On one of my recent trips, I wrapped up the book Derailed by Tim Irwin. Tim is an author, speaker and leading authority on leadership development, organizational effectiveness and executive selection. The book profiles the derailments of Bob Nardelli (Home Depot), Carly Fiorina (Hewlett-Packard), Durk Jager (Procter & Gamble), Steven Heyer (Starwood), Frank Raines (Fannie Mae) and Dick Fuld (Lehman Brothers).

Here are some of the highlights of my reading:

• “No matter how brilliant, charming, strategic, or commanding in presence a leader is, the consequences of a failed character are extraordinarily disabling and will bring down even the strongest among us.”
• “Employees ought to be held accountable — especially executives — but not to the degree that they display a crippling fear of not only the failure but the leader to whom they are obligated to follow.”
• “Because its brands have been so dominant for so long, the company’s culture acquired a pervasive, slavish adherence to precedent.”
• “It is said that adverse circumstances do not make or break you; they reveal you.”
• “We always become who we are. It may take time or stress or illness, but what’s inside us tends to come out. Our character serves as the wellspring from which our behavior emerges.”
• Some leaders “…don’t handle pressure well. They are overly sensitive and take criticism deeply and personally. They’re often critical of others. These individuals are more fragile under stress. They are more emotionally volatile and tend to be suspicious of others’ motives.”
• “Convictions reflect what we are convinced is true and noble. The problem is that some convictions address topics that do not rise to the level of meaningful importance.
• “Courage to do the right thing results from clarity about what we believe.”
• “Lack of courage shows up in many organizations as micromanagement, failure to empower others, risk aversion, overcontrol, and perfectionism.”
• “While we want to know that we are being paid fairly, we will almost always work harder for meaning than we will for money.”

If you’re interested, you can assess your risk to becoming derailed as a leader. Tim offers a free online test on his website to help you determine your risk.

Finally, if these highlights have grabbed your attention and your interested in picking up the book, feel free to follow my Amazon link to add Derailed to your reading list.

If you’ve been keeping up with the news from Tennessee, my friend Pete Wilson is in the middle of a new “Plan B” following the flooding that has occurred in recent days. Pretty ironic given the topic of his first book, Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?, that released today. Here’s my recent interview with Pete about the new book:

Are you intrigued? Then follow my Amazon link and order a copy so you can grapple with the “Plan B’s” in your life.

It’s hard to believe, but Killing Cockroaches was released one year ago. The book continues to be available on Amazon and in your local bookstores, but I also have about 125 copies remaining. So, until supplies last, you can purchase a copy for $10 plus shipping. I’ll sign it. With that, I’m sure it’ll become a collectible.

You may use the link below to place your order.

By the way, you may not know that I’ve also written three other books with Tim Stevens. The three books are part of the “Simply Strategic” series. One is on details of running a church. There’s one on volunteer strategy. The third one is on growing churches. Again, all three of these books including the Kindle version of Simply Strategic Volunteers is available on Amazon.

Vince Antonucci is touring the blog world today to let people know about his new book, Guerrilla Lovers: Changing the World with Revolutionary Compassion.  I’m excited to be a part of it and get to ask Vince about his book.

TONY: So Vince, I appreciate you challenging people to become guerrilla lovers, but I guess what I’m wondering is if it really makes a difference in people’s lives…

VINCE: That’s the question, isn’t it?  Here’s part of my answer:

There’s a twelve-year-old named Jacob who has been coming to the church I started in Virginia Beach most of his young life. One chilly November morning Jacob left his house to walk to the bus stop. As he walked up something stopped him. It was a rock. The kids at the bus stop were throwing rocks at him. They were also shouting. “You’re fat.” “Go home you faggot!” “Don’t cry, you fat faggot!” Jacob ran home, blinded with rage and shame, tasting the salt of his tears. His mother was surprised to see him, but after learning what happened, told Jacob she would drive him to school. Jacob knew the same bullies would be at school and begged to stay home, but his mother insisted he go.

