Here are the notes from the two sessions I taught at the Killing Cockroaches tour stop in Houston.
The Houston crowd rocked! Thanks for being there and engaging the conversation.
Archive for Leadership
An Introvert Interviews an Extrovert on Introverted Leaders
3 CommentsI recently had a few moments to interview Jennifer Kahnweiler, the author of The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength. We had the opportunity to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of introverted leaders. We talked about whether or not extroverts still make good leaders. Jennifer gave me some advice on how I, as an introvert, can become a better leader. And, among other things, she recommended what I should or shouldn’t drink at office parties.
Here’s the 14-minute interview in its entirety:
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So, what surprised you about Jennifer’s take on introverts and their capacity to become good leaders? Do you agree with her take?
If you’re interested in learning more about Jennifer’s thoughts on introverted leaders, you can check out this previous post. You may also want to purchase her book. Here’s my Amazon link to The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength.
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Just so you know… Jennifer gave me her book to review, but I only recommend books on my blog that I believe will benefit you in your leadership.
Upcoming Conferences
3 CommentsSeveral of my friends in ministry are offering some great church conference opportunities in the next couple of months. These experiences may not be on your radar, so check these out:
- Radicalis – Rick Warren and his team are offering a new experience at Saddleback Church on February 9-12. This event features messages from Rick, Mark Driscoll, Andy Stanley and several others. And, it’s a nice excuse to visit SoCal.
- Velocity 2010 – The folks at ChurchPlanters.com are hosting an event with Ed Young, Rick Warren, Steven Furtick and others on February 22-23 at Mountain Lake Church near Atlanta, GA. I’ll be there too talking about “The Giant Inflatable Blue Monkey.”
- Unleash 2010 – Perry Noble’s conference is on March 4 at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC. The conference features sessions with Perry, worship and breakouts. Unleash sold out last year, so you should act quickly if you’d like to attend.
- Thrive 2010 – This conference is out at Bayside Church near Sacramento, CA on April 29 – May 1. This event includes messages from John Ortberg and John Maxwell, and the worship will be led by one of my favorites, Lincoln Brewster.
- The Uprising – This one-day conference is on April 15 at Quest Community Church in Lexington, KY. Pete Hise is the lead pastor. Quest has seen over 10,000 people come to Christ in the last 10 years. The early bird deadline is January 15.
Just out of curiosity, what conferences, if any, are you planning to attend in 2010?
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Update: I knew I’d leave out some of my friends. I’ve added a couple of others. And, to state the obvious, I’ve been offered free registrations to several of these events and I’m obviously getting paid to speak at others. You and I are both going to get tired of these disclosure statements to make the FTC happy. Everything’s better when the government gets involved!
Platform
15 CommentsThere are no shortcuts to having a platform. You have to earn it.
No one owes you a platform.
Sometimes someone who is trusted can help you get a moment on the platform, but you still have to deliver to keep it.
The harder you try to have a platform, the harder it is to get it.
If you do what you’re designed to do and you are faithful to stick with it over time, there’s a good chance you’ll have a platform.
Not all platforms are created equal, but all have the opportunity to positively impact the lives of others.
Relationships are the foundation of a platform. If you can’t build relationships, you can’t have a platform.
The person who yells the loudest doesn’t necessarily get the platform.
If you never stop and listen, you probably won’t get the platform either.
If it’s just about you, you don’t have a platform.
You’ll lose your platform if you don’t continue to use it for positive change. You have to move people to a better place.
You’re more likely to leverage your platform if you tell stories that engage both the head and the heart.
You’re more likely to keep your platform if you ask questions.
If people can’t have access to you and your daily life, your platform is probably shrinking whether you know it or not.
Platforms are established over time and lost in an instant.
Lots of people want a platform, but very few are gifted to have a platform and even fewer are humble enough to keep it.
Coaching Network Application Deadline this Week
1 CommentThere are a few slots remaining for the two new coaching networks that will begin next month. This Friday, January 8, is the application deadline.
