Leading Change
There it is. The most dreaded word in all the land… CHANGE. Let the weeping and gnashing of teeth commence. Nothing evokes greater, or more intense, responses than suggesting change. It is possible, as well, that nothing has caused more upheaval and hurt than unnecessary, or poorly led, change in an organization or church. Over the years of ministry I have been a part of many changes being introduced. Some of these were handled very well. Most others were handled remarkably poorly. Change is an inevitable part of life and creation. God knit together an incredible creation that can adapt and grow throughout its life. It is amazing to see it in action. We don’t have to be afraid of change, but we should have an idea about how to handle it well.
Most importantly - Why?
It is vital to seek out the “why” for change. Spend as much time as possible before ever even mentioning the word change to people working on the why. Your personal preference is never a great reason to enact change. Because it has always been done a certain way is never a reason to not enact change. Digging through the reasons for wanting change, or needing change is vital to rightly communicating the need for change. There are so many questions to work through in this step, and every single one of them is important to work through. It will take time, energy, and patience to work through it. Working through the “why” of the change will also help you identify the “what” of change.
Please note, there are changes that don’t need a lot of time, or question. Incorrect accounting practices, or poor oversight issues of company credit cards don’t need a lot of discussion. Make the change in those policies. The change talked about here are larger scale vision, methodology, and value changes.
Create a change map
There are two things absolutely essential to developing a change map. You have to establish where you are headed. The end goal is paramount. However, a brutally honest acknowledgement of where you are currently is also paramount. If you aren’t honest about where you are it really won’t matter where you want to go. The change map begins with your starting point (where you currently are) and the end point (the envisioned change for the organization). Once you have those two points the map should be populated with the steps/goals along the way that will take you to the end goal. Keep in mind that the individual steps should be clearly defined and have defined timelines to achieve them. Too high an expectation in the steps will lead to frustrated staff, leaders, and organizational members. Each step should break down a part of the end goal and the team should know why that step matters in the process. Along the way the map should be evaluated and consider whether the next step is still the right step to take.
Focus on the middle 50
In a general sense there are three groups of people in an organization, especially a church. Generally there will be a top tier group that will always be excited and agree to everything while thinking it is the greatest idea ever. They are the immediate-adopters. They barely even need to hear a why. Don’t base decisions to move forward off the immediate-adopters. Ever. Then there are the bottom tier people who will never think it is a good idea, and things are always better off the way they used to be. They are the never-adopters. Jesus couldn’t convince them to change something. Don’t base decisions to not move forward off the never-adopters. Ever. Invest your time in the middle group of people who will truly influence and support the decision. They are where your time and energy should be focused. To truly impact change they are the ones who will have to buy into it. They are the ones that will bring it to fruition. The other two extremes will skew your sense of how things are going. Listen to them. Love them. Encourage them. Just don’t make decisions based on them. Within this middle group there will be key influencers. Long-time members and people with a great stake in the organization. Make sure you are tailoring the message to who your audience is. Don’t say the same thing over and over again to different people. Help them see how this new vision/idea will help further all of the effort and time they have put into the organization. Know who you are talking to and make sure you highlight the things that will be most important to them.
Celebrate along the way
God loves a party. Why else would He put explicit instructions for multiple communal celebrations to be held in the Bible? God celebrates and wants us to celebrate. Take intentional moments to recognize the achievements along the way. The change map should have multiple smaller steps along the way to the final goal. When those steps happen, pause and celebrate the accomplishment. Recognize the people who helped make it happen. Celebrate! It will help energize the next steps. It will help keep the people reminded of what is going on and the end goal. Celebrating is a vital part of leading change. Of course, the biggest celebration should be when the final goal is achieved!
Change is an unknown. It’s scary. It causes all sorts of grief and heartache when handled poorly by the leadership. Don’t be one of those people. Learn to guide change effectively and lovingly. Change is an ongoing part of life and can lead to all sorts of incredible moments with God. You don’t have to be afraid of it, but you do have to lead it well.