Leadership Lessons I've Learned, Number 2

2. Improve Continuously

The term kaizen is a Japanese word adopted into English referring to a philosophy or practices focusing on continuous improvement in manufacturing activities, business activities in general, and even life in general, depending on interpretation and usage. As I studied business in graduate school and then went on to work in consulting, I sat in meetings...and more meetings...and more meetings specifically around kaizen - continuous improvement.

These meetings and discussions were taken very seriously in these business organizations, mostly because the outcome of these meetings represented profitability, shareholder value, etc. And then their was church.

As a church, we don't create profit (although we LOVE margin), and we don't have any shareholders to appease. But, as a church, I believe we are leading THE most important organization in the world. And in my past church experiences, I was always amazed as I watched smart people walk into Elder and Deacon meetings and check their brain at the door. That may be too harsh (or it may be exactly correct). During the day they are pouring through every little nuance of their business, squeezing out every drop of profit, and then they walk into a church meeting and NOBODY seems to care about progress or success. We argue about what we should wear to serve communion and what volume the music should be run at as to not create permanent hearing damage. Meanwhile, there are people all over our communities completely lost - far from God - just trying to make it by as sin, sorrow, and death seem to not have answers. And here we are, at the church, sitting in a meeting, worried about what color the chairs should be.

I decided long ago that when it came to church, I was going to do all I could to never be satisfied with status quo. To never be just serve in a "pretty good" church. To never be fine with just getting by. As a church, we want to be passionately committed to God's leading and His desire for the world through His church. And every time I study His word or hear from Him, I continue to see how passionate He is about reconnecting people back to Himself. So, as a church, that is what we do, and we evaluate how successful we are every week. And we constantly change for the purpose of getting better.

Now, to evaluate, you need measurable goals and objectives. I hate it when church leaders say that they just want to be Spirit led, and so counting or measuring or anything goal related goes against the Spirit. That is just not correct. We count not to brag, but to evaluate success and look at how we are trending as an organization. The question is not "should we count." The real question is "what should we count," and "what do we do with what we find out."

Here's what we count:
- Total people in service (to measure growth, because if you aren't growing, your not doing something right and we need to know if our people are bring others far from God to Watermarke).
- People in groups (to measure progress towards our win, as a percentage of total adults)
- Baptisms (to help gauge spiritual growth and steps in their relationship with Christ)
- Giving Units and Serving (are people engaging in our vision and mission)
- Gospel (How often do we present the best news ever given? How often do we create opportunities for people to respond to the message?)

Here's what we can't totally count, but in the end, it is the most important: Life Change. Every meeting we hold begins with stories of life change. Every meeting begins with sharing stories of real people and real change. That's the goal, so that's what we celebrate. We measure numbers, but we don't celebrate full auditoriums. We celebrate life change.

So, here's the question: How are you measuring success, and how are you improving continuously? Do you have a target/win for which to create metrics?

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

Leadership Lessons I've Learned, Number 1

1. Never stop learning or asking questions

Every leader knows that we should always learn and ask questions. Nothing new there. Let me give you another take on this thought...

My first week as Lead Pastor of Watermarke Church was a whirlwind of information, problem identification, and meetings. Actually, the entire week was just one long meeting with the staff and key leaders. It was mentally, physically, and spiritually exhausting. But these conversations proved invaluable.

And there was my first lesson. I thought I had a good understanding of SOME of the issues facing Watermarke. I decided to spend my first month just listening and learning. I didn't hold completely to that promise, though, as I did have to make some significant changes to our staff and budget in my first week, but I did do an awful lot of listening. In my first week, I spent at least two hours with each staff member listening and casting vision for the future. Secondly, I invited 30 - 40 key people from our church to sit down with me and I asked them each the same two questions: What do you love about Watermarke, and what has caused you the most frustration? Funny looking back, as each conversation started with "Do you REALLY want to hear everything?"

