Wayne Hedlund

Author: Wayne Hedlund

  • Tactical Tip: Moving to Eye Level

    I have a friend who is very tall. Tall like I stare at his chest when I talk to him. I know he isn’t necessarily smarter, healthier, or generally better than me. He’s just bigger than me. I have to be honest. It’s intimidating. I have to fight through several internal dialogues before I can have a face to face conversation with him and not be distracted. Several weeks ago we decided to meet for breakfast. As soon as he sat down I discovered something – I didn’t have to fight through my intimidation. Sure, he was still taller in the restaurant booth, but not as much as when I’m standing next to him. The simple act of him moving to my level bridged the gap and cleared the air for conversation. It was awesome.

    It also highlights a very simple tactical move you can make every single day when meeting with people in small groups and 1 on 1. I believe it can make an appreciable difference in coaching, mentoring, counselling, and leadership conversations with others. It’s something that will take you approximately four (4) seconds to accomplish. It’s so simple and so obvious that many people never think to do it.

    Tactical Tip: Move to Eye Level

    That’s it. Simply do whatever you can to get on or near the same level as the person(s) you are talking to. (Note: I’m not talking about speaking to large crowds.) Moving to eye level will help to remove psychological barriers that neither of you probably even know exist. It unconsciously communicates equality and acceptance. On the other hand, NOT moving to eye level may create emotional barriers that can cause either you, or the person(s) you are meeting with to feel mildly uncomfortable.

    • When You Are Above Eye Level
      When you remain above eye level with people you may be unintentionally and unconsciously communicating that you are above or better than them in some way. At the very least, you may be increasing the potential for them to be intimidated, especially if you have an intimidating personality or are in some form of authority over them.

    NOTE: Just to clear things up. Whether you are in authority over them or not, you are certainly not better than them – at least in God’s eyes. If you ‘like’ the feeling of looking down on people then I suggest you do some self-evaluation. That could be a sign of an unhealthy insecurity or pride on your part.

     

    • When You Are Below Eye Level
      When you remain below eye level you risk doing the exact opposite. It’s possible that you are unintentionally communicating that you are lower than or not as good as they are. Additionally, you may also be communicating that same thing to yourself. Personally, I don’t think you are communicating humility so much as insecurity – even if you don’ t mean or want to.

      NOTE: Again, just to clear the air, it’s not healthy to convince yourself or others that everyone else is better than you. That’s simply not true. God didn’t pick you ‘last’ for the game as if He didn’t have any other options. You have a holy calling just like the next guy/gal and it’s OK for you to live and act as someone of value in God’s sight. After all, He died for you so that you can live in complete freedom and authority.

     

    How To Do It.
    If you don’t normally move to eye level when talking to others, then it might feel awkward for a while until you develop the habit. For me, I often move to eye level unconsciously, without even realizing it.

    Let me give you some practical examples of how to move to eye level.

    • Meet Sitting Down.
      If you know your conversation will be more than a few minutes and you are considerably taller or shorter than those you are meeting with, consider asking them to sit down with you. It doesn’t matter where. You can sit down at a conference room table, on the seats in your sanctuary or the front steps of the church.
    • Adjust Your Chair.
      Most of us have an office chair that adjusts up and down. If you don’t, then I recommend you invest in one if you are in the habit of meeting with others in your office. Adjust your seat immediately after they sit down to the most appropriate eye level. If they are taller than you, move your seat up; if shorter, then move your seat down. Don’t make a big deal out of it and don’t spend more than four seconds making the adjustment.
    • Remove Furniture That Forces Awkward Eye Contact
      Years ago I had a couch in my office. Everyone who sat in it would sink far down into the couch. Even after moving my chair to the lowest setting I would still find myself peering down at my visitors. I eventually got rid of it and have never regretted it. If you have a couch or chair in your office that is extra plush, then consider replacing it with something else or sit in a similar seat in the office that will place you near their same eye level.
    • Small Group Settings.
      If you are leading a small group discussion or meeting and plan to sit together at a table or in a circle, try to adjust your chair to the average height in the room. For example, I lead a team meeting every Tuesday at Elim Gospel Church. I sit at the head of our conference room table. One of my first acts while everyone is getting settled and before the meeting begins is to adjust my seat to a comfortable eye level with most people in the room.
    • The Wheelchair Bound
      The rules don’t change when someone is bound to a wheelchair. In fact, it may be even more important to find simple ways to meet them at eye level. They spend the majority of their time looking up at people and will very much appreciate the extra effort to meet them at their level. It will communicate volumes to them.
    • Talking to Children.
      I am a firm believer that the best way to greet a parent is to first greet his/her child. The best way to do this is to simply kneel down to their level while you are greeting them. Of course, it’s important that you maintain a safe distance from young children or kids that don’t know you so you don’t freak them out. However, children will almost always light right up when they see you stoop down to their level to talk with them. I’ve never met a parent who didn’t appreciate it either (unless you totally ignore them after you greet the child.)
    Disclaimer: Please understand that I am not suggesting that you become legalistic about this tactical tip. I’m simply trying to empower you to care for, honor, and show respect for others in one very simple way whenever you can. I am also not trying to burden you by causing you to become self-conscious about eye levels when you meet with others. Just remember this tip and adjust to eye level if and when it’s most appropriate.
     

