Facebook’s Five Core Values and What It Means For your Ministry
When Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter to potential investors, he unpacked the five values that guide everything at Facebook.
HERE THEY ARE
Focus on Impact: Solve the most important problems that make the biggest difference. Zuckerberg reminds his team that it’s very easy to waste time.
Move Fast: Facebook employees are encouraged to “move fast and break things.” The assumption is, if you’re not breaking things, you’re probably not moving fast enough.
Be Bold: The goal at Facebook is to create a culture that takes risks. The banner for this value is “The riskiest thing is to take no risks.”
Be Open: Being open means giving people as much access to information as possible to make better decisions.
Build Social Value: Facebook exists to make the world more open and connected, and not just to build a company.
WHAT THEY MEAN FOR YOU
- Great leaders get things done by creating culture. That’s why values matter. Church leaders often get stuck in a ministry treadmill of “doing church” without clarifying, “What kind of culture are we trying to nourish?” Do a values test: Does your team know the top five ideals or motives of your ministry?
- These values show us how even the most innovative aspects of technology and communication are working intently to keep changing. As the envelope is pushed, how will leadership role adapt? Here are some questions to consider:
- Who can you spend time with to learn more about social media?
- How is your ministry investing in better communication technology?
- What new team role do you need to stay more innovative?
- How are you giving people permission to make mistakes in the name of positive risk and bold mission?
- Values always take us to the heart of a group of people; to that flame deep inside the collective soul. The fifth value of Facebook reminds people that its not about the organization. Rather, its about something great happening in the world, that changes everyday reality. What traps us in ministry is that our world-changing ideas are limited to how we preach and not how shape a church culture. Again, its not about the church organization per se, but the deeper reason of existence. What are values in the heart of the congregation that will continue inspiring impact after a great sermon, class, group or event?
The 4 Reasons You Stopped Empowering Others (and What to do About It!)
Someone once asked “Are you going through life or are you growing through life?” I love that question. Right now I am going through significant transition in how I lead. I have never been more motivated by the maxim, “If you are doing what you did last year, you’re not growing.”
One of the greatest growth challenges for any leader is the ability to empower and release others. While I constantly aspire to raise up others, I am consistently amazed at the conditions of my heart that hold me back. Specifically there are four internal barriers that I must consciously work through. Maybe one of these is stopping you right now.
Why do we stop empowering others?
#1 Empowerment increases the scope of unknown ministry outcomes.
As soon as you give some else the steering wheel, you don’t know which road they are going to take. How is your own need of control keeping you from a step of delegation? How can you develop your faith and take a calculated risk with one of your leaders?
#2 Empowerment requires a sacrifice of short-term ministry efficiency.
Chances are, you are not only good at what you do, you are also fast! And when Sunday’s a coming you don’t have time to develop someone else. WRONG! You have probably waited to long. The current need for expediency is not only unhealthy, its also getting in the way of mission expansion and ministry multiplication. Is it time for you to slow down in order to speed up?
#3 Empowerment requires giving away authority that previously provided the basis of personal ministry success.
Okay, I know this one really meddles. But it’s true in my life. Over the years its easy to get addicted to the minor, everyday accolades and at-a-boys that people bring. Is it possible for these unseen, subversive, “feel-goods” to stop us from reproducing ourselves? More often that we realize, I think. In what area of your ministry can you starve your ego and get someone of the bench and into the game?
#4 Empowerment necessitates close support and authentic community with other leaders.
The more successful you are the more demands come crashing in. The more successful you are the more people want time with you. If you’re not careful the very heartbeat of leadership -influences others through relationships- gets short circuited through isolation. Sometimes we are just too tired to be close enough when it comes to empowering others. Where will the love that called you into the ministry need to be applied again? Who can you develop that would love to spend time with you?
So what do you do about these challenges?
I must continually do heart-building exercises to to keep my empowerment muscles in shape. In fact I create a work-out through questions that was published in a book I wrote with Aubrey Malphurs. I thought you might enjoy a free copy, as an opportunity to refresh your own commitment to empowering others. The summary chart above gives you an appetizer of the chapters content, questions and exercises.
10 Ways to Assess your Vision: Webinar Resources
Thanks to those of you who joined me for the free webinar today. I wanted to provide some additional resources:
- Be sure to download the Church Unique Visual Summary (click upper right rotating banner)
- Subscribe to this blog via e-mail
- Download the Kingdom Concept Worksheet.
- Down the Vision Frame Overview.
- Download the Articulating Vision Proper.
- Download the Clarity Quiz.
Be sure to look for the VisionRoom.com coming in August.
