Quotes from the book: Defining the Executive Pastor Role by: Phil Taylor

1. Who is in charge backstage?
2. The idea of "coming along side of" in a subordinate manner is at the core of the Executive Pastor role. 
3. It is incredibly freeing to know exactly where you fit best in the church.
4. My role as Executive Pastor is to oversee the effective implementation of the vision of the church. The vision and direction of the church are cast largely by the Lead pastor.
5. It takes another person with a pastoral heart and mind to keep his eyes, hands, heart and soul and every part of the ministry at all times in some sense.
6. The Executive Pastor becomes the guy who not only implements the vision but also protects it.
7. The Executive Pastor has to be able to take a pile of ideas and aspirations and reverse engineer them into a plan of attack.
8. I can't do the vision of the church if I'm not in the vision conversations early on.
9. Understanding why you were hired really does drive the direction of your role and even how you manage your schedule.
10. Risk is not something that comes naturally to me, but I've learned that I need to take a risk-at least calculated risk-because it forces me to rely on God instead of my well thought out plans.
11. Obedience is never a failure. 
12. Give developing pastors added responsibility, but limited authority.
13. Guard the Elders/Pastor title carefully because it is much easier to increase the authority and leadership level of someone on staff then it is to reduce it.
14. I've never regretted going slow with someone in leadership development, but I have regretted going to quickly.
15. I believe that leadership development is one of the most important things to get right in a church.
16. Most of what we find in scripture for elder qualifications is character-based, not ability based. 
17. Most Executive Pastors will either be an EXECUTIVE pastor with a capital E and lowercase P, or, they will be an executive PASTOR with a lowercase E and a capital P. 
18. I suggest that the first chair and second chair should have a unique symbolic working relationship-different and more critical than any other staff relationship.
19. Staff to your weakness. 
20. God has made you exactly the way he wanted you, then he has called us to do life in community. It's called the "body of Christ" you don't have to be every part on that body. Nor should you even try.
21. Don't be afraid to hand off key roles in the church by building your top volunteer team.
22. If you find yourself serving in the Executive Pastor role of a smaller church, do not hesitate to call or email the another Executive Pastor serving in a larger church.
23. If you know who you are, then you know who you aren't!
24. Executive Pastors are the men/women who take the raw material of a visionary's hazy dreams and form it into a movement.
25. I'm the guy who takes a great idea and makes it even better by wrapping it up all snug and warm with systems, structures, and strategies to ensure that the great idea makes it into the real world, which benefits real people throughout the church and beyond.
26. Simply put, I mean I don't really do much, I just make sure that a lot gets done.
27. Executive pastors need to have a high tolerance for both complexity and ambiguity. 
28. I spend most of my time leading the leaders, who in turn lead to doers. 
29. Over manage the details that everyone else under manages. 
30. Lean on your trusted direct reports and then get the heck out of their way.
31. Implementation inherently involves continual clarification.
32. Saying no is usually harder than saying yes, but it often has a far greater impact on the success of the church.
33. Some people are called to be a voice, and some people are called to be an echo, and that's OK.
34. This is the hallmark of a good Executive Pastor: the ability to jump into just about any role and do it moderately well.

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