LinkedIn and Facebooked

I took the plunge a few months ago and joined both LinkedIn and Facebook. Both of my accounts kind of languished for those few months until this past weekend.
I went on a social network blitz.
I took time to update both of my profiles and worked at connecting with friends, family and colleagues around the country. And it's been fun. I've reconnected with some old friends who I would never have found had I continued on my path of not connecting via LinkedIn or Facebook. Also, I'm interested in both networks being an avenue for me to expand my professional network. It seems to be all the rage. Have you had success connecting on either network? Let us know.

Church Staff 101
Wayne Geer

Orange Tour Stop - Dallas

Tomorrow, hopefully we'll be able to attend the Orange Tour stop here in Dallas. I say hopefully because it's forecasted that we'll be receiving this year's ice storm tonight/tomorrow morning. We'll see...
Anyways, Church Staff 101 will post with the best from the tour stop, maybe I'll be able to blog live!

Wayne

Been Fishing Lately?

The heat is being turned up. You know your time is short at the position you're in and now it's about time you started looking for a new church. You didn't need to look before because everything was going well. But it's getting to be the bottom of the eighth inning and you're thinking the game's about over so you better find your resume and start sending it out.

WRONG!

In probably the most controversial post yet on Church Staff 101, we going to talk about what Stephen Pollan calls "fishing." The author of a number of excellent books, Mr. Pollan put words to thoughts I had floating around in my brain. The book was "Fire Your Boss" and the idea that resonated with me was, in light of today's market place, we all need to be fishing.

Fishing is not a new career choice. It's continuously working your network, building relationships, checking the employment sites, sending your resume out so that you always have a possible job to move to when you're in need.

"You're crazy Wayne! How could you be so disloyal?!"

Hold on to your knickers there. Think about how many times you've heard of other staff members being let go and they weren't ready to leave. How about those folks who were struggling at their job, but had to wait, maybe an excruciatingly long time, before they could move to something better. I have personally seen both scenarios in my last two positions. This creates a huge amount of stress; stress that could have been less had the individuals been fishing.

To me it seems wise in today's job arena. Church's, like secular jobs, want us to be loyal, to stick with them through thick and thin. It shows that we're made of "good stuff." Today's church is not the General Electric of the 1950's where folks started and ended their job life at the same company. Look around, there's a lot of transition taking place, we (I know I'm generalizing here) are not wired to stay put for 30 years. And of course knowing the "grass is not always greener" it's still necessary to fish, because the grass may not be pristine, but it's possibly more lush than where you're working.

Are you ok? Still breathing? Stopped calling me names?

Think about it. Read the book. Pray about wisdom.

Top 5 Fishing Exercises

1. Read the book, "Fire Your Boss." Uh, probably one to read at home.
2. Polish up the resume. Check out Must Do's to Get a Job - Part 2.
3. Check out job websites. I think the best is ChurchStaffing.com
4. If something looks good, send out your personal marketing kit/resume. You can always say "no thanks" to a job offer.
5. Network. It's always good to know other people. It's all about relationships.
6. STAY WHERE YOU'RE AT IF YOU'RE HAPPY! But keep on fishing.
   

So, have you been fishing lately?

Wayne

Are You Connected?

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
Jane Howard hits the nail on the head concerning networking. Are you connected? No, I'm not talking about being connected to the internet or to "Americas best network" cell phone plan, I'm talking about a ministry network.

For probably the last eight or nine years, no matter where I've lived, I've been a part of a network meeting in that location. And in every situation, it's been time well spent that has been life giving and encouraging. Just yesterday I attended a local children's ministry network meeting, and I came away from it with great stuff to pray and think through.

I feel strongly about this one aspect of my own spiritual and vocational growth. In fact, I wish that in the first six years of ministry someone had pushed me to join a group. I can't even imagine the mistakes I would not have made had I been around peers who had already been through what I was experiencing. Below is a list of Network To Do's for you, so don't waste another minute, get hooked up, plugged in, and encouraged.

Eight Ministry Networking To Do's
1. You need to look for a group! I went out of my way to find and join these peers, they probably aren't going to come looking for you. Use the internet, call local churches, denominational district offices and local schools of ministry, someone is going to have some insight to help you connect to a group.
2. Put it on your calendar, make it an appointment. If you don't, something else will come up or you'll forget.
3. Force yourself to attend. Again, make it important. Think about it as another way to continue to be a learner.
4. Go with the attitude you're going to take at least one great nugget back with you. Focus on learning at least one thing that will help. Someone is bound to say something that can affect you, just be willing and attentive to receive.
5. Exchange contact info. This is one of those reasons we have about a million business cards. Make a connection with someone.
6. Ask questions. Speak up. Don't just sit there, ask away, that's why you're there anyways. If you're intimidated to ask in the large group setting (Chicken!), then wait until the end of the meeting time and pull someone aside.
7. Answer questions! Again, don't just sit there. No matter where you're at in your ministry journey, you have experiences, knowledge and wisdom that will help someone else, so give it away.
8. Start a group yourself. Put those leadership gifts you've been given to good use and start your own network meetings if there's not one taking place near you. Use technology to help, like email, im chat, even online conferencing.

I would love to hear from you! Comment about your networking experiences. Also, add this blog to your favorites or RSS reader to keep up to date on posts.

Wayne