Ron, a youth minister at a church where I was serving as Interim Pastor, came to me one Sunday following the worship service to tell me he was “quitting”. He was going to resign as volunteer youth minister because, in his words, “They won’t talk. I can’t get them to talk about our lessons. They just sit there. It’s not working.”

I asked Ron to explain what was happening and their reaction. As the conversation was unfolding I realized one key factor in Ron’s leading these teenagers. Ron was in his early thirties and was using stories and illustrations that were relevant to him and to his coworkers – people his age.

I encouraged Ron to try a different approach with the teens. Find stories and illustrations that appeal to 15-17 year olds, not 32 year old adults. “Ask them for illustrations.”

Four weeks later I asked Ron if he had tried my suggestions and how it was working. His face lit up, his body language showed excitement as he exclaimed, “It’s great. It has totally changed. Now, I can’t get them to stop talking (about the lesson).”

Understanding your audience and providing stories and illustrations that appeal to your audience is crucial. Once you understand this one key factor, your leadership will change – and if like Ron, it will change dramatically.

It is always best to insure your audience can relate. The more they can relate to your story,
the more they’ll take notice. The more they take notice, the more they will remember.

There are basically three story plot types.

1, Challenge Plot – This type story has built within it a challenge for one (or more) of the characters. How did he/she handle the challenge? Did he overcome the challenge? If so, how, what steps did he take? Is the person or group you are dealing with up against a challenge? (David and Goliath is a great challenge plot story – 1 Samuel 17.)

2, Connection Plot – The connection plot story includes elements that allow the listener to connect to what is happening in the story. If a person or your whole team is struggling to move forward, share a story of someone who could not seem to get ahead until she had a mental breakthrough and succeeded at the task at hand. (The Good Samaritan is a great connection plot story – Luke 10:25-37.)

3, Creativity Plot – Using a creativity plot story unlocks the deeper thought regions of people’s brains to find solutions for their impending issues. (Solomon and the two mothers provides a creative plot story – 1 Kings 3:16-28.)

Each of these types engage the deeper listening skills of hearers enlivening sensory receptors that will bring about needed change. Stories do not have to be lengthy. I have used and have read of others using three to five sentences to share a story that elevated progress in their teams.

Learning how and when to use each of these three types of plot stories will enhance your leadership and bring more effectiveness to your team and organization – I guarantee it! Remember, stories stick.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

One of the greatest tools we have in leadership is stories. Yet, it is also one of the most overlooked and underused avenues of leadership today. Jesus understood the value of stories. We have recorded more stories and parables in His teachings than any other teaching/leading technique.

Stories are truly imperative in helping people to learn, grow and grasp the task at hand. Here are six imperatives of why you should include stories in your leadership.

• Stories motivate people to action – Stories of people overcoming obstacles motivate people to stronger performance. Stories of pushing through adversities motivate people to keep going, pushing through difficult times and circumstances. Stories motivate people to action.
• Stories give a tangible relational illustration – Stories are relational, giving the listener something he/she can connect to causing them to strive for a strong outcome. The more I can relate to what you are telling me, the greater opportunity I have to connect it to the needs before me. People find a personal connection to a relational illustration.
• Stories paint a mental picture – Your mind thinks in pictures. Not sentences, words or even letters. I remember a time walking on the beach, miles of water to my left, miles of sand in front and behind me, miles of hotels on my right. Your mind just painted a picture of a beach scene based on your own experiences. Yours is different than mine but everyone reading this painted your own picture. Use stories to paint a mental picture for greater effectiveness of desired outcomes.
• Mental pictures are stored in our memory bank – These mental pictures are stored in our memory bank and can be drawn upon to learn new material. You can learn nothing new until you can attach it to something already stored in your memory. Use stories that connect the new, desired outcomes to information already stored in memory (as in the beach illustration).
• Stories can appeal to every type of learner – There is not a person alive who does not respond to stories. Stories may have varying levels of appeal to different people, but stories appeal to everyone. The appeal of a story draws people to strive for the desired outcomes.
• Stories Stick – Facts and figures are great, but when put in story form statistics (facts & figures) stick in the mind of the listener. When facts are put into a story, we are 20 times more likely to remember. Stories stick!