That night the rest of his family heard about what happened. His older brother said, “Tomorrow morning we’re gonna go there together and beat those kids up.” His parents discussed calling the bully’s parents.

But Jacob had a different idea.

He explained that he wanted to invite the kid who had been most abusive to sleep over on Saturday night and go with the family to church on Sunday. His parents were flabbergasted. They asked, “Jacob, why would you want to do that? I mean, after what he did to you?”

You know why? Jacob had learned about being a guerrilla lover. Jacob was a guerrilla lover.

And the next day Jacob invited his attacker to sleep over and come to church with his family. Surprisingly, he said yes. That Saturday night he slept over, that Sunday he came to church, and he’s been going to church with Jacob every Sunday since.
That’s guerrilla.

Thanks Vince! You may order Vince’s book using my Amazon link.   There’s also all kinds of free resources for pastors, guerrilla assignments, and more at www.guerrillalovers.com.

I recently had the distinct privilege of interviewing Joseph Michelli, the author The Starbucks Experience. Last month, I finished Joseph’s book and posted highlights from my reading. As a result of that post, I had the opportunity to connect with Joseph and talk about some of the specifics of his book. Here’s the audio recording of our conversation:

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If you haven’t already, you may want to order a copy of The Starbucks Experience using my Amazon link.

Interestingly enough, I found out in our conversation that Joseph’s wife is in ministry. It was fun to hear his take on how some of the principles in The Starbucks Experience applied to churches.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree that churches have a thing or two to learn from Starbucks?

On my most recent trip, I wrapped up Management Rewired by Charles S. Jacobs. Jacobs takes a look at recent brain research to address some myths of leading people that leaders may have erroneously embraced in the past. As examples, he talks about emotions versus logic in decision-making. He addresses the failure of positive or negative reinforcement to improve performance. He addresses the lack of long-term effectivenes of the authoritarian-style of leadership, instead suggesting that leaders cast a compelling vision through the use of communication and stories to empower self-managed teams.

Here are some of the highlights that challenged my thinking:

• “Using stories to change behavior is more effective than logical declarations.”
• “Leadership isn’t about forcing people to do our bidding, but about telling a story so that they want to do what we need.”
• “The study reviewed pay-for-performance programs, which are a fixture of most corporations, and found no linkage between pay and performance.”
• “Leaders who inspire outperform any other kind.”
• “The more experiential the vision is, the more powerful it will be, so the achievement of the vision should be made as tangible as possible.”
• “People are going to embrace a story to make sense of their experience.”
• “It’s important for the leader to let the followers feel the competitive pressure, but not to the extent that it makes them insecure.”
• “Given the failure of reward and punishment and other extrinsic ways of motivating behavior, managers have no choice but to consistently put the responsibility for performance back on their people.”
• “In a mental world, it is ideas that shape behavior, and it is the transformational leader’s job to package the right kind of ideas into a story and to effectively communicate it to the organization.”
• “The kind of leadership that works is more humble and therefore more empathetic.”
• “Our decisions, no matter what we think to the contrary, are made as much by our emotions as our logic.”
• “It’s the role of the transformational leader to create the story that identifies the kind of change needed and to present it in a way that is meaningful and moving. It should align the needs of the individual with those of the organization, so that people see the necessary changes as a way to meet their desire to be part of something bigger than themselves and realize their fullest potential.”
• “The best leaders are emotionally expressive.”
• “The strongest are often the ones who come across as the most humble, for, given the potential for relationship effects, leaders must step down from their pedestals so that followers don’t become overly dependent.”
• “It’s so quick and so easy to tell people what to do or to tell them how badly they’re doing it. It takes longer to come up with questions to help them decide what to do or realize that their performance isn’t cutting it, but the questions produce a better result. Questions build commitment and overcome the resistance to being controlled.”
• “When we tap into the stories others are telling themselves, we gain a clearer understanding of who they are and why they do what they do.”
• “Stories are the most useful tool we have in the mental world. They have a unique power to sneak up on people and change the way they think and behave.”

