{"id":3337,"date":"2014-11-20T11:30:46","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T11:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=3337"},"modified":"2014-11-20T14:05:29","modified_gmt":"2014-11-20T14:05:29","slug":"well-known-or-known-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/well-known-or-known-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Well Known or Known Well"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAs for the audio and pictures – it’s fine to show them live in church. It’s probably not the best to post them on our (church\u2019s) website – with the increased persecution they are facing now, they’ve asked us to be even more careful than we already have been\u2026As for FB (facebook)… we limit what we post on our FB page because it has such wide scope. (Our web sites are limited, but FB is not, so I put very few things on that.) It’ll be ok if you keep it generic – no audio spots, but a general description is ok, probably without mentioning (ministry name) (we go against every marketing concept there is. :))\u201d<\/p>\n

The above response was from a friend of mine who works with an international organization. I had asked about promoting a project their ministry is involved with. The reality is that I knew the answer without asking, but because we are reading Open Leadership: How Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead, <\/em>by Charlene Li, I thought it would be worthwhile to ask. This response is in direct opposition to most ideas that are mentioned in Li\u2019s book, which exalts technological immersion to move businesses into greater relevance and success. One of the major premises of the book is: \u201cThe first step is recognizing that you are not in control\u2014your customers, employees, and partners are.\u201d (Loc. 368) This is a necessary statement for a profit minded business and it is also true that churches and ministries can get caught into making this thought a priority, but it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. In fact we should be wary of the temptation to be well known.<\/p>\n

\"well-known-known-well\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Suffice to say that there are number of points of divergence that I have with the author, however, there are some excellent contributions for those in leadership that are worth giving further consideration. There are excellent books written for the business world that can be useful to running a non-profit organization; this book can be one of them, if shaken out and filtered through a Kingdom minded, not-for-profit lens. Additionally, as I come to the end of this semester this book also brings together a few elements that have been part of my thinking over the last three months. Here\u2019s three of them:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Healthy relationships are crucial<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is the time of year in our church family where we consider those who will serve as part of our leadership team for the next year. The process has been transformed from a chore, a few years ago, to a welcome part of my calendar of duties\/privileges. The criteria, in its basic form is this: who do we know who has demonstrates a genuine love for the Lord; is passionate about what the Lord is doing through our church family; and is already demonstrating those first two in the way they serve in formal ministry and just as importantly in the community. Yes there are other criteria that we consider, but these three are the key because they should reveal a healthy relationship with Our God and a healthy relationship with others. It isn\u2019t perfect, but the Lord has used it to provide stable leadership that is willing to engage the joys and the messiness that comes with ministry.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe result of these new relationships is open leadership, which I define as: having the confidence and humility to give up the need to be in control while inspiring commitment from people to accomplish goals.\u201d (Loc. 466)<\/em><\/p>\n

    Healthy relationships as a leadership team and a staff have proven themselves over and over again. Through healthy relationships, we don\u2019t have to spend as much time monitoring adherence to values or have detailed performance audits because the people involved trust each other and love what they are doing; they are more willing to adjust to life changes, help where needed, and be patient in implementation. A wise mentor once told me that \u201cwhen the relationships at the top are healthy, the rest of the organization will be healthy \u2013 when they\u2019re not\u2026\u201d I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve ever been given better advice; and certainly over time we\u2019ve seen both implications of this statement to be true. In order to inspire commitment from people we (I) need to invest time and attention in those relationships.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Fostering the Freedom to Fail is necessary<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      This is probably been the most difficult road to navigate. So many people, even good people, have been stunted their personal (spiritual) growth that have taken their desire to even try or dream let alone, learn through failure. How do I know, I\u2019ve failed at more things than most people have tried; and I\u2019ve failed at the things that some think are done well. In leadership we should continually challenge others toward creativity and ingenuity that brings to life the shared values of the organization. Through failure today, we can learn the innovations of tomorrow and new leadership is then developed, with their own stories of failure.<\/p>\n

      \u201cBy mastering failure, you create an environment in which risk taking is encouraged and recovery from failure becomes a skill that everyone in the organization possesses\u2026.In fact, the best leaders prepare themselves and their organizations for failure, and make sure that there are ways that everyone, including themselves, can learn from these experiences so that they are not wasted.\u201d <\/em>(Loc. 3309-3345)<\/p>\n

      Building up relational capital is paramount to be able to foster a culture where people are free to fail. Out of relationships, and learning how to respond to failure will come the stories worth sharing.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Tell stories<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        As non-profit organizations or ministries our mandate is not to tell our story \u2013 although we often feel pressure to do so \u2013 rather it is to tell two other stories: the story of God and the story of others. It is anti-marketing at its best, but it is in complete accordance with God\u2019s mandate for us and that as we do, he strengthens, blesses and provides for us.<\/p>\n

        \u201cIn these instances, you will need to tap into the emotional power of stories to make your case, and nothing is more powerful than a compelling customer story. The beauty is that today, customers by the millions are telling their stories\u2014and just waiting for you to join the conversation.\u201d<\/em> (Loc. 1437)<\/p>\n

        In considering the use of social media and technology, the challenge is to not become so consumed with communicating information that it stifles the importance of transformation, which best takes place in real time relationships. For example, our program, although it mostly operates through on-line communication, is greatly enhanced through the Face-to-face times we experience. Our real time relationships make the online communication more meaningful. In much the same way, our story telling should create a desire within others to want to enter into deeper, more meaningful relationships with God and others, unafraid to be who we are but secure in knowing whose we are.<\/p>\n

        (What we are observing and hearing, as a result, is that our story is being shaped and shared by others. God has a way of looking after those details as we focus our attention on Him and those He cares about.)<\/p>\n

        Instead of being well known, ultimately most people have a desire to be known well. As those who serve in leadership what are the challenges we face in working toward that goal?<\/p>\n

        \u201cNow I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.\u201d<\/p>\n

        1 Corinthians 13:12b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        \u201cAs for the audio and pictures – it’s fine to show them live in church. It’s probably not the best to post them on our (church\u2019s) website – with the increased persecution they are facing now, they’ve asked us to be even more careful than we already have been\u2026As for FB (facebook)… we limit what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[220],"class_list":["post-3337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-li","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3337"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3341,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3337\/revisions\/3341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}