Donald Miller’s book, “Building a StoryBrand,” really helped shine some light on how I can best see my role in leading a ministry team.
In the book, Miller talks about how all of us are essentially playing certain roles in the stories of our lives. We can adapt to a different role in various situations, but what stood out the most is how we can adopt the roles of “hero” or “guide” when we’re on our teams.
Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. - Psalm 31:3 (NIV)
As a primer, think of a “hero” as a Luke Skywalker or even like a Simba from “Lion King.” This is a character who is the primary focus of the story, someone who has deep flaws that often are exposed over time, someone who undergoes a serious arc of personal growth, and the person who is ultimately responsible for overcoming some sort of pain or obstacle to achieve triumph.
The “guide,” then, is the wise expert behind the scenes helping to guide, train, or teach the hero. This is Mr. Miyagi, or Yoda, or Mufasa. They aren’t the focal point of the story; in fact, since they’ve already learned most of life’s lessons we don’t really see them develop much. They are in the story to help the hero tackle their problems and achieve greatness.
In our role as a church tech, I think it’s easy for many of our coworkers (or even our team members) to see us as the hero who’s there to save the day: troubleshoot their iPad, mic up the guest trombonist at the last minute, load the backup files when the main computer crashes.
We’re seen as the one who ultimately comes to the rescue, despite obstacles, limited resources, and time constraints, and we make the services happen as planned.
In fact, for better or worse, maybe we even proudly adopt this role. We relish being the one who solves the problem and gets praised for it, and maybe we’re even at the point where we need to feel that level of validation to keep us fueled.
But what about the other aspects of being a hero? What about the fact that every hero has a flaw and really has to undergo some sort of change in their heart or mind to really become what their environment needs?
If we’re so willing to embrace the role of a hero, are we as willing to be introspective and realize our areas of weakness that need addressing? Are we willing to allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to receive that sort of feedback from others? Are we even capable of looking inwardly with humility without that damaging our sense of self-worth?
At the end of the day, I want my team to feel like heroes ... I want all of them to be filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment for what they were able to achieve.
Every hero needs a guide to help them learn and grow. So if I’m the hero, who’s my guide? Do I have peers on staff or at other ministries in the community that I can lean on for advice? Do I have mentors that I go to for guidance? Or am I trying to do everything by myself because letting others see my vulnerability and transparency is difficult to do?
The downside to all of this is that while others may see us as the hero, or maybe we even need to see ourselves as a hero, the best role we can play in our ministry is that of the guide.
I really need to be in a position for our volunteers and team members to be the heroes.
They’re “flawed,” in a sense, by not being experts or professionally trained. They, like a developing hero, will undergo an emotional curve of feeling overwhelmed, having doubts, facing discouragement, and being fearful, but will ultimately try to push through that to achieve something great.
They can’t do everything on their own and will certainly face obstacles that will fill them with disappointment and confusion. And when that happens, they need a guide they can lean on.
That’s where I, as the team leader, come into play. While I may not be an actual industry-level expert, in the eyes of my team I’m probably Yoda-esque, able to solve any problem and lead them through whatever bumps in the road may occur during services. It’s my job to bring a sense of stability and impart a level of confidence in them that they’re capable of achieving greatness.
So am I a hero or a guide? I’m both. I’m a flawed character in the story who still has more to learn.
At the end of the day, I want my team to feel like heroes. When the last service is over and we get to push back from our stations, I want all of them to be filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment for what they were able to achieve.
I need to deflect praise to them, because I know they’re really my heroes, too: if they don’t come every week, I can’t run a service by myself! So if I can’t keep then invigorated and charged, I run the risk of them not coming back.
So am I a hero or a guide? I’m both.
I’m a flawed character in the story who still has more to learn. I need to be on a quest to find my Miyagi to help me get better and become all that God has called me to be, as a leader, minister, and technician.
And I owe it to my team to go on that journey. I owe it to them to continue to learn how to get better at my craft, so I can take that knowledge and ability and pour it into my team. So I can guide them, inspire them, encourage them, and develop them in their own quest.
I’m a hero and a guide. It’s a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story with two exciting and intertwined paths that build up to a climactic final scene each weekend.
