During my nine and a half years as a lead pastor in Canada, I navigated the complexities of adapting to a new church, staff, and culture. To prepare for this transition, I studied several resources on onboarding—the critical process of adjusting to a new professional role. One particularly influential book, You’re in Charge, Now What?, outlines a strategic framework for new leaders to define reality alongside their teams. Whether you are entering a ministry or a business leadership role, this process offers invaluable insights into your work environment, especially when navigating the onboarding honeymoon in church leadership.
Within my first month, I asked a long-tenured staff member to facilitate a candid discussion during a team meeting. After providing specific instructions, I stepped out for approximately 45 minutes to allow the team to speak freely. The facilitator guided them through a series of prompts designed to elicit honest feedback about the organization’s current state. This exercise is an excellent method for anyone leading in unfamiliar territory.
- We expect this from you…
- You need to know this about us… (including what we believe we do well and where we need to improve as a staff)
- We want to know this about you and here are our concerns…
- Here are the burning issues now facing the church…
- Here are the major obstacles now facing the church...
While I was out of the room, the facilitator recorded the team’s responses on the conference room whiteboard. Upon my return, I reviewed each point and asked clarifying questions to ensure I fully understood the staff’s perspective. The following observations represent the key lessons I learned from that exercise.
- They wanted me to show that I cared for them through prayer, feedback, and truth-telling.
- They expected consistency and integrity.
- They wanted to be taught, trained, and challenged.
- They wanted to know what they could do better.
- They wanted clear communication and clarity about their respective roles.
- They wanted me to know that they worked hard and supported each other.
- They wanted to know what was important to me, my boundaries, my personal struggles, and whether I wanted them to reply to every email I sent. 🙂
- They wanted me to know that the church at the time faced financial challenges and trust issues.
- They wanted me to know that I might face resistance to bringing change in the church.
This simple process provided an invaluable, honest, and simple way to help me define reality through the eyes of our staff. This experience helped me craft appropriate action plans to bring essential change for staff development and to the church at large.
My experience those nine plus years was a joy and I believe this unique listening session helped set me up for success.
What tools have helped you define reality in your setting?
P.S. As a result of my experience, I wrote a book for ministry leaders on onboarding called, Every Pastor’s First 180 Days: How to Start and Stay Strong in a New Church Job.
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This article originally appeared on CharlesStone.com and is reposted here by permission.
