Cultivating a Culture of Excellence
I almost didn’t even start this article because of the fact that it’s one that I’m so passionate about that it becomes a fault at times. Before I go any further, apply everything that I say in this article with a bit of grace and forgiveness. There’s people on every side of the fence, you’ve got some that believe in just show up and serve with no pressure. There’s the other demographic of people that take everything so seriously that nobody wants to work with them. It’s a tough topic to approach, but let’s talk about it.
The Bible Is Your Reference
In the book of Samuel, Saul was seeking a “skillful” musician to help ease his troubled mind. I think the word skillful is important here. Vermont Public puts it like this “Saul’s advisors suggested that he seek a musician, a skillful player of the lyre; which might ease his pain. The lyre was an important symbol of divine connection, a means of communicating with God.” When David begin to play for Saul it changed the environment of the room and gave Saul peace of mind. When we play, mix, switch, or run lighting with excellence it causes the room the change. Not only are we worshiping with our abilities, but we’re getting the room into a place that allows people to let down their guards and worship freely. Another example is the story of Cane and Able.
“…Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”
Genesis 4:3-5
So we can see three factors of worship in these stories. The first one being David’s excellence, the second one being Abel’s Sacrifice, and Cain’s lethargic and somewhat lazy offering. The last thing I want to be held accountable for is presenting a sacrifice similar to that of Cain.
Laziness Breeds Jealousy (CAIN & ABLE)
Imagine two churches. The church downtown somehow finds a way to attract great musicians and engineers. The church south of town is struggling to keep two sound techs in a steady rotation. If I had to guess, assuming these churches are of similar size, the culture has created a lazy culture at the church that’s struggling to keep engineers. As a musician and tech myself, I can honestly say that being in a situation that makes me the smartest or hardest working person in the room DOES NOT put me at ease or give me a sense of pride. Put forth the effort into training other people. Require excellence from your teams. Eventually it starts to shift the culture of the church. I’ve seen so many situations where one church talks negatively about the church that has more available to them. Most of the time it stems from insecurity and a lack of work-ethic on their part though. Jealousy amongst churches is lethal. Stop talking down on churches in your area just because they are working harder than you are. If you’re at the church that’s doing well, it’s also your responsibility to not be “judgy” of the churches that aren’t. I can’t help but draw a parallel of Cain being so jealous that he eventually killed his brother, Able. We’re doing the same by cutting down other churches (or volunteers and staff). Let’s fix the excellence issue and you’ll be shocked at how much more secure you are.
Excellence Sets The Tone
David set the tone of the environment by not stumbling around his instrument like a child learning how to walk. Yes, I’m aware that this wasn’t a church environment. However, God honored his excellence. David was a musician for Saul, but eventually became king, an opportunity he would have never had if he had treaty the open door that God gave him with the upmost importance. Now think about the legacy that David left. It’s a wild thing to think about. God. Honors. Excellence.
Ways That We Can Cultivate Excellence
All of the devotional stuff is great and all but how can we cultivate a culture of excellence in our teams? First and foremost, the previous sections of this article are geared toward the motivation side of things. The stories of David, Cain, and Able are there as a “why” factor.
1: Demonstrate Excellence
Before you can look at anyone else, look at yourself. Are you being lazy from week-to-week? Are you guilty of just showing up and doing things halfway and then randomly deciding that’s not ok for two weeks at a time? Get consistent and demonstrate the excellence you want to see. You’re the glass ceiling. Your team will, more than likely, never go further than you do. If you fail to lead, they’ll fail to follow.
2: Challenge & Growth
There’s a reason so many people are athletes or successful competitors in various other fields. We’re wired to want growth and to be good at something. They may not express it, but your team desires to be challenged. Even if they complain about it, they will eventually be thankful to look back and see that they grew. It gives them something to be proud of.
3: Correct the Bad, highlight The Good
What about the ones that refuse to participate and have the wrong attitude about serving? One very successful pastor told me once “if they get mad decide to leave, they have a dozen other great churches in the area that will be thrilled to have them, God will send replacements if we need them”. That’s a bold and scary move, but the truth of the matter is that every leader will see a person that ends up being cancerous to their teams at some point of their leadership, and it needs to be addressed for the sake of the team.
