How Staff Can Gain Influence with Lay Leaders

In two weeks, I will be speaking at the National Association of Church Facility Managers annual conference.  One of the topics I will be discussing is how church facility and maintenance staffs can move from being seen as “the help” to having significant influence with elders, deacons, boards, and lay leaders. As I was preparing my material from the book of Nehemiah, I realized the lessons applied to not just facility and maintenance personnel, but each member of the entire church staff as well. The first two chapters give a detailed account of how Nehemiah leveraged his position as a cupbearer to gain significant influence with King Artaxerxes. It is from these two chapters we learn 14 Steps Church Staff Can Do To Gain Influence With Their Elders, Deacons And Lay Leaders:

1. Be Passionate About The Church’s Mission And Vision. – v. 1:4 – “So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days,”
2. Be A Person Of Prayer – v. 1:4 – “I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”
3. Build Credibility By Doing Your Job With Excellence – v. 2:1 – “in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king.”
4. Always Have A Great Attitude – v. 2:1 – Now I had never been sad in his presence before.
5. v. 2:2 – Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This isnothing but sorrow of heart.”
6. Show Respect To Your Leaders – v. 2:3 – said to the king, “May the king live forever!
7. Give A Compelling Reason For Your Requests – v. 2:3 – Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lieswaste, and its gates are burned with fire?”
8. Be A Trusted Voice In Your Area Of Ministry – v. 2:5 – I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight”
9. Be Succinct And Clear In Your Request.  Do Not Ramble. – v. 2:5 – I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”
10. Influence The Influencers Of The Influencers – v. 2:6 – Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him)”
11. Be Prepared And Have A Plan – v. 2:7-8 – “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.”
12. Be Grateful When Your Request Is Granted – v. 2:8 – “And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.”
13. Then Be Person Of Action And Act Immediately. – v. 2:9 – “Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters.”
14. Be A Good Steward Of Their Additional Assistance Moving Forward. – v. 2:9 – “Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.”

What is one thing you learned from this list which will help you gain additional credibility with your lay leaders? This article originally appeared here.