Influence

 the shape of leadership

Communicating and Implementing Your Core Values

Crafting values to fuel vision, Part 3

Chris Railey on October 19, 2018

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What are your values? They are your strongest-held beliefs. A value is a stated reason for doing something, for thinking a certain way, or responding in a specific manner. We all have values, because down deep we all have beliefs that drive our behavior. Influential leaders are separated from the pack because they know their values and use them to fuel vision.

Values can get you moving. You can’t really live without them! And when you attempt ministry outside of your set of values, you will feel empty and face certain failure.

Your vision is a roadmap, where you want your ministry, your church and even your life to go. The values you hold to hardest will fuel that journey along the roadmap. You need to discover and define your values. But that’s only the first step.

Now that you know your values, you need to communicate them and implement them. Knowing your values is not enough. If you never share them, infuse them in others, and build behavior based around them, it’s like having a full tank of gas but never pushing the accelerator.

Communicate Your Values

Last week, we talked about discovering your values and how to make them clear to you. You will have a lot of beliefs that drive you in life. It’s not about communicating every one of them. It’s about finding the few core values that will drive vision.

Once you have them, write them down. Work on them with your team. This is a good opportunity to workshop them and get them in front of more eyes. I know that many people like to go into their study, shut the door and work all alone. But when you bring your team into this process, you will begin to set fire to the fuel for vision.

The point of getting your values down on paper is to make them clear and concise. It’s no use communicating values if people cannot understand them. An unclear vision is difficult to follow because people aren’t really sure where they’re going. The same is true with values. Unclear values will fail to fuel your vision.

With clear, concise values in hand, it’s time to release them to your church. Don’t just tell them once. Don’t put them in a bulletin or online and assume people will read them. Repeat them often. Get them in front of your church’s eyes. Put them everywhere.

A great way to do that is by posting these short phrases in the hallways of your church. As people enter your building, drop off their kids, sign in for service, or head to the sanctuary, the values listed on the wall are a constant reminder of why they are doing what they’re doing.

Another great way to communicate values is through stories. Become a storyteller of your values. Use personal testimonies that drive home the reason your church exists. Make sure each illustration you use has a singular point behind it, to reinforce one of those values.

Consistently spread the message of your values, and you’ll see results.

Implement

Now that you’ve released your values to your church, it’s time to implement them. Put in place policies and procedures that have purpose. By letting your values drive what you do, you are keeping what is important front and center.

Implementing values is really all about change to the status quo. When your values drive your vision, you move from who you are now to what you can be.

But changing the status quo can always be problematic. For one, people may not feel they need to change. They like it the way it is. Or they think the change will be too difficult. They may not trust you to lead the change, either.

Keep these things in mind as you implement your church’s values. Instill trust in your church by following through on what you believe is important. Shape your policies to lead people through simple, successful steps. And continue to show them the vision of who you all can be by sticking to these values.

So, how do you implement values? There are two steps. The first is to teach them. You are actively communicating them, but are you breaking them down so that your people understand why these values are important?

I think the best way to do this is by preaching a sermon series on each one. For instance, if one of your values is “community outreach,” preach each fall on topics like personal evangelism, reaching the unreached, and local missions. You could even follow up the series with a city-wide service project.

When you preach on your visions, your people will start to get it. Teaching your values puts it into real-life terms that are easy to understand.

Another way to teach your values is by incorporating them into your discipleship pathway. As people come to know Jesus in your church, you have the opportunity to explain from the beginning why you do what you do.

The second step to implementing your values is to model them. Create a culture based on your values. And this begins with you.

Think about how your values first drive your personal decisions. How does what you believe define how much you give to the church? How does it affect when you get up in the morning, how you treat your neighbors, how you lead your family, and how you spend time with God? Let others see your values through your life.

By modeling them in your church, others will pick up on them and replicate those behaviors, or adapt the values to their own actions. Now you are one step closer to creating a culture that can drive you past the finish line of vision.

One final word. You may get excited about the process and can’t wait to get started. But you need to know that this won’t happen overnight. It took years for you to develop these values. Your church will need time to hear them, internalize them and go all in on them. So be patient.

Consistently spread the message of your values, and you’ll see results. It’s a journey you’re on, so take your time, but never let up on the fuel of vision.

See also Parts 1 and 2 of this series.

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