Ministry Advantage- July 11, 2020

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Leading Change: Creating Successful Change (Part 5 of 5) Although change may be inevitable, it doesn't have to be destructive. There are ways that you can bring about reforms in your church without blowing it apart. Before you initiate a proposed change, it's important to understand the impact of different types of people. Innovative Leaders - These leaders are inventive, creative, and a source of new ideas and paradigms. Because they come up with so many new ideas, unless they temper themselves they tend to make some people a little nervous. Opinion Leaders - These leaders are usually very concerned with maintaining the respect of others and tend to be discreet regarding which innovations they pursue. They invest time and energy studying innovators and sifting through ideas. "Fall-in-line Followers" - These followers want to know what the opinion leaders are thinking. If the opinion leaders buy into a proposed change, so do they. "Hesitant Hanks" - These followers are often skeptical. For them, security is knowing that they are in the majority. Once a proposed change has reached 50 percent adoption, they will quickly follow—but don’t expect them to buy in before then. "Resistant Robs" - These followers make decisions based upon how things were done in the past. In relation to an innovator, "Resistant Rob's" outlook and temperament is at the opposite end of the continuum. He can work against change just as passionately as an innovator works for it. It’s likely there are as many resistant types in an organization as there are leaders. Helping them adopt change requires time and effort, but is well worth it in the end. Change doesn’t happen in the absence of leadership. The process of implementing change can be very challenging and require enormous forethought. If change isn’t handled properly, people get hurt. There is an eight-step process for creating successful change: 1. Establish a Sense of Urgency. If people aren’t affected at an emotional level, they won’t have the energy required to plow through the obstacles that result when change is implemented. 2. Create a Change-Leadership Team. Pull together a united team that will determine goals and objectives and develop plans and initiatives to provide overall leadership to the change effort. 3. Develop a Compelling Vision. Articulating a compelling vision creates energy. Take the vision component out of a change effort and it will fall into an autopilot monotony within months. 4. Effectively Communicate that Vision. Don’t underestimate how much communication is required before a proposed change is adopted. Use different forms of communication to reach different types of people: tell stories, present statistics, initiate one-on-one conversations. Always keep your communications simple. Innovations that are difficult to understand seldom get full adoption. 5. Empower Broad-Based Action and Involvement by the Organization. Provide skills training where necessary to commission your staff and congregation to implement the new vision. 6. Actively Communicate Short-Term Wins. - If the congregation can’t see the benefits of their efforts, they aren’t likely to sustain those efforts. Whenever possible, illustrate progress and create opportunities for people to experience short-term wins. 7. Respond to the Ripple-Effect. - Once a change has been made, suddenly other changes that need to be made become apparent. Don’t lose energy over this—just expect the unexpected and work this eight-step process for the next change initiative that needs to occur. 8. Anchor the New Vision into the Culture. - Values change as you implement the process. As you help your congregation practice the new behaviors required by the vision and they experience the benefits of those new behaviors, they will own the underlying value of the vision. But be patient, this process takes time. If you don’t change, your church dies. If you resist change, you could pay a high price. Lean into change leadership, educate yourself, and become equipped to help your church reach its full potential? "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire." This week's article is written by Rodney Cox, President of Ministry Insights and submitted by Russ Olmon, President, Ministry Advantage. For more on this and other helpful subjects, go to www.ministryadvantage.org For over 20 years Ministry Advantage has been one of the premier church resources that provides coaching and training for pastors and church leaders helping them turn their vision into reality.

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