It happens. A new person takes a job and improves everything. I’d rather not have my successor have such an easy time! I’ll make improvements myself! One way to do that is to do program evaluations, and we’re starting one at CCCC that you can follow and learn from as it unfolds. If you aren’t yet doing [...]
Is your ministry near its “Best before” date?
The average Canadian lives to be 80 years old. Organizations, however, can potentially live forever, but will they? Just like humans, they have lifecycles that ultimately end in death. But unlike humans, organizational death can be avoided by jumping on to a new lifecycle. The time to jump is: before you need to, before you are desperate, while you are still strong, when [...]
Mission first, then program
A pastor surprised me recently with the deep insight he got while designing a review of his church’s youth ministry. I taught a group of pastors (including this pastor) a year ago how to do program evaluations, and he did a good job at his first attempt. This year, on his own he went far deeper, because as he laid [...]
Checking for blind spots
I think a lot about how a policy board really adds value to an organization. For all the work it takes to maintain a board, you sure want some value from it. I want my board members to treasure their time on our board and to feel they have truly made a significant contribution to [...]
Require and Relate: The paradox of good leadership
A ministry leader told me that he bases his leadership style on R&R. No, he’s not taking it easy all the time. I’m sure he gets an appropriate amount of rest and relaxation, but he defines R&R as “Require and Relate.” Requiring happens when a leader sets out performance standards and evaluates to see if the standards [...]
Rev. John Pellowe, MBA, DMin
