About six months ago, I was elected to the elder board of my local church, Grace Fellowship in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. While I’m only a quarter of the way into my two year-term, I’ve learned quite a bit, and I thought I’d take this time to reflect on the journey thus far.

It’s interesting. During the day at my job at CHS, I deal with leadership transitions, mission focus, financial pressures, and organizational change. Then at night, as a board member, I deal with leadership transitions, mission focus, financial pressure, and organizational change. It’s the same, yet different.

Direct leadership vs. governance

In my day job at CHS, I can make decisions and execute them. As a board member, that’s not my role. Our lead pastor is the CEO of the organization, and all other pastors, directors, and staff report up to him.

It takes intentional discipline to stay within the role of governance. I need to stay close to the membership and listen closely. I need to keep the organization focused on mission through clear accountability. However, I must not disempower the leadership by intervening or managing where I should not.

It’s all about the mission

I’m a mission-focused leader by nature. During the day at work, my mission is to feed the world and help farmers grow, by digitally transforming the largest agricultural cooperative. That’s a high calling.

At church, the calling is even higher. We inspire people to find and follow Jesus Christ. Lives, families, and communities are transformed both locally and around the globe. As a course of normal business, we may talk about the new carpet for the youth room, or new lights for the parking lot. These are details. What’s most important is the mission, and we must constantly reorient the conversation there.

Organizational leadership

At work, I’m constantly focused on talent development, organizational design, our leadership pipeline, and helping people reach their full potential.

At church, It’s the same thing. Leadership matters. Structure matters. Finding the right leaders and supporting them with the right structure can make all the difference. In my short six months on the board, we’ve recruited a new lead pastor, had other pastors turnover, promoted some pastors into new positions, and re-organized the entire staff.

Communication, communication, communication

I led a cross-functional search team made up of staff, elders, and members to find a new lead pastor for our church. We conducted a nation-wide search and followed a formal and rigorous process. As the leader of the process, it was my responsibility to make sure we communicated effectively with the congregation on our progress. On a regular cadence, I made videos explaining where we were at in the process and aired them during Sunday services and our various social media channels.

That was not enough.

A funny thing happened. Through our months of searching and updating, I heard almost nothing from the members. Once we announced that we selected our final candidate, people came out of the woodwork with questions and concerns. I honestly didn’t see it coming, but I should have.

We leaned into it hard. We held elder and search team open forums after every Sunday service. We had a special Q&A session mid-week. We came as guest speakers to any and every small group meeting that would have us. We talked openly and clearly about everything we could.

That was enough.

Last weekend, we had an amazing event. Our final candidate came to our church to visit with members and preach the Sunday services. Per our constitution, we had a member vote to affirm the selection. The vote passed with 99.5% affirmation.

Back at the day job

At work, my leadership efforts aren’t subject to the approval vote of people I’m leading, at least not explicitly. I’ve heard leadership in a corporation described as a “benevolent dictatorship.” While that might be the case, it’s best not to think about it that way. I always try to take a servant leadership approach in every context. In my leadership at church, I was elected by the members, and the big decisions I make with my fellow board members are subject to membership approval. That forces me to be absolutely on-top of my communication game.

At work, I should do likewise. I have the obedience of the people I lead at work. Do I have their hearts and minds? In what ways would my communication efforts be more complete if I acted as if I were elected by the people I lead? Would my leadership decisions pass by 99.5% if they were put to a vote? It’s all theoretical of course, but it makes me think.

Leading in a different context

This blog is about leadership in enterprise technology. I love leading in enterprise technology. I also have a deep passion for leading the church. Leadership is universal, but different contexts draw out different aspects. If my only leadership experience is at my day job, my growth will be limited. I seek leadership opportunities in multiple contexts, so I can maximize my effectiveness in every context.

My leadership at work makes me a better leader at church. However, the inverse it also true. Leading at church through these amazing experiences makes me a better leader at work. How about you? What outside leadership experience has shaped your path? Share your stories in the comments below.