If you are interested in reading more, you can purchase Management Rewired using my Amazon link.

Geoff Surratt is the Pastor of Ministries at Seacoast Church, a multi-site church based in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. That makes Seacoast my second favorite multi-site church based in South Carolina. Geoff and the entire Surratt clan are a fantastic group of folks who are changing the way churches do church. Though Geoff has experienced many successes in ministry, he’s also made some mistakes. Here’s a brief interview where we discuss some of his more “stupid” mistakes.

TONY: People may not know that Seacoast was a pioneer for multi-site ministry. Would you be willing to share a little of that story?

GEOFF: Seacoast never intended to be a multi-site church. In 2001 we had grown to about 3,000 attenders and had run out of space and service times, so we made plans to build a larger auditorium. We ran into a major roadblock, however, when our local town council denied us permission to build.

Seemingly out of options we heard about an experiment that Willow Creek and a couple of other churches around the country were trying with multiple locations  utilizing video teaching. We didn’t think it would work for us in South Carolina (a state not known for being on the cutting edge), but we were out of options. We rented a storefront about ¼ mile from our original location and opened our first “offsite campus” on Easter Sunday, 2002. Much to our surprise it not only worked, but many people actually preferred the intimacy of a smaller congregation combined with the resources of a mega-church. Seven years later over 10,000 people each weekend attend Seacoast’s 13 campuses.

TONY: In honor of your new book, what’s one “stupid thing” churches do when initiating a multi-site strategy?

GEOFF: The biggest mistake churches make when considering a multi-site strategy is to attempt to launch before the church is ready to multiply. In The Multi-site Church Revolution, a book I wrote with Greg Ligon and Dr. Warren Bird, we identify three major questions a church must answer before going multi-site:

1. How healthy is your church? If your church is not growing and is not healthy you should not export your disease.
2. What is the driving impetus behind your desire to go multi-site? Some churches are addressing crowding issues, some are reaching communities that do not have a life-giving church, some are reaching into a new culture or demographic. A really poor impetus, however, is to keep up with other churches that are going multi-site. Going multi-site without a compelling reason is like trying to have a baby before getting pregnant.
3. Are the key leaders behind the decision? Some churches have attempted going multi-site without having the senior leaders fully onboard with very poor results. While you will never get 100% buy in, if the senior leader is not fully invested it is not time to open a new campus.

TONY: How long did it take you to come up with 10 stupid things to write about in your new book?

GEOFF: Church is in my genes. My mom played the church organ on the night I was born and she was back on the organ bench the next Sunday morning. My grandfather was a pastor, my father was a pastor, my brothers are pastors, and my sister is married to a pastor. I won’t go into all of the cousins, uncles, and assorted other relatives that pastor or have pastored somewhere in America. Let me just say if I don’t have a relative already pastoring in your community I’m sure one will be coming soon. My family would start our own cult, but we can’t agree on who gets to be the leader.

The point is that church is in my blood. I have worked for or pastored a church since I was twenty years old and somewhere along the way I have committed every stupid mistake in the book. In addition to my own experience I have talked to hundreds of pastors across the country including the ten prominent pastors featured in the book. So in one way it took me 47 years to come up with the 10 stupid things I wrote about.

TONY: Is one of those stupid things more stupid than the others?

GEOFF: When I led a small church in Huffman, Texas, I was the pastor, the bookkeeper, the Sunday School superintendent, the worship director, the administrative assistant, the groundskeeper, the maintenance man, the janitor and the preacher. As I look back on my time at Church on the Lake, I can’t help but wonder what I was thinking. We had some great people in the church that would have done a much better job than I did at most of these jobs, but I seldom took the time to develop them or give them the freedom to make the job their own. As I’ve talked to pastors around the country I’ve discovered that I’m not alone. Trying to do all (or most) of the work themselves is the number one stupid thing pastors and leaders do that inhibits their church from growing.

