Business team listens to suggestions for solving a problem.

Last week we talked about the difference between a thermostat and thermometer. A thermometer merely reflects the temperature while a thermostat can both read the temperature and adjust it. The concepts of how they work can be used to describe the way some leaders lead. Effective leaders would be thermostat leaders who can read and set the temperature of the organization rather than thermometer leaders who only read the environment but do not change it.

This week, let us look at the qualities that a leader should have to be a thermostat leader.

We have been looking at the culture of the organization over the past two weeks. Last week I suggested some ways to improve the culture of your organization. In this final blog on organizational culture, I want to suggest what a healthy leadership team should look like when the culture is good.

Last week we looked at the major role organizational culture plays in the success of the organization. We might have the best vision, mission, and strategy, but if we don’t have a healthy culture, we will struggle and eventually not succeed as the leader of the organization, be it a business or a church.

If the culture in your current organization is unhealthy, or only somewhat healthy, I want to suggest some steps to take that would lead to a healthy organizational culture.

The behavior of the people working in an organization is a reflection of the organization’s culture. Whether an organization is functioning in a healthy or unhealthy manner fundamentally comes down to its culture. By definition, organizational culture is what people in the organization believe and how they behave base on those beliefs.

Organizational culture is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs how people behave in organizations. These shared values have a strong influence on the people in the organization and dictate how they dress, act, and perform their jobs. (John McLaughlin)

“Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” 

— John Maxwell, leadership coach, speaker and best-selling author.

The debate has been going on for decades—what is the difference between being a manager and a leader?

Google, “What is the difference between a leader and a manager?” and in 0.78 seconds you will have about 30.6 million results. Needless to say we cannot begin to tackle such a huge topic here.

However, I would like to challenge you to consider the basic difference between the two and see where you find yourself.

Motivating volunteers to participate in the ministries of an organization remains a challenge for leaders. As a leader you know that without the work of volunteers, you are unlikely to succeed in ministry.

Jesus had no paid associates to help Him start the work of the church, yet He had loyal followers who were willing to die to support His ministry. And some did.

How do you motivate volunteers to support you in ministry?

The authority that comes with your leadership can be used either for building up or tearing down.

Paul was in major conflict with the church in Corinth, but he did not leave because of the conflict, rather he continually reminded the Corinthian church that his leadership among them was always about helping them.

The Corinthians challenged Paul’s authority, and he had the most amazing response for them. He pointed out that he used the authority given to him by the Lord to build them up not to tear them down. (2 Cor. 10:8)

I think this is still an important lesson and reminder for leaders today.

Leaders hear a lot about time management. Just about every leadership book, magazine, podcast or blog has something to say about it. The general advice seems to be that the leader must develop ways of proper time management or else they will struggle to succeed.

While time management is necessary for leaders to keep them from getting burned out or constantly living under the stress of not having enough time to get everything done, I want to suggest that more important is to understand the value of time.

Leaders struggle with time management because they lack a clear understanding of the value of time.