My New Book – Chapter Two, Part Five

Kevin Ford

A Transformational Scenario
One of my client churches was located in suburban St. Louis. The then relatively new pastor, who had succeeded a long-time pastor, brought me along side and hired me.

The former pastor was the classic chaplain. Warm, compassionate and people-oriented he was brilliant over coffee in the living room and at the hospital bedside. He was beloved by his people not so much for his preaching ability or leadership skills as for his ability to make each congregant feel loved, included, and cared for and to foster a sense of community and connection among his people.

The new pastor loved people too, but his strengths were quite different than his predecessor’s. This pastor’s skill set was in the areas of teaching and leadership. In particular, he was a gifted visionary able to see and articulate a future for the church that was both exciting and very different from its past and present. The church began to grow quite rapidly, fueled by an influx of young professional families.

Predictably, the church began to be polarized not long into the new pastorate. Folks who were wired to appreciate strong visionary leadership gravitated to the new pastor as a breath of fresh air. Those who had been drawn to the church under the predecessor pastor’s leadership missed his people skills and ability to generate congregational warmth and belonging.

When I sat down with a group of leaders, it became clear that the problem was not one of personalities but rather of values. One group – those drawn to the old pastor – spoke of missing the family feeling of past years. “The church is not a business, it is a family” they argued. “We can’t depart from that family feeling or we will become a sterile institution without a heart”. The other group – resonating with the new pastor – said that the church needed to be a better-run organization if it was going to have the opportunity to impact its surrounding community in a significant way. “We can’t be an inner-focused club”, they argued. “We have to have a bold vision and make decisions more like a well-run business. This is how we can best carry out our spiritual mandate”.

I let them argue and discuss for thirty minutes or so before I intervened gently. “What if the real issue is not ‘family’ versus ‘business’?” I suggested. “What if what is really going on here is a very healthy conflict over the value of what ‘church’ is to be? What if the real answer is not an either-or ‘family’ versus ‘business’ but something else entirely that we may not have thought of yet?”

So we spent the next several hours debating over the differences between “church vs. family” and “church vs. business”. A family takes care of its own, they said. A church exists for those who are not yet connected. A business produces a profit, while a church glorifies God. Sure, a church needs to take care of people and pay bills, but it is much more significant than a business and much more outwardly focused than a family. The participants were full of energy and excitement. They were finding their way towards a new reality and way of thinking which promised to move them forward in developing a vision for the future.

This “reframe” (more on that term later) accomplished two things. It exposed the competing values in the room. And it offered a way out where there did not have to be a set of winners and a set of losers. Best of all, it opened the way to transformational change.

The first job of a leader is to diagnose what sort of problem she is faced with. Is this an issue for an expert that involves a transparent fix (Tactical)? Is it an issue that involves factors outside of the organization and requires change leadership (Strategic)? Or is it a deeper, systemic challenge relating to competing values and beliefs (Transformational)?

In my experience all transformational problems have some tactical and strategic components. All strategic challenges have some tactical components. And tactical problems are simply tactical. This knowledge is a big help in diagnosing they type of challenge you are facing. And getting that diagnosis right is all-important. If you don’t, you may well find yourself hammering away when what you really need is a level or a saw.

Several years ago, a new Executive Pastor at a well-heeled Episcopalian church on the East Coast analyzed the cost of printing the Sunday morning bulletin: $20,000 a year. The well-intentioned Executive Pastor researched the cost of adding a multi-media system to replace the bulletin. The answer? $20,000. So he purchased the new system and closed down the printing presses. The result? Pandemonium and outrage. The congregation viewed the bulletin as their way of following the order of service and glorifying God. He thought he was solving a tactical problem. In reality, he had stepped into a transformational issue of competing values. Thus, the “solution” became the “problem”.

As you digest the principles in this book, you will become an expert diagnostician as you and your organization face an array of challenges. You’ll learn when to call for a hammer, when to call for a level, and when to call for a saw. As for the question of HOW to use the proper tool…..well, hang on for that.

Taking the Time to Ponder

Scott Kronlund

To ponder: “to consider something deeply and thoroughly; meditate; to weigh carefully in the mind; consider thoughtfully” according to dictionary.com.    I remember when I first heard the word “ponder” as a child; it was part of the Christmas Story: “and it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”  (Luke 2: 15 – 19 KJV; italics added for emphasis).  From a more modern perspective, The Message puts it this way: “Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself.”