TONY: Should we read anything into the fact that my boss, Perry Noble, is the first person that you interviewed for your book on this particular topic?

GEOFF: Perry was incredibly generous to contribute to the book. What you guys are doing in at NewSpring is incredible and an inspiration to pastors in smaller (and larger) communities around the country. I was very fortunate to be able to draw on the wisdom of leaders like Perry, Craig Groeschel, Mark Batterson, my brother Greg Surratt and others to provide insight in how to overcome costly ministry mistakes. My role in writing was to illustrate stupid mistakes from my own experience and then draw on the wisdom of others on how to recover. My mom always said that everyone is good for something even if it’s to be a bad example.

Geoff’s new book, Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing, releases May 1 but you can pre-order your copy today.

Earlier this week, I caught up with Dino Rizzo, the senior pastor of Healing Place Church. Healing Place is a multi-site church based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dino and his church have a rich history of serving people. The impact of that effort is touching lives around the world.

TONY: Give us a taste of the Healing Place Church story.

DINO: My wife DeLynn and I started the church in 1993 with the purpose of being a healing place for a hurting world. Louisiana has more than our share of poor and hurting people, and we just felt like God wanted us to do what we could to show them His love by serving them.  Now 16 years later, God has used the people of HPC to serve in ways we never imagined and a lot of people are going to be in Heaven because of it. That’s what really matters–that God is glorified and people are putting their hope in Jesus.

TONY: Your new book is titled Servolution. What exactly is a “servolution”?

DINO: Servolution is a revolution through serving.  It is not just an event; it is a culture. It means seeing the world from a new perspective.  No longer waking up and thinking, “How can I grow my church today?” or “How can I improve my career today?”  But rather, the first thought in our hearts every morning is, “How can I serve the people in my life today?  How can I reach out and care for those who I live next door to and work in the same office with?” It is actively pursuing the lost, the forgotten, and the poor to show them a God who is passionately in love with them.  We want to unite together to share God’s love through simple acts of kindness all for the glory of God.

TONY: Do you think there’s a connection between serving others and evangelism? If so, how do we fuel that?

DINO: Absolutely.  Serving others is what Jesus did.  It’s how he connected with people.  We have found that when people are hungry they have a hard time listening.  But when you meet their needs–whether that’s a free meal, a free bottle of water, a yard clean-up, or a rose on Valentine’s Day–they want to know what you’ve got to say.  They want to know what kind of love cares enough to give.  I like to call it the Gospel in jeans.  It isn’t enough to just preach sermons and pray for people. Sometimes you’ve just gotta get out and work hard.

It’s important to remember that you don’t always get to be the one to see the direct fruit of the serving you do.  But when you do, it is a great reminder–like just a couple weeks ago we had an outreach where we gave out Tootsie Pops at LSU.  A student got the candy with a note about a college service we were having that night.  He came to the meeting, heard about a men’s conference we were hosting, and ended up giving his life to Christ at the Men’s Conference.  That opportunity was created all because he was handed a free Tootsie pop.  It was never about the Tootsie Pop, but was always about the opportunity.

TONY: What is the “7 Days of Servolution” event, and how does it connect with the message of your book?

DINO: 7 Days of Servolution was birthed out of our desire for churches and ministries to be united for the cause of Christ and reach out with Jesus-style ministry.  We don’t believe that serving should something to be saved for just one week each year, but it can be a great catalyst week for churches to infuse serving into their DNA. It is simply churches serving their local communities in some way during the week leading up to Easter (April 3-9).  There are over 220 churches currently signed up, just indicating that they’re in–serving their community, sharing ideas, partnering with other churches and organizations in their area to make a difference.

It’s crazy to see some of the ideas that are coming out of this.  There are great churches all over the world with some great ideas to serve their communities and that’s what the book is about, really.  It’s about serving others, about partnering with others along the way, about the heart Jesus has for the poor and hurting, the lost and forgotten, wherever they are, whatever it takes.  We want to partner together because we believe that together we can do more than we ever could alone.

