LifeChurch.tv All Staff

Today brought one of my favorite parts about being on staff at LifeChurch.tv – the quarterly “All Staff” meeting. Staff from the OKC metro campuses and Central Organization meet in an auditorium while other campuses watch via broadcast. We hear from each of the members of the DLT (Directional Leadership Team), we worship God together as a staff, then we hear from our senior pastor, Craig Groeschel. It’s a great time for us all to come together, get updates, worship as a family, and learn from Pastor Craig.

My biggest takeaway from today:

Those whom God uses the most are those who hold on to the least.

This hit me hard. On long days, I can feel tempted to throw a pitty party and tell myself that our family has given up a lot to be here. We left behind family, friends, a great high-paying job, and all that San Diego had to offer us. And yet, every time I’m tempted to go that route, I’m quickly reminded about all the ways God has blessed our family by moving to Oklahoma and being a part of LifeChurch.tv. It’s this thought process that caused us to move back to LifeChurch after leaving in 2012.

The more Erin and I have let go of, the more God has blessed us. We’ve seen it in ourselves, in our marriage, and even in our kids. This quote from Craig stood out to me because it’s proven true in our lives. And even more that that, I know He’s not done with us. We have more to let go of. And as scary as that can sound, I know there is even more peace and joy on the other side of it.

---

I took notes today and wanted to post them here. I’ve tried not to add any commentary – just Craig’s words. Here we go…

Effective Communication

Just because you said it doesn’t mean they heard it, doesn’t mean they believe it, and doesn’t mean they’ll do it.

You may ask:

• Why don’t they think like I think?
• Why don’t they see what I see?
• Why don’t they care like I care?

The curse of knowledge: Your experience and knowledge give you insight into certain things – and as a result, you see things differently than other people.

We can’t say: “Our people won’t” or “Our people don’t”

• Why? Because we’re the leader and we haven’t equipped/trained them.
• Don’t blame them – take responsibility to teach them.

We can only say: “We have not led our people to…”

Employees Vs. Owners

We must lead our staff and volunteers to think like owners rather than employees.

• An employee works for the business. A good owner works ON the business.
• Employee spends money. Owners invest money. (Think about the return)
• Employee asks “What’s best for me?” versus “What’s best for the organization?”

Teach staff and volunteers to:

1. Think higher
2. See broader
3. Care deeper

What you care about determines what you can be trusted with.

4 Qualities of Effective Communication:

1. Consistent. (Chief Reminding Officer) vision, values, direction. It is impossible to over-communicate these. Values drift. Vision leaks. And people don’t know where they’re going.

2. Specific. Specific strategy. Temptation is to communicate generally. Communicate: What. Why. How. Who. When.

3. Authentic. Truth trumps all. Authenticity trumps cool. Own mistakes. Acknowledge problems. Not sure? Admit it. People would rather follow a leader who is always real over always someone who is always right. Without authenticity you have no trust. No trust, no future.

4. Passionate. Don’t tell – show. Sacrifice. Invest in others. Excellence. Help others. Believe in others that others don’t believe in.