  • Are You Praying?

     
     
     

    In my NIV Bible there is a heading at the beginning of Colossians 4 entitled “Further Instructions”. I strongly suspect the apostle Paul would not have picked that subtitle for this section of Scripture. Here’s what it says:

    Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Colossians 4:2-4

    In verse 4, Paul commands us to “devote ourselves to prayer”. He included two elements of prayer in the same sentence: “watchfulness” and “thankfulness”.

    What is so disturbing is how easy it is for us pastors and leaders to do the complete opposite. We become so overwhelmed, distracted and busy that being ‘watchful’ and ‘thankful’ is clearly far from our mind. We fall into the trap of self-reliance, exactly as our mutual enemy plans. We’ll preach to our congregation on the virtue’s of prayer, and then forget to do so for the ministry God has entrusted us to lead. Sure, we’ll pray briefly in the morning or at night; most of us have some sort of regular and hopefully meaningful devotional life. But, perhaps you, like me, tend to slip and slide away from this critical responsibility we hold.

    Have you devoted yourself to prayer for the ministry you help lead? Do you bathe your plans in His Presence?  Are you tapping into man’s wisdom or the power of God in your office and team meetings? I suppose the more revelatory question simply is, “When was the last time you spent more than 30 minutes in prayer specifically for your church and congregation?”

    Asking for Prayer
    What is even more humbling is that Paul wasn’t afraid to ask for prayer either. In fact, he often asked people to pray for him and his ministry. He gave specific requests and he assumed that the people he asked would, in fact, pray for him. There is no indication at all that he was embarrassed, ashamed, or self-conscious about soliciting others to pray for him.

    Yet we often are embarrassed, ashamed or self-conscious about asking. After all, aren’t we the designated leader? Shouldn’t we have everything all together? Shouldn’t we be mature and spiritual enough that we don’t really need the prayers of others? Won’t asking for prayer create doubt about our leadership in the eyes of those with whom we lead?

    In reality, those are all very sad questions. They all presume that we are capable of fulfilling our calling by ourselves. Paul never seemed to make that presumption. Neither should you or I.

    Have you asked others to pray for you and your family? Do you divulge the challenges, difficulties and fears you are facing to people who will lift them up to the Lord? Again, the real test is “Who do you KNOW has prayed for you this week?”

    Image Source Unknown.

  • Thursday Quote: Good to Great Volunteers (Jim Collins)

    Have you ever felt like someone in leadership was just in the wrong place? Perhaps they seemed like they should be accomplishing much more than they are; or maybe you feel like they have more responsibility than they can practically handle. Welcome to the club. One of the greatest challenges we face as leaders is in getting the right people on the right seats on the bus.
     

    Today’s Thursday Quote comes from Jim Collins’ bestselling book, “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t“. Check out this chart found on page 20 in the book (which my book falls naturally open to from repeated references.)

     

    Ironically, I would like to make a couple of practical inferences from this chart that are not really found in the book. Jim’s primary focus in this section of the book was related to the character and qualities of the leader(s) in the organization – specifically, the Level 5 Leader at the top (Two men I highly regard as emulating the Level 5 Qualities include Bill Hybels and Robert Morris. Click their names here to read more.)

    That said, let me unpack this for you two insights I’ve gained from this very meaningful chart.

    • First, nearly every committed member/participant in your church should fall in one of these various levels of contribution. I think it will be very helpful if you can discern which level your leaders and volunteers fall on this scale. For many of my leaders I can determine that they are on a level 2 or 3, and help motivate and resource them to grow into the next level of leadership.