TONY: Finally, I heard you’re a Tigers fan. Is that true? (Because I’m a Tigers fan too.)

DINO: I am a Tiger fan (the LSU form of Tiger that is, not some orange wanna-be tiger). However, when it comes to basketball I’m all ACC, specifically the North Carolina Tar Heels. So while I see where you’re trying to lead me–down some Clemson path–I was born in Myrtle Beach and I know better.  :-)  I will concede that Clemson is my second favorite Tiger team but that’s all you’ll get.

Even thought Dino doesn’t cheer for the right team, he’s still a good guy. I hope you’ll learn more about 7 Days of Servolution and check out Dino’s new book.

I recently caught up with my good friend, Mark Waltz. Mark is the Pastor of Connections at Granger Community Church in Granger, Indiana (my old stomping grounds). He’s also the author of the best-selling book (at least better selling than my books) First Impressions. A few weeks ago, his latest book, Lasting Impressions, came out. Here’s my candid interview with Mark about his new book and life in general.

TONY: Who are you?

MARK: Few people know this, but I’m actually Martin Short’s little brother. No, not really. But I have been told more than once that I look like him. I don’t know what that means, so I haven’t spoken to those people since.

Really, I’m a fortunate family guy, passionately committed to my wife, Laura, and our 15-year old daughter, Olivia.

I’m also deeply devoted to the mission and team at Granger Community Church. I serve with the senior management team, carrying the charge for adult relational environments and their spiritual development as pastor of connections.

I’m a writer, kinda. I’ve only written two books, and I post a new article on my blog about every 17 ½ days, but I love to write. I’m a gamer – which has nothing to do with gambling, unless you consider it a gamble that I’m risking my online avatar and reputation by playing with all the young bucks. Frankly, I suck.

I’m an initiator. I love starting something new. I love it even more when someone else keeps it moving, once it’s launched.

TONY: Your first book about “first impressions” was a big hit. Why were you compelled to write this follow up book?

MARK: Well, I’m guessing you want me to suck up and tell everyone that it was your idea. And that’d be the truth. Before you left the northern Indiana tundra for Wussville, SC, you told me – and this was three years ago – that I should write a second book. I think you actually suggested the title, “Lasting Impressions.” I’m going to regret saying that. You’re going to expect some kind of kick-back now.

Beyond that, though, every workshop, every consulting conversation I’ve had with churches over the past three years ultimately gets around to this question: “So, after first-time guests return to your church, then what? What follows the “first impression?” Every church that cares about their people taking intentional steps toward Christ wants to develop culture and practices that help people navigate their journey. That’s the motive and premise behind “Lasting.”

TONY: In a nugget, what makes a great lasting impression?

MARK: In a nugget? You’re not talking “numbnugget,” are you? That whole McDonald’s thing is disturbing.

Oh, so, like “in a word”? That’s different. Great lasting impressions happen when people know you really care. Even though the local church has a clear agenda to help people meet and follow Jesus as disciples, the environments created (weekend services, groups, classes, etc) remain focused on the individual and his or her unique journey. Lasting impressions communicate “you matter right where you are” and “this is a safe place to question, explore, and choose next steps in relationship with other so-journers.”

TONY: Give us an example of how this is shaping ministry strategy at Granger?

Mark: We accept the weighty challenge that comes in being responsible to people, but we are leaning into the work of being responsible for environments that allow people to wrestle with and live in the wonder of relationship with God. So, we’re not telling people they have to be in a small group or attend a particular class, rather we’re creating group launches and short-term classes and (working on) online resources that help people own their journey. Their steps are their steps.

TONY: Do people still confuse you with me? I’m just wondering if I’m still getting credit for all the smart things you say and write.

MARK: Happens all the time, Tony. In fact Tim Stevens wants to write another “Simply Strategic” book with me. I told him I’d rather kill cockroaches.