We’re participating in the Leadership Summit the next few days. I’m attending at the satellite location right here at Granger Community Church. The Summit has been my favorite leadership training through the years. I’m looking forward to learning and being challenged over the next few days.

Bill Hybels opened the first session by talking about the life-cycle of a leader. To explain the the concept, he started talking about the life-cycle of music. Moving from 8-tracks to cassette tapes to CDs to the iPod. He suggested that leaders go through a similar life-cycle. If we aren’t intentional about our growth, our leadership influence will plateau and ultimately die.

Leaders in their early 20s usually have lots of “stupid stories” to share. But, he explained, “I had a heart that was full on for God.” Bill explained that he loved God and wanted to do something significant with his life. That was enough to fuel him. God is looking for some “young Kingdom fool” to do something great. “Stay wild young leaders.” One ingredient for a leader is a fired up heart.

Leaders cannot exist on passion alone. Followers can only take so much heart and heat. Eventually, they want to know if there’s a plan. They want to know if the leader is just trying to use them or if there’s going to be a true relational connection. A second ingredient for leaders is skill. You have to be disciplined about developing your leadership skills. If you have been given the spiritual gift of leadership, you have been mandated to stretch your skills. Bill challenged us to:

  1. Read everything you can on improving your leadership.
  2. Go where leadership is taught.
  3. Get around leaders that are better than you and ask them questions.
  4. Keep leading something.

The next phase of growth as a leader is to develop other leaders. That is followed by the ability to share power with other high-capacity leaders. The question, then, is who do you call out for that level of leadership?

  1. Look for intelligence.
  2. Look for energetic people. They have to be able to energize others.
  3. Look for relational IQ. These are people that can get stuff done without hurting other people.
  4. Look for a win or die spirit.

A lot of pastors stop before sharing responsibility and power with other leaders. If you don’t do that, you become the growth restricting obstacle in your church. And, if leaders under you don’t have an opportunity to lead at that level, they’ll leave. Those people who leave typically aren’t “power hungry”–they’re “impact hungry.”

Bill explained the leadership transition process that has happened at Willow. Gene Appel has become the Lead Pastor at the South Barrington campus. Bill has moved to a leadership role on a new strategic leadership team that includes the leaders from the Willow Creek Association, the South Barrington campus and the four other multi-site campuses.

Bill concluded by talking about a final level of leadership. It’s something we really can’t aspire to on our own. God places a unique anointing on these leader’s lives. Billy Graham is an example of someone who has attained this level of leadership. Ultimately, Bill explained, God wants us to continue to maximize our leadership influence until our dying days.

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