     

    • However, what I have also discovered is that many people have a natural “lid” in the level of contribution that they can attain – and I need to be sensitive to that lid. My natural inclination is to try to move someone who is accomplishing great things for our church to the next level of leadership. However, it’s possible that, by doing so, I am setting that person up for failure, because my expectations don’t match their gifting and strengths. For instance, I had a secretary at our church who was a Highly Capable Individual – she was a serious work horse and accomplished a ton of stuff in small amounts of time. It’s possible that she could have moved to the next level, but that may not have been the best thing for her or for the church. So I needed to discern where she best fit, help her get there, and then find ways to encourage, resource, and strengthen her in that role.

     

    To learn more about this book or order it through my Amazon Affiliate’s bookstore, click this link.

    Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

  • A Mystery Guest Report on Four Churches

     
    What if I sent a special agent to your church to evaluate how you’re doing in that area? Hmmm. Interesting thought. I might have to explore that idea some more. Oh, wait. I don’t have to send a special agent. I just need to identify some guests who have already genuinely visited your Sunday service and ask them what their experience is like (or you could hire a Mystery Guest – read here to learn more).

     

    Today’s post is just that. A friend recently moved away from our church and settled in a new location. Naturally, she and her husband did some ‘church shopping’ to see if they could find a church family that they could participate in. After several experiences my friend was perusing my blog and noticed the “Guest Friendly Series” I wrote. She decided to email me her feedback on some of her experiences and agreed to let me post them for your benefit as well.

    Warning: these are real life reflections from a solid and mature believer who already has a heightened sense of what a ‘Guest Friendly‘ environment could look, sound, and feel like. I trust her input and feedback implicitly. Here’s what she experienced after visiting four churches. I wonder what her thoughts would be after visiting your Sunday service?

    Let me just share a few thoughts I’ve had as I’ve been a guest at a number of churches since I’ve moved down here. I’ve often thought to myself, “If it’s this difficult for me and I’ve been in churches my whole life – I desire Christian fellowship and am actively looking for it – what’s the chance that someone without those things is going to successfully integrate into the church?”  

    Church #1: 
    A lot of the things you touched on {in your ‘Guest Friendly’ series}, even simple things such as posting signs, can make a real difference. For example, there was one church I visited and liked, so decided to try the adult Sunday School the next week. I arrived in the foyer at the time listed in the bulletin – but no one was around. Where were the classes held? Finally, a couple people walked by and I stopped them and asked. They said I could follow them, actually they turned out to be teachers, and it was a little complicated getting there. I would never have found it without asking. Of course, it would have been better if I hadn’t had to ask!     

    Church #2: 
    When I read your example about people thoughtfully leaving the back row for newcomers, it reminded me of another interesting experience. I visited one church where there was a hallway outside and surrounding the sanctuary, with windows in the wall from the middle up looking in. There were some pews around the this hallway, and some others were sitting there, so it appeared to me to be an overflow space. The sanctuary looked pretty full, so I decided to sit in this space rather than try to find a seat inside. I sat near a doorway, and although two ushers kept the doorway filled, I could see and hear pretty well. To my surprise, when it was time for the sermon, the ushers closed the doors, with me sitting right there! I guess it was ‘time to shut the door’ and that’s what they were going to do! Now I couldn’t hear what was going on, so I had to either leave or open the closed door and find a seat in the sanctuary at this late point in the service. NOT guest-friendly! 🙂 But I’d made up my mind to visit this church, and I was going to do it! Non-guest-friendly, door-blocking sentinels…er, ushers…were not going to stop me! 🙂

    The interesting thing about that church was that there were 3 services, 2 contemporary ones, and a more traditional one in between. It wasn’t really clear on the website, so that’s how I ended up at the traditional one first. I stayed for the other one as well. 

    Church #3: 
    I have another example that relates to the whole ‘Guest Friendly Perspective‘ you wrote about. At another church, they had a visitors’ center, so I stopped by to get information on the church. The lady I spoke with was nice, but essentially they didn’t have anything there for her to give anyone. She said she was subbing, but would have the secretary contact me. So I leave my contact information with her. I get an email from the secretary a day or two later. Basically it said, “Next time you come, ask for this information in the back of the sanctuary after church.” That was really discouraging. What if I wanted that information to help me decide if I wanted to come back? I wondered why I had to beg for this information!     