 We all have much to ponder this time of year; especially when reflecting on all of the blessings that God has seen fit to share with us over the past year, with the Gift of His Son heading the top of that list.  However, as ministry leaders, I believe that we have much more to ponder as we carefully consider the effectiveness our own leadership.  In fact, many prominent teachers of leadership principles advocate strongly that we regularly spend a concerted amount of time quietly reflecting on the fruits of our leadership labors. Perhaps, the year’s end is an ideal time to do this.  For instance, where has God been most active in my leadership this past year?  What worked well?  What didn’t?  Which activity produced the best fruit?  Where did I make the most of my time?  Where did I waste my time?  What opportunities did I capitalize on?  Which ones did I squander?  Which relationships did I best cultivate?  In whom would I like to invest more of my mentorship time? Which activities would I like to keep doing this next year?  Which should I jettison?  You see, it’s only through the process of self-evaluation that we are able to grow in the ways that God intends.

 So, as we get nearer to Christmas Day, I would encourage all of us to take the time necessary to deeply ponder the mystery of the birth of Jesus in the light of our leadership responsibilities as ambassadors for His Kingdom.  Spend some time carefully examining your 2009 calendar, get some rest, and begin to energize yourself for a great new year of ministry in 2010!  On behalf of all of us here at TAG Consulting, have a very blessed Christmas!  Scott

My New Book, Chapter Two, Part Four

Kevin Ford

A Strategic Scenario
A highly regarded not for profit focuses its mission on arts education in schools in lower income neighborhoods which must often forgo any sort of arts curriculum. The not for profit depends on the generosity of foundations and individuals in the community and an annual grant from the local arts and sciences council.

Then an economic downturn ravages the city in which the not for profit is based. Unemployment skyrockets as the major industries in the community merge or fold. A nation-wide recession leads to a declining pool of charitable resources.

At its semi-annual board meeting, the organization’s leaders hear the shell-shocked Executive Director describe a 20% decline in contributions to the organization over the past year and the bad news that the arts and science council grant will be trimmed in half in the coming year. The board is faced with a series of strategic questions:
-Since we can’t maintain our current level of service, what should we offer or not offer from our current menu?
-Is arts education a pressing issue in our hurting community and, if not, what other needs should we meet?
-What sorts of alternative programs could we offer that might cost less money?
-How do we maintain quality if we are forced to reduce personnel?
-We focus on five areas now; should we reduce that focus to one or two to ride out this downturn?
-What needs in our constituency are we best equipped to meet at the present time?

Strategic challenges require a different, and in some ways more sophisticated, set of skills than tactical problems. But strategic acumen does not cover every type of leadership challenge. Again and again I have discovered that when strategic direction is established, the result is that a whole different set of issues surface – issues related to values, behaviors, and attitudes. It is this most complex type of challenge that is illustrated by the third side of the Leadership Triangle.

Transformational Challenges
Transformational problems can also be called “adaptive”, “generative” and innovative” challenges. These are the truly vital challenges, which relate to values, behaviors, and attitudes. Transformational problems are often on the systemic level and are not usually visible to the naked eye. My research indicates that less that one percent of leaders naturally possess the skill set needed to wrestle with transformative issues. And this is why our organizations get stuck. Very simply, real and lasting change happens only on the transformational level.

The essence of a transformational problem is that values are in competition. In the East Lake scenario, Tom Cousins had to balance the competing values of corporations and financial institutions (making investments which would result in profit to their shareholders), political leaders (minimizing political risk to insure re-election) and the residents of East Lake themselves (maintaining a place to live and some measure of personal security). The real work of leadership is done on the transformational level as a skilled leader accepts and even provokes conflict over values so that clarity can be reached and real change can be created.

Thinkers such as Ron Heifetz, Marty Linsky, Margaret Wheatly, and Peter Senge have written wisely and well on the nature of transformative challenges.

My New Book – Chapter Two, Part Three

Kevin Ford

A Tactical Scenario
Here is an example of a tactical challenge faced by a church. The Executive Pastor fields complaints from congregants and staff alike that the information systems the church uses are balky and unreliable. Often documents mailed to vendors and church members are found to be incompatible with the software of the recipients. The Executive Pastor investigates and discovers that the church’s computer hardware and software has not been updated for eight years; the church is literally in the technological Dark Ages.

The Executive Pastor has no affinity for computers himself. But he knows two information technology professionals and one computer consultant in the congregation. Over lunch, he presents these three with a description of his problem and a budget to address it. The three come into the church office, assess the situation, confer, and present the Executive Pastor with a list of recommended machines and hardware. The consultant offers to install the new equipment himself, does so and the staff and congregation enter a blissful new age of computer compatibility. Problem solved.