And let me tell you - I received some great information from some passionate people. What I heard was great, but really secondary. The most important part of these Q&A sessions was connecting with key leaders AND the identifying my first action steps. Specifically, this is where these meetings got me:
- I heard the same basic story, issues, etc., from each person. That was great confirmation of the issues at our church. And I let each person tell me the whole story. It was good for them to get it off their chest, and it was confirming for me to hear.
- I was able to identify some low hanging fruit that allowed me to create some quick success and build trust. Quick success created easy momentum. Huge for us as we began to reverse our attendance and giving trends. Trust in my leadership was even more important, especially when I needed to make some bigger asks over time. Faith and trust in leadership is important, and it is even more important during our leadership transition.
- I was able to cast vision over and over to people that walked away and regurgitated our conversations. More trust and more momentum. More people hearing my heart and catching the vision for Watermarke. Invaluable.

As I think back, I doubt we would be where we are today had I not spent this time asking these key questions. What a great start for me as a Lead Pastor, and what an incredible time of connecting, learning, and building for the changes that came next.

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

Leadership Lessons I've Learned, The Beginning

I have been compiling a list of things I've learned since taking the position of Lead Pastor at Watermarke Church. I am going to spend the next several weeks thinking and talking about each lesson right here. It has been such a great journey of discovery and learning, and I bet I have only learned a fraction of what I need to know. My hope is that I will continue to learn, and maybe even be able to help someone coming along behind me, too. There's certainly room for improvement.

To begin, the greatest lesson I have learned is simply this: I'm starting to know what I don't know. This is difficult to follow, but stay with me through this Abbott and Costello-ish routine. I have spent many years not knowing what I didn't know. If you don't know what you don't know, then you end up thinking you know more than you actually know. I am also sure there are still more things I don't know I don't know than not, but it has been so helpful for me as a Lead Pastor to identify those things I know I don't completely know or understand.

I have seen too many leaders in business and church fail to know what they don't know, and that is a deadly position to be in as a decision maker. When a leader fails to realize what they don't know, decisions too often are made based on bad assumptions and faulty information.

So, based on knowing what I don't know (or at least didn't completely know), below is a list of what I've learned thus far. Don't laugh at the length of my list...I've learned a lot. For me, the best part of this list is that it is incomplete, because I certainly haven't learned all that I don't know.

1. Never stop learning or asking questions
2. Improve Continuously
3. Develop People and Teams
4. Be Honest and Transparent
5. Decisions Need to be Made
6. Patience is a Virtue
7. Flexibility is a Necessity
8. Have Some Fun
9. Create a Vision Lens
10. Humility Wins
11. Communicate Well
12. Always Rely on God

I look forward to walking through this list. Somebody smarter than I should write a 12 chapter book from this list...

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

Bad Blogger

OK, so last night on Atlanta Live, Shelley called me out for not updating my blog enough. I think there are two kinds of bloggers out there...people that have something to say that is helpful, and people that love to be critical of everybody and everything. Well, there are probably more than just those two categories, but those seem to be the most prevalent.

I guess moving forward, I am going to try and be a better blogger. Or, let me say that, moving forward, I am going to try and write more about what we are doing at Watermarke and what I am learning as a leader.

Thanks for the call out, Shelley...

God, Me, and Patience - Part 2

As I thought about the idea of patience, I began digging into the concept of God's patience. What I noticed pretty quickly is that, when it comes to God, we are quick to focus on His grace, mercy, love, strength, but not really His patience. Why is that? Is God's patience even on the same playing field as His grace and mercy? Is God even patient?

Here is what I ultimately concluded. I believe God IS patient. He is ridiculously patient. But God's patience is not noticeable until we understand His grace and mercy. When we begin to grasp what we, as His creation, deserve for our behavior and sin, God's grace and mercy enter into a new perspective. In fact, God's patience is ultimately seen in His grace and mercy with us.

