Thursday, February 02, 2006

Juggling Balls and Spinning Plates

I had a great phone call today. I have started coaching a high potential second chair leader who is juggling too many balls and spinning too many plates. He is in an environment of expansive growth and his time is in high demand. The problem. . . . . . way too many balls and plates. Such that in a recent staff retreat, the bouncing balls and crashing plates became the focus of the "problems" in the organization. Don't you know he loved going home that night to his wife and expressing to her his frustration.

What happened? The organization grew! He was and is the go to guy so they went to him. Now he is overwhelmed and nearing burn out.

Try another anology-- traffic!

Have you ever been in a traffic jam when you rolled along at 5 miles per hour for twenty minutes? Have you ever thought, "Wow! There must be a bad wreck up there? What could be causing such a back up? I can't wait to see the mangled metal of this one!" To your surprise and disappointment, there was no such wreck. No, the construction crew chose not to post signs about road work and just started narrowing everyone to one lane. Going from three lanes to one in a moments notice isn't all that fun now is it? People get angry, frustrated, and can even get hurt.

This is what can happen if the second chair leader has to have his or her signature on everything. In this type of ministry traffic jam, leaders push initiatives up the line and wait for decisions and approvals. In their waiting, they get tired, angry, even frustrated. The second chair leader feels overwhelmed, under appreciated, and doesn't know how to clear away the bottle neck and traffic jam that is outside of his or her office door.

Sometimes this traffic jam is created by a staff member who isn't pulling their own weight. Other times, it happens because the second chair isn't comfortable giving power away.

My take: Life is too short to have to approve everything. I want to do only that which I can do and empower and inspect that which I am able to delegate and give away. To do this, I have got to be willing to deal with conflict, communicate effectively, and enlist and train other capable people. This too takes time but it will be very rewarding to both the organization and to the people the organization serves. Look for, enlist, train, and use your people. They are your greatest resource!

What do you do to keep the traffic from stacking up too much outside your office door?

9 comments:

Clayton and Kelly said...

Cry?

Hide?

Run Away?

Well, I've tried all three and none of them seem to work. So I've had to take a realistic look at the things that I'm responsible for, the things that I’m hoarding control over, and let things go to other people, even if they don’t want the responsibility!

I find that I’m coming to my breaking point, or boiling point, with my current responsibilities. I know that there are only so many hours in a day, but they’re the same amount that everyone else has, so I’ve got to honor God with the first fruits of my day, schedule my priorities not priorities my schedule, not be consumed with the tyranny of the urgent, and all the other clichés that are appropriate for time management. So what actually works?

Well, there’s just no substitution for delegation and/or releasing things to other people. Olan Hendrix, one of founders of the ECFA and current church consultant to our movement, told our top tier leaders “Isn’t always funny that wherever bottlenecks occur, they always occur at the top?” One of our founders responded with a smile: “OK Olan, we get it: we’re the problem!” I’ve found that while that may have been true for our movement, it’s also true on a smaller scale in out local church.

We’ve recently had everyone put on paper what they do at the church, sort of creating job descriptions based on the person as well as the position. Well, like all second chair leaders, I was doing more than I realized, and I had to ask…am I the traffic jam? Well, in some areas I am! In my second-chair tendency, and being a perfectionist, I’m willing to take on tasks because I want them done, and done well, but I end up with so many tasks that I either do them poorly or begin to burn myself out. That leads to me being frustrated, less time with my wife, and stops others from taking responsibility for tasks they should be learning to execute.

As second chair leaders, I believe it’s our job to be a traffic cop, not the police escort. We need to help others, allowing them to get to where they need to be without unnecessary impediment and proper direction. Sometimes, when a task is actually ours to do, it’s OK to be a little more hands on, but I know I’ve got to do a better job of helping people get where they need to be, not carrying them there. I think sometimes we’d like to go back of the days of being only one area, but now that we’re in this God-given position, we’ve got to working harder than anyone because of the spirit of God, and build as wise master builders.

Clayton and Kelly said...

Hello? Is this thing on? Where did everyone go?

Clayton and Kelly said...

It's amazing what Mike and Roger have tapped into, isn't it? This whole underground subculture of leaders who aren't quite sure how to lead when they're in between the rock and the hard place...

DivaD, I'm not sure if you've read Good to Great by Jim Collins, but one of the best points in there talks about getting the right people on the bus, and then getting them into the right seats. The author of BREAKOUT CHURCHES says the same thing, but that with churches it's important to line up with the philosophy of the church as well as the other people working there.

It sounds like you've got a great relationship with the first chair in terms of freindship, but that he's not providing what you need as an employer. This alludes to what I was asking about earlier: What happens when your pastor is your boss and friend, but isn't good at all of them, just a few of them? Your first might be a better pastor and friend, but a bad boss. The good friend and pastor part might detract from you addressing the boss issues, even if they're killing you. Sounds like they might be.