Stories can be encouraging, enterprising, and fun, bringing effective outcomes for your leadership and your organization’s productiveness. Jesus’ stories have been affecting lives for over 2,000 years.

For illustrations and examples to accomplish each of these or for training in learning to use stories, contact George Yates.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

It is a fact, we all like new things. A new car, new phone, jewelry, a new fishing rod & reel. We each could begin a list of new things we like and would like to have. For some, a new beginning would be ideal.

We are at the threshold of a new year. Consider it a new beginning for each one of us. We will soon have a new President, a new administration, a new work year (for those still working) with new vacation and personal days.

But most of all you and I have a new opportunity to grow in the grace & knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and Almighty God.

I shared a message on this topic Sunday using the scripture verse Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

I believe as we sit on the threshold of a new year, we are sitting on the threshold of a new and greater opportunity than we’ve experienced previously. 2025 holds something for Christians that we have not seen in our lifetime – if we take hold of it.

Are you ready and willing to follow in a new way – a deeper, more concerted walk with God than ever before? This is the opportunity God has for you in 2025.

God had Isaiah share, “I am doing a new thing.” Doing is not past tense, it is present tense. God’s work continues in us each day of our lives.

God has a next step for each of us. He is doing a new thing and desires us to follow Him in greater and different ways in this next year.

He desires to grow you; therefore, you cannot stay in the same place. God stretches us to grow us. No growth takes place in the comfort zone.

Can you perceive going with God on an enhanced journey? He’ll not leave you or forsake you. In 2025 may your perceiving be, wherever He leads I’ll go.

Isaiah reminds the people of Israel in verse 19 that God has never left them alone. He has never forsaken them. He has always provided a way, a highway in the wilderness where there were no roads or paths to travel. In the desert, He provided streams of free flowing, thirst quenching, life-giving, living water.

God is your highway in the wilderness. He is your stream in the heated, dry conditions of the desert. God’s new thing is your highway and your thirst-quenching stream. Are you ready?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Katharine Hepburn, in her own words:

“Once, when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter. That family made a lasting impression on me.

There were eight children, all under the age of 12. From the way they were dressed, you could tell they didn’t have much money, but their clothes were clean, very clean. The children were well-behaved, standing in pairs behind their parents, holding hands.

They were so excited about the clowns, the animals, and all the acts they would see that night. From their excitement, you could tell they had never been to a circus before. It was going to be a highlight of their lives.

The father and mother stood proudly at the front of their little group. The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking at him as if to say, ‘You’re my knight in shining armor.’ He was smiling, enjoying seeing his family happy.

The ticket lady asked how many tickets he wanted, and he proudly responded, ‘I want eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets.’ Then she announced the price.

The wife let go of her husband’s hand, her head dropped, and the man’s lip began to quiver. He leaned in closer and asked, ‘How much did you say?’

The ticket lady repeated the price.

He didn’t have enough money. How was he supposed to turn around and tell his eight kids that he couldn’t afford to take them to the circus?

Seeing what was happening, my dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and dropped it on the ground. We weren’t rich by any means. My father bent down, picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder, and said, ‘Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.’

The man understood what was happening. He wasn’t being handed charity, but he gratefully accepted the help in his desperate, heartbreaking, and embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my father’s eyes, took my dad’s hand in both of his, squeezed the bill tightly, and with trembling lips and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied, ‘Thank you, sir. This really means so much to me and my family.’

My father and I went back to our car and drove home. The $20 my dad gave away was what we had planned to use for our own tickets.

Although we didn’t see the circus that night, we felt a joy inside us that was far greater than seeing the circus.

That day, I learned the true value of giving. The Giver is greater than the Receiver.

If you want to be great, greater than life itself, learn to give. Love has nothing to do with what you expect to get, only with what you expect to give—everything.

The importance of giving and blessing others cannot be overstated because there is always joy in giving. Learn to make someone happy through acts of giving.”

The ultimate gift: Jesus Christ left a perfect heaven, lived a perfect life, suffered a horrible death, all to give you and I the opportunity of eternal life in heaven with Him. That, my friend, is the ultimate gift.