I know that if I created you and a world for you to exist and then watched my creation constantly deny me and ignore my love and provision for their own selfish ambition, the results would be pretty predictable. I would just head back to the drawing board and start over. "I brought you into my world, and I'll take you out," would be my mantra.

But instead of showing wrath, God chose to display grace and mercy. Mercy by not giving us what we deserve (eternal death and separation from Him). And grace by giving us a free gift that we in no way deserve (forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ, for all who believe). And God's grace and mercy is ultimately founded in His unbelievable patience. Jesus Christ is the results of God's patience. God's power is not best seen in His creation, but with His creation.

"God, thank you for your patience with me and your deep desire to be personally connected to me. Thank you for your mighty display of patience found in the innocent death and resurrection of your one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you for displaying how truly powerful you are through your enduring patience with me. I love you, Heavenly Father."

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

God, Me, and Patience - Part 1

On Sunday, we spent some time looking at patience, and we announced that we were going to delay our move to American Heritage Academy for two reasons:

1. Funding - To make this move, we need to have $110,000 in disposable margin. To date, we have raised $60,000. And while we are so excited that we have make this progress, it is clear we hvae a ways to go.

2. Lease - After the financial terms were decided, some ancillary items came to the surface that will require some additional information to ensure we create a situation that provides stability and more permanence in our next location.

And as disappointing as this is for all of us, I am please to hear the feedback I have already received about our decision and our display of faith in and patience with God. Over the next few days and weeks, we will keep everyone at Watermarke updated on our progress (giving and lease), and continue to learn and grow in our patience with God's timing.

For today, here is the thought that I continue to come back to:
Isaiah 64:4; Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

God is extremely involved in what is happening daily at Watermarke Church, and we are going to continue to allow Him to stay involved through our patience with His timing.

If you missed the message, I highly encourage you to go to www.watermarkechurch.com and click "Message Archive" to listen. And please let me know how this idea of patience is being displayed in your life.

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

It Is Well With My Soul

So at the North Point DRIVE09 Conference this year, Todd Fields led worship for a set or two or three (I lost count, but it doesn't matter), and one song just immediately jumped out to me. I remember leaning down to one of my staff members saying, "This is a song that will be in our regular rotation soon..."

What I loved about this song is that it reminded me of where I am at right now, and it took me back in time to the church days of my youth. I remember holding a hymnal (some of you have never seen these books, I know), and there was always that guy behind me that would sing the chorus echo.
High - It is well,
Low echo - It is well,
High - With my soul,
Low echo With my soul...
I think at one point we may have sang it in the round. Nevertheless, when the crazy echo guy was at the lake instead of sitting behind me on a Sunday morning, I realized how unbelievably beautiful these lyrics really are.

And as Todd led us at DRIVE09 and as we sang it with all our hearts, I was overcome with the message behind these awesome lyrics:

Here is the chorus we sang:
It is well, It is well, Through the storm, I am held, It is well, It is well with my soul
It is well, It is well, God has won, Christ prevailed, It is well, It is well with my soul.

It's too fast and rock'n for any echo dudes, but man - this song freaking rocks. We are singing this for the first time at Watermarke on Sunday, and I am going to be backstage during this song preparing to come out for a welcome and announcement time, but I bet it will be tough, because there will be tears in my eyes as I reflect on what these lyrics mean to me. What they mean to all those I know. What they mean to everyone standing and worshipping along with us on Sunday. I'll be worshipping backstage through the blaring amps and insanely loud drum kit.

It is well with my soul, because I am held by my God and His Son has prevailed. Powerful message.

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

WATERMARKE MOVES TO AMERICAN HERITAGE ACADEMY!

If you missed Sunday, you missed an announcement that is going to change the future of Watermarke Church. On August 2nd, we will be moving to American Heritage Academy on Sixes Road in Canton. This move will provide us many, many opportunities to lead people into a growing relationships with Jesus Christ.

