5 Ways Church Leaders Accidentally Wreck Their Teams (and How to Steer Clear)

Ever wondered how well-intentioned church leaders might unintentionally be wrecking their teams? Discover the five hidden traps that can sabotage your church staff and learn strategies to steer clear of these pitfalls. Join Todd Rhoades, co-founder of ChemistryStaffing.com, as he draws from his rich experiences and shares real-world stories that shine a light on the consequences of rigid leadership styles and an overemphasis on metrics.

In this episode, Todd tackles everything from the stifling "my way or the highway" mentality to the burnout-inducing obsession with numbers. He offers practical advice on cultivating a culture of open communication, collaboration, and empowerment—ensuring your team feels valued and energized. Whether you're a senior pastor, executive pastor, or in any leadership role within your church, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you build a thriving, harmonious team. Buckle up for a journey through the ministry demolition derby and come away with the tools to avoid common leadership mistakes.

Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hi there, welcome to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name is Todd Rhodes. I'm the co-founder of SilverChemistryStaffingcom.

Speaker 1: 0:15

One of the things I've enjoyed doing with my sons, my boys, for the last I don't know 10 or 15 years, whenever we're able to, the county here has a demolition derby. We like to go and watch people crash up their cars, their old cars. It's usually a good amount of fun, very loud and destructive, but we enjoy it. And today what I want to talk about is a ministry demolition derby. If you will, I'm going to talk about five ways that I've seen over the years that church leaders and particularly senior pastors, executive pastors, those that lead a team five ways that church leaders accidentally wreck their teams, and I'm hopefully going to give you some advice on how to steer clear. So it might get a little uncomfortable leadership gone wrong, and I know that no one, ever, no one ever enters their church staff or their church into the demolition derby. We're all pretty well-intentioned, we're all pretty dedicated and we all want to build strong and thriving teams that really make a difference, not only in our church, our community, but the world. But sometimes even the best of us can fall into some of these leadership traps that I've seen over the years that I think really unintentionally sabotage our teams. Okay so let's buckle up. Let's look on this Monday if you're listening on Monday at five common ways that I find that church leaders accidentally set up their teams for failure and, more importantly, how to avoid these pitfalls and steer clear of these.

Speaker 1: 1:46

Okay so let's look at number one. Number one is what I call the my way, or the highway mentality. We've all encountered leaders, probably in our ministry careers, that just insist on doing things their way. It could be the senior pastor, it could be the worship person, it could be the youth person, but a leader who just insists on there's one way to do it and I know how to do it and leave me alone. I'm just going to go do it and don't criticize me, no matter what. They're usually very closed off to feedback, they're very resistant to new ideas and they're really unwilling to empower their team members. So this my way, or the highway mentality, really stifles any kind of creativity. It breeds resentment and ultimately it drives talented people away.

Speaker 1: 2:35

We talked with candidates in my job at chemistry staffing. We talked with candidates all day long, every day, and one of the things that we hear consistently is every day, and one of the things that we hear consistently is hey, my leader, my pastor, my board, is this my way or the highway mentality? What do you do? How do you fix this? It's easier said than done, honestly. If you're bent to that type of a leadership style or personality, what you need to try and do is cultivate a culture, collaboration, open communication, and that's going to be really hard because that kind of goes against your my way or the highway. It's the direct opposite. But whenever you can encourage your team to share their ideas, even if you don't want to hear them to begin with, ask them to share their ideas. Actually, take some time to listen to their feedback, because I will guarantee you that your staff or those around you have some really great. Two heads are better than one many times and you need to remember that as you go forward. Okay, so that's the first one the my way or the highway mentality.

Speaker 1: 3:39

The second is the numbers-obsessioned leader. While numbers are important indicators, they're important benchmarks and metrics for growth impact. If you fixate solely on attendance or giving or baptisms, that can create a kind of a toxic environment. It puts undue pressure on the team and many times ignores the value of individual contributions, and that can lead to burnout. And I know this is difficult We've gone through. My whole career was church career, if you want to put it that way. Working in ministry was very much in an era of everything has to be up and to the right, and by that we mean butts and bucks, attendance and finances, baptisms All of those are great metrics, but if you only use those metrics, you're going to burn people out. So here's what I would suggest Try and shift your focus from numbers to people and, instead of celebrating numbers, maybe turn your focus to celebrating individual wins, recognizing unique talents and really investing in your team's personal and professional development. Healthy, fulfilled staff members are more likely to produce lasting results. And guess what? Lasting results will include increased numbers and increased vitality. So I'm not saying at all that we don't look at the numbers. I'm saying don't fix your eyes solely on the numbers. That will be a big mistake.

