Samuel R. Chand, Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code: Seven Keys to Unleashing Vision and Inspiration, Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series. Jossey-Bass, 2010.
Referenced in:
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
There are several important components of congregational purpose, but none more powerful than congregational culture. It is also distinguished from components such as mission and vision, which even if competently facilitated can be completely derailed by culture. It is similar to the concept of “church identity,” at least insofar as the term is used to refer to a sociological portrait of a church community. As one author says: “The fact is, culture eats strategy for lunch. You can have a good strategy in place, but if you don’t have the culture and the enabling systems, the [negative] culture of the organization will defeat the strategy.” (2-3) Chand continues:
“The way people are treated, the way they treat their peers, and their response to their leaders is the air people breathe. If that air is clean and healthy, people thrive and the organization succeeds, but to the extent that it is toxic, energy subsides, creativity lags, conflicts multiply, and production declines.” (4)
This personality can be discerned by asking questions like these (5):
Who are the heroes? What makes them heroes? Who determines who the heroes are?
When someone inquires, “Tell me about your church or nonprofit, ” what stories are told?
How much does the average staff member feel he or she has input into the direction and strategy of the church or nonprofit?
Who has the ear of the top leaders? How did these people win a hearing with the leaders?
What are the meaningful rituals? What message do they convey to those in the organization and those outside it?
Who is rewarded, and for what accomplishments?
What is the level of loyalty up and down the organizational chart? What factors build loyalty?
What is the level of creativity and enthusiasm throughout the organization?
When an objective observer spends an hour watching people interact in the offices, what mood does he or she pick up?
How are decisions made, deferred, or delayed?
Who are the non-positional power brokers, the people who have authority based on the respect they’ve earned but who don’t have authoritative titles?
Where are control problems and power struggles most evident?
How is “turf” defined and protected?
Chand describes in detail the five identifiable categories of church culture as well as diagnostic tools to help leaders understand where they fall on the spectrum. He offers seven keys of understanding culture and a change process for transforming to a healthier congregational climate. Samuel Chand has provided an excellent, usuable tool to help church leaders assess, understand, and transform the organizational culture of a church.
From the Publisher
Strategies for transforming a toxic church culture
Why is it that the best strategic plans and good leadership often are not able to move churches in the desired direction? Sam Chand contends that toxic culture is to blame. Quite often, leaders don’t sense the toxicity, but it poisons their relationships and derails their vision. This work describes five easily identifiable categories of church culture (inspiring-accepting-stagnant-discouraging-toxic), with diagnostic descriptions in the book and a separate online assessment tool. The reader will be able to identify strengths and needs of their church’s culture, and then apply practical strategies (communication, control and authority, selection and placement of personnel, etc.) to make their church’s culture more positive.
- Discusses how to diagnose the state of a church’s culture
- Reveals what it takes to put in place effective strategies for creating a more positive church culture
- Author served on the board of EQUIP (Dr. John Maxwell’s Ministry), equipping five million leaders world-wide.
This important book offers a clear guide for understanding and recreating a healthy church culture.
From the Inside Flap
“Culture—not vision or strategy—is the most powerful factor in any organization. It determines the receptivity of staff and volunteers to new ideas, unleashes or dampens creativity, builds or erodes enthusiasm, and creates a sense of pride or deep discouragement about working or being involved there. Ultimately, the culture of a church shapes individual morale, teamwork, effectiveness, and outcomes.” —From Chapter One
Often church leaders confuse culture with vision and strategy, but they are very different. Vision and strategy usually focus on products, services, and outcomes, but culture is about the people—a church’s most valuable asset. Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code offers a practical resource for discovering the deficits in an existing church’s culture and includes the steps needed to assess, correct, and change culture from lackluster to vibrant and inspirational so that it that truly meets the needs of the congregation.
Prominent church and leadership consultant Sam Chand describes the five easily identifiable categories of church culture (Inspiring-Accepting-Stagnant-Discouraging-Toxic) and includes diagnostic methods that church leaders can use to identify the particular strengths and needs of their church’s culture. To help in this process there is also a separate online assessment tool (www.freeculturesurvey.com).
Once a church’s culture is clearly identified, leaders can put in place a strategy for applying the seven keys of CULTURE (Control, Understanding, Leadership, Trust, Unafraid, Responsive, and Execution) that will make their church’s culture one that stimulates people to be and do their very best and ultimately reach their highest goals.
About the Author
Dr. Samuel Chand speaks regularly at leadership conferences, churches, corporations, ministerial conferences, seminars and other leadership development opportunities. He was named in the list of the Top 30 Global Leadership Gurus by www.leadershipgurus.net. Dr. Chand serves on the board of EQUIP (Dr. John Maxwell’s ministry), working with five million leaders worldwide, and assists Bishop Eddie L. Long’s leadership development team.
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