14 Characteristics Of Great Church Leadership Meeting

14 Characteristics Of Great Church Leadership Meeting

Recently I had the privilege of being in one of the finest church leadership meetings I have ever been in.  During a four-hour flight back to Atlanta, I had plenty of time to process what made this meeting so effective.
The following are 14 Characteristics Of Great Church Leadership Meeting.  My goal is for this post is to give pastors and church leaders the tools necessary to create leadership environments which effectively advance mission and vision.

1.  A Great Church Leadership Meeting Does Not Happen By Accident – The church’s executive pastor and I had multiple conversations prior to the meeting determining the atmosphere and talking points needed for success.
2. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has A Limited Number Of People – You only want people in a church leadership meeting who can make a decision.  A great church leadership meeting is for decision-making, not building consensus.  This meeting had the perfect amount of staff and elders in the room.
3. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has Relationships Built Upon Trust – Prior to the meeting, myself and several pastors met prior to just spend time talking about what was going on in each other’s lives.  We did life together.
4. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Often Has Great Food – Not much explanation is needed but there is something about breaking bread together which strengthen relationships.
5. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has Transparency – My objective in a meeting is to help the pastor moves his/her ministry ball.  What makes this process much easier is when the pastor trusts you enough to share his honest feelings about what he/she needs.
6. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has Pastoral Leadership – This is the biggest difference between a productive and unproductive church leadership meeting.  There is simply a significant difference when pastor opens a meeting by saying why we are in the room and what we want to accomplish vs. a passive approach.  In this meeting the pastor truly led.
7. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has The Right People In The Room – The biggest mistake I see churches make regarding leadership meetings is they do not have leaders in the room.  People are selected for many reasons other than their ability to advance a church’s mission and vision.  This church had people in the room who loved Jesus, loved their pastor and had the competency to know how to grow a church.
8. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has Great Optimism – Great leaders are vision driven.  They see a brighter tomorrow.  Eliminate devil’s advocates.  He does not need any help.  Enlist leaders who feel the church’s best days are ahead.
9. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has Great Questions – Wisdom is revealed by great questions, not great answers.  Great questions probe.  They get to the heart of the matter.  Great questions clear away clutter and make us better.
10. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has Appropriate Humor – Humor is your friend.  Humor lightens the load when difficult conversations are being had.  Humor lubricates potentially destructive friction.
11. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Results In Great Ideas – A great meeting contains great thinkers who are freely sharing ideas.
12. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Ends On Time – This means time has not been wasted.  It also is an indication leaders value each other’s time.
13. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Has Times Of Great Prayer – There is a lot which high-capacity leaders can accomplish.  But none of us, no matter how talented or smart, can accomplish anything of eternal value without the presence of the Holy Spirit.
14. A Great Church Leadership Meeting Makes You Want To Get Back Together Again – The adrenaline, the exhilaration of knowing you are accomplishing something great for the glory of God in the context of community makes you want to get back together again.

What other characteristics do you experience in a great church leadership meeting?