Here is a preview of what we can expect from this move:

• Permanence: We are signing a long-term lease at this location, and the facilities will allow for significant growth. Just the same, as a church, this move allows for us to plant some deep roots in a community and city.
• Better Environments: At American Heritage Academy, we have the opportunity to create environments that are more relevant and irresistible.
  
• New Environments and Events: In addition, we now have the opportunity to add new environments like Night of Worship, Christmas Eve service, KidStuf Live, MarriedLife Live, and more.
  

Of course, to get there, it will require some involvement on our part. There is a huge story taking shape at our church, and we hope that each person at Watermarke can engage in the story and have a front row seat for what God is doing in our community. Here is how we invite you to participate:

1. Invite Others: We create relevant and irresistible environments for a reason, and you are not the only reason. Our church is created for everyone in our communities, and we need to find ways to engage others at Watermarke.
2. Serve Together: Relevant and irresistible environments need to be fully staffed, and we need each of you to work together with us as we create environments.
3. Give Generously: Environments require funding, and we are going to raise $175,000 to make this move, make some initial capital improvents, and make dramatic improvements in our environments.

This is a wonderful time to be a part of Watermarke Church, and there is a lot to be excited about. Please let us know if you have any questions about our move, the funding needs...anything. We will be using our blog site and other communication mediums to keep you informed, so be sure to check back frequently and pass along what's happening. And thank you in advance for being involved in what is next for our church.

Your Life Design

If you could design your perfect life, what would you draw up? If you were just given a blank slate, what would you create? When you look at your life today, is it all you ever hoped for? These are great question to ask, because I think it really shows what you value and what's important to you. And these questions are telling about our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Here is what I am learning - when you are right in the center of where God wants you, then there is no better design for your life. It is just that simple. Ten years ago, if God would have given me a blank canvas to draw up the next decade of my life, I have no idea what I would have created. I don't really know what I would have designed. Here is what I do know...there is no way it would be as great as what I have today. Maybe I would have included more money, or more toys, or more vacations (or vacation homes), but there is just no way that my design would be better than God's design.

I think this is a great recognition for each of us. We need to seek God first and fall under this direction to ensure our life is being lived with THE best design. And the best design is not always the easiest, wealthiest, or most fun design. But it is always the best.

So what is God calling you to do? What is the life-design God has planted in your heart? Are you living it? Maybe this is too simple, but I believe that when we are following God's direction and have absolute trust in Him, our life can be all it was ever intended to be. I think its that simple.

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

Keeping Priorities in Check

This week has been interesting. I have a friend that has decided to take a break from church staff to spend more time with her family. And as I was listening to Andy Stanley's message from Catalyst and thinking about the idea of cheating on my family (not with another family, but with work), I just felt convicted. And I don't think I am cheating my family right now...although I certainly have in the past at times. But here is what I concluded: My perception of cheating on my family may be different than my families perception. And my families perception is the one that matters.

It is easy for me to rationally look at my work-life and believe that my family is a priority, but that is far less important that what my family perceives. I was so convicted about this yesterday and I made Chantel look me directly in the eyes and asked her one simple question, "Do you feel that my work-life, or anything else in my life, is taking precedent over you and our family?" That is a scary question to ask, and with it comes a potentially scary answer.

How many others need to ask this same question? I have NEVER met a person at the end of their life who just wished they had spent more time in the office, on the road, or at their job. Doesn't happen. I have, though, met many, many people (especially men) that wish they had spent more time with their family. My hope is that I will not be one of those guys, and that I will not only try to keep my family a higher priority than work, but that I will continually check in with my family to be sure they believe I am holding up my end of the bargain.

Gavin Adams, Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

I have an addiction...

I have an addiction. Actually, I have several addictions. I am addicted to my kids and my wife...which is a good thing. I realized that recently when they were gone for a day. You think as a married guy with four kids that living the life of a bachelor for a few days sound great, but after a few hours, I want them back. I'm addicted.