    Church #4: 
    As you know, it’s really important for the church leadership to model and cast a vision for a guest-friendly culture in the church. If it’s not there, it’s not going to happen overnight. The church I’ve been visiting the past three weeks is by far the friendliest one I’ve visited so far.     What has intrigued me is that the people in the pews are friendly; it’s not just coming from the pulpit. Each Sunday, the people in the row near me have smiled and welcomed me and not just during an official greeting time; when I first entered the row they gave me a warm greeting. This has happened 3 separate Sundays with 3 different people! The first week, the lady near me took the time to introduce me to several others in the church, and to take me out to the foyer for some “guest honey” that someone brings for visitors. Another time at a ladies’ event the group leader took the time to introduce me to others in the group as well. What a difference that makes! I saw several of those ladies at church this Sunday and it’s huge to have someone recognize you…. I’m not sure anyone has actively been teaching “guest friendly” here, evidently it’s just in their DNA.

    I guess all I can say is that “guest-friendly” is a need! It’s also an important responsibility for the body of Christ.

    Image source unknown.

  • Tactical Tip: Saying Thank You Systematically

    Children know how to say the words ‘thank you’. Believe it or not, they even know when they are supposed to say them. But most parents know that expressing gratitude is not at the top of their list of things to do. Mom puts yet another meal on the table and rather than a ‘thank you’, the classic “eat your vegetables” battle ensues. Dad allows the kids to stay up late to watch a great movie and rather than a ‘thank you’, everyone just mosey’s on to bed when it’s over. Mom cleans up a messy bedroom and the child acts like he doesn’t even notice (he probably didn’t). That’s not to say that kids won’t say ‘thanks’ from time to time. No. Every once in a while it explodes from them like a burst of fresh sea air on a late afternoon day!

    We all know the importance and value of gratefulness. In fact, the Bible is full of verses exhorting us to thank God Himself in all things. Paul declares in 2 Timothy 3 that ungratefulness represents a quality of ‘terrible times in the last days’. Unfortunately, and like our children, expressing gratitude is often not at the top of our list of things to do!

    So in today’s Tactical Tip I am going to suggest a simple SYSTEM that will give gratitude a more prominent place in your regular routine. This system shouldn’t represent everything you do to thank your leaders and volunteers, but it’s probably more than you’re doing right now!

    The Thank You System
    To begin, you will need to collect a few resources. I suggest you add these to your shopping list right away or ask your spouse, secretary, or a volunteer to pick them up for you this week. Here’s what you will need: 

    • Four $40 gift cards.
    • A small notebook. 
    • Thirty stamped ‘Thank You’ cards.
    Now you are ready to begin. Follow these steps to setup your ‘Thank You System’. This should take you no more than 15 minutes to complete.
    • Place one gift card into four separate ‘Thank You’ cards and wrap a rubber band around them. Place a sticky note on the wrapped bundle that says “Gift Cards”.
    • Write at the top of the first page of the small notebook the words, “Thank You Log”.
    • Place the stack of ‘Thank You’ cards, the bundle of ‘Thank You’ cards including the gift cards, and the small notebook in a convenient location near, in or on the desk in your office.
    • Create a recurring reminder using your reminder system (if you don’t have a reminder system, then check out: Tactical Tip: Reminder Calendar) to send you a reminder every OTHER Monday morning at 9am or pick the day/time of your choice. I recommend a reminder no less than once every 14 days. Your reminder should say: “Write a Thank You card TODAY!”
    • Create another recurring reminder using your reminder system to send you a reminder once every 3 months to send a Thank You card with enclosed gift card. Your reminder should say: “Write and send a Thank You card with Gift Card TODAY!”
    • Create one last recurring reminder using your reminder system to send you a reminder once every YEAR beginning 11 months from now. Your reminder should say: “Evaluate and Setup your ‘Reminder Thank You’ system for this upcoming year.”
    You’re all finished! Your ‘Thank You’ Reminder System is now in place. Here is how the system will serve you:
    • When you receive your ‘Thank You’ reminder, STOP whatever you are doing or schedule a slot THAT DAY to follow up on this important task.
    • Stop and think of which leader or volunteer you want to encourage that week. Pull out your ‘Thank You Log’ and look down the list of names written there. Make sure you don’t pick someone you’ve already sent a card to, unless you specifically want to. Ensure you aren’t just thinking of the ‘obvious’ people all of the time.
    • Once you’ve decided on a person, write their name in the ‘Thank You Log’.
    • Write a heartfelt and meaningful ‘Thank You’, address and mail.
    Follow those same steps when you receive the quarterly ‘Thank You’ reminder including the gift card. When you receive the annual reminder, evaluate and revise your system as needed, shop for the next year’s ‘Thank You’ cards and gift cards and set them aside for when you run out of your current supplies. I suggest you use a different ‘Thank You’ card each year.
     
