You Can’t Win Without The Right Teammates (Just Ask Matthew Stafford)

KEY IDEA: If you are a leader, that means you have followers, and they hold the secret to success.

Just ask Matthew Stafford.

In 12 seasons playing quarterback for the Detroit Lions, Stafford only played in three playoff games. And he lost all three games.

Detroit traded Stafford this past off-season to the Los Angeles Rams. He and his team just went 4 – 0 in the playoffs and finished with a Super Bowl win.

Think about that. This same guy spent 12 years losing and, in one single season on a new team, won it all. 

Football is a team sport. So is organizational leadership.

Leaders lead teams, and the team determines the success. No leader can overcome a bad team.

What leaders need is a team that complements their competencies and contributes to the organizational culture.

In this post, we’ll talk about how to do just that.

If you’re a leader, I hope this helps you evaluate your team.

The Number 1 Reason to Fire People

During my leadership tenure, I’ve had the unfortunate task of firing several people. In every single case, I did what I could to help them succeed in the role. But when I realized they didn’t have a long-term future in our organization, I had no choice but to let them go.

Human Resources decisions are challenging. They should be. After all, people are not resources but humans. These people have families. They have friends. They’ve committed to the organization and potentially to you.

In this NEW POST, I outline the process I’ve used to let people go. It’s never an easy thing to do, but it’s often the kindest thing we can do.

10 Ways To Kill Your Team

Every leader wants to have a dynamic team.

Too few leaders understand how to build a dynamic team.

So often, we wrongfully assume our teammates are the problem. Sure, at times, a team member may need to be assigned to a new group or released to be a free agent. However, most of the time, our leadership behaviors kill our team because our behavior carries the most weight in the team.

Are you the most significant problem on your team? 

I offer you 10 foolproof ways to kill your team. I’ll expand on each item below, but if you’re a “give me the list upfront” kind of person, here you go:

1. Meet only when there is a crisis.
2. Allow the strong personalities to dominate the discussion.
3. Allow team decisions to be undermined by private meetings after the team meeting.
4. Have your mind made up before you get input from the team.
5. Remain inflexible in the face of new information.
6. Cut off debate.
7. Don’t hold team members accountable for their assignments.
8. Ignore the intangibles.
9. Expect more of the team than you expect of yourself.
10. Take individual credit for the accomplishments of the team.

Read the entire NEW POST for more details…

Need to Make a Change? Direct Your Fear Before It Directs You.

This conversation applies to every aspect of life, but let’s focus on our work-life in this post—specifically, the decision to leave a job, career, or an organization.  The emotional process of leaving can be agonizing. If you’ve ever experienced a job or career change by choice, you know the process began when you considered the possibility of […]

Practical Advice for the Leavers and the Leaders Who Drove Them Away

WARNING: If you’re uncomfortable looking in the mirror, I suggest you pass on this post!

Here we go…

There’s been a lot of “Great Resignation” talk in the past year.

And for a good reason.

The 2020 experience created a backlog of regular job movements. More importantly, 2020 forced many of us to evaluate our current job (and career). Many people found some life reprioritization was necessary.

Two separate realities are driving these job and career transitions. Workers are either: 

1. Running to something, or
2. Running from something.

In this NEW POST, I talk about both of these realities and provide specific advice to leaders and leavers.

Quick Note: The more time I spend coaching leaders and strategically supporting churches and businesses, the more I see a need for execution. There is PLENTY of content out there, but too little implementation. That’s where I might. help you the most.

You can check out my portfolio of services here: https://gavinadams.com/how-we-help/

I don’t have a lot of openings, but I’d be happy to spend a half-day or day with you and your team identifying problems, considering solutions, and designing implementation steps.

How Hamilton and Peppermint Milkshakes Can Help Your Church Strategy

Most churches have a significant problem birthed from a fundamental principle:

PRINCIPLE: When something is missable, people will miss it. 

Which leads to our problem.

PROBLEM: When church is too predictable, it becomes missable. 

If your church offers the same thing to the same group of people every week, interest, attendance, and participation will decline.

The secret is found in two little words: Scarcity and Exclusivity.

