I recently had the opportunity to go flying with a friend. Several key things I noticed that apply to my everyday life:

1. Checklists are important – they help you remember critical details no matter how many times you’ve done something
2. Dashboards help – if you don’t have the right indicators in your view, you could drift off course, run out of gas, or run into someone else
3. Good communication is key – someone to guide you who can see things you don’t see can help you navigate safely to where you are going
4. Have a contingency plan – you never know when something may happen you don’t expect. Be prepared to take an alternate route.

“Replace Yourself” was a value that was lived out at my former employer. I moved from being a consultant to project leader after I developed other consultants. I moved from project lead to manager after I developed other leaders. Before I left that organization to join Gateway, I was promoted to Director because I had developed another manager.

I was reminded of that principle in Haiti, because at Mission of Hope, every staff person has to develop someone new to do their job. Here are a few benefits of people development:

1. Every team member has opportunities to move into new roles with additional responsibility as the organization grows.
2. If someone leaves the organization, then a replacement is ready to advance the mission, rather than having to stop momentum or move backwards.
3. Depth is created within the staff so that people are ready to play multiple roles.
4. A culture of development is created so ‘stars’ are identified and lead the organization to new levels of performance.

Who is your replacement? What are you doing to develop them?

I was recently asked what our policy is for launching a new initiative or ministry. While we don’t have anything formal, here are the general guidelines that I’ve followed:

1. It has to tie into helping us accomplish our mission – there are a lot of good things you can do to accomplish what you’re church is about, but will this initiative really move you forward in doing what God has asked you to do? Launching new initiatives can be a drain on resources, so make sure this ministry is going to be a net gain.

2. Have a budget – If there are dollars needed, determine ahead of time where the budget is going to come from and who is going to be accountable for revenue and expenses.

3. Identify a volunteer leader that can be the point person – if you don’t have a leader with a vision and time for the ministry, don’t launch. Too often things get added to already overworked staff and the ministry flounders and eventually fades away. Maybe consider delaying the launch until a solid leader is on board for at least the first year of the ministry (There is another set up leadership criteria that should considered to ensure someone is spiritually ready to lead)

4. Identify who the staff person is that is going to support and serve the volunteer leader – it’s important that volunteer leaders have the full support of the staff and believe the staff is there to love, support, and equip them to lead.

5. Develop a clear plan of implementation – the staff leader and the volunteer leader should have the full support of the management team in launching the ministry. There is a lot of coordination that takes place that often requires time for a lot of different areas: communication, teaching, kids, administrative, reception, etc. so make sure everyone on staff and key leaders understand the implementation plan.

6. Evaluate and give feedback – once the ministry is launched and the leader is leading, we tend to just assume everything is running smooth unless there is a crisis. Rather than wait for everything to fall apart, have a plan for regular review. Is this ministry doing what we originally hoped it would? Is the volunteer leader performing the way we hoped?

Spent the last week in Haiti. So many stories to share that I’ll write about over the next month. One of the things I was amazed by was Mission of Hope’s clear vision and strategy to transform a nation thru the love of Christ. After only a day of being in Haiti and hearing the founder of MoH talk, I could clearly tell you their vision and how they were going to do it. I could also tell you stories of impact in each of their focus areas. How did they do it? They kept it simple: transform a nation through the love of Christ. Do it through the church, caring for orphans, providing food, education, and medical care. From their clear vision and focused approach, a nation will change. What’s your vision? How are you going to accomplish it?