...Almighty & Sons...

I've mentioned before that I retired from McDonald's in May '08, after 35 years of learning, growing and leading some great teams.  My last 6 years I was the Operations Director at the Innovation Center.  It may not be as "out there" as the Google headquarters, but it's pretty close.  Since I left McDonald's I've been working (volunteer) half-time at Good Shepherd as the Vision Coordinator.  Actually, Pastor Greg & I kinda made-up the position based on what I might be good at and what the church might need.  I guess you could say that I work for "Almighty & Sons".

There's an old joke that goes "the pay is bad, but the benefits are out of this world".  That says it all.  Once you get past the point that the vision is placed on our hearts from the Highest source (instead of your Mcdepartment VP...Ken Koziol in my case) I find the organizations function in very similar ways.  Both organizations are staffed with real people, with real needs and real issues and real strengths.  Though the outcome or design criteria or balanced scorecard might be different, creating and growing a strong team with a shared vision is the same.  Same relationships, same budgets, same goals setting, same change management, same......... 

So, my focus at Good Shepherd is pretty much what it was when I was at the Innovation Center

1. Seat the VISION - communicate, remind, restate, state a different way, relevant examples, vision casting.
   
   
2. Create a ROADMAP - know next steps, unfreeze the team, build on existing momentum, stop doing non-value added activities, redirect as needed, deal with unplanned, Faith in Action.
   
   
3. Align MINISTRIES - Establish director team, director mtgs, create "horizontal" thinking, 1 + 1 = 3, ministry objectives, shared initiatives.
   
   
4. Celebrate SUCCESSES - Matthew 25 cards (church version of thumbs-up), fast / little recognitions, build on successes.
   
   

The last year at Good Shepherd has been awesome.  At times I wonder if God had me in training at the Golden Arches for this exact moment in time.  Don't know why I waited so long.  My Great Lakes Division President, Kevin Dunn, used to say.  "If not now ...when?  If not me...who?"