The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
The Weakest Link on Your Staff Might Be You
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Every church leader wants to believe that they're empowering their team. Sometimes we're the ones annoyingly holding people back, and today we're going to dig into how senior leaders can accidentally become the bottleneck in their own ministry. And if your staff is frustrated or stuck or slow to move, it might be time to ask the question and this is a hard question. Is it me? Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes and I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and I'm also your host right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. All right, today I may get myself in trouble for this episode, but let's go for it. Okay, it's just you and me here anyway, right? So what if the reason that your staff feels stuck? I know it's not easy to say out loud, but if your team seems frustrated or unclear or hesitant, there's a good chance that the problem isn't them. You can't always blame them. It's the system, and sometimes the system is shaped by you. So stick with me, because today we're going to unpack how to spot when a senior leader is the bottleneck and how to lead, maybe a little bit differently. Okay, let's start with this truth, because we know this right Leadership culture starts at the very top. Your team mirrors your patterns. That means if you micromanage decisions, chances are sooner or later your team will start micromanaging decisions. If you delay approvals, guess what? Sooner or later your team is going to delay approvals. Maybe you avoid difficult conversations. That gives an excuse and out for your team that they can also avoid difficult conversations. Maybe you send mixed messages about priorities and your staff will either stall or spin out because of this. So here's the truth. Leaders set the emotional and the directional tones and if things feel tight, or if they feel heavy, or if they feel chaotic, it's time to examine the ripple effect that's coming from your seat, from you, okay. Examine the ripple effect that's coming from your seat, from you Okay.
Speaker 1:Here are some of the most common bottleneck behaviors Okay, slow decision-making or needing to weigh in on everything. Micromanaging Okay, not empowering others to lead if you're not in the room. That's a bottleneck. Another bottleneck refusing to clarify expectations or next steps. Or maybe you're the kind of leader and maybe you didn't start out this way, but you know that you're like this now. Maybe changing directions too frequently is a hallmark with you and you don't even necessarily give an explanation, and this is one of my favorite ones. Maybe you're holding back information until the time's just right. Okay, all of these are bottlenecks. Most of these behaviors aren't malicious. They're not. It's not like you're trying to be divisive or destructive or manipulative. They're not usually malicious, they're just habits. But they create a low trust environment where staff feel stuck or maybe they start to second guess themselves. Okay, maybe you've identified. Maybe one of those bottlenecks that I just mentioned to you felt like an arrow going through your heart, but you're still alive. You're still here, so let's talk about that.
Speaker 1:How do we get out of the way without disengaging? Okay, we need to empower clear decision rights. Who decides, who contributes, who informs? It can't always be. You have to share.
Speaker 1:Okay, you need to audit where things get stuck in your workflow when you don't follow through. Where is it? Maybe there's a pattern. Maybe, if you just do an audit, I call it an autopsy. If you do an autopsy on where things get stuck, what do you find?
Speaker 1:This one is really valuable, but Far few. Two leaders, far few too many leaders. Not enough leaders say this or do this. And that was a really long, hard introduction for this question, because I think it's very valuable. Here's what you need to do. Okay, invite honest feedback. Invite honest feedback from your staff. Where am I slowing us down? Get that feedback and start letting go. Once you get that feedback and you do your audit, start letting go of what no longer needs your fingerprints Because the truth is not everything needs your fingerprints and then you can start to celebrate staff wins without needing to insert yourself in everything. Things will actually go much, much smoother. Healthy leaders know when to lead from the front and when to back up and cheer from the sidelines.
Speaker 1:Okay, here's the final thought for today. Here's the bottom line. Great leadership isn't about control. It's not about control. It's about clarity and trust and empowerment. And if you want to build a healthier team, start by checking for bottlenecks and be willing to admit when the slowest gear is you.
Speaker 1:I'd love to hear from you Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom is my email what's one leadership habit you're trying to unlearn? Where are you being the bottleneck? I would love to hear back from you podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. And just tell me, todd, here's what I struggle with. Maybe you've got a question, todd. How can I get over this?
Speaker 1:I would love to be able to partner with you and your church in any way that I can to help you become a healthy leader to help your staff become healthy, and that's one of the reasons why we're doing again this year, in 2025, we're doing the Healthy Church Staff Assessment and you can take that absolutely free of charge. It's 50 questions. At the end of it, it will take your answers and give you where you are on the health spectrum in seven key areas absolutely free. Go to chemistrystaffingcom. Slash 2025 to take this year's assessment. Last year we had about 1,200 staff members take it. We're hoping to have about 1,500 this year. So I hope that you will help me out, help us out in chemistry, by taking this church staff health assessment. Send it on to other colleagues, other people on your team as well. All right, that's it for today. Hope this has been helpful to you and we'll be right back here tomorrow on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Have a great day you.
