Alas a much needed website overhaul and update has happened. WordPress is awesome in how easy it makes a website look good. I hope to blog a lot more often.

Leadership Lessons Over the Past Two Years

The last two years have been big years for growth in my understanding of leadership. Many of the lessons resonated with me. I have had many moments that encouraged me because my leadership instincts were right and it took reading someone talking on the topics to make me see that I am not crazy.

The book Switch by the Heath brothers was amazing. We were having to make some decisions on some difficult change in the church and the youth ministry. We knew there would be some resistance. The book builds around the concept of every human having the elephant (emotions) and the rider (brain/common sense). If you want to bring successful change, you need to get the rider and the elephant moving in the same direction. Many of us know things that need to be changed, but the emotions  keep us from it. When it comes to leading people through change, a pastor/leader needs to appeal to both the elephant and rider to get people moving the same direction.

After reading Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley, several quotes clicked with me.

Wherever there is fear, there is opportunity. Wherever there is great fear, there is great opportunity.

 The chapter on courage may have had the most impact on me. He says:
As leaders, we are asking people not only to follow us to a place they have never been before; we are asking them to follow us to a place we have never been before either
Leaders are not always the first to see an opportunity. They are simply the first to seize an opportunity.
If you don’t conquer your fear, you are going to miss out on some great things in life.
Courage is the willingness to move in a direction in spite of the emotions and thoughts that bid you do otherwise.
Fear often disguises itself behind the mask of care. Fearful people often excuse their fear as caution.
Talk about a major challenge! So much in each of those that I could write a book on. The biggest challenge for me is that if I want to lead, I have to be the first one to step onto the battlefield.
A couple thoughts that I picked up from Catalyst One Day Conference:
Great people are not attracted to average causes.
Dream no small dreams, for they stir not the hearts of men.
Also, rereading the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership reminded me that a leader will always be the lid to the organization. If they limit what people can do in their church, it will never grow above them. Also, the person that everyone is listening to in the room is the leader. Title doesn’t make one a leader!
So much of this is still being processed in my mind and has started to be acted out in my leadership position. Courage, delegation, BIG vision, change and speaking up. I am looking forward to becoming a stronger leader as a result.
A vision statement without a strategy is just a motto.