How to Manage a Micro-Managing Board

By Ken Godevenos, MBA, CCP, CHRP

I recently gave a seminar on church governance to a group of pastors and church board members. I received positive feedback, especially from two participants who felt vindicated in what they’d always believed was the right approach. One attendee, a pastor, felt he now had a “green light” to single-handedly run his church. The other, a board member, felt his group could legitimately continue to call all the shots.

Fortunately, a client from the denominational district office attended the seminar as well and was able to inform both men that neither belief was supported in my seminar. The general rule of thumb is this: The board leads and the staff manages. There’s always room for crossover, however. Supporting a staff mindset that is all visionary/autocratic or a board mentality of micromanaging is unacceptable. Let’s take a closer look at how we might tackle the latter problem.

What makes micro-managers

Working with church boards has taught me micro-managing happens for a variety of reasons:

1. The board doesn’t have a clear understanding of its role.

2. The board consists of the wrong people.

3. Tradition supports the mindset.

4. Management is weak and fails to stand up for the right to carry out its responsibilities, or it is perceived as incapable of managing properly.

5. A good relationship does not exist between the board and church management.

6. No one knows a better way to do things.

I must also point out that boards can micro-manage both officially and unofficially through individual board-member pressure.

Both types must be stopped.

If you perceive that your board is micro-managing, verify your suspicion before taking corrective action. Identify some recent decisions you believe would have more appropriately been made by you or your staff. If micro-managing tendencies are unofficial, identify circumstances in which the board’s actions or pressure strongly influenced the decision.

Next, try to ascertain exactly why micro-managing is occurring at your church. Run through the six potential reasons listed above and decide which are the most likely root causes. Make every effort to address them.

Muster up the courage to draw attention to this general behavior first to those responsible, then to the board chairperson and finally, to the entire board if necessary. (Remember, the Matthew 18 model applies to you as well.) Describe which decisions you feel you should have made instead. Indicate that you view it as part of your responsibility and authority, and provide policy or agreement documentation that supports your position—your job description, church policies, etc. Explain how the board’s action negatively impacts you, the church and others. Above all, let them know that micro-managing is harmful to your relationship with the board. Offer suggestions for how to do things differently so board and staff contributions are both optimized. (Of course, before you do any of this, you will have prayed that the board will receive the news with a spirit-filled attitude.)

You need a remedy

If your board has an unclear understanding of its role, or if its performance has not been reviewed with respect to that role for several years, now is the time. There are several ways to approach it.

Agree to talk about it at a meeting, or identify one or more good books on the topic (John Carver’s materials on church governance, for example) and make it required reading for each board member.

Maybe suggest that board and staff members attend a seminar on the issue, or invite a church consultant to speak at your campus.

If you believe current board members are unqualified to provide strategic guidance, direction and support on the issue of micromanaging and are more comfortable deciding between orange juice and grapefruit juice for the men’s ministry breakfast, carefully nudge them toward the preferred approach using some of the aforementioned approaches. Otherwise, they’ll probably never get it, leaving you to wait patiently until their term has elapsed and you can replace them with people who do.

If your board’s problem is the result of a we’ve-always-done-it this-way mindset, your best offense is to review who does what and why. By asking, “Is this the best way to do it?” or “How can we improve our operational efficiency as both a board and staff, not to mention an integrated, growing church?” The only traditions Christians should be holding onto are those based on sound logic and doctrine.

If, on the other hand, your board’s micro-managing tendencies are a byproduct of your own leadership challenges, the best approach is to say, “Look, I know your direct involvement in things might have been justified in the past due to my style. Still, I believe it needs to change, just as my style has changed [is changing]. We need to be more effective and efficient as a team, which means putting forth a greater effort to let the board lead and the staff manage.

We must review our decision-making responsibilities.” Then embark on that course after sharing some of your concerns about the impact your inability to manage freely has had on the board’s leadership. In the meantime, consider seeking coaching for your own development of assertive leadership.

If trust has been broken between board and staff members, each group will flex its muscles until someone puts a halt to it.

Meanwhile, the church and the Lord’s work could suffer. Nothing can change until the board/staff relationship is restored.

Micro-managing also might be the result of simply knowing no other way to manage. If so, you have an excellent opportunity to bring something new to the table. Do your homework on how a church board and staff should function. Suggest one board member and one staff person (or an external third party) assume the responsibility for making a presentation to the board on how to do things better. This certainly is a less threatening approach, and board members whose hearts are in the right place will recognize it as a good thing.

As with most other symptoms of church illness, micro-managing is something you can’t ignore for the sake of your church and your board members. Just as importantly, it must be addressed for the sake of your own leadership and mental health. You’ve been called to the ministry. You’ve been given the gift of leadership.

You are too valuable to live your calling frustrated, hurt and falling short of your potential in His service.

Question of the Month

Dear Ken, As a young associate pastor, I’m desperately looking for some leadership, development and motivation from my senior pastor. And like many of my peers in our region, I hate to admit that I’m not getting any. I love my church, I love my calling, and I desperately want to make a difference for God. What can I do?

Dear Reader, First of all, you’re not alone. A number of young people in the ministry have told me the people they’ve chosen to work with are not everything they’d imagined. In fact, some young people were left to sink or swim, and with it came discouragement and frustration in the ministry.

Having said that, bear in mind:

• Your senior pastor is human. Just like you, he has his own strengths and weaknesses. Whether he was called or not should not impact your attitude; for whatever reason, God has him there. As his subordinate, you must treat him the way Paul tells us to treat our bosses.
• There is a good chance your senior pastor was exactly where you are years ago. His bad experiences or his attitude might have caused him to take it easy lately. For whatever reason, your pastor might be tired and discouraged.

Alternatively, maybe no one has ever challenged him to effectively fulfill the most important role of leaders: to develop other leaders. (Just remember that yourself when you’ve been around for a while.) • You are never too inexperienced or too young to have a positive impact on your senior pastor.

Meanwhile, to keep your own spirit intact, you must:

If you were called, remember Who did the calling. He doesn’t make errors.

• Find yourself a mentor outside your church and perhaps in addition to your senior pastor. Suggest to your senior pastor that you are seeking further development, direction and greater challenge. Ask if he can help. You might be pleasantly surprised by his willingness once the need is drawn to his attention.
• Do not under any circumstances give up. God doesn’t just call His people to go through trials and tribulations, to persevere and to give it their all, He calls their Shepherds to do likewise. Your reaction to all this might be your ticket to God mightily using you in the future—perhaps even to develop other leaders.
• Run (don’t walk) to your bookstore to buy a copy of Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels. You have the advantage of reading it while you’re still young. Unfortunately, too many pastors read it toward the end of their ministry.

I pray that every young associate gets the mentorship they need and that God wants for them. If it’s not forthcoming, however, this guidance should help considerably.