Helping Churches Make Vision Real

global leadership summit 2012: jim collins

Monday, August 13, 2012

Jim Collins, researcher and best selling author of the leadership books Built to Last, Good to Great, and How the Mighty Fall, shared a message at the Global Leadership Summit. Here are my notes from his talk:

The X-factor of great leadership is humility combined with will
Fanatic Discipline: excerpting a sense of control in a world that increasingly seems out of control
Discipline keeps you from over extending yourself and getting wiped out by the next big storm
The principle of the 20-mile march turns great intentions into productive results: consistent consecutive performance
Most leaders fail to fire enough little shots to try new things & they have a propensity to fire big uncalibrated shots that lead to failure
More and more innovation without discipline leads to failure
Productive Paranoia: leads to preparation and buffers the things you do before times are tough
The signature of mediocrity is not unwillingness to change. It is chronic inconsistency.
Creativity is natural, discipline is not…
What’s rare is the ability to marry creativity and discipline without destroying creativity
It is how you manage with discipline in the good times that allows you to be strong when people most need you most
The greatest danger is not failure but to succeed and not know why
Life is people and time with people you love
An organization is not truly great if it can’t be great without you
Luck = a specific event that 1. You didn’t cause 2. It has a potential significant consequence 3. It was a surprise
Great winners in were research were not “luckier” all of us get these events, its what you do with them when they come
Greatness is not a matter of circumstance but a choice
A great organization possesses 3 things: 1. A superior performance relative to the mission 2. They make a distinctive impact 3. They achieve lasting endurance beyond any one leader

Posted in Leadership

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global leadership summit 2012: condoleezza rice

Monday, August 13, 2012

Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, addressed the Global Leadership Summit. Here are the highlights from her talk:

When fear between a dictator and his people breaks down all that is left is angry that fuels revolution
Leaders lead by the consent of the people they lead
Democracy doesn’t mean the tyranny of the majority
The strong cannot exploit the weak
If the strong exploit the weak then democracy cannot be stable
If every life is worthy then every life is capable of greatness therefore the strong have a responsibility to provide opportunity for greatness to the weak
If you have the privilege too lead in difficult times there is great opportunity
Leadership is about helping others see their own leadership potential not having followers
The most important quality of a leader is their irrepressible optimism
It is a privilege to struggle
Things that one day seem impossible in retrospect seem inevitable
Today’s headlines and history’s judgment are rarely the same
The leader of Sudan was the most dangerous person that she ever had to deal with because he was willing to do almost anything to get what he wanted and he treated his own people poorly
Leadership is not about you or your ego but about trying to get something done
When things are tough people become more of who they are
If you cannot agree with your leader on a matter of principle then you must resign
If you do something that you know your leader will be upset about call him before he calls you
He may be your friend but he’s the president, so his decision matters not yours
When you are in a position of authority you need truth tellers around you…(truth telling to the leader needs to be done in private)
You have to take energy from first chair public leadership or it will drain you

Posted in Leadership

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global leadership summit 2012: bill hybels opening session

Monday, August 13, 2012

Bill Hybels opened the Global Leadership Summit. Hybels is the founder and Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. He also the founded The Global Leadership Summit, now in over 200 U.S. sites and over 260 cities worldwide including 85 countries.

