Late for Rehearsal Again . . . Not anymore!
“Late to Rehearsal . . . Again?”
If you’re like me, when you read the phrase you immediately think of at least one person on your team. You can see their face right now, can’t you?
Whether they are late to rehearsal, set-up, the Sunday service, Small Group, their own wedding, or whatever else may be on the calendar, some members of your team and mine have a Punctuality Problem.
Just recently I had a really great guy playing guitar with our team and he was constantly late . . . BIG TIME LATE. It wasn’t getting better and I had to jump in to fix it.
But how?
Thankfully, I have a system for how I approach things like this – it’s Called Run to Conflict!
That’s right, whenever relational or team value conflicts happen, the average worship leader runs away, but to be Successful Worship Leaders you and I have to run to them.
It’s not comfortable . . . it’s not always easy . . . but for the integrity of our team and the good of the person who is out of line, we have to approach the problem and help them fix it.
So, here’s how you do it!
#1 – Ask, “Is there anything that I am doing to create this problem?”
That’s right the Successful Worship Leader looks in the mirror before he/she looks out the window.
There may be something that you are doing that is enabling the problem. Ask:
“Have I been clear that on-time is actually 5-minutes early?”
“Have I raised the value of punctuality at a recent Team meeting?”
“Have I let people get by with being late without talking to them about it?”
“Am I arriving on time or am I constantly late, too?
You may find that you are your own worse enemy. After all, you can’t expect anyone on your team to live up to any standards that you have not communicated and exemplified yourself.
#2 – Ask, “If it’s not me, what other factor could be at play here?”
Perhaps there is a personal struggle that you don’t know about . . . her boss is keeping her late at work, or one of the cars is broken down and the drummer and his wife are having to figure out how to make it work on one.
Big idea: Don’t jump to the negative conclusion without giving them the benefit of the doubt.
#3 – Talk with the person. The first time.
Not necessarily in front of the entire team, but as soon as rehearsal is over, talk to them. Don’t wait!
Every time something like this happens and you don’t correct it, you are doing two things:
a) Telling the person who is constantly late that it is ok to be late.
b) Telling the rest of the team who is watching you to see what you will say that timeliness isn’t that important after all.
Before long, a problem ignored will become a problem enlarged!
Part of leading your Worship Team is not only giving pats on the back, but corrections as well.
Don’t be afraid to handle these issues the moment they arise.
PS – As you might imagine, when it comes to leadership and rehearsal, situations like this can come up all the time.
Over the last 9 years I’ve learned to create some simple, but very effective systems in our Worship Team of over 200 volunteers to help ensure our team stays on the right track.
Recently, I sat down and recorded a 3-hour seminar to help worship leaders avoid making some of the mistakes I’ve made in leading our team with God-given authority.
In the Leading with Authority in Rehearsal seminar, I walk you through how to develop systems on your team to:
- Remove the fear of how the worship set will go this Sunday
- Bring the best out of the musicians on your team
- Create a culture of excellence
- Develop your plan for the worship set and inspire your team to embrace it
- Create a REAL accountability through a simple 4-Step process that will ensure everyone understands and lives up to your ministry expectations
- Create your Music Plan for maximum impact each week
- Help you invest personally into the lives of your Worship Team members at rehearsal and the weekend service
- And much more!
In addition, ONLY IN THIS RESOURCE will you learn . . .
- The Journey’s Nine Core Values for Music Planning and how to begin writing your own
- How to lead a music planning meeting, and the Five Questions you need to be asking every week to get ready for rehearsal!
- How to build momentum, remove distractions and lead your church into powerful worship this Sunday!
- How to cut your rehearsal time in half and creating more time for personal investment and vision casting
- How to turn “difficult” team members into your biggest allies
- The one rehearsal principle that will dramatically reduce your stress on Sunday (Hint: it’s not what you think!)
- How to guarantee that every team member arrives on-time, prepared and knowing their parts
- Plus much more!
You know, there are two ways to learn in life . . . through your own mistakes and successes, or through the mistakes and successes of others.
I’ve always found the latter to be faster and less painful. I hope you will allow me the opportunity to share these leadership principles with you.
And if you aren’t absolutely satisfied with this resource (or any of my resources for that matter) simply return your product within 365 days for a prompt and courteous refund.
Immediately download the complete mp3 audio files and full resources and SAVE $30.00!
OR
TUESDAY MORNING INSIGHTS is Jason Hatley’s free weekly training resource specifically designed to provide you as a worship leader with proven principles, tips and practices to help you lead a healthy and thriving Worship Arts Team.
About Jason Hatley and Worship Leader Insights
In 2002, Jason Hatley helped launch The Journey Church in New York City, directing the programming of their worship services. He serves as the Pastor of Worship Arts and built from scratch The Journey’s worship arts team, a group of over 200 artists and technicians who develop and implement the creative and technical elements at weekly Sunday services. The Journey has been recognized as one of Outreach Magazines fastest growing and most creative churches.
Jason has been a worship leader since 1996. He invests in Worship Pastors around the country through interactive coaching networks and worship planning resources. He has been a featured break-out speaker at the Willow Creek Arts Conference, The Purpose Drive Worship Conference, as well as seminars around the country. He has a B.M. in Sacred Music Performance from Appalachian State University.
Jason and his family currently live in Boca Raton, FL where he serves as the Pastor of Worship Arts at The Journey’s newest campus in South Florida.