In review, we are answering the question how does the “every Sunday is the Superbowl��? theory hold up when real life hits and the key staff are faced with issues that require their attention (ie sickness and family issues).The question was followed with some potential answers:

1. Does everyone that is available just buckle down and spend whatever time it takes to make sure Sunday still gets the normal amount of attention?
2. Or do other people handle the little things (I’m assuming the details to Sunday Morning) so the people most necessary to Sundays can stay out of the fray?

We addressed potential solution #1 here.

This brings me to solution #2. Do other people handle the little things to free those most necessary on Sundays from the fray? I really don’t like the words “most necessary��? describing anyone that has duties on Sundays. We have physicians, attorneys, CFO’s, and pilots that do the “little things��? on Sundays and their role is having a sizeable impact on the Kingdom of God.

Building a team and leading a large group of people requires leadership. This is one of the most significant shifts we have had to make at Elevation to continue to allow God to grow our church. In the early days it was all about how much can each staff member do and how many gates can they “ram down��?. But now it’s more about how much can you empower and how many people can you lead.

Empowering is a key leadership principle but let me give you a practical application of what it looks like for us. One new thing that we have just implemented that may be helpful is our “replace yourself��? staff policy. Once a quarter, each staff member is not allowed to do their normal Sunday activities. Logic makes you think that you can’t get by without everybody doing their part. But practical leadership is the ability to replace oneself. By forcing our staff to replace themselves, we hope to see others step up into leadership roles.

Replacing oneself once a quarter is great to expose people to other roles. But the next level of leadership is completely replacing oneself for specific roles. Pastor has been an excellent model to the staff in this practice. By not micromanaging Sunday morning, he has allowed others to step up and develop their gifts. He has also allowed a system to develop that is not dependent on him.

There are so many layers to this answer but the principle is simple. We are all willing to “ram down gates��? for Sunday if we need to. But nowadays we are focused more on replacing ourselves and leading than on how much we can do by ourselves.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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Pastor has been flooded with blog ideas from his recent post and he wanted me to tackle a few. Jeff wanted to know how the “every Sunday is the Superbowl��? theory holds up when real life hits and the key staff are faced with issues that require their attention (ie sickness and family issues).

The question was followed with some potential answers:

1.      Does everyone that is available just buckle down and spend whatever time it takes to make sure Sunday still gets the normal amount of attention?
2.      Or do other people handle the little things (I’m assuming the details to Sunday Morning) so the people most necessary to Sundays can stay out of the fray?

Well, both solutions are correct in our case here at Elevation. Let me tackle #1 today and follow up with #2 tomorrow. We have tried to hire leaders who can build and lead departments. But we have also hired people that won’t take no for an answer, will stay up all night to get it done, and will literally “Ram down the Gate��? if we have to for Sundays to be great.

We have a running list of qualities of an Elevation employee (and key volunteers). We use actual stories that have shaped who we are as a church as “tests��? to see if someone is a fit for our organization. The “Ram down the Gate test��? is just one of many examples but the best way I can explain our philosophy toward how we view Sundays and our work. Prior to hiring someone, we want to know if they are willing to��?ram down the gate��? if that’s what is needed. I’ll give you the short version of the story that goes with the “test��?.

In May of 2006, I got a phone call on Sunday morning at 5:15AM from our Assimilation Pastor, Larry Brey who told me that the gate at the storage unit where we stored all of our equipment for Sunday morning (remember portable church) would not open. Larry wanted to “ram the gate down��? with his truck. So I told him what every Executive Pastor would say, we’d get his truck fixed, buy them a new gate and I’d bail him out of jail because we both knew there was no way we weren’t having church. There was a happy ending. He was able to use some tools and actually remove the gate so no crash actually occurred but he was willing to do anything.

There is not of time to write the deeper spiritual significance behind this but what you don’t get from this story are a few key details. You see Larry and I quit our jobs to move to Charlotte to start this church with Pastor Furtick. To call Sunday the Superbowl is an understatement. We know that every Sunday there are people who need Jesus walking through our doors. That culture of sacrifice and determination to see things done with excellence and without excuse has flowed down to our volunteers and everybody feels that intensity on Sundays.

The key is that we don’t hire people without that motivation and drive. We are willing to buckle down to do what it takes and even “ram down the gate��? to see every Sunday be the best Sunday. We don’t get it right every week but we never go in playing defense giving God our second best with mediocre expectations.

So there is part 1 of how we view Sundays in regards to dealing with any distractions and others stepping up to make things happen. More tomorrow on replacing yourself and solution #2.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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Some of our staff just spent some time with some mentors and learned an important communication lesson.

If you have to ask an employee, friend, or even a spouse “Do I have to explain myself?��?, then you’ve probably already failed. In other words if they didn’t get what you meant the first time, then you probably didn’t do a good job communicating. They may have heard you but did they understand you?

The message is simple. Are you communicating in a way that is directive (Do this… Do that…) or in a way that is understanding? When people question decisions made by those in leadership it is often because they don’t understand why the decision was made.

An effective leader finds ways to get those under them to understand the “why��? and not just receive the order. Did they just hear you or did they understand you? Â

How committed are you to making sure that your staff, direct reports, and volunteers understand the vision? They can only have the vision if they catch it. And they can only catch it if you throw it right. Â

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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A byproduct of a fast growing organization can typically be a thin staff. In our case at Elevation, we have structured for the growth, but we just haven’t been able to fill the positions as fast as we would like. The challenge is the identification and training of new leaders. We’re not anemic in this area but we seem to always be in “catch up modeâ€?.Â

A few of our staff members are doing something to learn from other organizations. Pastor Steven leads our Directional Staff (made up of our 5 department heads) in weekly meetings. These meetings are different every week but we often have assignments that we’ll discuss at the next meetings. This is typically a book discussion but we are currently doing something a little different.Â

The goal is for each directional staff member to interview at least one high level executive of a thriving organization (religious or secular) who has a hand in the selection and training of leaders. It is basic but we know we’re not alone in our difficulties identifying potential leaders. As always, we want to know what they’ve learned works well and what has been ineffective.Â

It’s another form of open source networking. The book Mavericks sums it up by saying that “nobody is smarter than everybodyâ€?. That definitely applies to us. So this is a simple leadership exercise to help us learn lessons the easy way- through other people.Â

In the end, we hope to not always be in “catch up modeâ€? when it comes to hiring. The trick is to do it before the growth starts to catch you from the other direction by slowing down.Â

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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