Category: Creative Vulcan

Introverted Evangelist?

Earlier this year, I wrote about coming to my own self-realization that I am an insecure extrovert here. Well, I just met my match or perhaps my exact opposite.
Over the weekend, I was talking with a friend who is a gifted evangelist. Backstory here, this friend would spend all day talking to non-believers about the Gospel and even confront them about their own choices in ways that I would find challenging. As a pastor whose job is ministering to people, I have to admit I am jealous of his gifts in this area because I’m more comfortable with a relational style of evangelism. Early in my Christian walk, I discounted my own style and wished I could overcome my wiring to be more like this guy. Over the last couple of years though, God has given me peace about who He designed me to be. I now recognize how both styles will bring people to salvation as long as we’re both praying and working that direction.
Anyway, as we were talking, he admitted that he was extremely tired. We had come out of a significant ministry event that had taken lots of preparation so tired was understandable. Yet, internally, I felt pumped. Why the difference?
And then it hit me. As I wrote in my earlier post, my new understanding on introvert/extrovert is that it’s not where you are comfortable, but about how you get refreshed and refueled. For me, three hours in a crowd connecting with hundreds of people was rejuvenating. For him, it wore him out and all he wanted to do was go take a nap. I realized the opposite implication would apply to him, if he was an introvert, he would need regular times of refreshing to be alone, in between the times he’s engaged in the ministry of evangelism that God has called him to.
Prior to this realization, I would have assumed all evangelists were extroverted. Of course, if that were true, then who would reach the introverts?
Have you determined whether you’re an introvert or extrovert? It can be a valuable revelation.

5 D’s for working your too long to-do list

We all have one. The to-do list that is tracking the projects and tasks we are currently doing, are thinking about doing, or wish we were doing. For most people, this list on paper would be multiple pages so we use electronic tools that make it seem manageable. I say seem because frequently this list is unrealistic. Here are my 5 D’s that I use to work through my to-do list in an effort to make it more reasonable, in order:

1. Delete – some things don’t need to be done. That magazine you have been wanting to read because it might have a valuable career insight in one article out of forty. Drop it in the recycle bin and move on. What tasks on your list would never be missed if they accidentally got deleted? Delete them on purpose. (I’m not talking about stuff that may never be missed, but should never be deleted, like this.)

2. Delegate – some things on your list can be done just as well by someone else. The general rule of thumb is if someone can do 80% as well with just input from you, then you should give the task away. A co-worker, a friend, your spouse, your children are all people in your life who may have capacity to help you with items on your list. (Here’s a link that will help you distinguish between delegation and dumping.)

3. Do – sometimes you should take Nike’s tip and “Just Do It”. Some tasks have been on your list for a while, need to be done but you keep putting it off. E-tools make moving things fairly easy so I get good at this. Sometimes I spend more time putting something off over weeks than it would take to do it and move on.

4. Deadline – if you can’t do something right now, giving it a deadline will make it easier to engage your mind in seeing its completion. Note: see item number 3 if you keep moving this deadline.

5. Defer – this is my last resort and should only be considered when I don’t even have enough time to think about when I could begin the steps necessary to move this project forward. I have to resort to a nebulous “Later” for these items. Things repeatedly deferred in my world become likely targets for item number 1, so you might want to consider if it really needs to be done.

Do you find yourself using any of these methods not enough? Too much?

Leading Volunteers Well: 3 C’s to Keep Your Team Thriving

Volunteer teams depend on capable leadership to be effective, to thrive rather than survive. In my experience, three keys are valuable to successfully leading volunteers:

leading volunteers

1. Care – you have to care and show it or they’ll know it.

You can’t fake this. If you’re just trying to use people to get things done, they can tell. If you don’t care, you should re-think your role. If you do care, but find yourself too busy to show it or don’t know how, you should work on that.

Most volunteers want to be part of a team when they choose to serve, even if it’s just a team of two. That often includes desiring a connection to you if you brought them in to the team. You either have to be upfront that this isn’t going to happen or figure out how to deliver.

2. Communication – working with volunteers requires good communication skills, both talking and listening.

Volunteers need you to figure out how to connect in conversation with them regarding the tasks ahead. You have to keep in touch as decisions are made which will shape the effort and their involvement. Method is also important here; you have to talk and listen in ways that work for them. Phone, email, text, face to face, social media. What works for you may not be what works for them and it is your job as the leader to either bring them to your preferred method OR to do it their way. Even if it means multiple ways for one team. For a busy leader, this can be especially challenging, but it is important.Don’t forget that communication is two way here. If you’re only announcing and never taking time to listen, it will feel like you don’t care how they feel or what they think. You can lose valuable information if you fail on this one, or worse, lose the volunteer.

3. Coordination – getting and staying organized.

This is a pet peeve for me because some leaders talk about administration like it is a four letter word or like it is all paper pushing (which of course they don’t care for). Leading volunteers requires getting organized, even if you’re not good at that.

coordinating volunteersYou have to help everyone find their place on the team, keep up with who is doing what so you can follow up, and schedule and coordinate team meetings in ways that help the team move forward on purposes and objectives. By the way, you can delegate responsibility for coordinating your team to a capable team member. But you still have to work with them in an organized way for their benefit and for the rest of the team.

P.S. I think these also have impact for leading paid teams. Sometimes you can skimp on some of these with people who get paid, though I don’t recommend it. They are definitely critical for volunteers who receive no compensation because you are generally dependent on their goodwill to keep them.
What would you add here? Have you been on a volunteer team that was led well?