In his book about motivation, Dan Pink describes three conditions that are needed to create an intrinsic motivational environment: 1. Autonomy: Give people autonomy over what they’re doing and how they do it, including choosing their time, tasks, team and techniques. 2. Mastery: Give them an opportunity to master their work and make progress through deliberate practice. 3. Purpose: Make sure people have a sense of purpose in their work — preferably to something higher and beyond their job, salary and company. Daniel H. Pink: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
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As leaders, we often are very passionate about our vision for the future. Good leaders bleed vision. They leak vision -- leaving trails of vision wherever they go. This is both good and necessary. It also means we have to be intentional about hearing other perspectives. One of the best questions we can ask is this: "How does this look to you?"
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If you lead other people, one of your best tools for developing their leadership skills is a directed conversation. These are conversations that are designed to deal with an issue or teach a skill or principle. Here are two tips for making these effective conversations: Clarify your intent. Let them know what you're trying to accomplish. We often assume people know our intentions (because we know our intentions), but that's not always the case. Just ask anyone who does marriage counseling! Clarify what's at stake. Once you've shared with them your intentions, tell them why it's important. Why do they need to have this conversation with you? What difference will it make? Could it make? I've found that people respond much better when they have a sense of where you're coming from and why.
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"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less." -- General Eric Shinseki, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army One of the things I've learned over my years as a pastor is this: change does not always equal relevance. Often we made changes because we were trying to answer questions no one was asking. Our answers were good; unfortunately they were also irrelevant. Yet I've always seen the wisdom in General Shinseki's words. Our task is not to keep pace with every change and breakthrough, but to speak to it in a way that makes sense and leads towards transformation. Change isn't always easy, even when it's necessary. New musical styles may not be your style of choice. I've often joked, "What will I do when rap becomes the predominant music style of a new generation?" Move to Canada, maybe. But if rap will reach a new generation…
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Ed Stetzer has posted a great blog about the importance of reaching our global cities for Jesus. His point is simple: large cities exert tremdendous influence over more than just their geographic area. At a quickening pace, large cities such as New York and Los Angeles influence areas not only across our country but across the world. Starting new churches is one solution; starting church planting movements is the best solution. Be sure to check out the links Stetzer includes in his post.
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