Speaker 1: 5:07

Okay, number three the deaf ear syndrome. Okay, these are leaders that don't listen to their team, and maybe they're a lot like the my way or the highway, that just feel like they don't need the input. The deaf ear syndrome definitely feels hey, I'm not going to take opportunities to listen and you miss out on some valuable insights and creative solutions and even some early warning signs of potential problems that might be going on in your church. If people feel unheard, they become disengaged and demotivated and ultimately less effective. And if you don't listen to people when it's really important, when somebody has something really important to say, they're not going to tell you because they don't feel like you're going to listen anyway. Here's the fix. And it's difficult. If you are suffering from this deaf ear syndrome, this is difficult, but you need to start to practice active listening. Create some safe spaces for some feedback. Instead of asking yes or no questions of your team, ask open-ended questions and then sit back and truly listen and hear what your team members have to say. And again, it's tough, but be open to new ideas, even if they challenge your own assumptions and even if they're not your own, believe it or not.

Speaker 1: 6:23

Okay, number four the change chameleon. While change can be necessary for growth, constantly shifting direction without clear communication or purpose can create chaos and confusion and man, we hear both sides of the spectrum on change when we talk to candidates that are looking to leave their current church and find a new place of ministry. It's either, man, this place is stuck in a rut and nothing ever changes, or this place changes for the sake of change. We don't know what game we're playing. We don't know what our of change. We don't know what game we're playing. We don't know what our goals are. We don't know what our mission is, because it changes every five minutes, and this kind of ministry climate really leaves your team feeling lost and uncertain and they're unable to focus on their goals. Like I said, we've been told multiple times in one way, shape or form. It's essentially hey, just tell me what game we're playing, and I'm happy to play the game, but I need to know what the rules are, and that's because you've changed too much too quickly. So here's the fix for the change chameleon If you find that you'd like to change, just to change, be really transparent about the reasons behind your change and clearly communicate your vision and your expectations and provide the support and resources that your team needs to adapt.

Speaker 1: 7:40

The best change is implemented gradually and with careful consideration. We tell this all the time to senior pastors that are looking to move into a new role, and particularly those that are very change motivated, and we tell them hey, it's going to take, it's going to. You can't just hop in to a church and make all the changes that you're thinking about making. It's going to take three to five years, at the least, maybe five to ten years. Change needs to be slow and deliberate, okay, so that's the change, chameleon.

Speaker 1: 8:13

And and then finally, and boy, I see this quite, or hear about this quite a lot anyway, and that's the apathetic co-pilot. And this is perhaps maybe the most damaging leadership style that I see, and it's just the apathetic one. Leaders that who don't really care about their team or their team members' well-being, who ignore their struggles, who fail to provide support and encouragement, and they're really, when you're like that, you're setting your teams up for failure. And maybe I find that the apathetic co-pilots a lot of times are just not real self-aware. They don't realize that they're not taking interest in their team. Maybe they're bored, maybe they're struggling themselves personally, maybe they themselves are disengaged, and that causes them to be apathetic, not toward just staff but church overall.

Speaker 1: 9:06

So what's the fix for this one? And it's hard, especially if you're in a rut, but you need to try and lead with empathy and compassion and genuine care, make opportunities and when I say make opportunities, seek them out to get to know your staff as individuals, celebrate their successes, offer support. A leader that truly cares will be able to inspire loyalty and dedication and a shared sense of purpose. But you, particularly if you're in a hard spot and you're finding it hard to lead with empathy, you're going to have to search those. You have to be very proactive to search those opportunities out. Okay, bottom line, power of leadership is absolutely immense and it can be used for either good or for bad. Immense, and it could be used for either good or for bad, even in the church. Even in the church. But by avoiding some of these five common pitfalls and by embracing a leadership style that's collaborative and has open communication and really cares about your team, you can really, over time, build a thriving team that will be equipped to fulfill your church's mission and really make a lasting impact in the world.

Speaker 1: 10:19

If you suffer from any of these five and just want to talk it through, I'm happy to do a coaching session with you. Reach out to me anytime. If you have any kind of staff issues, if you're looking to hire or need to fire or looking at compensation, anything staff-related reach out to me anytime. I'd love to have a conversation with you, see if there's any way I can help you. You can reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I'm here to help you however I can, and I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. Avoid these pitfalls and we'll be right back here tomorrow on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Thanks,