#4 - PLEASE Get Along
One of the most frustrating things for a Senior Pastor to have to deal with is staff members who refuse to act like grown ups and feel the need to resort to name calling and comparison with other staff members.
As a leader of God’s church I don’t have time to try to help people who can’t escape the mentaility of a second grader!!! My gosh…we are the church…we can’t provide environments that faciliate forgiveness if we are carrying unforgiveness in our hearts towards the people we work with!
#5 - Don’t Surprise Me
This one is HUGE for me! If something is going to go wrong…and you know it’s going to go wrong before hand…please tell me! Don’t let me get caught in a situation that you knew was going to happen…but didn’t tell me for fear that Jesus might actually decide to come back and fulfill everything LaHaye and Jenkins wrote about…this saving you from Carpathia and any fallout that would come as a result of your mistake.
AND…along with this A PASTOR NEEDS COMPLETE HONESTY from a staff member. Now, I understand that some staff members are afraid to be honest with their pastor…maybe because he is an insecure leader and does not like his “authority” questioned.
I’ve got to be honest…because of some very honest staff members NewSpring Church has been guided away from some decisions that I may have thought were good…but because there were staff that could see what I could not see…and they knew that I didn’t posses the information they had…and because they spoke up…we’ve been able to be used by the Lord to advance His Kingdom.
One more thing…as a senior pastor I am a PIT BULL when it comes to anyone talking about the staff that serve with me. No one, I MEAN NO ONE talks smack about my staff in front of me. I simply will not allow it!
BUT…what I tell our staff is, “If you make a stupid mistake…PLEASE don’t hide it from me. Seriously, tell me…because someone is going to tell me…and when they do I want to be able to let them know that you personally came to me and I know all about it!”
Staff members…help you pastor protect you! You are going to make mistakes. AND…trust me on this one…he is going to hear about it…so set him up for success when it comes to defending you.
One more thing…if you have a senior pastor that constantly throws you under the bus…find a new job!