Would that all such problems were so simple. One of the biggest mistakes I see leaders make is to apply simple tactical solutions to problems that are not tactical in nature. This is why it is vitally important to investigate the other two sides of the Leadership Triangle.

Strategic Challenges
Strategic challenges can also be called “visionary”, “synthesizing”, and “inspirational” challenges. They are not necessarily problems to be solved, but challenges to be anticipated. Strategy has to do with surveying the environment outside the organization and deciding how best the team can adapt to external opportunities and obstacles.

Operational effectiveness, although necessary, is not enough, because anyone can operate effectively and still go out of business. Strategy is choosing a unique value proposition through a series of activities that become rooted in your system. We will explore the unique value proposition later on. Essentially, strategy is what differentiates one organization from any other.

A business finds the core needs of its customers changing and so must decide on new lines of products and services. A church sees its neighborhood’s demographics changing rapidly and must decide how to respond with programs and worship services. A non-profit sees its core mission taken over by a new local government program and must decide what new human need to meet.

Strategic challenges are observed in the present but are focused on the future. They are about transitioning from one generation to the next, or one era to the next. Such challenges require more than a tactical fix. Strategic challenges require strategic leadership – the art of leveraging strengths in order to minimize weaknesses and capitalize on opportunities.

Popular writers such as Jim Collins (Built to Last and Good to Great), Gary Hamel and C.K. Pralahad have written widely and well about strategic issues. For a stretch in the late 1990’s one could have been forgiving for thinking that to master the strategic challenge was to master leadership as a whole. As we will see, this is not the case.

Putting Your Board’s Agenda to Work

Scott Kronlund

I was recently invited to sit down for a cup of coffee with a woman who had recently accepted the position of Board Chair of a private, Christian high school.  She was particularly concerned about keeping her board engaged in a meaningful way and wanted to pick my brain.  She was well aware of the Carver model of policy governance, but had spoken with other board chairs who reported that, somehow, the model, at times, had just fallen “flat.”  Although properly articulated board policies certainly serve as valuable tools in our leadership “tool box”, they do not, in and of themselves, necessarily guarantee high levels of board member engagement. However, there is one tool that has served me well over my years in board leadership in “raising the bar” for my fellow board members, and that is the meeting agenda itself.

I’m sure this may sound a bit wacky, but hear me out.  According to the Leadership Triangle (as Kevin has just begun to lay out with more to come), the governing board, as a whole, must be facile in three essential modes of thinking: Transformational (aka adaptive, generative, “sense-making”), Strategic (aka visionary, synthesizing), and Tactical (aka operational, fiduciary, technical).  The challenge is that not many of us are equally gifted in all three areas.  However, most of us will tend to lean more toward one area over the others as our preferred mode of thinking.  Consequently, when recruiting new board members, it is important to formally assess which mode of thinking comes most naturally to each current member while striving to maintain a proper balance among all three on the board as a whole through the recruitment process.  (In addition to Kevin’s upcoming book, I would also refer you to Chait, Ryan, and Taylor’s book, Governance as Leadership as a handy resource in support of better board engagement.)

So, how does this relate to agenda management? Simply stated, I have found that the board’s agenda must be compelling enough to keep members “coming back.”  One such an approach is to organize the agenda around these three modes of thinking, making sure that there’s something for everyone.  For instance, I am very much a transformational thinker.  I love entertaining the “what ifs”, but fall victim to boredom in overly detailed fiduciary discussions.  However, knowing that I will have my time to shine, I’m much more willing to listen carefully to my colleagues who excel in the other two modes.  In the end, the board, as a whole, is wiser for it.

In addition, the agenda must be planned well in advance of any given meeting.  Too often, I’ve received hastily crafted email requests asking for potential board agenda items as if the board’s agenda is nothing more than a shopping list magnetically secured to the refrigerator door.  The board’s agenda must be more purposeful.  Remember, it’s the board’s responsibility to see that the core values are protected and that the organization’s mission and vision (as manifested by its strategic objectives) is fulfilled.  But, what if all of your board’s members aren’t “there” yet, then how will you accomplish this?  One way, is to begin preparing the upcoming meeting’s agenda in light of the quality of the discussion of the last meeting (e.g. Was the discussion properly focused on issues of governance vs. operational management?  Were all three modes of thinking included?) and where you want board deliberations to go in the future.  In other words, no one meeting agenda should stand alone; instead, board leaders must always be planning a series of agenda aimed at taking the board from Point A to Point B over the long haul in pursuit of the organization’s envisioned future.

