Clarifying the Win!

(Excerpts and learnings from “7 Practices of Effective Ministry” by Andy Stanley and Staff)

Clarifying the win simply means communicating to your team in simple terms what is really important and what really matters. It is defining the destination, the target, the bull’s eye! It is to make sure that everyone knows what it means to score and to win! As long as the “win” is unclear, you force your team to guess what a win looks like.

One distinguishing feature that makes a church different from most organizations is the number of volunteers required to fulfill its mission. Generally, volunteers want to do what the church wants them to do, but problems occur when the volunteers try to score runs in foggy conditions. Without a clear direction, they are forced to chart their own course or follow whoever seems to have the best plan at the moment.

You see, leaders work hard to get somewhere (to lead)- the question is whether they are leading where they are expected to go. This is why it is so important that churches clarify the destination.

“If you give people a clear target, then they’re more likely to hit it.” If the win is unclear, you may force those in leadership roles to define winning in their own terms. If you don’t define winning for your ministry leaders, they will define it for themselves. This is because they are leaders and they’re used to winning!

Effective leaders constantly hold up clear pictures of what the church is supposed to be, so that everyone understands what it is not supposed to be. When you clarify the win, you can manage your resources more effectively.

All this has pushed us as a board and a staff to think about this at CCF. We have been and are still grappling with questions like:

· What is the ultimate win at CCF?

· What is a win in a weekend worship service?

· What is a win in a Small Group gathering?

· What is a win at Capi’s Kids?

· What is a win in our youth ministry?

· What is a win for the welcome center experience?

Stanley stresses that we need to define the win at every level of the organization? We have some ideas that we plan to put out there for 2009!!

Do you have any thoughts? Share them. Join the conversation.