Leaders build teams because we don’t know what were doing most of the time. We are typically hoping that someone else will make us look better than we really are (tongue & cheek)
Growth is valuable because everyone wins when a leader gets better
Growth takes humility you can’t learn from someone who you think you’re better than
I hate cats…Bill’s not a cat person
How many people in your community even know you’re there? With a 75% rejection rate of the gospel it means sowing more seeds (Luke 8)
Whether you like it or not your whole organization takes its seed sowing queue’s from you
Leaders must stay, curious, courageous, and experimental
Entropy will not occur on our watch
We must insist on nonstop experiments that force learning and sow more seeds
We must become indecent tinkerers
You are the most difficult person you will ever lead
The leaders greatest asset isn’t time but their energizing capabilities: to energize other leaders, new ideas, the organization they lead, and themselves
Deliberately disregard second tier activities
God didn’t make you a leader to respond to stuff all day god made you a leader to move stuff ahead
Figure out the top things that need to be done and then energize them
Succession planning should not be rushed
Phases of Succession planning: phase one: every idea needs to be surfaced, who makes what decision, time frame, honor the pastor leaving…lots of questions need to be surfaced and answered / phase two: try and find an internal person who can succeed, if you can’t do it then go outside / phase three: the last phase is the actual transition…18 months transition of responsibilities
The whole world is going to have a front row seat to succession of leaders the next few years
Sr. Pastors don’t hang on too long, do the right thing for your church, set your church up to be led well after you leave, set the next leaders up to succeed.
When is the vision the most vulnerable: it’s in the middle…not the beginning because it’s exciting, not the end because you see the finish line, it’s in the middle because you can’t see either
What a privilege it is to be a leader…when was the last time you thanked God that he has put you in a position to lead

Posted in Leadership

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Can A Prayer App Change Your Church? We Think So!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

This is a guest post from the guys over at InviteToPray, one of my ministry partners. I’m very particular about who I choose to partner with in ministry, because my name is on the line. But these guys make it easy, and I absolutely believe in what they’re doing and I’m thrilled to be able to introduce my readers to this incredible ministry resource. – Paul

What happens when, as a Christian, you become tired of the mundane, tired of the ordinary, tired of being lukewarm? What happens, when as a Christian, you are no different than an unbeliever? Can others really see the fruit of Christian living? (Wearing Christian t-shirts doesn’t count.)

For me, I asked God one morning, “God, is this it!?!?! Because if this is it, then I don’t want it.” That is a bold prayer. I can tell you from experience, that when you really put it on the line to either be “all in” for Jesus or throw in the towel, God will reveal Himself and your life will never be the same again. I began praying this prayer and soon found out my friend Tyler Pettis was praying the very same thing. That sparked a partnership that has turned into a mission to change the world.

Are You Missing Out On A Massive Opportunity?

Tyler and I both have huge hearts for seeing the Church reach more people. It’s very clear to us that the Church isn’t capitalizing on the MASSIVE opportunities that social media offers.

Over the course of 2 1/2 years and much time seeking God’s wisdom, we developed a cutting-edge technology to allow the Church greater reach through social media. Today we are excited to share with you our first web app: InviteToPray. Continue Reading…

Posted in Spiritual Formation

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is the church for christians?

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Churches all across America are stuck. In a large majority of these churches people come every week to the worship services and faithfully attend bible studies. They love being with each other, they know one another’s names and they have a good general working knowledge of the Scriptures. But they’re stuck. They’ve plateaued or they’re declining. Their best days are behind them and they consistently talk about the “good ‘ol days” and a high water mark that happened some years ago. It was an incredible moment and they should remember it, they should talk about it. After all it was a great moment. But today they’re stuck.

It’s not because they’re not faithful in their church attendance or commitment to the Scriptures. But because they have adopted an unbiblical view of what Church is all about.

What if I told you that the church was never intended to be a box that we sit in, but a movement we’re a part of? That, as a Christ Follower you can’t come to church, because you are the Church. What if I went as far as to say that the Church isn’t for Christians? Got your attention yet? The Church simply doesn’t exist FOR Christians. Because the Church IS Christians, and we don’t exist for ourselves; we exist to be on mission with God. And God’s mission is all about His people taking on the posture of a servant and thinking about others before they think of themselves.

Could it be that the reason that many Churches are stuck today, is because they’ve been sold a lie that says Church is for Christians? That’s absolute opposite direction of what God has called His people to.

Click here to check out the talk I gave at Sun Valley Community Church this past weekend where I unpack this idea even further.

So what do you think? Is the Church for Christians?

Posted in Spiritual Formation