If we’re going to correct the bad habits and nasty attitudes, we have to equally highlight the good moments. This is particularly important with the people that were previously needing correction. Celebrate your team, the deserve it and you can’t do ministry without them.
I hate that I feel the need to state this next point but don’t YOU DARE use correction as a way to manipulate or “control” and individual. Stay out of their finances, marriage, and other non-relevant choices. If those things need be addressed, it’s your pastors role. You can provide a sounding board for them, but please don’t be a stereotype and use that as a manipulation tactic.
4: Resources
This one can be a loaded gun as well. As far as gear and other (paid) resources go, it’s our job to go to bat with whoever we’re answering to. We are responsible for asking and pushing for those things. Especially considering that most pastors will agree with me when I say that they don’t understand the technical world of things and why things cost so much. However, we’re back to avoiding a manipulative spirit. Don’t go into your pastors office and demand a brand-new 8k BlackMagic video switcher if the old one is working fine and you have no actual need to upgrade. You need be honest with yourself and the situation at hand. As far as training goes, premium resources are out there and I 100% recommend investing into them for a season. Just make sure that it doesn’t become a culture of spoon-feeding your team to the point of them never growing. Certain training material should serve as a launchpad, but eventually the team should learn why they are doing certain aspects of the job at hand. If your church can’t justify spending the money on something like MXu or Production Online, do it yourself. Film videos that serve as an on-ramp for volunteers with questions. Do one-on-one training or team-wide training. Put the work in and your team will eventually see growth.
5: Have A System
One of the most important aspects of a healthy team is having a weekly system in place. Keep to the system, even on days that you don’t feel like it’s necessary. This applies to everything from scheduling people by a specific day of the week to the shut down process after service. If you don’t honor your system, they won’t either.
6: Stop Being Negative
Negativity kills a teams mojo. There’s a difference between pointing out errors, with grace, and being a complete miserable jerk. Don’t say things like “I can’t believe they let that guy keep singing, he sucks” or “man, we really have terrible equipment”. Personal correction should be done one-on-one rather than in front of other team members. Furthermore, if you make a correction, that conversation should stay between the people that it involves. Don’t introduce gossip to your team. If you hear this cancerous monster, shut it down.
7: Personalize Relationships
This is one fault that I have had to deal with myself. It’s particularly tough to pull this off in larger church environments. Have a relationship with your team outside of church, even if it is just over a text message. Be there for your teams big moments, without showing favoritism. Just be a person people actually want to be around. Oh yeah, smile for a change.
8: Train Yourself Out of Job
We’ve all heard this a million times. This practice is just as important as it was the day that I heard it for the first time. When you have a life change and end up changing ministries, retiring, or moving away from your church; they church should know exactly who is going to take your place. Furthermore, this will allow you to be able to take more breaks and actually enjoy service from time to time. What if you go on vacation? Who’s taking your place for the weekend? You should be working non-stop to prevent these “I’m the only one capable” conversations.
9: Let Them Fail
Stop micromanaging. A huge part of success is knowing when you messed up. Let them mess up, at least in a way that doesn’t cause massive embarrassment to them. There’s a point where you need to let go and see what your team is actually capable of, you’ll be shocked to learn what they can do when you show them that you trust their ability to set the environment for service.
10: Let Them Dream
Once certain team members get to a certain point of growth and confidence, you’ll notice they start to have big dreams and goals. Please be secure enough to not be threatened by this. Embrace a team that dreams. Facilitate those ideas and dreams where you’re able to. There’s no leader worse than a dream-killing one. These people end up being what can get you out of a burn-out mindset, motivating you and reminding you why all of this tech stuff actually matters.
11. Own Your Mistakes
If you mess up, you should be very intentional about making sure that blame goes on you. Furthermore, as the leader, don’t throw your team under the bus during the Monday morning staff meeting if they were the ones that messed up. Defend your team, but not to the degree of removing accountability. I can’t stress it enough though, don’t blame them for your shortcomings. Be honest with yourself and with your team.
It’s Not Going To Happen Overnight
This article ended up being so much more intricate and lengthy than I expected. I’m just so passionate about things being done right. I’ve been a part of incredibly healthy churches, and churches that were so toxic that you can’t understand how the electricity bill is getting paid each month. These ways to cultivate a excellence-driven team aren’t going to happen overnight. They take practice, drive, and a leader who really wants it.