One final practical rule-of-thumb:  Agenda preparation takes time and careful thought.  From my experience, if board leaders don’t have a pretty clear understanding of the expected outcomes from the discussion of each agenda item, then they are inadequately prepared.  In fact, I have been involved with very successful boards where leaders spend nearly twice as much time in agenda preparation than the scheduled duration of the meeting, especially when organizing meeting materials for distribution and planning for an ongoing series of board meetings.

I hope you have found this useful.  Please feel free to share any of your personal experiences so we can all benefit from the collective wisdom of the Transforming Church group.  May your next meeting be highly engaging!  Blessings, Scott

My New Book – Chapter Two, Part Two

Kevin Ford

My intent is not to introduce yet one more theory. Rather, it is to organize the theories of leadership because I believe that most of them fit into the Leadership Triangle. My hope is to introduce you to a new way of thinking about leadership by starting with the problem, not the solution.

The most significant leadership challenges are bewildering because they seem to hit us on so many fronts, demand such an array of knowledge, and possess so many moving parts. This is where the Leadership Triangle can both change our thinking and raise the watermark on our leadership capabilities. This chapter will offer an overview of the Triangle. The rest of this book will describe how you can use the Triangle to tackle even the thorniest leadership challenges:

In my years as a consultant, I have identified three primary types of leadership challenges, represented by the three sides of the Triangle. Each challenge requires a different mode of leadership behavior in response, a different “tool” if you will (remember, not every problem is a nail). The art of leadership is in knowing what sort of problem you are facing and what mode of leadership is required to tackle it. Each mode requires a different set of skills, language, questions, and styles of interaction.

First, let’s insure that we understand each kind of leadership challenge by exploring descriptorssynonyms for each side of the Triangle.

Tactical Challenges
Tactical issues can also be called “operational”, “technical”, or “fiduciary”. Tactical challenges form the daily bread of the operations-oriented manager; as a matter of fact, “management” is the art and science of mobilizing resources and personnel to deal with tactical challenges.

Tactical issues are solved by expertise. If the roof leaks, I call a roofer. If my driveway is covered with snow, I hire the neighbor’s teenage kid who has a shovel. If my hard drive crashes, I call the I.T. department or a computer geek friend. If an administrative assistant or choir director leaves, I hire a replacement admin. or musician. An astute leader faces tactical problems by identifying the right expert who offers the right solution and empowering them to solve the problem.

A whole body of leadership literature focuses on tactical problems and solutions – think Marcus Buckingham (Strengths), Peter Drucker (Management), Ken Blanchard (Situation), and John Maxwell (Principles).

Don’t Save the Congregation – Rediscover the Unique & Compelling Mission

John Holm

The story is well known in many churches across America.  Churches that were once large and effective are in decline.  Attendance is down.  Money is down.  People have circled the wagons for survival to stave off the congregation’s demise.  The goal is survival:  more people in the pews, more money in the bank account and maybe young people who will step up and take over.  Saving the congregation is the goal.  The problem with this is that God calls us into missional communities not into institutions.  People outside the institution and most inside the institution really won’t give of themselves to save the church.  Congregational survival is not a compelling reason for people to go beyond themselves.  If survival was compelling then the declining churches would soon thrive again.  If survival was compelling then the remaining few leaders would not be tired and worn out trying to save the congregation.

People will connect with and give of themselves to something that is compelling, something that is bigger than they are.  Even in our consumer driven culture of entitlement people can go beyond self for a greater mission that is compelling.  Every church has a unique Code – a unique DNA that God has brought together for a compelling purpose.  Rediscovering that compelling missional reason for existence is the first step in turning a church from an ingrown fellowship to an outwardly focused mission.  Rediscovering the compelling purpose for a congregation will be the key to connecting people to God in big and bold ways.

