Seven Simple Questions that Every Leader Must Answer for an Engaged Team

Engaging and mobilizing your team can feel like a daunting challenge. However, we have found that a few simple behaviors can make a huge difference and improve engagement.

It is frustrating to have to read minds

For instance, many team members/employees are frustrated because they feel like they have to read their leader’s mind. They don’t know how they are doing and how they can do better. The annual performance review is sometimes their only chance to find out, and that event is so stressful and formal that the environment is not conducive for making improvements.

Spans of control contribute to the problem

This situation is not completely the fault of leadership. In some organizations, spans of control have become so large that leaders have to complete another formal performance reviews every three or four days. 

The solutions are simpler than you might think

There are many simple strategies to engage and mobilize team members/employees. They cost almost nothing to implement, can be put into place immediately, and have huge impact.

For instance, one opportunity that many leaders have – even at the C-level – is to give more frequent, informal feedback about how each team member/employee is doing. That way, everyone in an organization knows what is expected of them and how they can get better.

The seven questions

There are seven simple questions every leader must answer and communicate to team members/employees. As with advertising, frequency counts. Small, informal conversations about performance go a long way – especially when they include teachable moments about different situations and details. The questions include:

What do I expect from you?

What are you doing well?

What, if anything, can you do better?

What, if anything, do I want you to do better?

(If appropriate): What will happen if you improve (e.g., more responsibility, more time with leadership, more desirable assignments)?

(If appropriate): What will happen if you don’t improve?

How can I help?

While all of these questions are important, the last question is especially important. It shows the team member/employee that the leader cares, and is not merely abdicating responsibility or shifting blame.

For more information about engaging and mobilizing team members/employees, and to take a free self-assessment about how well you are engaging and mobilizing, click here.

Focused Leaders

How to stay focused on what really matters: From Vision to Tactics

The biggest issues that leaders face today are burnout, stress, and overwhelm. Leaders must do so much with limited resources, while keeping up with technology, managing a virtual and global team that spans multiple generations, and do it all in an incredibly volatile economy.

For all of these reasons, leaders can benefit from a tool that keeps them focused on what really matters.

The Leader’s Dashboard is a simple one-page tool that summarizes the most important things on the leader’s plate.

It includes a succinct summary of:

• The organization’s vision.
• The organization’s purpose and mission.
• Values.
• Strategic edge.
• Top 3 initiatives.
• Key performance indicators to track success.
• Relationships.
• Top strategies to build organizational capacity.

The leader can also create a personal career/professional dashboard covering the same areas, except for his or her own career. This makes it clear that the leader is aligned with the organization’s direction or not, and steps to take if there are gaps in alignment.

Perhaps most importantly, everyone in the organization can create their own dashboard. When this exercise is done properly, everyone is aligned, focused on what matters, and accountable. Each dashboard rolls up into the larger whole – using only a single sheet of paper!

The process is extraordinary because it is so simple, practical and powerful. No expensive software is needed. No teams of consultants need to swoop in. Rather, with a little bit of facilitation and coaching, each member of the organization gets clarity about what really counts. 

In today’s world of super complicated algorithms, virtual communication, and gut-wrenching volatility, it is refreshing to have a tool like the Leader’s Dashboard.

For more information about the Leader’s Dashboard, and to take our free self-assessment about how aligned and accountable your organization is, click here .

Your Soul First!

Take Care of Your Own Soul First!

Let’s imagine you are traveling in an aircraft at cruising altitude and suddenly the oxygen masks drop down from above your seat. You notice your seat mate is struggling to get his/her mask on. You remember the instructions, “In case there is a loss of cabin pressure an oxygen mask will drop down from the cabinet above. Pull the mask towards you, being sure to cover your mouth and nose. Secure your own mask first before assisting others.” You decide to help the person next to you before securing your own mask. How might this story end? (Take a moment to let your mind complete the scenario.)

The instructions to,“Secure your own mask first before assisting others” has bothered me since I first heard it. It seems to contradict Jesus’ instructions to deny ourselves. In addition it goes against the Vacation Bible School song I sung as a child entitled J.O.Y, “Jesus first, Yourself last and Others in between”.

But wait!  What about the two big questions Jesus asks us in Matthew 16:26:

1. “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”
2. “Is anything worth more than your soul?”

So how important is your soul? Should you sacrifice your own soul to serve the needs of others? What will you have to offer others if your own soul is sick? 

Like me, have you ever been weary at the very center of your being? Have you heard others share their struggles to nurture a healthy and growing relationship with Jesus while the pressures of life squeeze the life from their soul? Might the lack of soul care be a leading cause of “burnout” in leaders? 

How would it help others if we took care of our own souls? Is Jesus telling us that soul care is like the oxygen mask in an aircraft that has lost cabin pressure? I have discovered that when flying at a cruising altitude if there is a complete loss of cabin pressure you have about twelve-seconds without your oxygen mask in place before you will slip into unconsciousness. In addition, even if there is oxygen in the air, without cabin pressure you are unable to inhale. 