Merry Christmas

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

In Dissecting the Serpent, my friend, now deceased, Rick Shoemaker shared a story from his third-grade math class. The teacher had privately instructed the three smartest students in the class to choose answer B to a math problem she was going to share with the class.

When asked for a show of hands for anyone who believed A was the correct answer not one person raised his/her hand. She then proceeded to ask who believed letter B held the correct answer. Once the three “smart” kids raised their hands, almost everyone in the class followed. Rick said, “It didn’t look right to me, but I raised my hand anyway. I didn’t want to look stupid.”

Then the teacher called for a show of hands for letter C. One girl, Elaine raised her hand. Elaine was the only one who chose the correct answer.

Rick says, “I don’t remember anything about the math problem that day, but I will never forget the powerful lesson Elaine taught me about standing alone when you know you are standing for what is right.

That class (or at least Rick) learned a valuable lesson in peer pressure that day. Satan loves to use the power of hordes or as Rick calls it “droves” to lure people to that which is wrong or evil. You’ve likely seen or heard, “Wrong doesn’t become right just because everyone is doing it.”

Peer pressure has proven to be detrimental to scores of people throughout history. It’s what led to Christ’s crucifixion. Many of the same people who, days earlier were shouting “Hosana to God in the highest,” as Jesus entered Jerusalem, were now calling for His crucifixion. Why? Had they seen something different in Jesus that week? No. Jesus was still the healing, loving teacher they had witnessed before. They followed the hordes calling for His death that morning.

Jesus shared in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

“Because everyone is doing it” is a ticket to the broad gate that leads to destruction. Before jumping on the bandwagon of popularity, check with the Holy Scriptures. That is where absolute truth is found. Truth is not found in individual beliefs or desires, that is the sure path to destruction. This Christmas season seek truth, study the Holy scriptures, this is the only way to life abundant and eternal for which Christ came. – Those are not my words, but God’s.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

In our last article we shared of Changing Directional thought processes to keep from falling into a rut or a ditch (a rut with the ends knocked out). This week I want to share three benefits that come from changing directional thought processes. Whether you are attempting to change the directional thought processes of an individual or an entire organization, these benefits will shine through.

Changing directional thought processes is not about brainwashing or coercing others to your desires. It is about producing a positive outcome for better living and better life choices for the individual and organization.

Some people seem to always have a negative attitude about most everything. Others just seem to continue making bad life choices. Most all of these are rooted in one or both of the quality characteristics, confidence and competence. Helping to redirect their thought processes will assist these people greatly while simultaneously aiding their organizations.

3 benefits of changing directional thought processes: Changing directional thought processes…

• takes people deeper in the learning experience. By asking the right questions (see previous article) individuals are challenged to personal introspection, not out of threat or accusation, but out of care and concern. Any time you cause someone to reflect through caring introspection, you cause him/her to move into deeper thought processes which creates a learning experience.
• Does not stop with attaching old information to new. To learn anything new you must first attach the new information to something you already know. If you learn of a new restaurant that you would like to try, you do not have to start over learning how to drive, you only need to know the directional coordinates on how to get to the restaurant. In reality, you will learn of familiar stores and restaurants close to the new one. Since you already know those locations, you not only attach the new to previous knowledge, your mind easily calculates the route to the new restaurant.

The same is true with all information. Once it is attached to something already in your memory base, a new learning experience can occur which can lead to a change in behavioral processes.

• Leads people in a discovery of what they had not previously experienced or considered Asking the right questions in right order will always lead people to ponder ideas and ways they had not considered before. Once learning of the new restaurant mentioned above you begin describing the path you would take, someone queries, “What about the ne new bypass, would it not be quicker and easier?” With this one non-accusatory question your thought processes have been challenged to consider new possibilities.

Learning to use questions that change directional thought processes is a powerful tool in helping others gain insight & create new behavioral patterns to better themselves and any organizations he/she is involved in. Creating positive reflective learning experiences changes the direction of thinking and behavior.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

It is easy to allow our thinking to get stuck in a rut and overtake our positive, forward-moving progress. Individuals and organizations often fall into this trap without knowing – until it becomes detrimental. Have you ever walked into an organization (church, business, factory line, or office) and very quickly realized this organization was stuck in an organizational rut?