When a congregation knows their unique code, their compelling reason to exist, then three things happen:

1. A Compelling Purpose stimulates excitement for the present and future. When was the last time the members of your congregation invited their friends and neighbors to church?  Many people are not excited about their church which means they don’t have a reason to invite others to worship or to a ministry event.  But when the purpose of the church is clear and compelling then the members are connected and excited and they naturally want to tell others.  A Compelling Purpose increases evangelistic outreach.
2. A Compelling Purpose stimulates commitment. When a congregation has a compelling mission that is bigger than self people are more motivated to give of themselves in service to the mission.  People want to be a part of something that is making a difference for God in their community.  People want to know that they are giving of themselves in a significant way.  A Compelling Purpose increases the amount and depth of service in the community.
3. A Compelling Purpose stimulates generosity. We know all too well that people hold very tightly to their money.  If the church’s budgetary needs were all that was needed to motivate generous giving then churches would simple share a need and the money would flow in abundance.  We know this does not happen.  What we do know is that people will become generous if the mission/ministry they are giving to is truly making a difference in the lives of others.  A Compelling Purpose increases giving.

It is counterintuitive but it is true that the church that focuses on survival will die and the church that puts a compelling mission in front of all else will grow more effective as they make a difference for God in their community.  Rediscovering the unique missional code of a church and then inviting people to connect to and align with that mission must be at the center of any transformation for a declining church.  It is then that the call to love God, to love neighbor and make disciples will thrive.  And the local church may just thrive too.

The Cover Up: Sabotage (Part 7)

Dr. Jim Osterhaus

As we have seen, each one of us has a defining set of values that guides our decision-making. Most of our values remain at the unconscious level. We don’t spend conscious time deciding if the things we see and hear are valuable to us. And once we begin to cross wires and live inconsistently (cognitive dissonance), our minds simply rationalize the inconsistencies and move on.

Those of us who are well-defined as people are able much more readily to identify and navigate the competing values that internally arise. As a result, rather than resorting to rationalizations to remedy the attendant anxiety, these well-defined people bring the value discrepancies into the light of day, and make conscious choices as to which of the competing values best aligns with who they are as persons.

Let’s do some scenarios (we saw one in the last addition with the elder’s intern idea).

Scenario #1. Your parents live in the same community. They insist you come over for Christmas dinner. Your spouse is tired of spending all holidays with your parents. It’s time to begin your own traditions with your two small children. Now what do you do? Your mother has even threatened disinheritance if you don’t come. That throws in an economic value. You remember somewhere in your old sermons about primary loyalties belonging to your spouse. Loyalty to spouse (“leaving mother and father”) versus keeping peace within the family (and remaining in the running for an inheritance).

Scenario #2. You are choosing people for a special advisor group from among church  members. One woman, who has worked tirelessly in a number of initiatives as a volunteer in the church for years, seems like an excellent choice for the group. And yet she is overweight. You know that all people are equally of value, and yet if she weighed 50 lbs less, she would be more appealing to you for this group.

Scenario #3. You are the senior pastor. You are in the process of hiring a new worship director. You have gotten input from your board, several key leaders,   traditional choir, and from the contemporary worship team. The preponderance of  opinion is that you hire someone, given the make-up of the church and the direction it is headed, with a traditional bent who also has some experience with contemporary worship. You very much want to build a church that is more innovative and appealing to the students who attend the local university. You decide to hire a very creative and somewhat ‘edgy’ worship leader.

Look first at the various competing values that ministry presents. Remember, these values and competing values will be held by various members of the congregation. That’s what makes board meetings and church-wide business meetings interesting. One elder will argue from one value, another will take up the argument from the competing value side. This is all well and good if the disagreement stays blue zone (focused on the mission, and doesn’t become personal and red zone).

Now look at your own competing values, and how these influence your own decisions, and how these in fact interact with the competing values resident within the congregation. When do you get energized as these board meetings and congregational meetings become heated? This will be an indication as to when your own competing values are being activated.

So let’s see if we can make this more practical. Let’s see if we can understand how we ourselves sabotage ourselves as we try to move forward, and do kingdom work.

What I am committed to. The Five Key Indicators.
Let’s look at some of your personal values, and how these values become compromised by other competing values that you hold.  Let’s start with the five key indicators:
1.    Community. How church members relate to each other.  Unhealthy churches are a collection of individuals, while healthy churches relate as a community. Consumer vs. Community.

2.    Code. The church’s genetic “code”. Unhealthy churches lack a clear identity, while healthy churches have a clear sense of their DNA and take steps to align their ministries and culture with their code. Incongruence vs. Code.

3.    Leadership. The church’s leadership.  Unhealthy churches tend to be overly autocratic or bureaucratic, while healthy churches view leadership as a shared function and as a ministry. Autocracy vs. Shared Leadership.

4.    Outreach. How the church relates to the local community.  Unhealthy churches disengage from the world around them, while healthy churches are focused on their mission and have an outward orientation that starts with their own locale. Cloister vs. Missional.

