{"id":353,"date":"2018-10-08T06:14:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T06:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/books.twu.ca\/strategic-discoveries\/?post_type=chapter&p=353"},"modified":"2019-01-18T17:48:03","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T17:48:03","slug":"just-a-small-town-boy-living-in-a-pastoral-world","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/books.twu.ca\/strategic-discoveries\/chapter\/just-a-small-town-boy-living-in-a-pastoral-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Just a Small Town Boy, Living in a Pastoral World"},"content":{"raw":"

Self-Assessment<\/strong><\/p>\r\nOne of my personal core values is strategy. I have an affinity with leaders who employ strategic measures to accomplish their organization\u2019s mission, vision, and values. I tend to see my life in strategic terms. I consistently work to cultivate foresight and discernment as a leader, as a husband, and as a Christ follower. In my experience, serving in both an organization with seemingly unlimited vision<\/em> but no follow-through (Lepsinger, 2010); and in an organization with no vision, plan or strategy makes for frustrating leadership growth.\r\n\r\nThis year is the most challenging year of my life. As I navigate the complexities of life, I find peace in seeking God for direction and wisdom to deal with difficult people and circumstances. Seeking mentors to help guide my steps and act as positive sounding-boards is life-giving for me.\r\n

Stress<\/strong><\/p>\r\nIn my personal life, I handle stress by engaging in life-giving activities: cooking, prayer, walking, and playing music. When at my worst, I avoid people and spend long periods in solitude. In the professional world, I handle stress by talking through issues with a small group of trusted friends. If a co-worker causes stress, I will address it with them on a personal level.\r\n\r\nI want to develop a stronger regiment of discipline to reduce my overall stress. I procrastinate by nature\u2014and creating healthier rhythms for my work and assignments will greatly assist my development. When I am under stress, I must learn to reach out to friends, family, and coworkers for help.\r\n\r\nMy strength in approaching change in the area of mitigating stress is the support system around me. I have family, friends, and many pastors to guide me, and walk alongside me. My greatest weakness is having the motivation to make the needed changes in my life.\r\n

Discussing Mission, Vision, and Values<\/strong><\/p>\r\nAs a pastor, I often experience a unique cohesiveness between my personal and professional mission, vision, and values. To a degree, pastors live in the eye of those they serve\u2014as Carey Nieuwhof observes, \u201cif you\u2019re a Christian leader, there should never be a gap between your private walk and public talk\u201d (n.d.). \u00a0As I continually develop in my character, competency, and calling, my mission and vision broadened over time. Where once I wanted to reach people in a specific way with specific skills, I now want to reach people in many different ways using the many different gifts and talents God gives both me and those around me (see Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 4). In the areas outside of my wheelhouse, I desire to identify and raise leaders to support my organizational mission and goals.\r\n\r\nMy Mission<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSeeing people come to know Jesus Christ better in a relational, loving way\u2014through living a life surrendered to God each day.\r\n\r\nMy Vision<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI am a co-sojourner\u2014walking with people in their lives and assisting in their spiritual journeys. Developing leaders and unleashing them in their God-given calling.\r\n\r\nMy Values<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFaith<\/em>\r\n\r\nBalance<\/em>\r\n\r\nFreedom<\/em>\r\n\r\nGenerosity<\/em>\r\n\r\nStrategy<\/em>\r\n\r\nConsistency<\/em>\r\n\r\nAchievement<\/em>\r\n

Strategic Drivers<\/strong><\/p>\r\nAlthough Hughes, Beatty, and Dinwoodie (2014) describe strategic drivers as those \u201crelatively few determinants of sustainable competitive advantage for a particular [organization]\u201d (p.26), I do not seek a competitive advantage over and against those in my industry. I utilize strategic drivers to achieve greater potential in my calling both as a follower of Jesus Christ and a pastor. Three strategic drivers contribute to boosting my potential and feed my overall health in ministry.\r\n\r\nA Spirit of Life-long Learning<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI strive to be a life-long learner\u2014capable of learning from anyone and in all circumstances. At one particular point in my life, I was stuck. I was not growing as a leader or a follower and it was because I stopped learning. I gave up critical thinking and coasted through my life. Undertaking a master\u2019s degree in leadership jumpstarted my life and helped me to get unstuck. I was able to reinvent myself (Hughes, Beatty, and Dinwoodie, 2014) and challenge the status quo in my life.\r\n\r\nBy seeking out new learning opportunities, I slowly began to step into my potential and move forward in leadership. Being a life-long learner opens doors in pastoral ministry: who desires to work with a leader who has capped their learning?\r\n\r\nLeading My Family Well<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMy family must come first when living out a call to vocational ministry. The work of church ministry is a never-ending task. The challenge I see in ministry is creating margin\u2014attending to the needs of family and to engage in self-care. I prioritize my marriage and my family because I do not want to lose them. My family is a strategic driver in my life because the health of my family either compliments or undermines my effort in ministry. When my family life is healthy, I have the mental capacity to enter into other\u2019s lives.\r\n\r\nCultivating a Servant Heart<\/strong>\r\n\r\nServant leaders strive to improve the lives of those around them and empower people to become greater versions of themselves (Northouse, 2016). As a strategic driver, a servant-hearted approach to ministry creates relational avenues for building up followers. I served on the \u201cset up team\u201d at my church. The setup team arrives at 7:30 a.m. every Sunday morning to set up our entire Sunday experience in an elementary school. We set up everything: our stage, display screens, lighting, chairs, children\u2019s classrooms, coffee bar, etc. Each week, I bring a positive attitude and get to know the people I\u2019m serving with. In seven months, I have been able to create rapport with the team, and people have opened up to receive advice and direction from me.\r\n\r\nThe posture of Jesus\u2019 heart encourages me: he came to serve and not to be served (Matthew 20:28). I want to lead people by serving them first\u2014whether it is my family, my church, or my community. I desire to see my life reflect Jesus in a more significant way each day.\r\n\r\nAbandoning Fear and an Unhealthy Focus on Achievement<\/strong>\r\n\r\nI spent a great deal of my leadership journey living in fear. I worked through doubts regarding my capacity to take a position with increased responsibility. One organization I served in the past had an unhealthy culture\u2014ideas and creativity were not encouraged among staff. Enduring an unhealthy corporate culture for an extended period made me feel as though I did not have anything to offer the team. In taking steps to become a better strategic leader, I began to seek out difficult conversations and challenge the status quo in my position\u2014I chose to abandon fear to spur on new opportunities and challenges.\r\n\r\nOn the other side of fear, I struggled with wanting to achieve a particular title as a Pastor: I learned the necessity for leaders to lead despite a particular title or position. As a middle manager, I made the conscious decision to lead \u201cin place\u201d and build up the people around me\u2014it made my team stronger, and it benefitted me in my need to both learn and grow as a pastor.\r\n

Culture<\/strong><\/p>\r\nPersonal<\/strong><\/em>\r\n