One of the coaching networks will meet in Atlanta at West Ridge Church. The other one will meet from the confines of your home office via the World Wide Web. I’m offering one opportunity for those who want to travel to Hotlanta and another for those who would like to save a few pennies and join us online.
Overview
This network is designed for leaders and strategists who serve in a local church. The network will be limited to no more than 12 participants. As best as possible, I will select candidates to participate who are in similar roles and at similar churches. I’ll try to create an environment where you can experience the coaching but also learn from your peers. And, frankly, I’m looking forward to being challenged and learning from all of the participants as well.
We will meet six times once a month between February and July 2010. Each day will begin at 9:00 am and conclude by 3:00 pm. The dates are listed below. Once the coaching network participants are identified, I will ask for recommendations on topics to cover at each session. Topics may include: staffing, leadership development, communications strategy, financial stewardship, volunteer team development, weekend services, ministry structure, multi-site strategy and more. Additionally, each session will include an opportunity for participants to discuss the pressing issues they are facing in their ministry environments.
What will you receive?
- Six day-long coaching sessions
- The opportunity to network with like-minded leaders
- An invitation to join an online forum limited to network participants for continuing dialogue between sessions
- Several free tools and resources including my new book, Killing Cockroaches
- Plus other fun surprises and guest appearances!
What are the expectations?
- Be a leader and/or strategist who’s currently serving in a local church
- Demonstrate a strong commitment to personal and ministry growth
- Attend all six coaching sessions on the following dates:
- Web Network: Feb 18, Mar 18, Apr 15, May 13, Jun 17, Jul 15
- Atlanta Network: Feb 19, Mar 19, Apr 16, May 14, Jun 18, Jul 16
- Invest $200 per session
- Complete the coaching network application by Friday, January 8, 2010 and submit it for review
If you are accepted into the network, we will notify you by Friday, January 15. If you have additional questions, please contact me.
Stop Making Goals for the Future
4 CommentsI used to be a 5-year-plan type of guy. I was all about defining the vision and then establishing specific, measurable goals.
Now I think I’m more of a 5-day-plan type of guy. I still think organizations need to clarify their vision and their strategy, but I don’t necessarily think it’s helpful to define the 5-year goals.
Part of the reason why I don’t find long-term goals are helpful is that our environments are changing so rapidly. What we may perceive as success today, could look very different a few years from now. The goal may be too high or too low or we could be trying to reach a goal that has nothing to do with the long-term health and viability of our organization.
Additionally, I don’t think we sense the urgency today when we’re shooting for a goal 5 or 10 years from now. We delay the changes we need to make now. That’s probably because we fall in love what we’re doing now and think it’ll somehow produce different results in the future.
I do believe leaders instinctively have one eye on the future and the big picture as they’re making decisions today. I’m just in a place, though, where I think prioritizing our time and resources today is a much more valuable exercise than defining where we hope to end up 5 years from now.
And, rather than measuring where we are today against some goal in the future, I also think it’s wiser to measure current trends. We can hide behind future goals and forecasts, but getting honest about current trends forces us to reassess our strategy our structure and our team.
Instead of figuring out where we hope to be in five years, I think the more important questions are:
- Do current trends suggest we’re moving in the right direction? If they aren’t, are you being honest about it or explaining away the numbers?
- Do we have the right people in the right roles to help us move forward? I’d rather have the right people with the wrong strategy than the wrong people with the right strategy.
- Are we focusing our time and resources on the right priorities? Honestly, I think most organizations can only handle one new project or initiative at any given time. Healthy organizations get everyone on the team pulling in the same direction to see that initiative through to success.
How about you? Are you still making long-term plans to clarify your personal or organizational vision? Or, have you landed in a similar place as me?
As we end one decade and launch into a new one, I’m really curious to hear how you’re approaching the future.
Do I need to stop what I’m doing and develop my “Vision 2020″ goals?