In the religious realm there is a saying that the last seven words of a dying church is, “We’ve never done it that way before.” Or the flip side, “But we’ve always done it this way.” Organizations unwilling to admit change is needed, will likely never see forward progress.

Whether an individual or an organization, occasionally our thought processes need to be challenged to assist us in making future forward moving progress. Otherwise, our rut becomes a ditch. A ditch is a rut with the ends knocked out, it goes on and on.

How do you change directional thought processes? It is not always easy, but a great example can be found in a passionate preschool teacher/leader. As I’ve watched over the years, those passionate for working with preschoolers follow a pattern in assisting a child in correcting inadequate behavior. First, that teacher will kneel down on that child’s level in front of the child, not in a threatening or foreboding manner. Rather in a loving, gentle one.

Next, she will address the child’s poor behavior, calmly using words and terms within the child’s comprehension. Then she will ask a question, similar to, “Do you know why Marci cried when you did that?” Notice the question asked was not, “How would you like it if…” There may be a time and place for a question as the second one, but not yet. Often times, the experienced, passionate teacher will never have to ask that question, because the questions used help the child come to the conclusion he/she would not want that to happen to himself.

The questions asked remain focused on the outcome of the incident, not on the child. This allows and even guides the child, at his own level of comprehension, to better possibilities of outcomes. His directional thought processes have been changed. Those outcomes will lead to a changed behavior. Admittedly, with preschoolers (and adults), sometimes it may take more than one occurrence to change a behavior pattern. Yet, with each occurrence of changing directional thought processes, the child is learning.

Does it work with adults? Yes, at times, individuals and organizations (made up of individuals) need a change of directional thought processes, and a similar process will guide them to a right and better path. A path of forward moving progress, enhancing the life of individuals and the organization.

As in any leadership situation, asking the right questions is crucial to the outcome. Unfortunately, we are asking the wrong questions and as long as we ask the wrong questions, we will never come the right/best conclusion. For more on asking the right questions contact George Yates or pick up a copy of Coaching, A Way of Leadership, A Way of Life. You will be glad you did. It will alter your directional thought processes.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

To think about passion and goals in the same sentence seems odd, maybe even absurd. After all, aren’t goals things other people in an organization set for us to accomplish what they want or need? Is there anything about goals that truly stirs passion? Powerful, unifying goals stir passion and inspiration.

When I think of such powerful unifying goals, I think of George Washington and his frozen troops crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776. This was considered one of the Revolutionary War’s most logistically challenging and dangerous clandestine operations. Yet, Washington planned and prepared his tired troops with a powerful, unifying goal that paved the way to the birth of a nation.

I also am reminded of a more recent powerful, unifying goal in my own lifetime. It happened May 25, 1961 (my fourth birthday), as President John F. Kenedy stood and shared with the nation and world, ““I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

People born after that time cannot understand the magnification of that goal. The United States had only three weeks prior put its first man in orbit – and that flight only lasted 15 minutes. This was a huge undertaking, but it was a powerful, unifying goal.

Space engineers and others working on the space program would later share that they did not want to go home at night, and they were eager to get up early to arrive at the job. They had one common goal – a powerful, unifying goal. And they accomplished this – what many deemed, unbelievable, impossible goal, within the decade.

A powerful, unifying goal appeals to more than the mind alone. These goals appeal to the heart, universally to everyone involved. Powerful, unifying goals are not some big dream that a leader comes up with. They normally are derived as a team effort, after weeks or months of soul searching for the organization. In the church this of course includes much prayer.

Powerful, unifying goals must appeal to every person in the organization as a worthwhile quest. Not everyone will see the goal from the same perspective as the goal’s originators. Therefore, the goal should be designed and written inclusive of various perspectives of pursuit. Worthwhile pursuits need not appeal to higher order pursuit as “it’s for humanity”.

However, they should appeal to individual’s high-level performance. Regardless of a man or woman’s level in the organization or gifting, the goal should give each one the inspiration to contribute at his/her highest level of gifts of service.