I am also addicted to Chick-fil-A. I do a lot of work with these guys, and I have been around them since I was 7 years old. And I swear that they put something in that season coater that is addicting. When I worked in a store as a teenager I ate my weight in nuggets during break and actually started to get tired of chicken, but I think that was really the beginning of the addiction. I'm not even going to start in on sweet tea.

And as a leader, I am also addicted to progress. I cannot help myself. Of course, this is a great addiction for leaders, but like all addictions, I am learning there is a clear downside. Being addicted to progress cause me to:
- Be impatient. When I see something that needs to be fixed or tweaked or completely overhauled, I am ready to do it YESTERDAY. And that is not always the best option. Change takes time, and people take time. Patience is really a virtue as a leader. Indecisiveness is not good, but patiences is absoultely necessary.
- Ignor people. Not like I don't see them and I run them over, but I guess I do have a tendancy to figuratively run them over. People love leaders that take the time to care and invest in them. I know I do. But being addicted to progress can cause you to ignor the people implications of change. Of course, what't the point of progress if there aren't any people around to celebrate success?
- Get frustrated. Progress takes time (see impatient). And inevitablly, with positive steps come some backward steps. Rarely does progress occur in a vaccuum without obsticals and issues that cause backwards steps. And for those addicted to progress, anything that looks backwards is really frustrating.
- Get too far ahead of staff. My addiction to progress causes me to move too fast and expect too much. Our followers want to see where we are going, but I thnk they want to walk with us, not watch us crest the horizon without them.
- Not celebrate success. Wow, this is a big one for me. I love progress, but when we win and succeed in something, my addiction causes me to put it behind me and start looking to what is next. We need to remember to stop and enjoy success...and maybe smell some roses or something.

Loving progress has the potential to make great leaders, but it also has the potential to run over all of our followers. Tomorrow, I am going to just relax and enjoy what God has done...and do so while eating a Chick-fil-A sandwich with buffalo and ranch sause, large tea half sweet/half unsweet with light ice. One addiction to moderate at a time.

How serious are you about the lost?

Just like we can always gauge our personal priorities by looking at our calendar and our checkbook, I think a church can gauge its priorities based on their programming. Now, this is a little tricky, because most churches could look at their programming and say they prioritize EVERYTHING, because they are trying to provide programming for everything. But if we, as the church, are truly concerned about the lost and those NOT sitting in our auditoriums on Sunday morning, would an outsider look at your church's programming and believe we are focused on the lost?

My experience in previous church models tell me that while we all claim to be concerned about the lost, we program for the found. We may claim that most of our programs are not just for insiders, but come on...would any person far from God feel comfortable coming to your men's prayer breakfast, your women's Beth Moore study, etc. What about your weekend services? Are they really attractive and friendly to outsiders? How do you know?

At the church I lead, we are launching a new environment (we don't call them programs, because we are anti-programs and for steps in our process) called Starting Point. As a partner of North Point Community Church, we have the luxury of learning from others and implementing environments that are helpful. Staring Point is a 10-week conversational environment that is meant for people that have questions about Christianity, are new beleivers, or are coming back to church. North Point has been running Starting Point for quite some time and it provides a wonderful environment (you can call it a program) for people that are far from God.

So, what are you offering people that have questions? And please don't answer with anything that involves the word "membership class." What percentage of your programs are really for insiders? That may be a scary ratio to calculate, huh?

Gavin Adams, Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

Why Does Church Hate Change?

I followed a link on YouTube today. That is a way to start a story that could go in many different directions, right? The link led me to a video of a pastor preaching to his congregation. The video was only shot from the side, so it was really hard to see much, but is seemed pretty obvious that his congregation would fit in my living room. That is not a slam, but it is part of the story.

As this guy in his three-peice suite began to speak, it became clear why there were 10 people listening. For over 20 minutes, this guy ranted and raved about a family member that attended a church in another town. Based on the pastor's message, this church seemed to be overtly satanic. For 20 minutes, this pastor bashed this church. Raked it over the coals in every direction (kinda like I feel I am on the verge of doing to this pastor).

