The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
4 Types of Church Bosses (And How to Actually Work with Them!)
Understanding your church boss's leadership style is the key to navigating ministry relationships effectively and maintaining your sanity in the process.
• Every church boss falls into one of four distinct leadership styles: commander, cheerleader, caretaker, or controller
• Commanders are direct, decisive and goal-oriented - get to the point and don't take blunt feedback personally
• Cheerleaders are high-energy, relational and vision-focused - help refocus them and ask for clarity on details
• Caretakers prioritize relationships and encouragement - provide reassurance and encourage decision-making
• Controllers are structured and detail-oriented - come prepared and respect their need for order
• Adapting to your leader's style will significantly improve your ministry experience
• Knowing both your own leadership style and your boss's creates better team dynamics
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Ever worked with someone who steamrolls every decision you try to make, or who cancels meetings last minute and then changes the plan completely? Maybe you work for someone who's so caring that they're afraid to make a tough call. Here's the truth. Every church boss falls into one of four leadership styles, and how you work with them makes all the difference in your ministry experience. Today, we're going to break down the four types of church bosses and give you some exact strategies on how to navigate each one. So stick around, because understanding your leader's style could save your sanity in ministry.
Speaker 1:Hi, my name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and I'm your host here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Today we're going to talk about four different types of church bosses. We're going to talk about the commander and the cheerleader and the caretaker and the controller, and this comes from a Fast Company article I read recently, a really insightful article. I'll try and leave the URL, the link for it, in the comments here where you're listening or watching, but let's start with four different kinds. Let's start with the commander and of these four kinds, if you work for someone or maybe you're a senior pastor, maybe you're a solo pastor at a church you probably have. When you're working with your elder team or your board, you're probably working with these four types of leaders. So let's talk about these and then we're going to talk about how you can work best with them.
Speaker 1:Okay, so the first is the commander. All right, the commander. Commanders are direct and they're decisive and they're goal oriented. And as I go through these, I think not only of what your boss is, I think what kind of leader you are. Okay. So, commanders they're direct, they're decisive, they're goal oriented, they move fast and they don't waste any time and they expect results. They're all about action. They're always looking for that hill that they're going to charge, but sometimes that comes at the expense of other people's feelings. So how do you work with a commander, with that kind of gung-ho man? We're just going to go and we're going to go and we're going to do it, and if I have to throw some people under the bus while I'm doing it, that's the consequence. How do you work with a commander? All right, so when you're talking with a commander, get to the point. They don't have time for your fluff, okay, so lead with the key information and cut out all the necessary details and just get to the point with them, because they're no nonsense, they just want to hear it. Okay, just get to the point with them, because they're no nonsense, they just want to hear it. Don't take blunt feedback personally While they're charging that hill and while they don't want to hear a lot of details, they're not going to share a lot of details with you either. They're going to be very blunt and when they critique your work, it's usually about making it stronger. It's not about you. If you're like me, feedback hurts because I always tend my personality type is I tend to take feedback personally, rather than that, it's just about making the work better, okay. So when a commander gives you feedback and it's rather blunt and it stings just remember that it's usually about making whatever you're working on stronger. It's not about you, and you should be confident and assertive when you're working with a commander. Okay, Come prepared with a clear plan and own your recommendations. They will respect your decisiveness, but they also expect you to be decisive. Okay, they also expect you to bring things to the table and to bring plans to the table, okay. So those are some things you can do. What should you not do? Don't do this if you're working with a commander, okay, don't get offended when they ask how your weekend. When they don't ask how your weekend was, they're not going to be the warm fuzzy, personalized hey, how's it going? They're going to be writing directly to the point. Do not get offended. Okay, try not to ramble or over-explain. Okay, instead of saying so, I was thinking maybe we could consider a different approach for next week's sermon series planning. Do something a little bit more direct, like. My recommendation is to structure the sermon series this way to keep it engaging and biblically solid. Okay, so you're not dancing around it, you're just going in and you're reflecting the commander's style to the commander. And guess what? The commander, they're going to love that. Okay, most of the time, unless you're going against them. Okay, so that's the commander, all right.
Speaker 1:The second type is the cheerleader Cheerleader. Totally different. If you're working with a cheerleader boss, you're going to be totally different than working with a commander boss, okay. So here's the cheerleader. Cheerleaders are higher energy, they're relational and they're vision focused. Okay, the cheerleader is going to thrive on big ideas. They're going to thrive on momentum. They're going to live on enthusiasm. But that's all good. But they change directions often and sometimes they get excited but they don't follow through.
Speaker 1:Okay, so how can you work with a cheerleader? Especially if you're more of a commander type, a cheerleader's gonna drive you crazy, right? How do you work with a cheerleader? You can gently refocus them. If they get off on tangents, try and bring them back. That's a great idea. Let's make a note of that and let's circle back later. I know that's difficult when you're talking to your boss, but cheerleaders know that they're cheerleaders, right, and they know that they need people around them to kind of rein them in and make sense of all of their excitement.
