Will Mancini

EverythingSpeaks.com is a new blog by Cheryl Marting, chief connections officer at Auxano. 

Cheryl Marting is a great  friend and colleague. I am particularly grateful for her role on the team as a multi-faceted leader. From the beginning, she has helped to shape our approach at Auxano and has excelled in helping our church clients build better teams and helping Auxano build better tools. Most importantly she leads Auxano Creative which is a niche design shop for clients who “Walk the Vision Pathway” with us.

For the last six years, most people have not thought of Auxano as a branding group because we have NOT wanted to be pigeon holed as one of the dozens of national ministry marketing firms. We don’t just “do” branding and marketing for a client and if that is all they want, we politely decline.  Instead, we want to help the few who really understand their vision communicate their vision visually.  

Enter EverythingSpeaks.com. This year, now that Auxano’s six year track record and Church Unique’s awareness has clearly anchored us as a clarity and vision firm, we want to be more intentional about sharing what we have done in brand design. As Cheryl Marting leads Auxano Creative, she will share tidbits and insights from our clients and from the branding world in general. The hope of course, is that ministries across the globe will be more intentional with everything they communicate and every way they communicate because, after all,  everything does speak.

Please stop by Cheryl’s blog and let her know you stopped in with a quick comment. She just posted a great story branding story fro one of our client churches.

Last week I posted that Jesus did not have a leadership manual, but instead, created expectations of his followers through 15 dominant images. I have written about this in condensed form in the book, Building Leaders. (See link and free chapter in the right hand margin.) Since I was asked to speak on this recently, I wanted to go back to the source of my study- Metaphors for Ministry by David Bennett. Rather than rehashing this in my own words, I wanted to share David’s original list of 7 Major Themes that Jesus’ “Leaders Manual of Images” brings to the surface.

#1 Function: A disciple is called to participation in a community as well as a task. It is absolutely stunning how Jesus uses images to balance a high-expectation of white-hot cause and thicker-than-blood community. 

#2 Authority: A disciple is under authority. Here is a killer observation: over half of the metaphors that Jesus used describe someone who is under the authority of someone else. 

#3 Responsibility: A disciple exercises authority.  Jesus gives real responsibility away to followers, even though obedience is ultimately rooted in how they obey His authority.

#4 Derivation: A disciple is one who has responded to the call of Jesus. While this is related to the authority themes, it goes even deeper. Jesus uses images to remind his followers that they did not ultimately initiate their association with Jesus. In the end everything starts with God and comes from God.

#5 Status: Disciples are on the same level in relationship with God even though they have different areas and amounts of responsibility. This observation has greatly enriched my own leadership including the intentional use of the image of brother and sister in my relationships with other believers and in my prayers. 

#6 Identification: To be a disciple is to identify with Jesus, both in his pattern of life and suffering. Being a leader in the family of God requires a movement from knowledge, to application, to a full sense of identification. This last stage brings an immersion of attitude and perspective of life patterns not just simple actions.  Ultimately this is measured by a willingness to identify in suffering. 

#7 Accountability: The disciple will be evaluated by the Lord, in terms of his character as well as his service. Jesus’ images carry a striking contrast between that which is clearly effective and that which is clearly not. Salt can loose its saltiness and light can be hidden. There is a difference between a hired hand and a faithful, loving shepherd. 

The reflection on these themes coming from the images Jesus used have been some of the richest leadership development learning I have ever experienced. 

A friend of mine and visionary leader, Jeff Meyer of The Church, just passed on this video with a note that said, “What an example of great vision casting – Oh, that we might learn to communicate our life-saving message with such CREATIVITY!”  

In Church Unique, I cover the integration principle, “Grab attention or hold nothing.” According to studies as reported in the book, The Attention Economy, there are four primary factors for getting attention. I immediate thought of these four things as I watched this video.

Four Keys to Really Get Attention

1. Is the communication personalized?
2. Is the communication coming from a trustworthy source?
3. Is the communication brief?
4. Is the communication emotional?

In the case of this video, it is not necessarily personalized, but it does feel very personal. The trustworthiness of the source is carried by the quality production and the “embrace life” message and logo. The brevity and emotion of the piece are stunning.

Try using these four criteria for your ministry communication initiatives. 

When I was on staff at Clear Creek Community Church, we brought in some consultants who eventually “dropped the ball” with regard to our expectations. In the midst of dealing with the problem and the disconnect on deliverables  they did an excellent job listening and re-calibrating expectations with us. What I learned that day as a solution to a problem I have embedded proactively and preemptively into most of my own consulting with Auxano.  I call it the “Expectations Exercise.” It’s incredibly simple and profound.

Here’s how it works. Usually in a collaborative environment, there are people with different levels of exposure to me and why we are in the room. In addition, people always have varying opinions. So I never start a long-term relationship without requiring every person around the table to state their expectations- their hopes, their dreams, their fears- for our journey together. (I give them an out if they honestly have no expectations.) I will listen, and then summarize their thoughts on the whiteboard. I then keep these ideas before us during the process. The exercise accomplishes three things:

1) It gives me huge insight into their perspective as we begin together.

2) It provides content to stokes the flames of “why we are here” in the middle of a longer engagement when people might loose perspective.

3) It clarifies the scorecard and allows me to mark progress and celebrate wins through the consulting engagement.

Use this exercise and you’ll be glad you did.