The funny thing is (among many), the church in question is changing lives all over the place. People are being led to Christ in big numbers. God is using their staff and leadership to change people big time. But they are not traditional in any way, they don't look too religious, and they seem to actually enjoy being at church (imagine that).

My question is simple: why does the church hate change and progress? I know that nobody like change, but the church seems to just be completely opposed to change. I am not old enough to know, but I bet when the first organ was brought into a church service, the Christians in attendance freaked out, too. As a leader, I hope I never see the future, our culture, or what is next as a threat. More than that, I hope that I can always look at what others are doing or experimenting with and learn from them, not throw them under the proverbial bus.

One of Satan's greatest successes has to be how he has created such an insider focus in our churches. How he has led believers and church leaders to become so ridiculously focused on our own kind that we pay absolutely NO attention to those around us that are far from God. In fact, it is worse than that. Not only do we ignore and alienate the lost, we actually create an environment that makes it extremely difficult for them to meet Jesus Christ. And before we know it, we are preaching to a living room full of people...

Let's not be this way any longer...and let's do all we can to push everyone we know to be a more accurate representative of our Lord and Savior...cool music or not.

Gavin Adams, Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

When you have IT, you know IT

I recently read the book IT, by Craig Groeschel. I absolutely loved it, so much in fact, that we are now reading IT as a staff. Not to mention that every time I type the word "it," I am tempted to capitalize IT or put "it" in quotes. But that is a side note.

Craig is an amazing leader and the Lead Pastor at Life Church, one of the most progressive and innovative churches in the world.

I bring this up for two reasons: 1. If you are a leader in a church, this is a must read, and 2. For maybe the first time since I began at Watermarke Church, we had it, IT, or "it."

It is very elusive, and it is hard to define what it is, and even harder to know how to keep it. But, like Craig states in his book, when you have it, you know it. And on Sunday, we had it.

For the next several days (or weeks or months, or maybe years), I am going to be thinking more about how we, as a Strategic Partner of North Point Ministries, can get and keep it. We are not your average church (for which I am very thankful). We are a video-based venue that is not an actual campus, which creates many new and uncharted challenges for me and our team.

Here is what I am wondering:
- How do you create personal connections through a video when the guy on video is not your real leader?
- How can we add more context to the video content?
- How does a smaller church without a full complement of environments succeed as a video venue?

I am sure some people have some answers. We are experimenting now with these concepts, too, and learning what to do and what not to do in the process. I am feeling there is more to come here...

Gavin Adams, Lead Pastor, Watermarke Church

What occupies your focus?

There is a place that I love. A place that had an incredible impact on my life. A place where I really first experienced God and watched God reach into others hearts. A place where I first sat with a person and led them through a prayer as they accepted God's gift of eternal life.

And now, that same place seems to have changed. The place that was so attractive to everybody and created such an amazing environment for God to do what only he can do is not the same. Now I know...everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And staying the same may be worse than changing, but the questions is HOW are we changing and to WHAT are we evolving?

This idea is extremely important to our church. As we evolve and change, I hope more than anything that we always are more preoccupied with those we can reach rather than focusing on those that we can keep. Not that I want to run the Christians off, but if we have to focus on ONLY one group, I hope we always lean towards those people not sitting in our seats on Sunday mornings. It just drives me nuts to see churches or other Christian organizations intentionally, or more often subconsciously, make decisions that revolved around making insiders happy at the expense of the outsider. And when this happens, the church can quickly become an insider focused organization, also making it an outsider irrelevant organization. I never want to lead or be associated with an organization that looks like that. That sounds like a Christian organization that is very unChristian.

I hope we never become irrelevant or incorrectly focused as a church. Who are the people not sitting at Watermarke on Sunday mornings...let's be sure we are focused on them, not us!

Gavin Adams
Lead Pastor