In addition, a sudden loss of pressure is easily detected but if there is a gradual loss it is hard to detect. This could result in slipping into unconsciousness without being aware there was any danger. Might this be the reality that most of live with regarding the well being of our souls? We notice a sudden loss of well being in our souls (examples-death of a loved one, sudden live threatening illness); however, most often it happens very gradually and by the time it is detected, our souls are very sick.

How will you ensure that your soul is being cared for with the priority that Jesus invites us to give our souls, even under pressure? How will you answer Jesus when he asks you the two questions above? May I invite you to sit quietly with Jesus and answer his two questions?

Copyright © 2013 TroyerCoaching, All rights reserved.

God longs for you, you long for God

God longs for you, you long for God!

As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Psalm 42:1-2a NLT (Emphasis added)

You might think that your woundedness or your sinfulness is the truest thing about you. You might think that your giftedness or your personality type or your job title or your identity as husband or wife, mother or father, somehow defines you. But in reality, it is your desire for God and your capacity to reach for God that is the deepest essence of who you are. Sacred Rhythms, Participants Guide by Ruth Haley Barton

The reason we do not see God is the faintness of our desire - Meister Eckhart

A number of years ago I wrote my first longings statement. It has provided clear direction for my life and ministry both in how I take care of my own soul and how I help others pay attention to their relationship with God.

On the weekend of February 1-2, 2013 I was blessed to lead a retreat/workshop for pastors, elders and spouses at Amigo Centre. The focus was the Longings of Our Hearts. We used the personal post-it-note timeline to help us see how God has shaped our longings for Him.

The group came to this event tired and rather weary from all that they have been going through recently. One of their elders died suddenly and unexpectedly over Christmas break. This tragic loss along with other challenges had taken a big toll on them individually and as a group.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 offered a helpful reminder about pain. We noticed that, “heat and drought” come to those who trust in the Lord. This means that suffering is normal for the Christian. 1 Peter 1:7 teaches us that suffering is for our good. God uses suffering to purify our faith just like gold is purified in the fire. God is more concerned about our faith than He is about our comfort. Our desire for comfort can keep us from seeking after our deepest longings for God.

During the time we took for solitude and silence the Spirit brought renewal and refreshment to their souls. They each wrote Longing Statements that helped them to refocus their lives on their desire to grow in their love for God.

Coaching Empowers!

Transforming Church
by Stanley Troyer, ACC

Many mainline churches in North America are experiencing decline. I used to think clarity of purpose, values and vision along with strategic plan for mission would bring churches out of decline and set them on a path to renewal and growth. While these changes are important and usually generate excitement and new energy in a group, they lead to what I now call "outer" change, that is change in ministry activities and programs.

Recently as a result of my ministry experience, I have come to believe deeper change is needed, a change of the heart and soul of the church. This deeper transformation is led by leaders who are engaged in the process of personal transformation. Unless leaders are experiencing the transforming presence of Christ in their lives, any attempts at leading change will result in some new "window dressings" but stop short of deep tranformation. While these changes are helpful, the church needs to become a transforming community where people are experiencing deep spiritual transformation of heart and soul.

Spiritual Transformation is allowing the presence of Christ to be formed in us for the glory of God, for the abundance of our own lives and for the sake of others. (Romans 12:1-2) This deep transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit in us as we share our lives in meaningful community with fellow persons who are on a journey of growing love with the Father through Christ.

However more than personal transformation of leaders and individual members is needed to become a transforming church, a spiritual community. Attention must also be given to the church as a organism, the living body of Christ. The soul and heart of the congregation needs attention. The congregation as a system must be transformed and renewed.

I am currently working with a church that has experienced significant decline in the recent past. I am attempting to pay attention to both peronsal and corporate transformation. It has been both invigorating and challenging at the same time. I have seen some good progress at the level of lay leadership in the church but realize there is much more needed. I would love to learn from your experience.

What have you learned about renewing the church? How do you worked to create a transforming church? Please leave a response.

Spiritual Discernment

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38 TNIV.

Greetings of peace and joy for the Christmas Season and throughout the New Year! May we like Mary seek to live in God’s will for us from a posture of humility. This simple prayer of Mary is a prayer of full surrender to the will of God. Jesus prayed similarly in the Garden when he said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 TNIV. Some refer to these as the prayer of indifference meaning I am indifferent to anything other than the will of God. In other words the only thing that really matters to me is discerning and following the will of God.

Sometimes before I can pray this prayer of indifference I must pray for the gift of indifference. So I pray, “Lord make me willing to be indifferent” or “Give me the gift of indifference”.

Often following the will of God goes against our human nature. That is my ego, sin nature or false self (mean the same) has desires and longings that incline me to go against the will of God. I am inclined to gratify my false self. Therefore God’s will feels undesirable because it goes against my sinful nature. When I listen to my soul or my true self, I long for God, his love and will for me. Deep inside me God’s will gives peace and seems right. Choosing to listen to my soul is essential in discerning the will of God.

My prayer for each of us is that we will create quiet space for God to enter into our being more and more so that “. . . you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2 TNIV. May God give you hope and courage through the miracle of Christmas for the New Year and may you be confident that Jesus who came to live among us will give us “hope and a future”. Jeremiah 29:11 TNIV

Copyright © 2011 Stanley J Troyer & CRM