In this NEW POST, we’ll evaluate how incorporating scarcity and exclusivity could change the momentum in your church. I also give you 10 ideas (good or bad, you be the judge) for adding scarcity and exclusivity to your ministry strategy.

One more thing before you read the post: I’d love to help your figure this out in your church. Think of me as your new CSO (Chief Strategy Officer). Partnering with ministry and marketplace leaders from innovation through implementation is why I created Transformation Solutions. I’m dedicating my time to helping leaders like you discover potential problems, design strategic solutions, and deliver your preferable future. Don’t hesitate to reach out if I can serve you, your team, or your church.

10 Leadership Traits of Jesus (Plus 1 Guiding Principle)

Jesus was a leader on a mission to develop leaders for a movement that needed to last after he left.

How did Jesus lead?

1. Jesus always spoke the truth.
2. Jesus called his followers to more.
3. Jesus balanced compassion and conviction.
4. Jesus was an authority living under authority.
5. Jesus led by serving.
6. Jesus set boundaries.
7. Jesus developed leaders through delegation.
8. Jesus saw leadership as stewardship.
9. Jesus modeled curiosity.
10. Jesus encouraged the heart.

In summary, Jesus led through humility.

In this NEW POST, I outline each of the 10 leadership traits.

If you are a Christian leader, growing in Christ-likeness should be a primary goal. Which of these leadership traits is your greatest struggle?

A Leadership Lesson From Abraham: God’s Way or My Way?

The below is Lesson 9 from our Leadership Lessons series.

LESSON NINE: God’s way is always better than my way.
KEY QUESTION: How can we discern between God’s way and our way?

As a follower of Jesus (this is a leadership conversation for sure!), there’s no argument about whose way is the best way.

God’s way is always the best way. Always.

As a leader (or human), the problem we have is trying to discern God’s way from our way.

This is a “God’s will” discernment conversation.

Think about the decisions you’ve made in the past. There were times your way and God’s way aligned. There were also times you knew unequivocally that your way wasn’t God’s way. You did it anyway, but you knew. Then there were times you believed your way aligned to God’s way, only to find out you were mistaken. Of course, there have also been times when you felt your way aligned to God’s way, but others disagreed.

So how do you know? How can we know when we are heading in God’s direction versus choosing our path?

In this NEW POST, we’ll consider the call of Abraham. His first interaction with God gives us a massive clue for our life, too.

Expectations: Perhaps the Worst Part of Being a Pastor (or Human)

LESSON SEVEN: Integrity eclipses image
KEY QUESTION: How can we grow our integrity behind the scenes?

As a teenage tennis player, my idol was Andre Agassi.

Agassi was the rockstar of professional tennis. I loved everything about him and his game.

When I needed new tennis shoes, I would only agree to wear his new Nike Air Tech Challenge. Remember these? White shoes with black trim and a hot pink swoosh.

As a super fan, I didn’t stop with his shoes. I had the entire fit. I wore his black denim shorts with hot pink spandex at every match. I paired the shorts with his diagonal black and hot pink fade Nike shirt. I had everything Agassi had… except the hair and game.

It turns out Agassi didn’t have the hair, either. He did initially, but losing your hair at an early age doesn’t play to the “image is everything” brand built on your physical image (and luscious hair!).

John Maxwell is right. Integrity eclipses image. The question is how can we stop living up to the image and expectations placed on us by others so we can experience personal integrity.

As a pastor for 15 years, I faced my share of expectations! In this NEW POST, I discuss my expectation journey and how I found personal integrity to be the me God created.

7 Positive Attitude Adjustments to Deploy in Negative Circumstances

LESSON SEVEN: My attitude is more important than my actions
KEY QUESTION: How can we maintain a positive attitude regardless of the circumstances?

As the inspirational poster says, “Our attitude determines our altitude.”

Cheesy, but true.

Equally cheesy and true is this:

As a leader, YOUR attitude determines everyone’s altitude.

Attitude is an amazing thing. We choose it. And it determines so much about our organization and team.

How can you choose to manage a positive attitude during negative experiences?

In this NEW POST, I give you Attitude Adjustments to Deploy in Negative Circumstances.

Which one should you employ today?