Try designing Powerful, unifying goals (not leaders desires) and watch passion rise and your organization reach for the moon.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

One of the most read and great books on leadership in the first decade of the 21^st century is Good to Great. Its principles are timeless and worthy of any organization to consider. Jim Collins has written (co-written) several good leadership books. One is “Great by Choice” copyright 2011 Harper Collins.

In Great by Choice Collins and Morten T. Henson write about tension between consistency and change. Every organization must recognize the need for both. In the church, we sometimes find one without the other. Some churches are so into consistency they even have the mantra, “We’ve always done it this way.”

A scene in the movie “Hoosiers” represents this well. The scene takes place in a barber shop, after hours. Some of the men in the town are having an unofficial meeting welcoming the new high school basketball coach, played by Gene Hackman. One gentleman says, “Zone defense is what we’ve played in the past and it’s the only thing that’ll work this year.” To which several of the men in the room agree stating, “that’s right.”

Consistency without change kills organizations – including churches. Yet this remains the mantra for many churches – “This is the way we do things and it’s the only thing that’s gonna work this year.”

Finding the correct balance between consistency and change is a continual effort for any organization. One of the first keys is, Take your time in discovering and developing your consistent practices. This is where you develop your organizational framework for operations. This framework must be strong enough to withstand the pressures of cultural change and individual challenges, yet flexible enough to adapt to change only when absolutely necessary.

Built into the framework must be a structure that is solid and immoveable. In the church the operational framework of the church is found the entirety of scripture and pinpoint focused in The Great Commission.

Collins and Hansen state, “No human enterprise can succeed at the highest levels without consistency; if you bring no coherent unifying concept and disciplined methodology to your endeavors, you’ll be whipsawed by changes in your environment and cede your fate to forces outside your control. Equally true, however, no human enterprise can succeed at the highest levels without productive evolution.”[i]

Correct, sufficient consistency of all organizational practices must be built in with strong discipline to adhere under difficult situations. Another part of your consistency is to regularly and continually challenge your framework. Is it aligning with scripture without legalism or broad freedoms which could derail your organization at any point? If your organizational practice framework is designed sufficiently, challenge it regularly, change it rarely.

Find a copy of Great by Choice and read chapter six for a great example from our founding fathers on managing the tensions of consistency and change. And it still is working 237 years later! If you will take the time to examine and develop this type framework for your church/organization, you will become a much more effective, lasting organization fulfilling your God-given purpose.

[i] Great by Choice, pg 145, Harper Collins ©2011

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.

Do you have a personal mission statement? Working with churches and other organizations for more than two decades on writing mission statements, core values and other items for determining and focusing on purpose, I am convinced that a mission statement is good for individuals as well. I wrote my personal mission statement several years ago.

A mission statement can be a great assist in keeping focus on your purpose. A well written Mission statement can bring clarity to your life and to your God-given purpose. You were created by God with a specific purpose in mind. God desires you to live the abundant life that Jesus spoke of in John 10:10. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

God is a lover of the souls of men and He desires a personal relationship with you so you can live out your God-designed purpose to live that abundant life. Jesus also told us the primary purpose of all men in Matthew 22:37and 39; “ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

While this is our overarching purpose, God has designed each one of us with a particular means of accomplishing this overarching purpose. This is your individual God-given purpose.

Writing a personal mission statement can help you define goals for your life, determine your core values, and impact your course of action for life. Here are a few things to consider when preparing for and writing your personal mission statement.

1, What are the three things that you value most?

2, What are you passionate about? Think in at least three different areas of life, i.e. hobbies, work related, people types.

3, What skills do you possess? What are you good at, listening, working with your hands, mechanical, cooking, mental processing?

4, In addition to your skills, what other strengths do you possess?

5, What goals would you like to accomplish in life?

6, Pray. Pray that God would lead you in aligning these areas as He planned and purposed for you.

With these in mind begin to piece together a statement that embodies these five areas. Don’t accept your first draft of your mission statement. You will want to assess, rewrite, and tweak your wording – several times to assure this is God’s mission for you.

Gain clarity of and focus for God’s purpose for your life by developing you own mission statement. What is my mission statement? It is located at the close of every blog post. Assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. I’d love to read yours once you’ve developed one.

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.