SHOW NOTES
The Art of the Meeting, pt1
Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 197
Today we reached far back in the archives to bring back the very first series we did on Leadership in Context—The Art of the Meeting.
I have found that there is a systematic weakness in regularly scheduled leadership meetings in many churches. That weakness is directly correlated to the lack of first level disciples.
Bible experts suggest that Jesus spent 73% of His time with small groups in strategic situations.
Sunday morning services, without a doubt, are our best blast and are critical to the Kingdom-reaching people. But there also needs to be a steady drip of leadership that courses through the veins of a local church so the things that are said on Sunday are getting traction Monday through Saturday.
I used to say I hate meetings, but now I love meetings. I love meetings that I organize because the meetings I organize get things done.
I don’t like meetings:
that aren’t organized,
where I don’t know the agenda or what is happening,
where I don’t know what the goal is or who will be there, or
where I walk out the door without a work list to do.
The meetings that I like are those that take time beforehand to think about, pray about, and strategize about. I know, in the long run, that those meetings are going to do two critical things—save me work and multiply work.
I have also found that churches have moved away from regularly meeting with leadership groups in some form or fashion. Often, we don’t have meetings because we say we don’t have time. But the busier you are, the more time you must meet with people or you are just going to stay busy.
Develop a culture of small group meetings in your church where they are not just a tactic, but part of your DNA. To do this, you must determine:
Who you meet with,
How often you meet,
Why you meet, and
What is your meeting culture?
Those four points will tell me where your church will be a year from now, three years from now, and five years from now. The vision of your church is not going to get there without those four things.
If your meeting culture is that your meetings are always about problems, then that will make you a problem-focused leadership team. Your meetings will have a negative posture, like a principal calling you into his office. All churches have problems and obstacles, and sometimes you do need to meet and discuss those, but that shouldn’t define the majority of your meetings.
A positive, vision, opportunity-driven, proactive meeting should be what is more often the case. You water down the bad by adding good. You don’t water down the bad by neglecting the good. Otherwise, you will lose vision and your best energy will be spent on negative meetings.
If your meetings are…
About dissenters, then your church will be full of distractions.
With stale thoughts and stale people, you will ooze that and have lifelessness come out of the meeting.
About opportunity and vision, you will absorb and ooze opportunity and vision, and excitement will come out of the meetings.
About equipping and training people, they will absorb that and ooze discipleship.
Have regular leadership meetings. Why? Because those leadership meetings are the things that will hold you accountable to process what is happening in the church and really keep everything on track. Sunday morning can generate excitement and deliver good content, but it doesn’t necessarily equal great traction. Regular leadership meetings are where you are accountable. You plan and organize the content of these meetings just like you would a sermon.
Meetings keep you from being swallowed up by problems and problem people. When you are focused on opportunities and you are being proactive, even though the alligators are snapping, they aren’t going to take you down.
Meetings help you assess the health and ability of your team.
ABILITY: You can have a great idea but have a team that doesn’t have the ability in that season (anointing, gifting, technology, training, etc.). Being in that small meeting on a regular basis will help you determine what the ability level of your team really is.
HEALTH: How healthy is your team? Are they ok? Are they walking in victory? Do they have a prayer life and hear from God? Are there problems at home? Is there physical stress? How is their physical health? Are there outside things happening with their job or family? How is their marriage? These are the health issues we have to assess so we don’t just use people but make them useful to the Kingdom of God. This can only be assessed by regularly meeting with people.
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
