Leadership Architecture

My wife, Cindy, is a geek.  Not in the same way I'm a geek.  While I'm a tech geek, she's an architecture geek.  She loves books on architecture and design. She knows lines, styles, and designs.   I'm really impressed with her knowledge, especially when it comes to types of homes - ranch, colonial, Victorian, Cape Cod, bungalow, and craftsman (here favorite).  The only reason I know them is the time and patience she has shown in educating me.  See, an old dog can learn new tricks!

If you are a leader you are an architect.  As a leader you are design environments. . .organizational cultures.

I first realized this years ago while reading Erwin McManus' An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind.  In it he shared how he saw himself as the Chief Architect of Mosaic, the church he began several years ago.  As chief architect it was his responsibility to lead Mosaic in creating an environment/culture where God was honored and people came to know him and grow in their relationship with him.

As a leader, your responsibility is to design and create an environment, or culture, where people have the best opportunity to succeed.  Believe it or not, when people succeed, so do you.  Kinda flies in the face of a culture that says that we are be about ourselves. . .get all we can. . .look out for ol' number one.  Isn't it? 

You create a culture of success in two ways:

1. Your attitude - You attitude as a leader says a lot to the people you lead.  It sets the tone in the office, meetings, and working through difficult times.  Think about it. . .do people feel better when they are around you or worse?  Do you laugh. . .or at least smile or walk around with a look of concern or frown?  Do you have a defeatist attitude or a "let's do whatever it takes" attitude?  Do you look for wins in your people and organization and when you find them celebrate them?  Do you encourage your folks,  or just berate them when something goes wrong?  Is it all about you or do you care about the people you lead?  Believe it or not you  attitude plays a bigger role in your organization's culture that you might think.


2. Empowerment - Hey leader, do you make all the decisions in your organization?  Or think you have to?  Do you require your team or committee to come to you to get permission to do what you've hired or recruited them to do?  My friend and mentor, Gene Wilkes, pastor at Legacy Church, speaks to this in his study, Jesus on Leadership:  Becoming a Servant Leader.  He teaches that empowerment was more than giving someone the responsibility for a task, it's also about giving them the authority to do it.  Empowering people is scary, but it freeing at the same time.  And when leaders learn to empower their people tasks are accomplished, visions become reality, goals are reached, people win, and they feel valued.  To balance things out there does need to be a process of accountability (this is a discussion for another time).  So how are you doing?  How do things get done on your team. . .in your home. . .with your staff?

Admittedly, I'm  always having to work on these.  Don't get me wrong, I love to laugh!  But I don't celebrate wins as often as I should.  I mean, I get so caught up in what I'm doing that I forget that there's a whole team of  people working on what they need to do to make us successful.   And that whole empowerment stuff is scary to a control freak like me.  But I'm learning.  I'm learning to let go and let others work their magic.  I'm gonna have to do both better if I'm going to learn lead at the 30,000 foot level.


What about you. . .mom. . .dad. . .husband. . .supervisor. . .pastor. . .ministry leader. . .assistant. . .teacher. . .manager. . .?  

Checked your attitude lately? 

When was the last time your family, staff, or team saw you smile, much less laugh?

Celebrated a win lately?  At least recognized one?

Empowered a child to make a decision on their own?  Or an assistant?  Or a team/committee?



Mike