Are you with the right people, and is there a seat on the bus for you that you want to be in? Have you talked through the possibility of leaving with your first chair? I'm not talking about threating to leave, but talking through some of the issues before it gets too bad?

I don't know what your financial situation is, and I'm not about life being as easy as possible, but you sound like it might be time to make a change before you have to make a jagged break.

Clayton and Kelly said...

DivaD, I don't know if this is a prompting by the Holy Spirit or just a crazy idea, but here goes:

Take it out of the business realm. Right now.

Take it to the spiritual realm. When you're in these meetings, or in a side conversation where you're about to burst from the criticism or attack, ask them if you all can pray about the issue. Cry out to God, TOGETHER, for the wisdom and grace to solve the situation. Of course, this is conditional to gender issues, as I would never encourage people of the opposite sex to pray together in a private setting. But, if you can, grab a third party and pray right then. We don't wrestle with flesh and blood, so go after the spiritual forces manipulating both your emotions and theirs. If they resist prayer, after persistant attempts, well...you work for a church attempting to expand the kingdom of God, so prayer is a perfectly normal thing to do in the course of the day. PRAY, pray often, pray until something breaks in the spirit. Hopefully, that's from God, and it helps.

Roger Patterson said...

WOW!!!! You guys blow me away. This is so humbling to read the depth of your struggles, and I can only give our king the glory that He is due!

Thanks for thanking us, but God is the one with the amazing plan. We just sit back and are humbled again and again with what the Lord is doing. Thanks for leading the way in transparency around these issues. I will be praying for each of you and let me add a little to the conversation.

Go back to the definition of contentment in the second chair: the choice to stay and grow for a season no matter the circumstances. We intentionally put chapter 8 before chapter 10. Our counsel, stay and grow until you know you absolutely have to go.

I began this year with, "Lord, grow me into the man you want me to be." I have since questioned my prayer, as this season has been intense. But if God is going to have His way in me, He is going to have to put me through a refining fire. This fire deals with sin, with pride, with tough situations in the church, with the enemie's attack, etc. You name it. I have learned over and over these last six weeks how uncomfortable the second chair is.

So, Divad, my prayer for you is resolve to stay and grow, no matter the circumstances, for this season.

You will know when it is time to go. God will bring that about in His sovereignty. I think the passion that you have for your church, your ministry, and for your first chair are indicative of your heart to stay and thrive in the second chair. The insecure leader in your midst must be dealt with, but your first chair must do it. As a leader, you are going to get shot at. Go to work with your flack jacket on. Go to your knees as Clayton has advised and ask God to knit your hearts.

I know that you are emotionally spent. Take a day or two off, a week or two if need be. But let this season prepare and refine you. Love your neighbor as yourself. Let your soft answers turn away wrath. Give your enemy something to eat or drink when they are hungry or thirsty. This action will be like pouring hot coals on their head. Love them and recognize the battle in the heavenly realm. Put on your armor and stand firm so that when the arrows come, you can stand. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Let your light so shine before men (and women) that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father who is in Heaven. May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sorry to preach, but that is what I do. You are loved by your great and mighty God and by your fellow second chair leaders. We trust that you are going to be filled and renewed and trust that God is working all things together for your good because you love Him and are called according to His purposes. Remember, neither height nor depth, angels nor demons, ... anything in all creation -- nothing can seperate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. He is your rock, your refuge, your fortress. Run to him as a strong tower. May he surround you with favor as with a sheild and may you ever sing for joy. For surely the Lord blesses the righteous.

Finally, do not be discouraged in doing good for at the right time you will reap a blessing if you do not give up.

Lead, follow, serve and bless!

Roger P

Roger Patterson said...

We have a lot that you can pray for. I have had a hard couple of days, as my leadership got challenged pretty good. It has been a time of examination and reflection. I am praying that God would confirm what He needs to confirm and bring clarity where there is confusion. We are leading our church through a call to prayer and repentance. We are in need of strength, as there aren't enough hours in the day. We are preparing for a few 2nd chair seminars (the reason I am still awake at 12:20 on a Wednesday night)in the next month, and we really want those to be excellent. So, pray against the enemie's attack, for energy to complete the tasks with excellence, for wisdom to know and discern God's leading in the church and then for clarity for me during a brief time of confusion.

Also, I have a paper at the doctoral committee of my school that I am waiting to hear about. Pray for favor as it is read, reviewed, and discussed.

Thanks for showing us love!
Roger P

Clayton and Kelly said...

21 comments?

We need a message board, not a comment blog!

Roger, you're not doing anything right now, are you? Why not spend some more time on the secondchair web site? ;-)

Roger Patterson said...

we did a message board on our web site first. We got nothing. I think through it all, we got four or five posts to questions, etc. the first 4 months.

Mike's ability to be up on all the trendy things in North American Culture and around the world led us to establish our blog!!!!! There you have it -- the real story!

Clayton and Kelly said...

There, 25th comment, just to get it to a quater of a hundred...