Leadership

Passing along an interesting video of Seth Godin speaking about "This is Broken." Seth Godin at Gel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

As leaders, we often think in terms of vision casting.  It's our responsibility to discern where God wants us to go and then to paint the picture for those we lead.  In many respects, this is a top-down process.  We hear from God, our churches/members/employees hear from us. I also believe part of our mandate as leaders is to help bubble up vision from within the hearts of those we lead.  God doesn't speak only to me; he is constantly at work in our world to establish his kingdom.  As a leader, I need to be sensitive to what God is saying to those around me. What are their dreams?  What inspires them?  What is gaining momentum in their lives? Casting vision isn't always about shouting from the rooftops; it's just as often about keeping an ear to the ground.

One of the most important parts of being a coaching leader is learning to ask the right questions.  Here's a good example.  If something doesn't out the way it was supposed to, do you ask "Why did you ...?"   This immediately puts the other person on the defensive and back-pedaling people can be dangerous people. A better question might be, "How can we ...?"  This invites a solution rather than placing blame.  It also involves the leader in helping ascertain the solution. Which question do you most often ask?

One of the things I enjoy about living in Colorado is the changing of seasons.  Don't get me wrong: having an average daily temperature of 70.5 degrees (as we did in San Diego) is not all that bad.  But I enjoy the turning of leaves, a crisp morning, and a fireplace at a night.  I'm not necessarily a big fan of shoveling snow - nor do I expect it to grow on me. Just as the world around us goes through seasons, we experience seasons in life.  It might generational seasons, such as youth, adolosence, middle age, etc.  It might life-stages such as marriage, parenting, or retirement. Spiritually-speaking, seasons may come in the form of dry bouts where we pray but nothing seems to happen.  Or it could be a season of growth, a time of seeing God work in ways we never imagined. Leadership has its seasons, too. Any…

Another excerpt from the review of "The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs" at Leading Blog. Say No to 1,000 Things. Simplify. Think differently about design. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, according to Jobs. From the designs of the iPod to the iPhone, from the packaging of Apple’s products to the functionality of the Apple website, innovation means eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. Jobs: "I'm as proud of what we don't do as I am of what we do." I've met many pastors who struggle to say no.  No to meetings, no to appointments, no to people.  By not saying no, they overstretch and over-commit.  Eventually they might even burnout. The same is true in our approach to ministry, be it evangelism, education, or worship.  We sometimes say yes to too many things.  We try to fit everything into a calendar, or shoe-horn multiple elements into a…