The Focused Leader

I learned an essential leadership skill from a mentor.  The skill of giving undivided attention.

This man always looked people in the eye, smiled and listened attentively.  He did not allow others to interrupt.  He worked at remembering peoples names.

People were important to him -  and it showed.

Great leaders focus... inwardly... on others... on the world around them.

Leadership is not just a set of skills.  It starts with an attitude that says "you are important".

Most leadership programs focus on what a leader should know and do, but the true starting point is focusing on people.

Turn off your smart phone, blank out the activity around you and make the person in front of you feel important by giving them what is most valuable to you...  your time and your undivided attention.

Africa's Time is Now

African nations are beginning to take responsibility for Africa – instead of looking for handouts from the West. Africa’s economy is growing faster than that of any other continent.

However, there are 50-plus countries in Africa, so the growth needs to be looked at country by country to get an accurate understanding of what is happening in Africa.

African economies are synergistic. To look at Africa in a fractured light is to miss the dynamism of the whole. China certainly has not made that mistake. Presently, China has trade agreements with every country in Africa.

One example of the growth of the African economy is the explosion of mobile telephone usage across Africa. The Praekelt Foundation has focused on this phenomenon (www.praekeltfoundation.org ) and thus has become an incubator on mobile technology which improves the health and well-being of millions of African people living in poverty. There are now more than 450 million hand phones in use in Africa, almost one for every two people in Africa.

How to Prompt Trustworthiness in Others

When we feel and express gratitude towards others it fosters a sense of trustworthiness in them, which in turn, leads to trustworthy behaviour.  Even the most broken person has potential for greatness.  When we see that potential, we convey it in our attitude.

Be intentional about expressing belief and gratitude in people and you will inspire them to hope in themselves...even when hope has been destroyed in their past

Who Can You Trust?

God's trust in us is a gift based on His grace.  We should trust people for the same reason... His grace.  After all, everything outside of hell is grace.

Most people don't rise above the expectations of others unless there is someone who believes in them, who really thinks they are worth believing in.

Be a leader who believes in people and you will attract them to your cause and inspire them to grow.   Be a leader who sees the potential in others and draws them into their own personal greatness...

How Should We Portray Female Leaders?

The questions we ask and the words we use to frame the conversation about women in leadership can be biased and offensive if we are not careful. Our choice of language can reinforce negative stereotypes of female leaders. Women should not be portrayed as “bossy, emotional or too nice” just as men are not to be described as “chauvinistic, insensitive and domineering.” There are biases that hold female leaders back. We need to identify them, examine them, and get rid of them. Generalizations are not helpful in dealing with this topic. Certain leaders who write on this topic would not use generalizations about minority groups as “lazy, uneducated and aggressive.” They should no less use negative generalizations about women.

Maleness and femaleness are both reflections of God’s nature and character. We need both men and women in roles of leadership to give a fully rounded reflection of God’s perspective on things.

Temptation After Victory

Most leaders make their greatest mistakes after their greatest successes.  Beware the temptations that come after a great victory.  When things go well, don't let it go to your head.  Everything good in your life is a result of the blessing of God.

When God uses you, get on your knees and thank him.  He is the source and the goal of all that we do that has lasting value in people's lives.

When people honor you, simply say, "Thank you" and in the same breath say from the heart, "I'm glad God used me."

And mean it.

Creativity

"There is no such thing as a mistake in the creative process."  John Cleese

Failure

There is no such thing as failure if you learn from it.

Reframing Our Mindset About Problems

Problems are opportunities. The trick is to reframe your perspective from one of solving problems to appreciating an opportunity. You have to shift your perspective from inside (your church / business / school / synagogue) to outside, (how visitors / members / students / clients) perceive it.

It means asking those you serve how they want to be served, not how you have grown accustomed to serving them. How do your customers experience your business? How do students perceive the learning environment you have provided? How do members and visitors enjoy the life of your community?

The common approach to problem solving is a simple three-step approach:

1. Identify the problem

2. Outline possible solutions

3. Define the way forward from there

The problem with this approach is just that…it is a “problem” oriented approach.