    If you decide to adopt this system or one like it, do me a favor – send me a ‘thank you’ via email at transformingleader@elimfellowship.org. I would love to know that this Tactical Tip has served you and your church! “Thanks!”

  • The Rhythm of Failure

    Craig Groeschel

    Do you remember when you learned how to ride a bike? How about your first few times trying to tread water? What can you learn today from that experience? Perhaps it’s time for you to go back to the basics all over again. You still remember how to ride a bike, but I wonder if you’ve forgotten how to learn how to ride a bike?

    This is my fear for many pastors and church leaders. They’ve forgotten about the rhythm of failure. Failure is critical if you want to learn to do anything new. There’s a rhythm within failure that equips and stimulates new ideas and growth.

    It goes something like this:

    • You try.
    • You fail.
    • You learn.
    • You adjust.

    This morning I watched this 10 minute clip from Craig Groeschel. I was encouraged. I needed to hear what he had to say about failure. Among other things, he shares four things we need to take risks and embrace failure in the church.

    I think you need to watch it too. Why not stop what you’re doing right now, put this on full screen, turn up the volume, and give yourself a quick leadership lesson. Perhaps you’ll want to forward this video on to the other leaders in your church as well. You won’t regret it.

  • Tactical Tip: Reminder Calendar

    Last Friday I received a text from my wife informing me that the inspection was overdue on our minivan. We decided a long time ago that things like vehicle inspections are my responsibility in the home. Oops. So I called the garage and got an appointment for Monday morning. I got a little chuckle from the auto mechanic as I left the garage. Evidently he sees a lot of ‘overdue’ stickers there!

    So I did what I should have done long ago, I added a reminder into my “Reminder Calendar”. I don’t think I’ll forget again.

    The Reminder Calendar is perhaps one of the coolest reminder systems I have ever stumbled across – and it’s super easy to setup and use. Even better, it’s free! This is not to be confused with the Appointment Calendar! I keep them totally separate because I don’t want to store all kinds of ‘reminder’ appointments on the calendar I look at every day for real appointments, like meetings and such. In fact, I never actually look at my Reminder Calendar!

    Let me define what I mean be a reminder calendar. Basically, it’s a calendar that is specifically designed to send you very timely emails or text messages.I use my Reminder Calendar to remind me to get up extra early in the morning for a breakfast appointment, change the oil in the car, take the garbage out, check the church website to make sure it’s relevant and up to date, and to remember when a task I assigned someone, or myself, is due. Here are a couple other examples to stimulate your thinking:

    • I asked someone if they would draft a proposal for me regarding our online streaming service. My goal was to be able to hear back from him no later than two weeks from that date. So I set myself up a reminder in my Reminder Calendar to shoot me an email in two weeks letting me know that I should have the proposal by now.
    • I wanted to find something out from a friend and discovered that he would be on vacation until August 13. So I set myself a reminder in my Reminder Calendar to give him a call around August 15.
    • My boss is on vacation and I will be leaving for a few days the day after he returns. I don’t want to forget to ask him an important budget related question before I leave. I created a reminder email for about 9am that morning.
    • My boss asked me to give him a call at 2pm while he was travelling on a certain day. I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t be at my desk and I didn’t want to forget to call him. I created a reminder that was setup to text me at 1:55pm so I would remember to make the call no matter where I was at.
    • I want to remember to begin planning for the Christmas Eve program no later than June of every year. I created a reminder appointment that will email me on June 1st to get the ball rolling.


