Usually when we think about leading people we think about leading subordinates --- people who report to us, our followers. It takes a lot of skill to lead people that are following us and keep them motivated to perform the tasks that we have given to them. There is another kind of leadership that we all most likely face, but it is one that we often ignore. I am referring to peer leadership.
Peer leadership is simply leading people that are not under us. These people probably have the same authority as we do and as a result have no real need to follow our lead. Some of your peers that you may come in contact with are the worship director, youth pastor, children's minister, and so forth. These are people that you work with each day and you may have never considered how to lead them.
You may be wondering why you would need to lead them? As a technical director your job is to help provide the technology needs of your church and the ministries that serve within your church. As a result the technical ministries become tightly intertwined with many different ministries. These ministries are being led by people who will be looking to you for support and advice.
If someone doesn't understand your lingo, take the time to explain it.
Take an interest. Don't become the technical director that avoids eye contact and hides behind his desk all day so he isn't forced to have a conversation. Be social with your peers and take a real interest in their work and ministry. Ask them how your ministry is best able to support theirs. When you take a real and genuine interest in them and their ministry they will be more likely to listen to your suggestion in the future.
Complete don't compete. Being in ministry is not a competition to see who does something the best. Don't allow other ministry leaders to feel like you are competing with them. Be there to help lift up their ministry and complete the things that they are working on. This will build loyalty to you and you will find that they will work hard to complete your ministry as well.
Collaborate. If you are working on some new technology system for the youth ministry don't just blast in there telling everyone what to do. Talk with them and collaborate on what their goals and dreams are. You may find that they are very passionate about how technology integrates with their ministry. As you brainstorm the best solution make sure that you let the best ideas win. Don't hold on too tightly to your ideas if they come up with something that works better for their situation.
Be a friend. Everyone prefers to work with people that they consider friends. Be that friend. Proverbs 18:24 says that if you want to have friends you need to be friendly. Sometimes all it takes is a smile and asking someone how they are to make their day. Go around with the goal to improve the day of every person you come in contact with.
Be a teacher. For some reason people tend to feel a little bit intimidated when talking to tech people because they feel like they may say the wrong thing. Don't make a big deal about those things. If someone doesn't understand your lingo, take the time to explain it to them. It is easy to just tell people to “trust you” but when you teach them and guide them then they will begin to trust you on their own.
Leading your peers is more of an art than a science, but if you take these tips and begin to work at it you will begin to see the results right away. As you do this, it will help to build your influence with those that you work with and it will make everyone's job more enjoyable.
You may also find that things don't take nearly as long to accomplish now that you have other people pulling for you too.
