Josh Conn

Why Signage Matters

// February 29th, 2012 // 5 Comments » // Church Planting, Professional Life

After 650 miles of driving, with my family of 5 in the mini-van, we were about to ascend a hill on I-80 East in Pennsylvania.  There it was towering above the tree line. It stood alone in the sky as a symbol of restaurant supremacy.  The sign actually looked suspended from heaven. A haven for weary travelers waiting to grease their arteries with “potatoes” and suck down endless amounts of HFCS…AKA Sugar.  You guessed it, the Golden Arches. A well placed sign stops people in their tracks!

Why was the SIGN so powerful?

#1 Uniqueness – It stood out – it was perfectly placed, don’t place your sign among the clutter of others, find a spot and own it.  The genius is they made their recognizable symbol unique by placing it strategically.

#2 Placement – It was the only sign “in the sky” – It was obvious someone figured out how tall those trees would grow and built that sign with maximum visibility and powerful effect.  View your sign from EVERY angle you can, walk through, drive by, fly by, view the sign and make sure you get it right!

#3 Brand - It was just a symbol – It wasn’t full of all their daily specials.  They were just trying to communicate “we’re here, c’mon in!”

#4 Readability – After becoming a “yard sign” junkie, I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of the worst yard signs ever.  Traveling at 40 miles an hour, you expect me to read your 12 font lettering on your yard sign?  Communicate MORE with LESS words.  The placement must match the purpose of the sign.

#5 Visibility - Built on a platform that had to extend at least 125 feet in the sky…enough said.  Do whatever you have to making certain your sign WILL be seen.

Now, think about your organization…I happen to pastor a mobile church.  Having a mobile church presents all kinds of challenges when it comes to communication. Where should people park? Where do I take my kids? Which theater do I go to?  Is this the right part of the building?

We set up close to 50 signs EVERY week.  On the street approaching the theater, driving up, coming in, everywhere.  Every sign matters, is placed meticulously and has designated font size and coloring to communicate the intended result!   But please don’t forget… Your PEOPLE are your best signs.  glossy print may wow someone, but a high quality experience will keep people coming back.  Almost every week we get feedback stating how easy it was to find our meeting rooms, BUT…The people made the experience.  The signs serve the people and the vision:  “The church for people who aren’t here yet”

Take some time and ensure your signs maximize the leverage above.

Leadership 101 #3 Focus

// October 6th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Church Leadership, Leadership, Professional Life

Principle #3  You Must Lead from the Vision

Here are two mistakes we commonly make regarding this principle:  First, we mistake motion for progress.  The reason we do this is to make ourselves feel good.  We are incredibly insecure and selfish so we pull the, “it wasn’t God’s will” card.  What if it was God’s will and you just did the wrong things?  Just because you are busy it doesn’t mean you are doing the right things.  Once I am clear about the vision, it must define my behavior.  If it doesn’t, then we don’t believe in the vision.  Belief = Behavior.  Everyone is busy doing something but the real question is, are we making progress?

Next mistake: We just want people to like us. This is where leaders fail often.  One complaining, disgruntled, manipulative person can get us off focus and it is all our fault.  We don’t want to disappoint them and we want them to like us.  Leadership is not about people liking me, it is about me working alongside them towards a common vision bigger than any one person.  Every time I have caved to someone’s special interest, I compromise the mission and my own character and integrity.

Think this is extreme?  Consider Judas.  Don’t betray the vision! Matthew 26:46-48

Whatever you are leading, know what you are about and live it.

Leadership 101 #2 Responsibility

// September 30th, 2010 // No Comments » // Church Leadership, Leadership, Professional Life

Principle #2 Leaders Take Responsibility

What are some things I am responsible for?  Myself, My family, church leaders. If you put a leader in place then you take responsibility for everything that person does:  The good, the bad, the stupid things they say, the brilliant idea, everything.  If you are the leader, then everything that happens in the organization sooner or later comes back to you.  This is why it is so important to hire people slowly, and remove people quickly.  This is why a culture of taking responsibility is so critical.  You have to train leaders to do the same thing.  Blaming someone for something that happened under your watch makes you look rather ridiculous and creates a toxic culture.  Everyone starts to look over their shoulder and trust will elude the team.

Everything comes back to me.  Either I hired the wrong person, didn’t coach and help them enough, or gave them too much responsibility too soon.  When a character issue arises, it is always up to the leader to help the person deal with it in an effective way.

So you want to be a leader?  Take responsibility.

Leadership 101 #1 Humility

// September 29th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // 217church, Church Leadership, Leadership, Professional Life

Over the last few days I have been pondering what I am looking for in leaders.  In essence, this made me do a heart check of what I am as a leader.  So over the next 10 days I will share 10 principles that I am learning.

Principle #1 Leaders must lead from a place of humility –

I am tired of people who have all the answers.  Vision is highly overrated.  What blesses a ministry, a work place, a home, is humility and integrity.  I’ll gladly take a person who is humble and who has integrity over big vision any day.  Show me unconditional loyalty with no entitlement and I will naturally want to walk alongside you.  A lot of people have vision based on ego.  This is corrupt and evil.  If we depend on Jesus we get his vision and develop our trust in him.  This has to be done with humility.  Before I release and call someone a leader, I want to see if they can serve someone else’s vision.  I must follow, then maybe I can lead.

Do you get hung up on this just as much as I do?

