Nehemiah Answers Simon Sinek (part 2 of 2)

Posted on November 22, 2016 Written by

2016-08-august-16-16

In part one, I recapped an excellent Ted Talk by Simon Sinek. (please stop now and watch it to more fully understand this post).

 

Nehemiah is a quintessential Old Testament leader. Upon hearing of the status of the protective walls and gates of Jerusalem, Nehemiah got his boss, the king of Persia, to let him go to his ancestral homeland and rebuild everything. His leadership skills are not questioned – he found solutions for every problem as they arose, he dealt with people justly, and he confronted his cynics directly. He accomplished what needed to be done and what others said couldn’t be done. He did it. And his work subsequently protected Jerusalem for several centuries.

 

This is what Nehemiah did:

  • In chapter one,
    • Nehemiah hears about a situation which breaks his heart
    • He prays fervently about what he should do and he listens to God
  • In chapter 2, Nehemiah answers Simon Sinek
    • Verse 2: the king asks, “Why does your face look so sad…?” Nehemiah’s reply is an emotional appeal: his homeland is in ruins.
    • Verse 4: the king asks “What is it you want?” Nehemiah has a short reply – let me go to my homeland and rebuild the city
    • Verse 6: the king asks, “How long will your journey take?” and Nehemiah responds with lots of specifics about his needs
  • In the rest of the book: Nehemiah gets the job done. He leads the people, fends off critics, and reports back to the king.

 

When the book begins, Nehemiah had no power and very little influence. But he did have a God-inspired vision and he was articulate. By the end of the book, Nehemiah is an inspirational leader. Even 2,500 years ago, Nehemiah was ready for Simon Sinek!

 

Nehemiah 2:1-9

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

 

I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

 

The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

 

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”

 

Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

 

I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

 

Nehemiah was an inspirational leader. In only 52 days he did what others said couldn’t be done. He had a clear “Why” and could get people to believe what he believed. Even the king, who paid for everything, was able to buy into what Nehemiah wanted to do. Nehemiah’s “Why” was compelling to the soul of his listeners.

 

Lead On

Steve

www.churchbestpractices.org has a complete set of very affordable church manuals as templates in Word plus lots of free Word and Excel docs to help church administration.

Filed Under: future, leadership, planning, strategy, wisdom Tagged: , , , ,

Nehemiah Answers Simon Sinek (part 1 of 2)

Posted on November 15, 2016 Written by

2016-05-may-5

In September 2009, Simon Sinek recorded the third most watched Ted Talk (you should have Ted Talks in your podcast list). It is only 18 minutes long. It is impactful. It points to a different kind of leader, an inspirational leader.

 

The first few minutes are spent explaining The Golden Circle. Sinek draws three circles and writes “Why” in the centermost circle, “How” in the middle circle, and “What” in the outermost circle. He provides the advertising example of Apple who tells you why you should buy from them, not how they make computers or even what they manufacture. “Why” is an emotional connection.

 

Sinek continues by explaining what we know about the development of the human brain. The centermost part of the brain, the limbic system, focuses on our feelings, behavior, and decision-making. This part of the brain is the oldest to develop. It does not have the capacity for language. That is for the outer parts of the brain developed more recently and it determines the “what” of how we use our brain.

 

For leaders to reach the core of a person, inspirational leaders must focus on connecting with the “Why” of the listeners – that innermost core of a person’s brain. Sinek states that you must find “people who believe what you believe.” Another memorable quote is, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Leaders speak initially to a person’s soul, not to their practical side. The “how” and “what” will come soon enough but if you don’t hook someone with “why” then you’ll have a much harder time getting that person to join your mission.

 

Sinek ends with the example of Martin Luther King, Jr. When he spoke at the National Mall in August 1963, a quarter million people showed up because they wanted to be there. The “I have a dream” speech they heard is deemed the most memorable US speech given in the 20th Century. Inspirational leaders must speak to the emotional core of their followers so they will absorb “why” they should follow.

 

Lead On

Steve Law

www.churchbestpractices.org has a complete set of very affordable church manuals as templates in Word plus lots of free Word and Excel docs to help church administration.

 

Filed Under: future, leadership, planning, strategy, wisdom Tagged: , , , ,

Employees Should Pay for Benefits with Non-Taxable Dollars

Posted on November 8, 2016 Written by

2016 06-June 14 (11)

The rule of thumb is that you always want to pay for benefits with non-taxable dollars. If you pay for them with taxable dollars, then when you get the benefit, you have to pay taxes on that benefit. Taxes on premiums are always cheaper than taxes on benefits. The best example is life insurance: the premium on a life insurance policy is a few dollars a year (depending on what the premium is and your tax bracket) but that is certainly cheaper than paying taxes on a life insurance benefit of $50,000 or $250,000! Other examples include disability policies and benefits and long-term care.

Health insurance and its related health savings accounts are not, by law, taxable (as of when this post is written). In fact, employee payments for both health insurance and HSAs are tax-deductible and employees should be encouraged to max out their HSA amounts if financially possible (same goes for retirement).

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: accounting, budget, church staff, planning Tagged: , , ,

Jesus as a 12 Year Old Boy

Posted on November 1, 2016 Written by

2016 05-May 10 (9)

Luke 2:41-52 New International Version

Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.

 

This post is satire – please take it as such.

 

Twelve and thirteen year old boys are strange creatures. They know everything. They’re loud and messy. They’re physically awkward. They make strange noises. They’re in your face, a lot. And they have no idea that what they’re doing is rude and even offensive.

