Lance Witt

About The Episode

“High trust makes high performance possible. It’s a soft skill, but it’s foundational to building healthy teams, especially in ministry where trust is an even higher currency.” Meet Lance Witt, founder of REPLENISH ministries. In today’s episode, Lance shares insights on balancing health and high performance within ministry leadership. He also explains the importance of avoiding burnout, setting strategic priorities, and how church leaders can create space to think and focus on what truly matters. Lance shares his journey from workaholism to a more balanced approach and explores how leaders can effectively combine hard work with healthy rhythms.

Welcome to Episode 117 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan. 

INSIGHTS FROM LANCE 

• Health and High Performance: Lance Witt emphasizes that both health and productivity must coexist in ministry leadership. It’s crucial to avoid focusing solely on performance metrics like attendance or finances without considering the well-being of the staff.
• Workaholism in Ministry: Many church leaders, including Lance in the past, have struggled with workaholism, wearing overworking as a badge of honor. He emphasizes the need for recovery, rest, and margin.
• Replenishing Leaders: Lance shares a story of how the concept for his book High Impact Teams emerged, focusing on creating teams that balance health with high productivity, and addressing misconceptions about rest in leadership.
• Hard Work vs. Strategic Work: Lance and Sean discuss how hard work and long hours don’t necessarily equate to productivity. True fruitfulness comes from focused and strategic efforts, not just time spent working.
• Prioritization in Leadership: Leaders must set strategic priorities for themselves and their teams, aligning their efforts with these goals. Without clear priorities, busyness takes over, and teams risk burning out due to a lack of focus.
• Creating Think Time: Senior leaders need to create intentional time for reflection and vision casting. Lance suggests having regular “think time” to pray, reflect, and develop vision clarity. Leaders should avoid canceling personal appointments for reflection.
• Reinventing Leadership: As leaders move up in their organizations, they need to adjust their leadership style, creating space for strategic thinking rather than just executing tasks.
• Use of Assessments: Tools like the BCWI and the Unstuck Group assessment help gauge staff productivity, health, and culture. They provide a benchmark and highlight areas for improvement year over year.
• Senior Leadership’s Role: Senior leaders should engage in open, honest feedback sessions with their leadership teams, listening to insights from various ministry areas to better understand staff needs and concerns.
• Perception and Reality: Leaders must recognize that even if something wasn’t intended to cause harm, a staff member’s perception is their reality. Addressing perceived issues is vital for organizational health.
• Push Seasons and Rest: Churches should recognize push seasons and intentionally create rest periods for staff to recover, such as giving time off after a busy season.
• Addressing Underperformance: Leaders need to have candid conversations about performance issues, focusing on stewardship of resources. Clear expectations and accountability are key.
• Self-Leadership: The greatest gift a leader can give is their relationship with Jesus, ongoing personal development, and commitment to prioritizing their team.
• Management Training: Church leaders often need management training in addition to leadership development. Balancing leadership and management is crucial for team success.
• Spiritual Health vs. Ministry Work: Leaders should ensure their work for God doesn’t replace their personal relationship with God, prioritizing time for spiritual connection over mere service.
• Stewardship and Accountability: Leaders must steward their resources well, ensuring people are focused on what matters most in their roles. Accountability is crucial for personal and organizational effectiveness.
• Overcoming Personal Insecurities: Leaders often avoid tough accountability conversations due to their own insecurities, such as fear of being disliked. True leadership involves facing these insecurities, being kind yet clear.
• Balancing Kindness and Clarity: It’s possible to lead with both kindness and clarity. Holding others accountable doesn’t mean sacrificing kindness—it enhances growth and development.
• Trust in Leadership: Trust is a key element of successful teams, especially in ministry. Without trust, teams underperform. Leaders must be trustworthy themselves to foster this environment.
• Owning Mistakes: Admitting when you’re wrong, especially publicly, increases trust and respect among the team. Leaders must model this vulnerability and humility to inspire growth.
• Hiring for Trust, Not Just Skills: While qualifications are important, trust is foundational for team health. Building trust within teams allows for high performance and strong relationships.
• Continuous Growth: Leaders should strive to grow continuously rather than repeating the same year of leadership over and over. This requires honest feedback and challenging oneself to develop.