From my research and years of leading mid-size communities, coaching others, and forming them, here are my top 10 insights to successfully launch and grow mid-size communities:
10. Plan your gathering schedule 3-4 months out at a time.
9. Meet bi-weekly with your leadership team to have a meal where you are discipling one another, rather than a meeting where you are planning together.
8. Share resources, lessons, and email template ideas with other mid-size community leaders.
7. It’s better to delay the launch date of your mid-size community than starting it with a thin or small leadership team.
6. The gathering focus of your mid-size community (affinity, geography, or societal need) becomes your mission focus.
5. Don’t create rules to obtain behavior; instead, be a cultural architect that shapes an ethos, which leads to your desired behavior.
4. Inclusivity and smaller groups meeting in the off weeks are key factors for depth and growth.
3. Don’t let attendance become your success factor. Instead, look for vital behaviors that you can control to measure success. In other words, create a dashboard for health.
2. A clear mission focus for your mid-size community will keep it on track and ensure that it does not become a lame social gathering without purpose.
1. The health of your leadership team determines the health and longevity of the mid-size community.
What are your thoughts?
All these are straightforward to me except for #5. Can you expand.
Hey Josh,
In other words, instead of creating the rule that everyone must invite someone to the MSC, you should create an ethos where newcomers are expected and want to come. Does that make sense? I elaborate it more in my MSC leadership training workbook.
What are some practical examples of clear mission focus?
1. Geography – this is the focused area we’re reaching, like a particular neighborhood in a city
2. Affinity – this is the people group we’re reaching, like young families or young adults
3. Cause – this is the cause we’re rallying around, like fighting sex trafficking in our city