    HERE’S HOW TO SETUP YOUR REMINDER CALENDAR:

    • Log into your Google Account.
      Log in to your Google account or create a Google Account for free. It’s important that you associate the account with the email address that you want to receive emails from.
    • Go to your Google Calendar.
      Once you’ve logged in, select “Calendar” from the top menu of options. This will take you to your calendar, specifically associated with that email address.
    • Create a NEW Calendar & label it as your Reminder Calendar.
      This option will allow you to keep your primary Google calendar as your appointment calendar. To create a new calendar, click the very small “Add” link in the “My Calendars” section to the left of your screen.
    • Enable Mobile Notifications
      Once you have created the calendar, click the “Settings” link right next to the “Add” link to take you to your Calendar Settings Screen. Next, click on the “Mobile Setup” tab. Follow the instructions on that screen to associate your cell phone with your Google Calendar. This will give you the option to receive text reminders from your calendar.
    • Set the Default Reminder Setting in Your ‘Reminder Calendar’
      You are almost finished. Now you should tell your reminder calendar what you want the default reminder mode to be every time you create a reminder appointment. I have mine set to email reminder. This way, all I have to do is create a reminder appointment and it will automatically email me for every appointment. I can still manually go in and disable the reminder or set it up to text me if I want to instead. To do this, click on the little drop-down arrow next to your Reminder Calendar and select “Calendar Settings”. Find the Notifications tab and click the “Add a reminder” link.
    • Start Creating Your Reminder Appointments!
      You are all ready to go! Now just create ‘appointments’ at the designated day and time that you want to receive your reminder. You can even create recurring reminders for every week, month, or year. To create your reminder simply highlight the appropriate day/time, type in the appointment and press ‘enter’. You just created a reminder appointment set to your default reminder method. To change the reminder method, add additional information, or set the reminder as recurring, double-click the appointment to open it in a new window for updating.

    Notes for Newbies:
    If you are new to Google Calendars then you may want to note a few of these details as well:
    • Make sure you have the right calendar selected.
      Since you have more than one calendar in your Google Account, you need to make sure you create your reminder appointment in the appropriate calendar. On the left of your screen, make sure that ONLY your Reminder Calendar is selected. You may also designate which calendar you want the reminder to be posted to in the appointment details.
    • Consider which reminder method you really want.
      There are three reminder options. Email, Text, and Popup. You probably won’t want to utilize popup unless you will always have your calendar open on your computer. You WILL want to make sure you designate which method you prefer for your reminders. You may also select BOTH if you want.
    • You can also use this same reminder system for your Appointment Calendar in Google. 
      OK. So you tend to be late for or forget meetings. Simply set a reminder for each of your appointments to send you a text 10 minutes before you’re supposed to prepare to arrive at the meeting.
    • Don’t give up.
      If you find yourself getting stuck, don’t get frustrated and give up. Like anything new, it may seem complicated at first, until you get the hang of it. Eventually, you’ll figure out how to make the system work and serve you the best.

  • Love Your Sound Tech As Yourself

    There is someone else on the stage. You can’t see him, but he’s not invisible. His presence rolls of the stage in waves – sound-waves. He lives in a world of high’s, mid’s and low’s – and no, he’s probably not manic-depressive. When he’s ‘on’, you sound fabulous. When he’s ‘off’, you sound boomy, hollow, or possibly demented. He is either your hero or a villain.

    I’m talking about your sound man (or woman). Pixar did a superb job of catching the essence and challenge sound tech’s (and pastors) face every Sunday in this short clip. For copyright reasons, I am only showing you the first 2 minutes. Enjoy.

    [su_vimeo url=”https://vimeo.com/33231695″][vimeo 42830604][/su_vimeo]

    Love Your Sound Tech As Yourself
    All kidding aside, your sound tech is a very important part of the Sunday morning experience. He probably knows things about sound that you don’t , and even if that isn’t true . . . well, he’s back there and you’re up here, right?

    It seems that a lot of pastors and church leaders nurse a gnawing frustration when it comes to their sound tech. They never seem to ‘get it right’. It’s too loud, too soft, or just mixed weird. The microphone isn’t working again, the monitors hum distractedly, or you can’t hear the video as it’s playing on the screens. Overall, the relationship tends to be strained.

    I have a suggestion for you. Invest in your sound tech relationally. Ask he and his family over for dinner. Set up occasional meetings with him to just talk shop regarding the Sunday morning experience. Help him understand your values and preferences with sound. Cast your vision for ministry to him. Let him dream with you about the church and it’s future. Help him feel a part and extension of you every single week – after all, he is.