Rather, search for what is working well for those you serve, and build on life, not on difficulties. What do people appreciate? What is life giving to them? What is working well is what needs to be expanded and improved, not what is not working.

Choose Who You Serve

Wise leaders don't wait for people to choose them, they carefully select who they will serve and then build their life mission on that decision.  A shotgun approach to servanthood can lead to an unfocused life...nice, but ineffective.

Balance?

Forget about being balanced.  Balanced people are boring.  Live for the extreme.  Believe in something so passionately that balance doesn't worry you.  Let your worry be 'will my life count for something?'.

Personal Mission Statement

A great way to decide on your life's mission statement is to imagine what you would like people to say about you at your funeral.  Imagine if you could 'listen in' to the future... and hear what your children and co-workers say about you.

Do You Want to Grow as a Leader?

This article is taken from the Acts 29 blog site found here.

GROW

By Ron Edmondson

“Here are seven sure ways to grow as a leader:

1. Desire growth

Sounds simple, but we tend to seek what we desire most. If you truly want to grow as a leader you will continually find ways to do so. Check your heart. Do you really desire to grow as a leader?

2. Accept correction

No one enjoys hearing they did something wrong, but many leaders view all correction as criticism rather than an opportunity to grow. Growing leaders realize that correction helps them improve so they can do better next time. (Proverbs 12:1) Check yourself. Can you take correction, even when it stings a little to hear, and turn it into something good?

3. Listen to wiser voices

Experience is the best teachers. And, all of us are surrounded by people who have grown wise through their experiences. Growing leaders glean all they can from other people. Would others consider you a wisdom seeker? Can you name specifically the voices you are learning from these days?

4. Invest in others

Growing leaders learn or reinforce leadership principles while helping others learn them. Sometimes it is not until we talk through an issue with others that we find clarity in the issue ourselves. (“Give and it will be given back to you”…) Ask yourself…Am I helping to grow other leaders? Am I allowing others to learn from my experience? Coul you name those people if asked?

5. Recognize weaknesses

And strengths. When you become more aware of what you do well and what you don’t, you grow as a leader. You start investing more energy in the strengths and seek to minimize the weaknesses. Can you admit there are some things you simply aren’t good at doing? Are you confident enough to recognize your strengths?

6. Refuse mediocrity

Growing leaders push themselves beyond the limits of normalcy. Average is common. Exceptional takes work. Are you seeking to go beyond what’s expected? Are you holding yourself to standards nothing short of your very best? (Isn’t that even Biblical?…”Whatever you do…do as if unto the Lord”.)

7. Embrace failure

Falling dow. Getting back up. Falling down. Getting back up. Growing leaders have learned this is a part of maturing as a leader. In honest evaluation, would you say you have allowed failure to shape you as a leader, or hold you back from all you could be as a leader?

I am certainly not suggesting this is an exhaustive list. I am advocating that growing as a leader requires intentionality on the part of the leader. It doesn’t automatically happen.

What are you doing to grow as a leader these days?”

Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Check out his blog here.

A Leader's Legacy

The key issue for a leader is what you leave behind.  It's not how spellbinding your words are, nor how funny... it is what you leave behind, the legacy that outlives you.  Ultimately, people are the greatest fruit of your life.  It's the people that you have shaped by the influence of your life that testify to the impact your life has had - and that's what counts!

Six Surprising Characteristics of Effective Leaders

From Thom Rainer's great blog site comes this fascinating article. This blog has looked at characteristics of effective pastors from different perspectives over the past few years. But this information may prove to be a bit surprising…

“A couple of caveats are in order. First, the idea of “surprising” can vary from person to person. I think you might be surprised at some of these traits, but you might not be. Second, the term “effective” is nebulous. I am not speaking of size of church or level of fame. I have subjectively noted several dozen pastors whose ministries have been consistent and whose impact in their churches and communities has been positive.

By the way, these same traits could apply to other church staff. Indeed, some of them could apply to any leaders. I’m omitting the obvious characteristics, like good preaching, strong morals, and faithfulness to family. Those would not be among the surprises.

What, then, are some of the surprising traits? I’m glad you asked.

