Your corps will not become effective by chance - it will become effective by change!

A leader is a change agent!

Jesus is all about change. 

His teaching is all about changing the lives of individuals and of society.  He was radical.  This means he promoted fundamental or revolutionary changes in current social conditions, religious practices, habits of mind, political conditions and institutions1.  (If you do not believe this read his major speech on "How to live" in Matthew 5, 6 and 7.  You will not find anything with the message "Don't change this".)

The Salvation Army is about change. 

In Taiwan, the reason that every corps, social programme, ministry, officer and soldier exists is . . .  

To lead people to faith in Jesus Christ,

Change!

Help Christians grow in spiritual maturity,

Change again!

Serve the community in the name of Christ.

Change yet again!

We are called to reach out to the lost and the least, for many of us a change from the self-focus of our previous lives. 

We campaign and advocate for a change in the conditions for the disadvantaged and downtrodden. 

Yet we all know that most people do not like change; we are resistant to it.  But it is the leader's job to promote change, show people why it is necessary, point  the way through it, and help them take the journey step by painful step. 

The saddest kind of resistance to change is when a corps had become stuck in patterns of thinking and behaving that are out of date and no longer effective. 

Perhaps the soldiers have a romanticised view of how great the corps used to be.  Perhaps they are clinging on to an old format in the hope that the 1960's style will come back in.  

Or perhaps they are just comfortable with everything the same, week-in, week-out.  The same meeting format, the same seat, the same old songs, same, same, same.  Nothing is threatening, nothing is challenging.  In this environment nothing challenges them to become more spiritually mature, nothing challenges them to do difficult things for Jesus.  Everything is comfortable. 

If you were the newly-appointed officer to such a corps, what would you do?  You definitely have a problem getting the corps to function as it should.  You may feel like ranting and shouting and shaking everyone up, but if you fail to get soldiers, adherents and friends invested in the changes, you are likely to fail in the change process.

Somehow you have to be both a prophet, stirring the status quo with an unpopular message from God, and a shepherd, leading the sheep to where God wants them. 

Corps members (like the rest of the human race) do not like to just be told that new things are happening. They want to have a say in the goings-on of the corps, and to know that they are part of the decision-making process.

Occasionally, I have come across a corps that is so stuck in old habits they could not be moved at all.  In that case, the leader has to "move with the movers", influence those he/she can, and leave the rest behind. 

But generally, if you keep meeting with people, keep discussing things, keep explaining the need for change,  a small minority will start to come with you.  If you share the tasks of effecting change, promote the ideas and attitudes, the few will become a few more. 

Keep them involved by discussions to outline the changes and hand out material detailing the changes and the change process, be prepared to compromise on some of the detail  without throwing away the general direction, then the support will grow. 

Ask for volunteers to work on change committees or to carry out extra tasks (invite specific individuals if you don't get a take up), answer questions openly and honestly and, after time, the majority will come with you.

There will always be some who will never come with you and, worse still, some of them who will be a constant source of disruption taking up more of your time than their issues really deserve2. 

1. From <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/radical

2. For a good two-minute vid on how to divide up your leadership time have a look at this: http://video.about.com/management/Pareto-s-Principle.htm

 Questions to Consider

1. Are there areas in which I personally am resistant to change?
2. What changes do I need to drive in my area of responsibility?
3. What am I doing to help people overcome their resistance to change?

A Leadership Exercise

Imagine you are the officer of a corps that is stuck, ineffective and resistant to change.  Draw a up one-page, dot-point plan about what you are doing to do to manage the changes.  To help you get started this article might help; Change Management; What are some of the tips to handling change?

(If you would like to discuss your plan with me, feel free to email me at taw_leadership@taw.salvationarmy.org or contact me (Michael Coleman) on Live Messenger.)

How will you set your priorities in 2012?

Setting priorities is an integral part of leadership in ministry, especially as there is always more to do than there is time to do it in.  Deciding how to assign the importance, time and order of each task is a decision we are faced with all the time.  How can the busy corps leader make decisions about prioritising and get them right most of the time?

Here are some suggestions for your approach to prioritising for 2012.


1. Address the things that make you ineffective ASAP.

We all experience things that make us ineffective from time to time.  It may be a conflict with other members of the corps, our spouse, or a friend, or it may be broken-down equipment or software.  Anything that inhibits us being an effective leader should be addressed quickly.


2. Group tasks to save time.

It is sometime possible to group a number of tasks together so as to save time.  For example, by taking one journey to a certain area you may be able to do several tasks in that area.


3. Don’t let items linger on your list

If you really are not going to get round to that thing that has been on your list for months, stop fooling yourself, stop feeling guilty, and take it off the list!


4. Don’t do only No 1 priorities!


If you focus on only top priorities, others may get neglected.  Keep all your priorities in balance, and keep reviewing them.  What is low priority today may become high next week.


5. Stay on Task 


When you have decided to work on something, keep with it until it is finished, even if the last bit seems the worst.


6. Reward yourself for completing  the difficult jobs


Giving ourselves rewards, such as a check mark or a candy, appeal to the child in us.  Don’t be embarrassed to admit to yourself that these little things help to get the task done – because they do.  
There is a great temptation to put off difficult tasks because we dread facing them.  Avoidance does not solve problems, and usually it makes them worse.  Sometimes we have to be honest with ourselves and put the difficult things first.


