If we’re not careful, energy can be easily drained from our ministry team.
Every church staff member is a team leader to one degree or another. You must take note of those areas that are draining the energy from the leaders around you. Keep the energy up to allow for creativity, momentum and success.
I recently read a little leadership fable called Zapp – the lightning of empowerment. In it was a list of ways that energy is sapped from an organization or team. Here are nine of those that may apply to yours:
Confusion
Leaders work hard to bring clarity and focus to a ministry team. Without this clarity, people will be confused with their role and direction.
Lack of trust
Leaders must work hard to bring a level of trust among the ministry team. Team members must trust the organization, the leader and the process.
Not being listened to
Leaders must seek to listen and listen really well to their people.
Someone solving all the problems for them
It’s counterintuitive, but if you do all the thinking and solving, there’s no ownership or challenge left for the team. Delegate and let them work and achieve. When the problems are all solved for the team, there’s no stretching or growth happening
People being treated like interchangeable parts
Leaders must treat people individually.
Not knowing if we’re succeeding
We must set out the goal and declare how we will know when we’ve won. It’s also important to celebrate when the team does win!
Leaders who take too much credit
Pass along the credit for the ideas and work – do this privately and publicly.
Not enough resources to do the job
Strive to provide the needed resources to accomplish the job well! Many church ministry teams are dealing with limited resources, but just naming that and trying to get around it in other creative ways can help keep the team moving forward.
No meaning to the job
Consistently find ways to remind people of the mission and the “why” behind what we’re doing!
I write with church leaders in mind and I would be honored to have you join me by subscribing to the blog. You can take a look at the top posts here. The posts are categorized: pastors, worship leaders, student ministry and kids ministry. In case we’re just meeting, here’s little about my life.
Other Posts:
5 Easy Ways To Thank Your Team
How to Pay Your Volunteer Teams
The Importance of Handwritten Letters