5.    Change. How church members think about the future.  Unhealthy churches resist change and fear or deny the future, while healthy churches embrace change, even when it is painful. Inertia vs. Reinvention.

Choose one of these that you are truly committed to in your ministry.

In My Ministry, I’m Committed to (choose one of the five key indicators that is currently most prominent in your ministry goals)…

Sharing Leadership with not only my staff, but with the whole congregation (priesthood of believers).

Organizational Models.
As we have said, churches represent the most complicated organization model, incorporating elements of a business, a family, and a faith community. Select what you have tended to emphasize as the primary ministry model within your congregation.

This Key Indicator, as I understand its development in my ministry, is most closely associated with the following church organizational model (choose business, family, or faith community…
A business.

Now, what are you doing or not doing that is thwarting your own goal of flattening the hierarchy, sharing leadership, empowering others, and allowing staff and congregants to step up and assume leadership?

What am doing/not doing that thwarts my aim of sharing leadership:

When others assume leadership, I jump in and micromanage and, in effect, take back the leadership I ceded to others.

This would be a good time to bring in your Red Zone issue: Acceptance, Competence, Control, Survival, and mix it into the equation. Because it is probably this issue that is fueling the value that is driving your thwarting behaviors.

My Red Zone Issue is competence. Because I must always be competent in what I do, as a cede leadership to others, I also cede quality control. This I cannot do. Those to whom I have ceded control might possibly make a muddle of things. Therefore with one hand I must give them control, and with the other take control back, lest they mess things up and make me look incompetent.

Now you can begin to see how competing values are operating in your own ministry. As you set goals, and move in particular directions, other parts of yourself, with a whole different set of values, may activate, and in fact thwart the plans that you have laid.

My New Book – Chapter Two, Part One

Kevin Ford

Chapter Two: The Three Sides of Leadership

Tod Bolsinger, Senior Pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church, looked at me intently. “I am excited about the possibility of you coming in here and helping us in a consultation”, he said. “But there’s something you need to know. We have had several other consultants here – reputable ones. But they have all ended up saying the same thing – that we need clarity around our vision. I get that. But we already have clarity around our vision. And we’re still stuck. We have challenges, but it is not because we need more clarity around our vision. The one thing I need to hear from you is that your sum total conclusion is not going to be “You have a vision problem!”.

There is an old truism that goes something like this: “When the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. The truth behind the cliché’ applies not just to carpentry, but to leadership as well. A classic leadership pitfall is to find an approach to problem-solving that works and use it repeatedly. For years. And decades. And then wonder why it doesn’t work anymore.

Much of the leadership literature of the last twenty years has emphasized the importance of “vision”. Paint a clear and compelling picture of the future, we are told, and you cannot fail as a leader. The most lionized leaders are those who took the reins of dysfunctional and aimless organizations, crafted and articulated a clear vision of the future, and reached the heights of success. We have gotten good at crafting compelling narratives of a preferred future and almost no one questions the value of having a vision shared by those throughout the organization.

But we’re still stuck.

As a consultant, I am called to serve many organizations that have a great vision of the future. Their leaders have worked long and hard to imagine the future and to paint a word picture that draws others in and keeps them motivated. These leaders have wielded the hammer of vision with skill and passion. But something is still missing. What could it be?
Recently, I met with former mortgage banker Becky Walker, now the Executive Director for Treehouse Youth, a Minneapolis-based non-profit. Treehouse provides programs, counseling, and events to teens who are living in dysfunctional settings. Surprisingly, many of these teens are not the prototypical inner city kids. Many of them come from suburbia. Treehouse operates on a small budget of $3 million, has a star-studded board of directors (including Gregg Steinhafel, Chairman and CEO of Target Corporation), and recently hosted a gala that featured Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy and country music star Carrie Underwood.

Over 1,400 teens participated in their programs between April 2007 and May 2008. The teens come from all kinds of backgrounds, but have one thing in common: they have been unloved by parents and teachers. In fact, when Fred Peterson founded the organization in 1984, he started by asking teachers to give him a list of all the kids that they wish would not come to school. These kids are struggling with dangers presented by the Internet, abuse at home, drugs, unwanted pregnancies, and more.

Treehouse provides trained counselors and quality programming to provide them with resources to cope with the challenges of daily living. The results have been nothing short of astounding:
• Most of the participants now have an adult in their lives whom they trust
• Many indicate that they are now equipped to deal with the bad things in their lives
• A significant number of teens feel like their lives are now under control
• More than half have either decreased or eliminated all risky behaviors

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