Do you expect your staff members to work in the same way that you do?
I am not talking about work ethic or getting the job done...
My PW works at an almost manic pace 24/7. She has been known to work 48 hours straight without sleep. My SP sleeps more often, but he is always going, going, going as well.
My husband is getting frustrated with me because he feels like I'm trying to work like they do, and he said, "That may be the culture of our church [because I told him that it seemed like it was!], but it's not the culture of our home or our relationship."
How do you get the job done and still maintain peace in your marriage/family/home? And, as co senior pastors, how do you feel about staff members whose work style is different from yours? I have always been a big fan of time management - and I truly and honestly get my work done. I just don't work the same way that they do...
My job is to support my pastor's vision and be loyal - not to become a clone of him or his wife. There just sometimes seems to be a blurry line between the two...
Are they expecting this of you or do you just feel the pressure to do so internally? In other words is this just something you expect of yourself?
I do not expect others to work at my pace. I have to be honest with you I have not met many people in my lifetime who work at my pace. I would probably be bff's with your PW if we could both slow down enough to meet. :)
I have realized that probably no one else on staff is ever going to work at my pace including my husband. That does not bother me, however I do expect them to work. I can't stand a lazy work ethic. I know you aren't like that AT ALL nor is this what you are talking about but you asked for my opinion on staffers in general. I cannot tolerate laziness or a weak work ethic. They need to work at a reasonable pace and produce what we are asking them to produce in a quantifiable way. For instance, if we say, "you need to have a department head meeting for all children's ministries workers" we expect that to be done. We don't want to hear, "when I get around to it someday..." However I would not expect them to stay up all night working on the meeting agenda. That would not be healthy.
My opinion is that you personally should have your own strong work ethic no matter where you serve, but not try to be anyone else. You do need times of rest, your day off, and some time to renew each day. Otherwise you are an unbalanced leader. I'm preaching to myself here!
Funny thing is - just as I was typing this, my PW was getting a lecture from her doctor telling her that she needed to slow down her pace and take better care of herself :o). My husband came into the office later that day and announced, "I've been awake for 22 hours now," and she started lecturing him on how he shouldn't do that and it's better to stop doing that while he's young to avoid health problems later in life.
He said, "Okay...what was that I heard about your goal being to leave the office at 5:00 pm, and you left at 5:00...THE NEXT DAY?!?!?!?"
Maybe the two of them need to start a support group for insomniac overachievers. Me? I require sleep. Of course my husband works the night shift, so he needs to be awake during that time, but I digress...
We are realizing that creating a life for ourselves here is going to require a lot of planning - probably more than we are used to. If we want time together...and sleep...and time to work out and eat the majority of our [healthy!] meals at home...then we can't just sit by and let life happen to us.
But yes - I feel much better! There were a lot of other issues that were stressing me out in regards to my job, and things that were bothering my husband as well, so we called an impromptu meeting with our SP yesterday and talked through them. Our church is pretty groovy...I am happy to be working there...all that jazz.
I am also happy to be sitting in my bathrobe in my living room at 3:30 in the afternoon, drinking tea and listening to calm, soothing music. My job is fabulous, but so is my day off!!!
Thanks for praying and for the work you have put into providing a place for us ministry women to vent :o).
