MaxiMeyer.com

I don’t always agree with my leadership. That goes for work, church, government, or any other organizations I’ve been a part of… I have an urge to make sure my peers around me know that I don’t “agree” with some decision being made or roll my eyes at the latest “edict” from above… but that may be dead wrong.

Most of the time, business plans, ministry methodology, or Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) plans are not revolutionary. They’re not flashy. They’re just OK. I’m guessing most of yours are too.

However, if you apply an aligned team to mediocre plans- great things can happen. The same is true of many products. Average restaurant food with a great staff can= a great experience.

Our leaders need our support despite their mediocrity at times. Whatever we choose to be a part of, we should choose to align with its leaders so greatness may happen.

• It’s been said, “leadership teams can yell and scream at each other within the boardroom but when they come out…they should choose to align to the vision/plan regardless of their personal views”
• Sometimes, brown-nosers and “yes” men are absolutely right
• My church doesn’t need another critic, it needs me to jump in and be part of the solution
• My owners don’t need me to buck their initiatives, they need me to be a driver
• Choosing to be “aligned” is a conscious choice that is made daily to every organization you’ve chosen to be a part of
• Alignment is knowing when and how/whether to voice your ideas, concerns or disagreements
• I need to know who my “first” team is and be completely aligned with them
• My frustrations need to have a neutral, healthy outlet (or as Wayne Cordeiro would say, a lightning rod) so I don’t bring negativity to the team
• Normal is being a water cooler critic, a maximizer aligns with a vision

The day we can no longer align with our team may be the day we need to move on to a different vision, job, or church. And if you leave, leave well without leaving landmines or toxicity to those who remain. I’m assuming you had a reason to be where you’re at today… are you a supportive, aligned driver or are you the hurdle, elephant-in-the-room dissenter?

Part of maximizing our lives is maximizing the things we’ve chosen to be a part of… sometimes it’s simply choosing to align.

Our leaders can be frustrating as expressed well in comments from Michael Gray from an earlier post “Hey Leader Have You Landed“. Have you ever been or are you currently stuck in the middle of wanting to add value to your team or organization and leader that is changing his/her vision, your role, not practicing what they preach, unavailable, doesn’t seem to be listening, is out-of-touch with his/her team, or seems to be a moving target? Ugh.

Here are five things I think our leaders need from us:

• They need to be able to trust us. Do we “have their back” when others are talking about them? Are you “for” your leader and want what’s best for them? Have you told them privately you’re “for” them?
• Be a champion for the vision. Do you advocate the vision publicly? Are you working hard to be aligned to the vision ahead of you? Have you clarified what the vision is with your leader and understand it?
• Fill in the gaps. Carrying out any plan will have flaws, holes, and surprises. Are you pointing at the cracks or filling the cracks?
• Lead yourself well. Are we knocking our role out of the park? Are you distracted with busyness or getting the key objectives completed?
• Respect their time. When you meet with your leader, are you prepared and pithy? Are you helping carry their load to free their time or adding to the load and putting more on their schedule?

What would you add to this list?

Our leaders are flawed, but if we do these things well, eventually we will have opportunities to “lead up” and in some cases even help shape the vision of our organizations.

But what if that doesn’t happen? What if you remain frustrated? If you find yourself complaining at the water cooler, trashing the direction of the company, or crossing your arms thinking “that’s not my responsibility”…. it may be time for you to move on… We all have bad days but we’re not called to be a cancer in our organizations.

For a great next step, I’d recommend The 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell- it has many great insights in leading up, across, and down.

One favorite quote from the book: “If you do what you can, with what you have, where you are, then God won’t leave you where you are, and He will increase what you have.”

Friends of mine are going through a tough time right now in their church- the head pastor has resigned, the children’s paster is following, families are leaving, all for what? My Dad is a Lutheren pastor- our family went through this when I was in junior high, I’ve seen it over and over again and it makes my blood boil every time.

First, I’ll admit I don’t know all the details in this situation but will observe generically:

• The older I get, the more I value leadership. So when I see a leader that is forced out, burned out, or lost, it saddens me deeply.
• Leaders are hard to come by. People talk about leadership a lot, but good to great leaders are few and far between.
• What’s left after this mess? To the followers, I say, “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” Who leads now? Where’s the vision? Can a volunteer board with full-time jobs and families really lead a ministry of greatness? Or is it on life-support, flat, and all about them?
• The grass is always greener: Many people and organizations lose any hope of greatness because they don’t/won’t persevere through tough times with their leader and settle for revolving pawns.
• A team with a mediocre plan but is pushing together will outperform a splintered team with a great plan.
• Pastors are people, they’re not perfect- most of them feel alone and are under attack weekly within their own ranks. They need our support and encouragement.
• Leaders create and cast vision, this takes an incredible amount of dedication and work to carry out- as a follower, hen-pecking and spouting off opinions is easy, rolling up our sleeves and aligning to be part of the solution is hard work.

Most of our roles will be as followers. As a follower, what teams are you on, what church are you in, what organization/company are you a part of? Are you part of the solution and positive push or do you need to gracefully find another team?

What we do can be so destructive…. I pray for my friends and these leaders….