Stretching the Staff

I've been blogging about our staff right now and how we're being challenged and stretched.  While this is uncomfortable, it is healthy.  It's like changing your work out routine -- you have to change it to stimulate new growth and bust through plateaus.  Otherwise, you'll be doing the same weight, the same number of times for an indefinite period of time.  When you vary your work out, the next day your muscles are screaming at you but you know that the temporary pain will bring long-term gain. 

This is where our staff is.  We got pretty good at leading a church in one location with about 1000+ people.  Now the dynamic has changed: two locations with more people.  Our workout has to change.  We've got to grow as a staff.  Here's some things that are "stretching" us right now:

• Giving up control and learning to delegate.  In the military, we called it "delegating authority, but never responsibility".  That is a tension that has to be mastered as a leader.


• Recruiting and developing volunteers who share the vision, values, and DNA of the way we do things at RBCC.


• Being a "team first" staff that can conflict in a healthy way for the good of the team.


• Doing "less" for "more" impact.  I do less as a pastor/leader now than when the church first started.  This doesn't mean I have more time on my hands, but it does mean that my time is more focused.  When we first started RBCC, I was like a 75-watt light bulb; now, I try to be more like a laser. 


• Putting people (including ourselves) in the right position.  Part of our staff reorganization is putting people in the right position.  It's like a football coach deciding that someone should play defensive back instead of wide receiver.


• Prayer - we must spend more time in prayer, allowing God to mold, stretch, and grow us.