Recently I had a coaching call with one of my clients who sensed that the morale was fading a bit among the staff and wanted to know how this could be addressed.
As I was praying and thinking a bit before he called, I jotted down three words which became the subject of our call.
1. Clarity
2. Communication
3. Celebration
Now, I’m not saying that if these three things are present, you will guaranteed to have excellent morale. But I would say if these three things are missing, you are guaranteed to have bad morale.
First, I believe that people on your team, in your organization need to have clarity on a some things: The purpose, vision and values of the church or organization. People also need to have crystal clarity on what exactly they are being asked or paid to do, what the expectations (what a win is in your thinking) are and what authority they have to make certain decisions. Lastly, there needs to be clarity on agreed upon goals that are set and ways of determining if these goals are being achieved or not.
Second, If there’s a consistent failure I’ve observed in leadership it is in the area of communication, and it falls into four categories:
- No communication
- Insufficient communication
- Inaccurate communication
- Late communication
While decisions are being deliberated, made and followed-up with. We need to really think through on: Who needs to know, what do they need to know and when do they need to know it?
How many government investigations have you heard about where they key issue was: When did they know it and how much did they know?
Good communication to the right people in the right amount at the right time is critical to good morale in any church or organization. Being on the receiving end of decisions that personally affect you and your team and having received no, insufficient, inaccurate or late communication is will cause problems. Someone needs to be keeping a close eye on this.
Third, People who work for you and with you need to know they are valuable, appreciated respected and are a making a difference.
In short, people and their contributions need to be the focus of celebration.This is another aspect of good leadership that is often missing. It’s missing because leaders are too busy and don’t take time to notice their people and what they are accomplishing.
Leaders, at times, are too self-absorbed and don’t pay sufficient attention to those under their watch and under their care, unless there is a major screw-up and then they are there in a jiffy!
I am one of those leaders who is very task oriented and can easily be so focused on what is being accomplished (or not being accomplished) that I don’t take time to affirm, encourage and celebrate the people (privately and publicly) who work with me. A great Book Note at davekraft.org is “Practicing Affirmation” by Sam Crabtree.
Personally. I’ve never met a person who felt he/she was encouraged too much, and couldn’t handle any more. Perhaps there are people like that, but i’ve never met them!
So fellow leader, how is the morale where you serve and lead?
What can you do to improve on Clarity, Communication and Celebration?
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