 

I think the translators got some of these verses wrong. Specifically, I think the original versions (which are lost to history) stated that Mary and Joseph were absolutely tired of a know-it-all, loud-mouthed Jesus and decided they’d leave him in the temple. After all, God gave them Jesus so they were just giving him back. It worked out well (for the most part) for Samuel so it should work out okay for Jesus. “God, we raised him for 12 years; he’s a man now so he’s all yours. We’re done!”

 

Then Joseph and Mary began walking back to Nazareth. I guess that after three days their guilt got the best of them and they returned to Jerusalem to get Jesus. They probably didn’t want to but there were enough questions from other travelers that they couldn’t explain Jesus’ absence easily. They realized they’d have to put up with their teenager for several more years. Six days after leaving Jesus, they’re back in Jerusalem.

 

When they found Jesus, he was nonchalant, as if nothing happened (just like a teenager!). He hadn’t missed his parents at all (which made them second guess their decision to come back for him). His parents tried to embarrass him in front of the temple leaders but he threw it back at them. He said, “I’ve been right here in the temple. Right where you left me.”

 

The section ends where it says that Jesus “was obedient to them.” That was surely the first miracle that Jesus ever did – an obedient 12 year old!

 

If you’ve ever had a middle school boy, you’ll understand this post. If you haven’t, well, God Bless Your Heart.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church humor Tagged:

Overtime Laws

Posted on October 28, 2016 Written by

2016 03-March 29 (8)

On December 1, 2016 new overtime (OT) rules as approved by the US Department of Labor go into effect. Actually, most of the overtime laws are over 30 years old. In May 2016 the DoL altered one major component of the OT laws but almost everything else remained the same.

 

The major change is that salaried employees must make over $47,476 (just round that to $47,500) to be exempt from OT. Salaried workers who are below this dollar threshold and who do not make executive-level decisions should keep track of their work hours. While tracking hours worked each pay period is a pain, it is necessary in order to know if the employee should receive OT compensation.

 

Some other information about DoL laws:

  • Hourly workers are never exempt from OT
  • Contractors must truly be from an independent company that has several clients and not just an outsourced former employee or two

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: accounting, budget, church finances, church staff Tagged: , , ,

Admins as Notaries Public

Posted on October 21, 2016 Written by

 

Periodically church members will need documents to be notarized. This notarization may be for a document required to participate in a church event or even for a private need. FYI, all banks have notary public and people can get a doc notarized at their local bank. But it is often more convenient for the church to provide this service.

 

Becoming a notary public is pretty easy. Most of the work can be done online through the state agency. Do not use private companies that do the paperwork for you – they overcharge and you end up doing most of the work anyway.  The notary public fees are about $100 and the certification lasts for five years in many states.

 

I required all church administrative assistants to become notaries public so they could notarize docs as needed. Frequently the youth or children’s ministries had documents related to retreats or trips which needed to be notarized. It was easy to tell people to come to the church and ask for an admin who would then notarize the doc.

 

I told the admins who were notaries that they could notarize other people’s documents and even charge the legally permitted fee. They were forbidden from charging members a fee since the church paid for the notary public license.

 

This system has worked well and I encourage churches to take this step.

 

Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: church administration, church staff, planning Tagged: , ,

Walking Away from Tense Situations

Posted on October 14, 2016 Written by

2016 03-March 22 (13)

Church staff face uncomfortable personal encounters frequently. These meetings may be with guests, members, and other staff members. Some of these meetings may get heated – emotions may run high and the tension escalates. It is at this point there is no “win” to this situation. Everyone, especially the church, looses.

 

Church staff must be empowered and encouraged to step out of the circumstances. They should be instructed that walking away from the meeting (even without saying a word) is a useful tactic to calm down the emotions on both sides. The staff person may need to leave his or her own office and walk outside. I have instructed staff that if the situation is particularly tense, they are permitted to get in their car and leave the church (to go home, to go to a café, etc.). After they have left the church, they are to call their supervisor to explain why they left.

 

Calming down one’s emotions can be tricky especially when someone has pushed all your buttons and set you off. In many cases, the only or perhaps the best way to ratchet things down is to leave. Leaving is not a sign of defeat. It is actually a sign of maturity – that you’re not willing for the situation to get out of hand and you’re willing to take the first step to calm things down.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church staff, wisdom Tagged: ,

Dummy Plates on Outside Door Locks

Posted on October 7, 2016 Written by

2016 03-March 22 (7)

Every church wants to have a balance between the safety and security of the people inside the building (staff, guests, children in a daycare, etc.) while still being open and welcoming to first-timers and people needing assistance.

 

The best way is to control access by limiting the number of doors that people can come in. Use your signage to direct people what doors you want people to use to enter your facilities. Then, make those doors and the entrance area welcome and appealing. FYI, by law, all exterior doors must have push bars (aka, panic bars) so that people can leave without any trouble.

 

However, when exterior doors are installed, contractors typically install key locks on the doors. That means that anyone with an exterior key can unlock and open a door; they might even be able to leave the door unlocked for others to come in. There is a simple solution to this.

 

For all exterior doors which should not be used as entrances, change the lock plate and put on a dummy plate. That is a flat plate with no key hole which means there is no way to unlock and open the door from the outside. A dummy plate does not affect any of the exit mechanisms on the door. And a dummy plate won’t prevent someone on the inside from propping open a door, either.

 

Bottom line: control how people are coming into your building and remove the opportunity for people with keys to come in other doors.

 

Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: buildings, church safety, church security, facilities Tagged: , , ,
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