  • Tactical Tip: Email Signature

    You would be very frustrated if someone left you a voice-mail and failed to tell you who they were or how to get hold of them. Example: “Hi pastor! This is Joe. I was wondering if you could give me a call about what we were talking about last Sunday. I have some ideas on that. Thanks! Bye.” OK. So I talked to someone named Joe about something last Sunday and he wants me to call him back. Hmm. I don’t remember that. Now what?

    The email signature is the digital version of the voice-mail signature. It’s your chance to let the world know exactly who you are and how they can get hold of you. It’s your business card.

    I am often amazed how few pastors and leaders leave a meaningful, relevant signature at the bottom of every email they send. Especially when it usually takes 5 minutes or less to set up! In the past month alone I have received emails from 3 pastors I totally respect and love working with, but who don’t have a helpful email signature. With two of them I had to do a Google search to find their website (and it took a while to find one of them) when a link at the bottom of the email would have sufficed.

    So today’s Tactical Tip is simply this . . . create a simple email signature at the bottom of all of your emails.

    Suggestions on a very basic email signature:
    The internet is full of suggestions on what a signature should look like. Ultimately, you want to give people the information they will need to contact you. Beyond that, you can personalize it all you want – but within reason.

    • Some people suggest starting with two dashes, like this >>   – –
    • Start with your first and last name (and title if appropriate).
    • Include your position if there are multiple people on-staff.
    • Include your church or organization name.
    • Include your church website. Some people suggest you actually type out the web address as well as create the link (in case someone isn’t able to click on the link, but wants to copy/paste or type the address in themselves.)
    • Include your phone number(s) of choice. This can be your personal cell number, home number, or office number. Whichever number you are most comfortable with the whole world knowing.
    • Optional: you may also opt to include the church or organization’s address. If it’s on your website this may not be necessary. It’s up to you.
    • Finally, you may want to include an inspirational, funny, or thought provoking quote.
    • NOTE: Many experts suggest that you keep your email signature to about five lines. Anything beyond that and it may look like you’re really lonely or just trying to write a book. Check out this site to view four common mistakes on email signatures.

    Example Signature:
    I rarely change my signature, but review it at least a couple of times a year. Here is my signature as of today’s date:

    —

    Pastor Wayne Hedlund, Executive Pastor
    Elim Gospel Church
    1679 Dalton Road
    Lima, NY 14485
    (585) 624-5560

    Check out my blog at www.tranformingleader.org.

    How to Setup Your Signature:
    Now, I can’t exactly give you instructions since everyone has different email carriers. I have included links below to some helpful articles for the more popular email carriers. For the rest of you, I suspect the following will get you where you want to go: Open www.google.com and type the name of your email provider and the words “email signature”.

     

  • Thinking is Hard Work!

    How many times this month have you noticed some problem and didn’t try to find a solution? I bet it happens a lot more than you are willing to admit. You walk to your car and notice, again, how inadequate your parking lot is; or you are reminded during your Sunday service that the drums overpower all of the other instruments during worship. Perhaps you have a recurring problem with Sunday School volunteers showing up late; or you find yourself embarrassed to discover that your website is out of date again.

    This weekend I got to spend a day talking about strategic planning with some of the leaders at River of Life Fellowship in Copenhagen, NY. It was exciting to hear about the recent growth they have been experiencing as well as some of their future plans. Their unique mix of excellence and their commitment to the cause of Christ for their congregation and community were so refreshing.

    We ended our day brainstorming ideas on what they might improve or change in order to accommodate ongoing growth. They were full of some new and great ideas. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they implemented some of those new thoughts within a few short days.

    That day reminded me how often we tend to let problems slide simply because a solution isn’t obvious or readily available. Usually, we simply don’t want to stop and really think things through until we find a solution.

    Thinking is hard work. I’m not talking about the kind of thinking we do every day to operate our vehicle on the way home from work. I’m talking about the kind of thinking we engage in when we have to complete a final exam, prepare a sermon, or learn something new. The energy and focus necessary for that level of thinking is taxing, which is why we shy away from it. I know I do. It’s a lot more satisfying to see a problem and find the solution without breaking into a sweat first!

    Last night I revisited some of my own past posts regarding critical and strategic thinking. It seemed appropriate to point them out to you this week as well.

    That’s why I’d like to introduce you to my new e-book:

    Thinking for a Change: a fresh look at critical thinking

    I’d love it if you would consider purchasing the book and letting me know what you think. You can learn more about this e-book right here or feel free to purchase it right now! Cost is only $3.99. Thanks!