Leadership Lessons I've Learned, Number 4

4. Always lead with honesty and transparency

I am a huge believer in honesty. Of course, as a pastor (and a Jesus-follower), this should be the case. Nothing new here. Unfortunately, my experience in the world of church has proven this is not always the case. Too many pastors lead under a vale of lies and dishonesty. To many pastors say one thing from the pulpit and another behind closed doors.

While this may be the most basic thing I've learned, it is also one of the most important. At Watermarke, I have not so much learned this (a.k.a. we have not lied a bunch and been burned), but rather been reminded of how important it is for leaders to be open and honest with those we lead.

Here's a simple example of how this worked for us at Watermarke:
This summer, we were in the middle of a fund-raising effort to move into a new facility that would provide a multitude of blessings for our church. As a pretty new leader in our church, I had build some trust and relational capital, but the people of Watermarke had been burned by previous leadership before with similar campaigns.

As our funding deadline approached, it was clear that we were not going to receive the monetary gifts necessary to make our much-anticipated move. As a leader, I felt like I had failed with casting vision, making appropriates asks, etc. And, as the leader who initiated this campaign, the last thing I wanted to do was stand up in front of our church body and announce we would NOT be making the move. The thought was gut wrenching. But I knew that was my only option. God had been very loud and clear, in that His timing was not lining up with mine (always a frustrating lesson to learn). So, on Sunday, June 28th, I stood in front of our church and delivered a message on patience. The bottom line for the message was, "We limit God's power when we become impatient with His timing." That was a very tough message to deliver. I've never been so exhausted after a Sunday morning in my life!

Funny thing, that was maybe the best message I delivered all of 2009 (I only spoke a dozen times, but still). Our church really rallied around our honesty, integrity, and leadership as we announced our decision to be patient and delay our move. Why? I think because people love leaders that can make tough decisions while remaining honest and transparent.

As leaders, we must live what we teach, and we must be honest and transparent with those who follow. We are all forced to make difficult decisions, and through each one, we must be honest and transparent.

Are you being honest in your leadership? Are you walking your talk? Do say one think in public and another in private? Are you living contrary to what God's Word teaches? God cannot bless what's not blessible, and God can do a lot through us and our honesty.

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