Balancing Efficiency & Trust in Ministry Staff/Volunteers (Part 5 of 5)

#4 Trust - is it achievable?

a : assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something b : one in which confidence is placed 

 To gain it from those you lead you must:

• Be fair, firm and consistent
• Treat you leaders as equal partners
• Provide Clarity
• Serve them, resource them and champion the great ideas
• Be an example of Integrity
• Be honest, transparent and open
• As difficult as it is, don't slander leaders to other leaders (especially when leader need to talk to you about a concern with another)
• Be wise in what you promise; no matter what, you need to fulfill them

To have trust in your leaders

• CELEBRATE SUCCESSES
• HAVE THE HARD CONVERSATIONS - Don't let questions about something fester in your head.  Go seek clarity.  When you don't do this out of fear of offending, your "questions" turn to distrust.
• UNDERSTAND THEIR REASONING - Learn how they make decisions, why they make them and what are their top priorities.
• HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON BOARD - As hard as this seems, if you can not get to a point where you can trust, you need to remove them from the team.  Of course, you need to have taken all of the healthy steps with that person to remove the distrust.  Your ministry, vision and mission will never succeed when you have leaders you do not trust on your team.

Andy Stanley refers to leadership as a stewardship. Most of the initiative is on you both to gain trust from those you lead and to have it in those you lead.  It falls on you.

Balancing Efficiency & Trust in Ministry Staff/Volunteers (Part 4 of 5)

#3 - Serve the People that Serve the People

To lead means to be servant of all , and a servant does not look to influence but to put the needs of others first and to care for those needs.......by seeking others needs above your own you draft a new leadership arc. ~ Tim Willard

43But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:43-45
 
Some of you may feel I already covered this with the "Care for the People" post, but I feel these are similar yet separate philosophies.  Can you serve without care?  Can you care yet not serve? All throughout the Gospels we find many examples of Christ serving others from washing feet while on His knees to carrying the burden of our sin by His grace on the cross.

The worlds view is to gain influence through wealth, power and crushing the competition.  Christ was able to gain influence over prostitutes, liars, the lonely, the heartbroken, the poor, the evil, the rich, thieves by serving, simply and humbly, serving them.  Putting their needs first.  If we want others to follow, we must earn the right to influence them - RARELY will this happen without putting the needs of those you lead first and being a humble servant to them.

• This has to be genuine, those you lead can read through insincerity.
• While being a servant to your team, don't neglect your own duties (find balance), as that would also lead to not serving your team well. :-)
• Admittedly, this is probably one of my areas needing most improvement when compared to the example of Christ.  I was not that good at this outside of ministry, so how can I expect to do it well in ministry without serious attention, consistency and a genuine heart.