HOW DO YOU SPELL "START-UP" LEADERSHIP ? PART -2-

HISTORY
We must find ways to honor our heritage in the midst of the new work of the Lord in the centers. In Ashland, the Salvation Army has been in operation since 1886, and we had to consider how that history could be honored. In our case, this included story-telling with soldiers, finding a place for the existing altar and holiness table in the new building, and honoring Salvationists from prior generations through bricks and other naming opportunities. These centers are not being developed in a vacuum, but instead, are part of a long train of mission stations in operating since the beginning of the church of Christ.

INVOLVEMENT
We’ve worked to create a team approach to leadership and to our work within the center, but that brings its own challenges. Who does what? How do we delegate? How do we decide which voices have priority? How do we handle conflict? We’re not a voting organization, so this feels like new ground.

JOY
“I’m lovin’ it!” I’ve heard a number of our staff say, “I love my job.” What
can we put in place in the planning and structure so that this will be true? Are employees and volunteers being affirmed? Are conflicts being resolved so that there aren’t uneasy feelings at the center? Is there room for celebration? Are there enough flowers and chocolate? Do we as leaders love our jobs? Do we show it?

KITES
We interviewed a candidate for one of our positions who wrote in her cover letter, “While I would love to be employed at the center, I do need to keep
time to fly kites with my grandchildren.” There’s got to be time and space for fun, and not just for center participants. The development of these centers is hard work and very time-consuming. Every once in a while, we need to hear the whisper from

Mr. Banks and Bert of Mary Poppins fame:
When you send it flyin' up there all at once you're lighter than air
You can dance on the breeze over 'ouses and trees
With your fist 'olding tight to the string of your kite
Oh, oh, oh! Let's go fly a kite up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere, Up where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!

LOVE
Can these words be said of us? “We are patient. We are kind. We don’t envy. We don’t boast. We are not proud. We don’t dishonor others. We are not self-seeking. We are not easily angered. We don’t keep a record of wrongs. We don’t delight in evil. We rejoice with the truth. We always protect. We always hope. We always persevere.”

MOTHER
Let’s be clear here. I am not your mother. Your mother doesn’t work here, and your mother isn’t going to clean up after you. More than that, our centers must find ways to move away from the parent-child relationships that occur so often in the Salvation Army so that we can invite people to healthy adult-to-adult relationships.

NOISE
Face it. We want noise. If our buildings are silent, we have failed. However, noise is not always welcome. While some like the strains of our Dixieland band, others would prefer peace and quiet. Crying babies in our Gathering Place make the welcome center job more difficult, We have had more ‘concerns’ expressed over what kind of Muzak is playing in the hallways than anything else – classical, contemporary Christian, smooth jazz, SA brass music – every switch brings e-mails and suggestion cards lamenting or applauding the change. What is noise to one is harmony to another. Is there room for it all? “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” Psalm 98:4


GRACE Ah, it is an amazing grace. Now is a time to offer grace for each other and for ourselves. “You deserve a break today” isn’t only a McDonalds slogan –
it’s a gift we can give each other. In a big adventure like the Kroc Center development, we are sure to fail in some ways. For every Big Mac that sold millions, there was an experiment like Ray Kroc’s Hula Burger that never made it out of the gate (grilled pineapple topped with cheese on a bun). Dan Allender tells us that “to continue to dream when failure and disappointment cloud the sun is the radical gift of hope,” the kind of hope that is “a calculated risk that declares, whatever the loss, it is better than remaining where we are.” Like it or not, we’ve thrown our hat over the fence, and have no choice but to go after it and give it our best shot. When it doesn’t work out quite like we planned, we’ve got to have a large helping of grace to ease our sense of failure.
PART -2-

Major JoAnn Shade
Administrator