Does your church have declining attendance and financial giving? Are you doing everything you can as a leader but nothing seems to be working? Are you frustrated and beginning to question yourself? Worse than anything, is your faith being tested? Are you praying about your future?
If this describes you then maybe you can learn something from Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia. Though he has won a World Series, two A.L. Manager of the Year awards, and has the 14th highest winning percentage in history of managers who have coached over 2,000 games, this year his team was under-performing. His proven methods no longer were working. His leadership was in jeopardy. Sound familiar?
Scioscia then did something very unusual for most leaders – he changed. The following are tactics Scioscia has recently implemented.  These same practices would also work at your church just as well as they worked for the Angels.
- Expand Your Leadership Base – Many pastors I know carry too heavy a load. Most initiatives are platform driven. The ministry becomes reliant on a single individual, the pastor.  Scioscia previously relied on a single closer. After starting the season with a 7-15 record, he began using a team of closers rather than one lone individual.
- Make Your Leaders Early Adopters And Insiders - Leaders are down on what they are not up on. Ministries that are successful bring in their leaders early on initiatives and take advantage of their insights. Scioscia previously limited his loan closer to only pitch one inning, never more than three outs. Today, his closers are brought into the game earlier and allowed to play longer if successful. Pastors, are you allowing your top leaders to be engaged early and then as long as possible?
- Be Willing To Live With Mistakes – Great leaders are entrepreneurial. They take risks and enjoy trying new things. Scioscia traded playing it safe with sound fielders in exchange for the potential of high-productive run producers who have occasional erratic fielding. If you are willing to live with the mistakes of high producing leaders, you will reap greater rewards on the back-end.
- Allow Young People To Have Significant Roles Of Leadership – Scioscia always felt more comfortable with veterans. However, he began playing superstar rookie Mike Trout earlier than normal. In his first 39 games, Trout has hit .350 with 5 home runs and 13 steals. Pastors, what young leaders do you need to insert into a prominent positions today? Oh, and don’t forget point #3. Let them make mistakes.
As the leader changes, so does the trajectory of his church and team.  The Angels have gone 25-14 in the six weeks since making these changes. Pastors and church leaders, I feel if you make these same changes you may also see a similar turnaround in your church.
Do you agree or disagree? And why? Your insights would be much appreciated.
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I want to thank Ben Reiter and his insights in the June 18th Sports Illustrated for the inspiration of this post.