7. Come to terms with the fact that your action list will never get any shorter.


Whenever you complete a task it won’t be long before another one pops up in its place.  As a leader it is what your role is all about.  If your list is getting shorter it may mean that you’re not sufficiently engaged with your ministry.

My personal Prioritising Approach

Here is an overview of my own personal approach to prioritising:

a. I make a list of every possible thing I need to do,

b. I re-arrange the list into the categories:
            i. Today
            ii. Tomorrow
            iii. This Week
            iv. This Month
            v. Sometime in the future

c. In each category I re-arrange the order in which the tasks should be done,

d. I reward the completion of each task with a check mark,

e. I re-arrange the list daily.

The first setting up of the list usually takes an hour or more, but once it is set up, 10 to 15 minutes a day is all that is needed to maintain it, especially if I do it in Word, XL or something similar.  And I work much more efficiently as a result of this short investment of my time!

Question to consider:


What will be the key elements of your approach to prioritising in 2012?

A Further 4 Qualifications for Local Officers (from O&R’s for Local officers)

We are discussing 12 essential qualifications for local officers, and this is the third and final list of four, all of which are lifted straight from “Orders and Regulations for Local Officers”.  

Qualification #9:  The Local Officer wears full uniform

Wearing uniform opens so many doors for The Salvation Army that are closed to other branches of the Church.  Even wearing an informal identifier such as a red shield on a tee-shirt or a lapel badge on a business suit can create amazing opportunities.   Just today I was talking to a Salvationist who went straight from the Sunday meeting to lunch in a restaurant wearing her uniform.  Even thought she felt a little self-conscious, she was delighted about the impact it had on other diners and how it opened up conversations. 

Modelling the use of good uniform wearing is a key leadership component of the local officer’s role.  Of course, there are various types and levels of uniform for varying occasions, and many of our new converts, especially those who have not been exposed to many formal situations, need to be shown how it’s done. 

Qualification #10:  The Local Officer has no dishonourable debts

Here we are referring to overdue payments, skipped rents, etc.  Given the nature of the problems of the people we (profess to) reach out to, the least, the lost and the last, we should expect a high degree of dishonourable debt amongst our new converts. 

And in fact, in our social programmes and in the corps that are effectively reaching out to this sub-population, this is the case.  One of the things we work with them on in the early months and years after conversion is resolving these debts. 

For the sake of the organisation it is important that these matters are dealt with discreetly and promptly, and all the more so if there may be a chance that the convert may become a local officer in the not-too-distant future. 

When a local officer and his corps is dragged into a legal dispute it creates a great deal of pain, and sometimes corps do not recover from it.  It's best to avoid it before it happens.  

Qualification #11:  The Local Officer has a “stewardship” way of thinking

When we became soldiers of The Salvation Army, we signed up to this promise:

“I will be a faithful steward of my time and my gifts, my money and possessions, my body, my mind and my spirit, knowing that I am accountable to God” 

As for Qualification #8 in my last post, if you are not 110% sold on this idea you should seriously consider handing in your commission. 

For some Salvationists, stewardship is a value that is deeply embedded.  But do not be fooled; stewardship is not the same as meanness. 

I have heard of many cases of meanness being practiced in the name of stewardship that has prevented God’s work going forward.  I have heard of evangelistic efforts being prevented in the name of stewardship; I have been told of pastoral care being curtailed in the name of stewardship; and I have witnessed social needs remaining unmet in the name of stewardship.

Stewardship means spending money on the right things; it does not mean refusing to spending money.  And the right things are those that will take Jesus to the unsaved, will build up the spirituality of the soldiers, will deliver compassionate care to those in hardship, and will drive forward the agenda for social justice.   These things we should never be mean about. 

Qualification #12:  The Local Officer lives to the highest moral standard

The role of the local officer includes being a model for the soldiers of the corps to live by.  What does the “highest moral standard” look like? 

Let’s go back to the most basic expression of our commitments to God in the context of The Salvation Army, the Soldier’s Covenant.

ü  Living by the values of the Kingdom and not the values of the world (Article 2),

ü  Christian integrity in every area of life (Article 3),

ü  No thought, word or deed that is unworthy, unclean, untrue, profane, dishonest or immoral (Article 3), 

ü  Christian ideals in all relationships (Article 4),

ü  Upholding the sanctity of marriage and family life (Article 5),

ü  Abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, gambling, pornography, the occult, and anything else that could enslave (Article 7).

Something to think about

1. What is your attitude to uniform wearing?  Are you the type of Salvationist who wants to get out of uniform as soon as possible; or do you seek opportunities to wear Army identifiers to open up the conversation about Jesus? 
2. What is your view on stewardship?  How do you walk the line between meanness and wrongly spending God’s resources?
3. Do you live to the “highest moral standard”?  If not what areas of your life will you need to change? 
4. You can use the Soldier’s Covenant as a daily inventory to check in with God to make sure you are on track.  Go to the Soldier’s Inventory at  http://www.largedocument.com/4/05b189fa/The_Soldiers_Inventory.doc