How I Motivated My Staff
Six Christian leaders share their ideas on developing motivated staff members.
Terry Muck
July 1, 1980
Dwight Eisenhower described leadership as "the act of getting somebody else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." The pastor or Christian lay leader constantly finds himself trying to accomplish the same task: motivating his staff and/or co-workers to action that will carry out the goals of the church. He faces problems unique to his job; he doesn't have the captive audience Eisenhower had, with the coercive force of court-martial at his fingertips. Nor does the pastor have the motivator big business uses so energetically-high salaries. The Christian leader must use spiritual truths and good management skills to capture the imagination and energy of his co-workers. Solomon said, "Where there is no vision the people perish" (Prov. 29:18). Peter Drucker, in The Practice of Management, calls this giving the staff member "a managerial vision." In order to properly motivate co-workers, Drucker says they must sense the overall purpose and be convinced that their job, properly done, will be a valid contribution. How do successful Christian leaders go about creating this "managerial vision" in their staff? Do any of them use negative motivators such as oral and written reprimands, loss of privileges, demotion, or discharge? How do they use positive motivators such as vision, commitment, praise, personal interest, money, competition, and delegation of responsibility? What motivators are available to the Christian leader that may not be available to the corporate manager? To find some answers, we talked to several pastors of large churches, men who handle multi-person staffs. We found their motivational techniques fell into several basic categories: Careful Placement Getting the right people into the proper positions ...
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