FInally if you would like to start a 24 coaching track with 8 other churches, Vince Antonucci of Verve Church in Las Vegas will be kicking off a virtual Vision co::Lab. Get more info here and click start a conversation to sign up.
Introducing some friends at #Exponential that will CLEARLY help you
Each year as I gather at Exponential I see old friends and new who have invested in clarity and vision for their ministry-minded organizations. Here are their stories:
WAYFARER and 3DM
Years ago, the leaders of Warfarer Ministries developed their vision frame that sprung from a mission core of “awakening redefinition” about the person of Jesus. One of their mantras and their first core value is “Christ before Christianity.” They eventual joined forces with 3dm and Mike Breen. Check in with Dave Rhoades and Mike Breen as they help leaders build a discipling culture in post-Christian contexts. These guys walk the talk of missional community.
GENERIS
For 10 years the church capital campaign industry has declined due to overuse of a pre-packaged and overpriced model for raising money. But the need to build a generous culture never goes out of style. That’s why I like Generis. They maintain a position of thought leadership in the church space by bringing a 3-fold strategy to their mission of “accelerating generosity toward God-inpired vision.” Be sure to meet Jim Sheppard, Brand Leper, Julie Bullock and Chris Willard. Ask them about their values.
FOR THE CHURCH as CCB (Church Community Builder)
This last year the leadership team of CCB (held by an organization whose name I love- “For the Church”) re-clarified that their mission is NOT about providing great software (although they do), but about helping church leaders master systems and process. This is a huge need in local churches. Their new mission is “Guiding church leaders to a better how.” Be sure to catch Steve Caton and others on the team. Ask them about their values and their exciting new strategy.
NEARTOWN CHURCH
Want to hear how a church plant can invest in clarity and vision? Connect with Russell Cravens and Andrew Minchew who lead Neartown Church in downtown Houston. I love these guys and their story. I have personally decided to invest in their vision as I have watched it birth from seed form to a fully-functioning church plant over the last 24 months. Early on, Russell took some key leaders through one of Auxano’s co::Labs in Houston. Their Kingdom Concept is all about brining the whole Gospel to busy young dads moving back to the city. Check out their website and their logo by Auxano Design.
VANDERBLOEMEN SEARCH
Just a few years ago William Vanderbloemen launched a ministry initiative championed by the tagline “We Staff the Church.” The mission core of William’s life is “creating connections.” Having worked with William on other projects before he started this ministry, I was thrilled when he asked Auxano Design to help with his logo to communicate the vision of “search” in a distinct and visually compelling way. Check it out.
VISION ROOM
While you’re at Exponential don’t miss the opportunity to meet Bob Adams, Auxano’s new Vision Room Curator. I’ll end it here and let Bob fill you in on our new strategy launching this summer. But do it-your-self vision and clarity will never be more effective after the Vision Room launches!
Keep up with Auxano folks and content at Exponential.
Six Reasons to Have a Dedicated Guest Website for Your Church
Over the years the Auxano Design team has helped churches think more strategically about guest engagement. (Read 10 Mind Blowing Facts to Fuel your Hospitality Ministry). One great idea is to create a separate website for guests. At Auxano, we call this a “buzzsite.”
To catch an example, check out Gateway’s WelcomeToYourJourney.com or First Baptist’s ExploreFirst.org
Why have a dedicated site just for guests at your church?
1) Make a Bigger Front Porch: Eighty-seven percent of your guests will click-thru before they walk-thru. Having a site dedicated to guests enables you to communicate more guest information in a more useful way.
2) Smooth the Path: Guest have mini-hurdles coming to your church for the first time. They don’t know where to go, or what to do. A guest site will enabling them to “get a feel” ahead of time, as a simple way to make them feel more welcome. Notice how Gateway walks your through these key guest decisions from parking lot to checking in children.
3) Show you Care: When a guest enters the dedicated site, it will show that you are expecting guests and that you care about their experience.
4) Resolve Conflict: Having a dedicated guest site alleviates the burden on your main church site to speak to both members and guests.
5) Show Some Personality: A guest site can introduce your church with with a story, promise or creative element. Gateway Community Church used the tagline “Welcome to your Journey” as their URL. It enabled the moment of introduction to include something to spark the imagination and draw people in rather than just saying “visit our church.”At First Baptist Dallas, they creatively use a “Plan Your Visit” form on their ExploreFirst.org to make the welcome experience personalized.
6) Evaluate Your Investment: A guest site can measure the effectiveness of external communication initiatives or campaigns that point to the guest site and not the church’s main site. For example, when Gateway Community Church opened its building, they could know exactly how their six-piece direct mail invitations worked by monitoring web stats when the mail dropped.
Have used a similar site? Let us know about it.