The Unstuck Church Podcast with Amy Anderson

Ever heard the phrase "the manager relies on control while the leader inspires trust"?  Over the last several decades, resources and teaching on leadership thrived. But management? It’s often been minimized (at best) or even ridiculed or disparaged (at worst). It's no wonder organizations often have a difficult time managing the day-to-day execution of their vision and strategy. In this episode, Tony, Amy and Lance explore how leadership and management can be viewed as complementary essential functions, and how you can take steps to better manage your team towards increased health and performance. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode133. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 133] in your post for reference.

Everyone wants to be more productive, and there's an exploding industry of apps, journals and resources that promises to help. But what if there were a few simple (and free!) steps that could increase your team's productivity by 30 percent? In this episode, Tony, Amy and Lance share 3 questions to ask in every meeting that could radically impact how your staff gets things done. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode132. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 132] in your post for reference.

Think of culture as gasoline and your ministry as an engine. It’s not enough to have high-quality gasoline. Gasoline is purposeful; it is for powering the engine. A high-octane gas and a powerful engine will get traction quickly.  
 Organizational DNA, or culture, is really about the way your team operates. It's how you do what you do. And if you don’t shape culture intentionally, you might not like where you end up. Fact is, your staff team already has a culture, and it's the one you built, whether you meant to or not. In Part 2 of this series, Tony, Amy, and Lance Witt explore how your church can more clearly define your DNA so that your staff team can thrive in both health and performance. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode131. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 131] in your post for reference.

Team dysfunction. You feel it when you're in it, but can you see it coming? Can you be intentional about the culture you're building so the team stays focused on both relationships and results? Churches can be clear on mission, vision and how they believe God has called them to operate, and yet... Something can still be broken. That brokenness often falls into one of two extremes: Either the team is high-performing, but there's interpersonal and leadership dysfunction. Or, the team is relationally healthy, but there's a significant execution gap. Even in between those extremes, many churches would still say they don’t feel like they’re winning in both areas. In this episode, Lance Witt joins Tony and Amy to unpack the foundational aspects of intentionally building a high impact team and why it matters so much.  For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode130. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 130] in your post for reference.

Taboo. When personal evangelism seems taboo, it's no surprise that invitations to new guests have decreased in many churches. In 2019 research, Barna Group found that nearly half of practicing Christian millennials felt it is wrong to share their faith. But what if there were a way to train and equip people to have a better understanding of why and how to talk about church? In this episode, Tony talks with Michael Lukaszewski, founder of Church Fuel, for a conversation on how to put a spotlight on invitation in your church—including practical ways to get started. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode129. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 129] in your post for reference.

What if all of your ministry planning was aimed at the wrong objectives?  It’s important to regularly check in on your church’s movement in the typical life cycle so you can develop ministry plans that help you continue up the slope towards sustained health— or reverse the decline that has already begun. In this last episode of our ministry planning series, Tony and Amy review the typical life cycle of a church, some characteristics of each phase, and how this knowledge can blow up assumptions and help you make ministry plans that actually lead towards ministry health and growth. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode128. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 128] in your post for reference.

Repetition—It's the key to building strong muscles. It takes repetition to see stronger results. That's because it's the key to getting better at execution, too. Good planning helps us make the right investment in the right ministry at the right time. And organizational planning tends to be a new muscle for church leaders to develop. That is, the staff, the pastor and the senior leadership team have to embrace some new disciplines in order to become better stewards of the resources God has given them.  This is why we encourage pastors and leaders all the time to actually set up a rhythm for planning.  In this episode, Tony and Amy share an effective ministry planning rhythm we see WORKING in hundreds of churches across the country. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode127. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 127] in your post for reference.

Possibilities. With the turning of the calendar, there’s often a renewed sense of hope and a dream of what could be. We all tend to believe this is the year things will be different. Too often, though, leaders hold onto this hope without a plan to achieve it. In this episode, Tony and Amy explain why hope is not a strategy for your church and explore some practical ways that you can create a plan for greater ministry impact.  - Why Christians should be the best planners in the world based on what we see in Scripture, and why the old debate of "planning" vs. "relying on the Holy Spirit" is a false dichotomy, and really, just bad theology - 4 questions you need to answer in any effective planning process, and why we bring in an outside facilitator to help our team plan - The "sweet spot" number of people to involve in your planning team, plus why the larger a church grows the smaller its planning teams tend to be - What happens when you involve too many people in planning for the future (Hint: The extroverts get more extroverted, and the introverts get more introverted.) For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode126. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 126] in your post for reference.

We're still on a high from a gathering we had in Phoenix a few weeks ago. The Unstuck Group's team members—about 30 of us—got together for our annual meet-up. Tony shared highlights from the last 12 months of helping churches get unstuck, which included celebrating 10 years of The Unstuck Group, serving our 400th church, kicking off a merger-succession to join Jim Tomberlin's MultiSite Solutions to our team, launching the Multisite Unstuck Course, and adding 5 new team members. In this episode, Tony and Amy and reflect on what we've learned over the last 12 months helping churches get unstuck and share some things we're celebrating as a team, as well as preview some exciting things that are on the way! For the full episode transcript and links mentioned during the show, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode125. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 125] in your post for reference.

The results are pretty predictable… vision stalls out, staff teams can get dysfunctional, and tension can develop in the relationship with the lead pastor. All because the wins for the Executive Pastor role aren't 100% clear. In our recent webinar, Dan Reiland, Jenni Catron and Paul Alexander joined Tony for a practical conversation how to get an XP firing on all cylinders. When an Executive Pastor own the roles they can't delegate, the results are a clear path from vision to execution, high impact staff teams, and a lead pastor free to focus on what only he or she can do. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode124. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 124] in your post for reference.