Motivating Your Team During A Downturn

Is the economic downturn getting you and your staff down?

How do you as a leader motivate your team in a climate that is deflating a lot of people?

Why are some churches thriving and not just surviving?

As I travel the world doing executive search, I get a pretty good look under the hood of some of today's healthiest, largest churches. Perhaps the biggest difference maker I see among the churches that are not just surviving this recession, but thriving through it is the leader's ability to motivate. True motivation - not just a pep rally, calls on the deep parts of the soul.

The most powerful motivator I know is clear, compelling, concise vision. If you don't have one, get one. Now.

Economic downturns cause people to look down. Vision causes people to look up.

To lift their minds to a higher, more holy plane. As a leader, lifting your team's eyes out of the world and to the holy is both your unique responsibility and your most powerful motivator. People will walk through fire for Groschel. I've seen them after his all staff meetings. Nothing will slow them down. And for every thriving church I see, I can show you a white hot vision.

You might say, "William, everyone knows this one." Plato once said, "The greater part of instruction is being reminded of the the things you already know."

Does your team need a reminder of their vision? Many churches I see are facing their first year ever of lower receipts, down attendance, or budget cuts. And all too often, those indicators can quietly become our motivators, rather than vision. The really gritty leaders are able to ask the hard question, "Are we driven by numeric indicators, or a God given vision?"

Economic downturns cause people to look down. Vision causes people to look up.

Lots of staff meetings I attend involve a time to tell stories of victory, but we all too often those victory stories are numbers driven. Winners lift their team out of those details to a higher plane, and they do it regularly. What stories could you tell to elevate your team's thinking to a longer, higher, more vision oriented mindset? When is the last time you cast vision to your staff?

What will you do to cause your people to look up?