1. They are persistent. Their lives could be characterized as “three steps forward, two steps backwards.” They have setbacks, but they remain stubbornly persistent.

2. They have a good sense of humor. They take their ministries seriously; but they don’t take themselves too seriously.

3. They are highly intentional about connecting with unchurched persons at least once a week. In fact, weekly intentionality is the norm. They put such interactions on their calendar. They take unchurched people to lunch. They are involved in non-religious community events.

4. They look in the mirror. These pastors have clear self-awareness. They are not only evaluating themselves constantly, they typically have a trusted advisor who tells them on a regular basis what he or she sees.

5. They are intentionally consistent learners. These pastors read a lot. They attend conferences. They expand their educational opportunities, both formal and informal.

6. Their most consistent discipline is daily Bible reading. This time in the Bible is beyond sermon preparation. This discipline is kept with greater rigor than any other discipline in their lives.

Again, these are some of the surprising traits I have noticed in effective pastors.

What do think of these six? What surprises you among them? What would you add?”

By Thom Rainer Lifeway Christian Resources www.thomrainer.com

Dispensable Leaders

The best leaders are the ones that try to make themselves dispensable.  If he or she is helping people around them not need them, ironically, people they work with want them around more than ever.  That type of leader is selflessly helping people around them acquire as many skills as possible so he can let everyone else do the work and he can move on to other projects or just keep an eye on things.

Creative Leadership

“When you collaborate on something that is fundamentally creative, you get to places that you would never get on your own.” John Cleese  

Ideas have a way of building when they can bounce back and forth between people working together as a team.  You know an idea is good when you hear it, and you know when it gets better if there is a collaborative effort of selfless people working on it.  There are no mistakes in the creative effort, even if people on the team misunderstand each other.  You never know where an idea might lead if it is a free flowing green light session.

He is worthy. He is worthy. He is worthy

I just received this from a young man working with our movement in North Africa.

It reminded me of the Moravian slogan,  "The Lamb is worthy to receive the reward of his suffering." ...

He is worthy.   He is worthy.   He is worthy.  He is worthy of all of us, every last bit.  He is worthy for us to give up our lives for Him.  He is worthy of everything.  He is worthy of worship in every area of our lives.  He is worthy to follow into hardship.  He is worthy to receive all of everything in us.  He is purely good.  He is purely righteous.  He is pure redemption.  He is fully, fully worthy.  He is worthy of our pain.  He is worthy of our joy.  He is worthy of our love.  He is worthy of our devotion.  He is worthy of our passion.  He is worthy of our time.  He is worthy of our loyalty.  He is worthy of our work.  He is worthy of our emotion.  He is worthy of our energy.  He is worthy of our dreams.  He is worthy of our privacy.  He is worthy of our thoughts.  He is worthy of our lives.  He is worthy of everything, everything, EVERYTHING.   He   is   worthy.

Syrian's are Dancing Again!

I listened to one of our teams report yesterday after returning from ministry in Lebanese Syrian refugee camps.  There has been such unending sadness for the refugees… but on the last night of the two month outreach when they went to say goodbye they heard dancing music coming from the camp!  “We haven’t danced in years,” said one man,  “But your visit has brought back our joy!”

Counter Intuitive Discipleship Values...

• Go slow to go fast!

• Outsiders raise up insiders - an inexperienced insider is more effective than a highly trained outsider.

• Focus on a few to reach many.

• Self-discovery learning in the Word is more powerful than instruction learning.

• Disciple people to conversion - don't wait to convert them before discipleship begins.

• Dream big but build small.

• Group memory is greater than each individuals memory of what is learned -  discipleship happens best in groups rather than as individuals.

• Obedience is more important than knowledge.

• Give 80% of your discipling attention to 20% of your most focused and effective disciple makers.

• Start with creation then move to Christ - through the God story.

• Raise up leaders before they are ready - start with the torch in their hand, don't pass it to them later.

• Start small groups among existing social groups.

• Don't grow bigger groups, multiply more groups.

• Spend a long time discipling people but expect miraculous breakthroughs and acceleration!