Speaker 1:Right, take some initiative in rescheduling. If they cancel meetings, proactively, follow up and set a new time, because the cheerleaders will cancel meetings. They'll have too much going on and they'll just be like, no, I can't do that. Another thing you can do is ask for clarity. They love casting vision, but they don't care about the details. So ask things like what would success look like for this? Okay, so get as much clarity as you can. Okay. So what not to do when you're working with a cheerleader? Okay, do not wait for them to remember something's important, because they won't. Okay, don't sit at your desk thinking why hasn't this person gotten back to me, it's because it's a detail and they've probably forgotten. They've moved on to something else or they're dreaming about something else. So don't wait for them, just follow up. Okay, just know who you're working with and make sure you follow up if you need more details.
Speaker 1:Do not expect structured, step-by-step instructions. Okay, for example, if they say let's do something fresh for Easter, here's how you should respond. Here are three fresh ideas. Do any of these match what you're envisioning? Okay, so you're again. They're painting the broad stroke picture, the excitement, let's do something fresh. And it's your responsibility a lot of times to come in and say, hey, here are some ideas that are fresh. Do any of these match what you're thinking? Okay, so we've talked about the commander. We've talked about the cheerleader.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about the third kind, which is the caretaker. Okay, caretakers prioritize relationships and encouragement and they make sure that everybody's okay. They're kind and they're nurturing, unlike the commander or the cheerleader. Sometimes they are great listeners, but they can struggle with indecisiveness and they can struggle with avoiding contact. Are you this kind of leader or do you work for this kind of leader? The caretaker great people to have around, but they require a little bit different skill to work with.
Speaker 1:Okay, so how do you work with a caretaker? First, they need a lot of reassurance, so reassure them whenever you can. If they keep checking in, let them know you've got it. Hey, I appreciate you checking in, but I'm good, I'll let you know if I need any help, because they're the caretaker. They're going to want to hold your hand and make sure that you're all good, so just give. They might need a little bit more reassurance. The commander, on the other hand, needs no reassurance. They just expect you to be on top of it. Okay, how else to work with a caretaker? You may just need to ask direct questions. They avoid hard conversations, so you may need to push gently for clarity and you may need to encourage them just to make decisions. Would you prefer option A or option B? Would you like to do lunch on Tuesday or on Thursday? Encourage them to make decisions, okay.
Speaker 1:What you should not do with a caretaker okay, assume that they'll give you honest feedback without being asked. They usually won't. They're going to be on the positive side and they're going to be taking care of things as a caretaker. So don't assume that they'll give you honest feedback if you don't ask them and don't let their indecisiveness slow you down. You can help move things forward. Instead of saying, do you think this is okay, you can say something like hey, would you like me to move forward with this or would you like me to adjust anything? If you don't ask those kind of specific type questions to a caregiver, you may not get the direction that you need to fulfill actually what they want you to fulfill Okay, so not get the direction that you need to fulfill actually what they want you to fulfill. Okay, so that's the caretaker.
Speaker 1:So we talked about the controller, the cheerleader, the caretaker. The last one is the controller. Controllers are structured, they're detail-oriented, they're focused on efficiency. They're a lot like the caretaker, but they're just more controlling. They want the processes followed, they want the rules obeyed, they want absolutely no surprises. They can seem really rigid, they can seem really slow to embrace change.
Speaker 1:So how do you work with a controller? A controller, you need to come prepared, because they value clear expectations and you need to ask up front what are your key priorities for this project? Okay, what are your key priorities? Frame ideas as system improvements. Instead of saying let's try something brand new here, say, let's improve our existing system. Okay, you're feeding into. You're saying the same thing, right, but you're feeding into hey, let's make what we have better rather than let's start something new, because controllers are a lot of times really resistant to change, and this is hard if you're not that type of person. But you need to respect their need for order. So you need to meet their deadlines. Don't miss their deadlines. The controller will not appreciate it and you will lose trust if you do not meet deadlines or follow procedures. Okay.
Speaker 1:So here are some things not to do. If you're working for a controller or with a controller, okay, don't spring last-minute changes on them. They do not like change period and they really do not like last-minute changes. So don't spring last-minute changes on that. And don't ignore their need for structure. Don't be a rogue. Don't go outside the structure. You need to follow the structure, follow the processes. For example, instead of saying we need to revamp our volunteer saying system, you can say something like hey, I found a way to streamline our current system without disrupting our workflow. You're kind of speaking their love language there.
Speaker 1:Here's the bottom line for today. Every church boss has a unique style. The commander moves fast, so be direct. The cheerleader loves big vision, so help the cheerleader by bringing some clarity. The caretaker prioritizes people, so help the caretaker make decisions. And the controller needs structure. So be detailed and precise and here's what you'll find. The more that you adapt to their style, the better your ministry experience will be.
Speaker 1:Was this video helpful? I hope it was. Or this podcast? I would love to hear from you, hear your comments. Maybe you want to push back and say, todd, oh, my goodness, you were so off on that. I would love to hear that. Just be nice, right, tell me what kind of leader you are. Tell me what kind of leader you think I would be if I was your boss at your church. That's a scary thing. You can leave a comment. If you're watching this on YouTube, leave a comment below. Or if you're listening on the podcast, just send me an email. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. And if you ever need help navigating your church staff dynamics for your church, or you're looking to hire or you need to let somebody go from your team, I would love to have a conversation with you. You can reach out to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. All right, thanks so much. That's it for today's edition of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. We're back here every weekday, monday through Friday, for a quick Healthy Church staff podcast. Thanks so much. Have a great day.
