were times that I passed over a really good person because he/she did not fit the job description that I had written. Along the same lines, there have been times that I have been too passive with volunteers, letting mediocre ones continue to serve for fear of rocking the boat…after all, a class with a mediocre Sunday School teacher is better than a class with NO Sunday School teacher, right?
The Stockdale paradox—Confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope.
Churches, by their very nature, operate on faith. If there is any organization on the planet that is filled with optimism, it should be the church. In addition, church leaders are good at giving bad news a positive spin… “Yes, the church bus broke down and we can’t afford to fix it. Maybe God is telling us that we need to do our annual mission trip here in our own community this year.” As church leaders, we are so good at looking for the bright side, that we may not confront problems that need fixing.
The Hedgehog Concept.
What is our church passionate about? Trying to get a Cowboy Church to open up a Christian coffee house for poetry reading may not be the best idea. Yet, sponsoring a Christian rodeo camp for kids in the community might be a winner for such a church. What could your church be best at? Look at the other churches in your town. Who do they attract? What are their priorities? What are they best at?
Now look at your church. What makes you different? What type of person comes to your church and immediately feels at home?
A Culture of Discipline.
William Carey famously said, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” Great church leaders need to both “expect” and “attempt.” Disciplined work often precedes significant results.
The Flywheel: The additive effect of many small initiatives; they act on each other like compound interest.
How often do church leaders read a book or go to a conference that causes them to scrap everything and make all new plans? This almost always means a cessation of momentum. Churches need to enact change that increases momentum. The flywheel concept goes hand in hand with the hedgehog principle. Churches need to find out what they are good at, then build upon their strengths.
In conclusion, Good to Great is not only a book about business, it is a book about success. People who want to lead successful organizations would be wise to read it.
About the Author
Stu Cocanougher
7 responses to “From a Good Church to a Great Church”
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Excellent post Stu! I appreciate the way that you interpreted the principles and can see how they can be used in a positive way. I have not had a good experience with the principles of “Good to Great” so my view is a bit jaundice—as one might be able to tell in my post. Because I am researching middle leaders and leadership, the level 5 leader principle is a bit problematic for me. At this point in my research, I still hold to the position that leadership can be learned and leaders developed. I’m reading Friedman’s “Failure of Nerve”. He holds a different position. Of course, like playing the piano, some are extremely gifted. But it is possible—with a lot of hard work—to learn, even if it’s just a simple tune. Designating levels of leadership based on innate and natural ability is a natural progression of organizational development, but it has the tendency to stunt the development of leadership on the other levels. I think this is problematic for the church. You addressed that well in your post. I appreciate your insight. BTW: You are a great leader!
Stu, I am amazed at how many people in our cohort have already read this book! I guess being a farmer has its drawbacks.
Anyway, I concur with your comments on the book. Your remarks on how to use the principles in church are from your experience and therefore insightful. I especially appreciated your point about the flywheel. I think we often do give up too easily. How much of that is theological? Do we want immediate confirmation from God, or we quit?
Your posts are always so enjoyable to read too!!
You’ve hit on many of the positive lessons we can take from Collins’ texts and done a great job giving examples within church contexts. Did you find anything that made you uncomfortable, or which you felt like were contrary to other texts we’d read or our understanding of scripture?
Fabulous post, Stu! You really took the concepts and broke it down and applied it beautifully to the church. Thank you! This connected the dots more for me and helped me visualize this in a concrete applicable way. Each point was thoughtful and applicable and comprehensible. I especially liked this part: “What struck me here was the fact that we should look at hiring people, not positions.” Too many times we are trying to cram people into positions and not making positions for people that create the flywheel effect, or forward movement. Have you considered being a lead pastor of a church? You have great clarity. What is the bottom line for churches in your opinion, if money is it for businesses?
HEY SEVENS! I wanted to take the time to read everyone’s post BEFORE looking back at mine.
Let me pause and say that I really miss reading Geoff’s posts.
(pause).
I do want to respond to Katy…
“Did you find anything that made you uncomfortable, or which you felt like were contrary to other texts we’d read or our understanding of scripture?”
Yes, I did. If you read my comments on some of our blogs, you will see that I identified ways that Good to Great do not match up with christian principles.
As I read all of the blog posts, I realized that most of you who had negative reviews were familiar with this book already.
I think that much of the criticism of Good to Great lies in the fact that for over a decade, pastors have taken these principles too far.
I firmly believe that you can learn from a book, without accepting every premise hook, line, and sinker.
In my post, I identified lessons that can be learned from Good to Great. Yet, I realize that this book was not based on scriptural principles. It was based on some solid research, but in the end it is just a book of ideas.
For example, the biggest issue for a church is the question “How do you define success?” At Southcliff, we helped sponsor a church plant in San Francisco that recently ceased to meet. The reason, many of the core church members felt led to go to the mission field or another area of ministry.
Was this church a failure? No, I do not think so. But, Jim Collins might say that it was.
Thanks Stu; you’ve done a great job of walking that tough line of discerning value in the text without swallowing it all whole-heartedly. Nicely worded. Having read all our posts now, too, I think we’ve all found something worthwhile from Collins’ (esp. his clarifications in the social sectors); like you, I think “success” may need to be defined differently within church communities than even within Christian nonprofits or businesses.
I’m glad you mentioned Geoff because I, too, miss his well-worded posts.
Hi Stu, I understand your comment “Along the same lines, there have been times that I have been too passive with volunteers, letting mediocre ones continue to serve for fear of rocking the boat…after all, a class with a mediocre Sunday School teacher is better than a class with NO Sunday School teacher, right?”
Anybody is better than nobody! But as we look back, we realize that ineffectiveness is worst than no effect. The decisions of leadership.