Phil Caporale had been in leadership on staff at KC for almost 8 years this year when he stepped into the role of Lead Pastor and realized the need for improvement in staff care. That’s when he turned to Leadr.
“I’ve assumed the reins of the lead pastor role. It’s been quite a year and we’ve just been focusing on unity, stability, and strength within our team. We’ve been focusing on role clarity and making sure everyone is on the same page and that our team is cared for.” - Phil Caporale, Lead Pastor, KC
In the midst of leadership change, he decided to do a temperature check with the team to see where there were gaps to fill and concerns to address.
"I knew our culture, knew our team, and had deep relationships with a lot of people on the team. I did an in-house listening tour with the team and spoke with all 19 (at the time) staff members individually. I knew I couldn’t be new eyes because I’ve been around, but I could be fresh ears for a short season."
-Phil Caporale
Phil spent 30 hours listening to KC staff, and what he found was that staff members were not receiving the same level of care throughout the church. Some staff members had someone they reported directly to and so received a weekly 1:1 meeting, but others, who had no direct report, weren’t receiving 1:1’s until their end of year evaluation. Phil realized they could do better as an organization to make sure every team member felt cared for and valued at the same level.
This was the initial challenge that led Phil and the Kingsway team to Leadr. Phill realized the software could help him pay attention to, care for, and value each person on the team for more than just what they contribute to the team.
Sometimes, leadership means asking your team members how you can help them do their job.
“In my prior role, I was in charge of our leadership school and we built the school with our mission of developing the next generation of servant leaders. We focused on building students with their hearts, head, and hands. When it came to staff development, I decided to follow that same approach. I wanted us to care for our staff in that same way, by caring for their hearts, their heads, and their hands.” - Phil Caporale
KC was already conducting weekly staff meetings and a weekly all-staff chapel, but Phil wanted to further resource and develop staff members on an individual level. Leadr helped take what KC already valued and simply created the structure to more easily implement those practices. He and other team members had developed a leadership document with questions to ask, but found the Leadr software contained a curated list of employee development questions that closely mirrored what he had been wanting in a way that was easier to align on and distribute amongst the staff. Nine weeks later, KC’s staff is already leaning heavily into the Leadr software.
Leadr is adaptable across different departments within organizations.
Phil started seeing a high level of engagement and utilization amongst team members. He found, since implementing Leadr at KC, that some team members are utilizing it for production for Sunday services while others are using it for small groups that they lead. No matter their function within the church or their need for organization and alignment, the entire KC team is enjoying keeping everything in one place and Leadr use is spreading exponentially across KC’s two campuses.
Leadr has transformed 1:1 meetings and feedback conversations for KC.
Phil personally began using Leadr for 1:1 meetings with his direct reports. He found that having a shared agenda where both he and his staff know what priorities and questions will be covered prior to the meeting has helped improve clarity and efficiency within their meetings.
When asked what advice he would give to other church leaders who may question Leadr’s ability to help them, Phil maintained that “having everything in one spot is so valuable.”
“Everything for leadership development is on the dashboard in one spot [from meetings with direct reports to our org chart]. We just started using the feedback feature and Leadr makes it so easy. There’s so much value because it’s already at the heart of what we’re doing, and Leadr gave us a way to express that and keep it all in one place.” - Phil Caporale
Phil shared that the Feedback feature, in particular, has been a game-changer for their team. KC recently finished a huge initiative within their missions team, and the Director of Missions was able to send out a feedback request within the Leadr platform. Due to the simplicity of the platform, she heard back from half of the team in less than 24 hours - a record-breaking turnaround time for KC.
KC knows there is still so much more for KC to utilize within Leadr, and the team looks forward to more coaching conversations with the Leadr team to uncover the additional value that the software can provide including goal-setting and staff reviews.
If you’re looking for a tool that helps you develop and care for every member of your team within one simple, intuitive place, we’d love to show you how Leadr does just that. Request a demo with our team today.
