Using StrengthsFinder in the Church
In earlier articles- I gave my take on the validity of using StrengthsFinder in the local church. Most of the questions that I get now are more on the “How do you make it work?” side of things.
Here is a quick StrengthsFinder primer for the local church.
Think in terms of what your members understand.. . The terms that StrengthsFinder uses are straightforward (for the most part) and easy to grasp. That is one reason that people are drawn to it. For example, I am a Maximizer. That does not take a lot of explanation. I also have the Spiritual Gift of Prophecy…and I constantly have to explain what that means!
These are not Spiritual Gifts… Your Strengths are just that, strengths. They are more connected to your personality profile (Introvert, Extrovert) and your natural abilities than to anything else. Think in terms of how someone is “wired” by God to be a part of this world. Everyone has strengths. Spiritual Gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to accomplish His work, which is particular to the building up the body of Christ.
They are useful in the local Church… how many times have you selected someone to serve in an area based on their personality? “We need friendly people greeting at the door on Sunday”. I have never heard a church leader say - “Leave the door empty until we find someone with the Spiritual Gifts of hospitality and giving (greeting and handing out a worship bulletin). Strengths are an effective way of identifying who will have the basic “stuff” to fit the role.
Put together a catalog… List the areas where you need people, and then list the Strengths that you believe will qualify someone. You will be surprised how many of your people will connect with the terminology of StrengthsFinder. There are churches that have developed very elaborate procedures for all of this, but it can also be done very simply.
Are You Leading a Losing Team?
Back to the last topic - how to see and deal with the “friendly” barriers in your organization. It may be that you do not like the military approach to breaking down silos. It does have a rather harsh sound!
Maybe sports is more your “arena”. If you have watched sports for any length of time, you’ve noticed that there are serious differences in the way to the games are played.
Imagine with me for just a second, that you’re watching a college football game.
Both teams are lined up on either side of the ball and as the ball is snapped from the center to the quarterback, each player on the team executes their play. They each know that they have a route to run and they are not really focused on what their other team members are doing. They’re simply running their assignment. If they are effective as a team then each player has carried out their individual responsibilities.
Now imagine a baseball game. The player comes up to home plate and waits for the pitch. He swings and hits the ball and runs to first base as the ball goes into the outfield. There it is caught and thrown back to the second baseman who catches it and ends the play.
On to basketball. As you watch the team play each player is constantly looking at the others trying to anticipate what will happen next. They are all adjusting their actions and activities based on the actions and activities of those around them. It is constant thought, adjustment, and execution.
In these three sports you have seen different levels of interdependence. Baseball is the least interdependent. It is sequential in nature. Each person does their part so the next person can do their part. Football is concurrent. Each player executes their assigned the task at the same time. They all are counting on one another to do what is supposed to be done. In basketball there is the highest level of interdependence. Each player is constantly adjusting to what the others are doing and together they are able to execute the game plan.
Effective organizations need to resemble a basketball team. There must be a high level of communication, anticipation, and execution based upon the real time events that surround the team. It is no longer sufficient for employees or managers to simply want to put their heads down and get their job done. If they cannot communicate, collaborate, and execute in real-time, they will not win the game.
Very few leaders have the luxury of fielding a losing team. Do you?
Margins
I realize that this post was expected to be about interdependence, but I had a great conversation recently about the need for and lack of margins in our professional and personal lives. Margins are the “buffers” that give us the ability to deal with changes and/or opportunities that arise without having chaos erupt. I saw this picture and thought it was a great illustration of how most of us have no margins…
Special thanks to Trent Sellers for the Photo
