Leadership

Of all the sessions at the 2011 Willow Creek Leadership Summit, the one by John Dickinson may have been my favorite.  An Australian, which gives him an automatic advantage due to a cool accent, Dickinson spoke powerfully on the topic of humility. First take home: humility makes the great greater. Here are the five reasons he shared as to why we should cultivate humility. Humility is common sense.  In short, none of us is an expert on everything.  Leaders have to fight the temptation to believe that expertise in one area automatically transfers to another area. Humility is beautiful.  We are more attracted to the great who are humble than those who are great and know it. Humility is generative.  Humility generates new knowledge, new abilities.  A humble person is willing to learn; the proud already know it. Humility is persuasive.  The most believable person in the world is the…

Dr. Henry Cloud spoke at the Summit about three kinds of people in this world: the wise, the foolish, and the evil.  While a little (or lot) of each exists in each of us, some make a career out of it. The key question is: what do you do when presented with the light of truth? The wise are thankful for the light.  The light helps them improve.  The light points out weak spots.  When you confront a wise person, they are likely to say, "Thank you." The foolish try to adjust the light.  They adjust the truth.  Or put this way: the fool tries to change the truth rather than change themselves.  My favorite line?  When feedback is given and the first reflex is to find an excuse -- that person is squinting into the light. The evil?  Some people simply have destruction in their hearts and want to…

Using 2 Kings 3:9-20 as his text, church planter Steven Furtick spoke of how Elisha prepared for God's provision: he dug ditches.  Then God filled them with water. "If you want to see the land filled with water, dig some ditches." As pastors, we are prone to look at the success of other churches and look for the secret formula.  What is the ONE THING we can beg, borrow, or steal that will unlock our growth? We see their success and forget that they spent much effort digging ditches.  They prayed, prepared, and did their home work.  And God blessed their ditch digging.

How do you capture in a blog post Seth Godin's presentation at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit?  You don't.  You share snippets. Most companies are content to produce average products for average people to buy. Tribes have multiplied. Karl Marx -- Groucho's younger brother. The first guy who put an urinal in a museum was an artist; the second guy was a plumber. There is no map for an artist. If all you can offer is being the "local" church, you're replaceable. Just because the tide is out doesn't mean there is less water in the ocean.  It's just moving around. Carrots at the end of the farmer's market ... either you give them away or they rot.