#6 in 09: 10 Keys to Leading Creative People
No CommentsI’ve had the opportunity to lead a number of creative people over the last 15 years both in ministry and in the marketplace. And, from time to time, I’ve been known to be a “creative” myself. Creatives are different. They deliver new ideas and approaches, but they come with their quirks. You can’t lead creatives like you lead “normal” people.
Within the church, don’t assume creative people only work in your worship arts area. They’re likely to hangout there, but it’s also very possible they’re on just about every ministry team at your church. They may not sing songs or draw pictures, but they’re still creative. And, if you don’t learn how to lead them, they’ll find someplace else to take their creativity.
Here are some reminders for leading creative people:
- Tell them what to do, but not how to do it. You can hold them accountable for the results, but don’t force them to embrace a certain process.
- If you want their input, you’ll need to ask. If you stop asking, they’ll stop contributing.
- If you ask, you better consider their input. If you’re not really going to use their input, it’s better not to even ask.
- Know that they’ll be emotionally attached to what they create. So, if you decide not to use their creation, you’ll have to process that appropriately and not abruptly.
#7 in 09: Are you really the leader?
1 CommentOn Friday night, Jacob had a basketball game. We don’t always make the other kids watch him play basketball, but for this game we decided to take everyone. That included Brooke, my almost-four-year-old daughter.
For those of you who are experienced parents, you know it’s a little much to ask an almost-four-year-old to sit through an hour of anything including watching older brothers play basketball. Brooke is no exception. She’s a smart little girl. I love her. I mean that. But, just to be honest, sometimes her mother’s feisty personality comes through in most inopportune times.
We were about midway through the game when Brooke decided to begin pestering her older sister. Abby, our eight-year-old was sitting to my right. We had Brooke strategically positioned to my left between my feisty wife and me. Brooke, though, was done with basketball. She crawled under my legs and began teasing Abby. She made faces. She poked. She gave Abby the raspberries. Basically she was trying to annoy Abby in any way possible to divert Abby’s attention from the game to her.
Abby has great patience, but she’s also very human and will sometimes react the way “more mature” people react. She let Brooke do her thing for a few minutes, and then she basically kneed Brooke in the chest. I guess as the father I was supposed to reprimand Abby for that reaction, but my initial thought was, “You should have hit her a little harder.”
#8 in 09: The Principle of the Path
1 CommentI finished Andy Stanley’s most recent book, The Principle of the Path, last week. Andy is one of those guys that seems to have figured out how to get from here to there, so I figured I’d read his book about how to get from where I am to where I want to be.
Here are some of the highlights from my reading:
- “To get from where we don’t want to be to where we do want to be requires two things: time and a change of direction.”
- “Direction–not intentions, hopes, dreams, prayers, beliefs, intellect, or education–determines destination.”
- “We should break the habit of drawing a circle around individual decisions and events and dismissing them as isolated occurrences. These are steps. Steps that lead somewhere.”
- “Prudent people look as far down the road as possible when making decisions.”
- “Christians start talking about forgiveness as if somehow forgiveness serves as an escape hatch from the outcome of bad decisions.”
By the way, out of full disclosure, I received this book for free from the publisher. Most of the books I read are free from publishers or authors. With that said, this was a great book.
#9 in 09: 5 Reasons Why Consensus Sucks
No CommentsI’m growing more and more convinced that the worst thing an organization can do is try to reach a consenus about something. Think government. Think church committee meetings. Think declining big business.
On the surface, reaching a consensus seems like a positive thing because it means people have agreed to move in the same direction. That’s a good thing isn’t it?
Actually, I’m not convinced that’s the case. For example, here are:
5 Reasons Why Consensus Sucks
- It embraces the status quo. Change, whether positive or not, is not human nature. We would prefer for things to remain the way they are today. So, when people get together to discuss the possibility of doing something a little different in the future, it’s normal for the majority to avoid making changes.
- It gives the malcontents an equal voice in your decision. Reaching consensus gives everyone a voice at the table. When that happens, even the negative, bitter folks that don’t really embrace the vision have the opportunity to pull the rest of the group away from what could really be the most desirable outcome.