Does every organization have a culture? Yes, even Jesus’ “organization” had a culture. Ken Gosnell, a leadership expert and coach posted an enlightening insight on that topic. https://www.biblicalleadership.com/blogs/how-jesus-built-a-thriving-culture/. He posits that, “Jesus, the most exceptional leader of all time, spent a significant amount of time developing His culture.” He continues and points out that as of a result of that effort the culture outlived Jesus and His organization grew 3,000 percent.
Most of us would be thrilled if our parishes grew by 30%! Clearly, culture is critical to our success as we seek to fulfill Jesus’ challenge to us – love one another and make disciples of all nations. As we saw with Jesus, effective leadership is critical to establishing a great organizational culture. We must be deliberate in our efforts to create a culture where staff and parishioners can thrive.
Your culture will reflect you. Jesus set the example for His disciples. His invitation to them was, “Come, follow me…” (MT 4:19). His words and His actions were consistent and served as an important lesson for His disciples. He gave them a higher purpose (fishers of men vs fishermen). He taught them in His ways, and they were amazed as their actions yielded similar results (Luke 9:10). Finally, he established a connectedness to Himself and each other as he defended them and their actions (MK 2:22-25).
There will be occasions that can serve as perfect moments for you to act as a mentor and teach your staff as well as your parishioners what you value. Allow them to see you reaching out to help others, demonstrating compassion to those in need, praying throughout the day, sharing a laugh and also a tear when appropriate. Jesus did this – think of how he restored calm when they were being tossed about in the sea. Give them experiences to learn and grow in your values and the culture you are creating.
They need to understand that there is a greater good in your organization, something that goes beyond the individual. Often Jesus would ask His apostles to sacrifice but he did this by sacrificing as well, including the ultimate sacrifice of Himself on the cross. Help your team to understand the mission, their part in the mission and how you value their sacrifice and contributions.
Create an environment of mutual respect in the organization. There is great value in diversity of culture, opinion and expertise on a team. Yes, a culture will emerge that predominantly reflects you. But that culture will be stronger and more respected if it is inclusive of others provided that their values are not blatantly contradictory to yours. Try to find ways to collaborate rather than denigrate. Jesus had fishermen, tax collectors and other diverse groups but he brought them together by reaching out to them and helping them to understand His mission. He made it theirs.
A strong culture is the foundation on which great parishes are built. As a leader it is your responsibility to create that culture. We will continue in the next post with some ideas on how to do this.