{"id":784367,"date":"2022-08-16T05:00:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T10:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=784367"},"modified":"2022-08-15T19:42:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T00:42:47","slug":"10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you still learning how to be a leader? I am still learning myself, and I\u2019m grateful for what I\u2019ve learned from others. Here are some of those simple strategies:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Learn names.<\/b> Knowing someone\u2019s name says, \u201cI know who you are, and you matter to me.\u201d This is one reason, by the way, I have<\/span> previously recommended that all churches use nametags every week<\/span><\/a> (though I admit that not everyone agreed with me . . . ).<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Pray immediately.<\/b> If someone asks me to pray for them, I try my best to do it right then. I\u2019m too forgetful and too busy to remember to do it later. At the same time, folks who ask for prayer have the need on their mind right then\u2014so why not pray?<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Put my phone down in meetings.<\/b> I admit that I\u2019m still working on this one, even though<\/span> I\u2019ve written about it in the past<\/span><\/a>. I have to be honest, though, in recognizing that fiddling with my phone during a meeting is the equivalent of ignoring the other people in the room. I\u2019m trying . . .<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Land the plane well when I\u2019m teaching and preaching.<\/b> By well, I mean, \u201cLand on time, and make sure my listeners know what to do next after the landing.\u201d Circling the airport when we teach or preach causes listeners to tune us out before we\u2019re finished.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Write some kind of SHORT note, blog, encouragement, website post, etc. each week.<\/b> This blog is my means for doing this. You might have other opportunities, but here\u2019s my point: any writing that pushes us to be clear and concise can only help us in our communication as a leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Use my 10-minute \u201cbreak times\u201d throughout the day to be with God on behalf of His people.<\/b> If I pray for my church family 2-3 times a day even for ten minutes, I can give a lot of attention to their needs.<\/span> This simple strategy<\/span><\/a> has been really helpful to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Take a walk.<\/b> One of my favorite books is Michael Card\u2019s<\/span> The Walk<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which is the story of his discipleship relationship with his New Testament professor, Bill Lane. Lane often walked across campus with a student\u2014sometimes talking, sometimes just walking\u2014and God used those times to draw them to Him. I\u2019ve found that even a brief walk around our campus at<\/span> Southeastern Seminary<\/span><\/a> can rejuvenate my spirit to press on through the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

8. Have a meal (for me, generally breakfast or lunch) with someone at least once a week.<\/b> I\u2019m an introvert, but a former colleague challenged me with this assignment years ago. I\u2019m glad he did, as I\u2019ve had multiple opportunities for \u201ciron sharpening iron\u201d experiences across the table.<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Use question marks (??) more than exclamation points (!!) in conversation.<\/b> Sometimes, exclamation points are in order as we lead people \u2013 but we\u2019ll move conversations forward more by asking questions first and then listening. We\u2019ll know our church members better if we ask them more questions about their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

10. Assume the best.<\/b> This is not my tendency. I often read more into situations and silences than is accurate \u2013 and I\u2019ve paid the price of unnecessarily bearing internal anguish. As I\u2019m learning to assume the best first, I\u2019ve found more peace even when my \u201cbest\u201d assumption later proves wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

What simple strategies have you learned? Help us learn with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are you still learning how to be a leader? I am still learning myself, and I\u2019m grateful for what I\u2019ve learned from others. Here are some of those simple strategies:\u00a0 1. Learn names. Knowing someone\u2019s name says, \u201cI know who you are, and you matter to me.\u201d This is one reason, by the way, I…","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":784375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,183,195,175,186,192,177,191,14796,176,196],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-784367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-communications","category-conflict-and-people-problems","category-grow","category-health-and-metrics","category-how-to","category-lead","category-mind-body-and-spirit","category-monday-wednesday-featured","category-revitalize","category-staff-and-organizational-issues"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you still learning how to be a leader? I am still learning myself, and I\u2019m grateful for what I\u2019ve learned from others. Here are some of those simple strategies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader | Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are you still learning how to be a leader? I am still learning myself, and I\u2019m grateful for what I\u2019ve learned from others. Here are some of those simple strategies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-16T10:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chuck Lawless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chuck Lawless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chuck Lawless\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f\"},\"headline\":\"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-16T10:00:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/\"},\"wordCount\":584,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Church Answers\",\"Communications\",\"Conflict & People Problems\",\"Grow\",\"Health & Metrics\",\"How To\",\"Lead\",\"Mind, Body, & Spirit\",\"Monday\/Wednesday Featured\",\"Revitalize\",\"Staff & Organizational Issues\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/\",\"name\":\"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader | Church Answers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-16T10:00:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f\"},\"description\":\"Are you still learning how to be a leader? I am still learning myself, and I\u2019m grateful for what I\u2019ve learned from others. Here are some of those simple strategies.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":628},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/\",\"name\":\"Church Answers\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f\",\"name\":\"Chuck Lawless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b99cf3a5686c69c6ee0fa69473f5a659bee7daaa31ff24217be46675fd10a5bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b99cf3a5686c69c6ee0fa69473f5a659bee7daaa31ff24217be46675fd10a5bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chuck Lawless\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Chuck Lawless is a leading expert in spiritual consultation, discipleship and mentoring. As a former pastor, he understands the challenges ministry presents and works with Church Answers to provide advice and counsel for church leaders.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/clawless\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader | Church Answers","description":"Are you still learning how to be a leader? I am still learning myself, and I\u2019m grateful for what I\u2019ve learned from others. Here are some of those simple strategies.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader | Church Answers","og_description":"Are you still learning how to be a leader? I am still learning myself, and I\u2019m grateful for what I\u2019ve learned from others. Here are some of those simple strategies.","og_url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/","og_site_name":"Church Answers","article_published_time":"2022-08-16T10:00:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Chuck Lawless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chuck Lawless","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/"},"author":{"name":"Chuck Lawless","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f"},"headline":"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader","datePublished":"2022-08-16T10:00:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/"},"wordCount":584,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png","articleSection":["Church Answers","Communications","Conflict & People Problems","Grow","Health & Metrics","How To","Lead","Mind, Body, & Spirit","Monday\/Wednesday Featured","Revitalize","Staff & Organizational Issues"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/","name":"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader | Church Answers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png","datePublished":"2022-08-16T10:00:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f"},"description":"Are you still learning how to be a leader? I am still learning myself, and I\u2019m grateful for what I\u2019ve learned from others. Here are some of those simple strategies.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Blog-Article-Picture-44.png","width":1200,"height":628},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/10-simple-strategies-that-have-helped-me-as-a-church-leader\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Simple Strategies that Have Helped Me as a Church Leader"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/","name":"Church Answers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/09e294734245d3978e67deffd6991c7f","name":"Chuck Lawless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b99cf3a5686c69c6ee0fa69473f5a659bee7daaa31ff24217be46675fd10a5bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b99cf3a5686c69c6ee0fa69473f5a659bee7daaa31ff24217be46675fd10a5bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Chuck Lawless"},"description":"Dr. Chuck Lawless is a leading expert in spiritual consultation, discipleship and mentoring. As a former pastor, he understands the challenges ministry presents and works with Church Answers to provide advice and counsel for church leaders.","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/clawless\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":784371,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784367\/revisions\/784371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}