Day 21: The Little Things

// January 21st, 2010 // 1 Comment » // 217church, 31 Days of Wisdom, Professional Life

Title: The Little Things

Scripture Read: Proverbs 21

Key Verse:  “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2

Observations:

It is clear, bribes, unlawful business practices and dishonesty are not to be tolerated for those who follow Christ and his teachings.  It doesn’t matter what the size of the bribe, how ‘much’ you cheat on your taxes or if you just ripped someone off a little bit.  Justification in our own mind of our practices leads to judgment, guilt and pain. God sees the motivation and intentions behind our practices.  Most of us aren’t going to run multi-million dollar schemes or steal large amounts of money from people.  I don’t personally know anybody that robs banks for a living.  Most of us aren’t going to cheat a lot on our taxes or do anything that will overtly draw attention to us.  But let’s not fool ourselves, the little things matter just as much as the big things.  Appearing to have integrity and not having it is worse than not having it.  Deception is evil, period. Lukewarm living creates a disgusting reality for us.  When we live lukewarm He describes us as being spewed out of his mouth. (Rev 3:16)  You are either hot or cold, on fire or frozen.  Telling ourselves everything is ‘okay’ won’t change this reality.  Be something, make a choice and get off the fence.  It’s about the little things.

Applications:

This is an easy one to fake.  We can fool people hands down, but we cannot fool God.  When I preach, teach, lead God weighs my motives.  He knows why I say what I say and why I do what I do.  But the dilemma is, I have blind spots.  The only way my motives stay pure is through spending time with Jesus gaining insight to His heart.  I need His heart for the world.  I can’t obtain his heart for the world through any other experience then by being with him.  Anyone can read about Him, but being with Him takes effort and intentionality.  Reading about my wife doesn’t create intimacy, but being with her does.

I recently spent time with our church plant leadership team.  I said these words, “If we don’t spend time with Jesus, how will our people be able to trust us, they shouldn’t.”  Everything depends on our intimacy with the Jesus.  If I am going to have integrity in the little things, in all of my dealings with people, in all my moments when I am alone and no one is looking, the first step in honesty before God.  He knows my heart anyway, why would I try to hide from God.  Yes, I think Adam tried that once, hiding from God, didn’t work for him.  (Gen 3:8)

Prayer:

Lord, show me any ways that I am violating my integrity.  Help me to never take advantage of my position and think I am more deserving than someone else.  Help me to be HONEST before you, always seeking your approval and not the approval of man.

Burning Questions:

Do you justify your behaviors at work that are un-ethical?  Have you had to convince yourself your practices are ethical? Do you take advantage of your position to give yourself benefits in your work no one else gets?  Are you able to be honest before God?  (Okay, I better stop, I could write 100 questions for this one)

Day #6: Heavy Lifting

// January 6th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // 217church, 31 Days of Wisdom, Professional Life

Today I would like to thank 217church Development Pastor, Eris Pappas for his contribution to the 31 Days of Wisdom.

Title: Heavy Lifting

Scripture Read: Proverbs 6

Key Verse: ^“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!  Proverbs 6:6

Observations:

The scripture in this chapter is particularly clear and specific.  We learn here there are areas of our lives that we need to be attentive to.  His desire is that we lack no understanding in how we should live.  The word teaches us to run like a deer from a hunter away from promises we cant keep and debts we can’t pay.  Pay what you owe and make right all promises.  Make this a number one priority.  We are taught to learn from the ant and work, work hard in the summer so that there may be food in our table when winter comes about.  God teaches us here to guard what we think and say.  We can ruin our life by the wrong words we say.  Seven things God hates, pay attention to them.  What God hates can’t be in his presence.  Think of Satan.  The scripture also revisits the wicked way of an adulterer.  Why does God offer wisdom and teaching in these regards? He knows we are not wise unless we learn wisdom.  God knows this relevant teaching will help us live and live well.  As a loving father he is protecting us from foolishness.

Applications:

God in his all wisdom draws my attention to the ants.  He finds ants wise.  The God of the universe finds an insignificant insect wise.  He is asking us to see the ants as teachers for our lives.  So here is the lesson.  I should work, work without being told to do so. Work that I get paid for.  If I am physically able to attain a job I should work.   This goes for us as Christ followers.  Get out of the bed, off the couch. Stop hanging out and partying at the expense of others. Stop sleeping in and loosing sense of time, letting days go by without living them. Would you like to be dirt-poor?  Do you want poverty to be your permanent house guest?  Do you want to live off of pity of others?  Do you want to grow old unable to take care of your self and not know where your next meal comes from?  If not, work and work hard.  Save the fruit of your labor and plan for your future. One day I will be a father, mother, grandfather, grandmother and all these seasons of life need to be planed for.  I will live my life like the ant, honestly tirelessly working to be a blessing and not a burden to others. God will call us wise if we do what ants do! Wise people work!

Prayer:

Dear Father, thank you for speaking clearly.  Thank you for ants and the lesson they teach me.  I ask that I will see the fruit of your instructions as I follow them.  Help me see how to better prepare for the future.  Please bless me with work so that I can have my daily bread.  Thank you for your provision.

The Burning Questions:

Do you desire sleep more than work?  Do you find your self saying “I have not found what I want to do yet and don’t have a job? Are you living off of your parents, your spouse, the government?  What do you think about verse 6,  “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise?”