Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

In a circle of thirty we sat. On the floor, in the middle, were Post-It notes listing our individual core strengths.

The staff of Forward Movement came to Cincinnati from the far corners of the world. Or at least, from stretches across the US: Chicago. North Carolina. Rhode Island. Texas. As our staff has grown, especially in the past year, this retreat was a time for everyone to get to know each other so we could build a stronger team and ultimately better serve the Church.

We used Strengths Finder, a program developed by the Gallup Poll folks. But any of those personality/discernment grids could work: Myers-Briggs, enneagram. Maybe even one of those self-guided Facebook polls (What kind of Medieval saint or sinner are you?) OK, maybe not that one.   

But the point of the exercise was to identify both our individual strengths and core personality traits—and then view them collectively. Where are our strengths as an organization? Where are some, ahem, opportunities for growth?   

Strengths Finder carves up the thirty-two core strengths into four quadrants: thinkers, relators, executors, and influencers. We discovered that the customer service folks were naturally strong relators—people who desire and nurture relationships. Our editorial team is filled to the brim with thinkers. Executors pop up across the board, but we’re light on influencers.   

Looking at our strengths in this way has already generated a lot of aha moments. And I’m sure this foundational work will continue to guide us. Already people are using language such as, “This builds upon your strength of responsibility.” Or “Why don’t we ask so-and-so to lead this project. She’s a great executor.”   

Of course, we knew some of these traits instinctively. But the power of spending time discussing them, seeing them collectively before us, is helping to change the conversation. We know for instance that we should look for influencer strengths in new hires and that we should capitalize on our relationship builders as in-the-field marketers.   

This is my second time through Strengths Finder and my fifth or sixth through such a personality program. Each time I learn something new about myself. And each time that it’s been within the context of a group, we have found ways to improve how we work together.   

As church staff and vestries begin to gear up for the fall season, I recommend taking a few meetings to explore one of these leadership programs. Who knows what you might discover—or how this knowledge may support your ministry. Do you have a lot of strategic thinkers but not very many executors? That may be why you feel like you’re spinning in your tracks, doing a lot of talking but not a lot of action. Do you have strong relators? Maybe they should be the ones developing newcomer ministries and participating in pastoral care. Do you have influencers who should be heading up communications so folks in the pew feel a part of the community?   

At the same time, these programs can help you identify areas where you need to find new leaders. We often look at the composition of the vestry from different perspectives: What’s our diversity (gender, age, newcomer, old-timer, etc.) and from skill sets (finance, teaching, business leader). Programs like Strengths Finder offer another lens, one that might help your leadership team gain new insight, push through inertia, or change your perspective. All of which can help us live into God's call, collectively, as a people who know in a deep and abiding way from whom our help, our strength, comes.