Leadership

I returned on Friday energized from Willow Creek's Leadership Summit, held near Chicago. What a conference! The theme of the conference was "Lead Where You Are" and it was appropriate. The conference had over 7,000 attendees and featured leaders in the Christian and secular community. Some of the bigger names were Tim Keller, Bono (via video), David Gergen, and Tony Blair (via video). There were others as well, but those were the ones most recognized.

The crowd was massive and Willow Creek put on quite a production. Their stage and lighting were on a professional scale. The sound and video system are to be rivaled. They conference was done very well and I was greatly impressed.

I'll confess that I was not thrilled to be going to the conference. In my mind, a leadership conference hosted at a church whispered of hokeyness. I was attending and expecting the worst. Thankfully, I got the best.

The speakers were experts in their fields. Some are in government, such as David Gergen and Tony Blair. Others are in entertainment, such as Bono. Others lead in the Christian community, like Tim Keller and Bill Hybels (pastor of Willow Creek). There were also leaders in business, such as Jessica Jackley (founder of Kiva) and Wess Stafford (founder of Compassion International).

I can't begin to breakdown all of what I learned, but I will try to offer some highlights:

• Leaders today must mobilize, connect, and support those who follow them (Gary Hamel)
• Organizations are becoming flat and flexible, rather than institutionalized and hierarchical. We must reinvent how we manage and lead to reflect these changes (Gary Hamel)
• "The main thing separating you from God is not your sins, but your damnable good deeds" (Tim Keller). Too often we focus on the good works we are doing and begin to think of ourselves more high and mighty than we should. What motivates your good deeds? Keep that in check.
• Get out of your huddle and BE the game (Harvey Carey). Carey compared the church to a Superbowl. Imagine you buy tickets and attend the Superbowl. The players come onto the field and get in their huddle, planning for the game. They huddle for five minutes, then ten, then thirty, and eventually for 45 minutes. The crowd watches, getting restless. Finally, the huddle breaks and the players leave the field to go home. That's what many churches are like. The members go to church on Sunday, huddle and pray for their communities and world, but never actually go and play in them. They just huddle. Carey's point was this: stop planning, praying, and talking about making a difference and DO IT.
• "Failure is a success to God" (David Gibbons). Our failures are what the world connects with us on. Most of the world doesn't understand success, but all of it understands failure. Don't let your life failures stop you, because God can use them for higher purposes than we can imagine.
• Listen to peoples' stories (David Gibbons)
• We must advocate TRADE and not AID to Africa (Andrew Rugasira, founder of Good African Coffee in Uganda). What do you think of when you hear the word Africa? More often than not, you think of poverty, disease, and malnutrition. Retrain your brain. Africa is a nation of opportunity, entrepeneurs, consumers, and innovators. If we really want to aid Africa, we must help it change from the inside. No successful country has developed from handouts, so why do we keep trying to do it with Africa? We should buy products from Africa and support businesses from there.
• Believe in the potential of one another (Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva)
• Leadership without passion and integrity isn't leadership. Leadership is a gift, given to a leader everyday (Wess Stafford, founder of Compassion International)
• People don't care what you know until they know why you care. God has given us all a story to be used for Him. We have worth beacuse of who gives us worth, not because of what we do (Wess Stafford)
  
• "Maturity is coming to grips with your great flaws" (David Gergen)
• "Who the leader is speaks as loudly as what he says" (David Gergen)
• These personal habits were suggested: self-discipline, make time for people you cherish/social relationships, be physically fit, keep regular habits, and make time for reflection (David Gergen)
• If you want to see change, BE THE CHANGE you want to see in the world (Gandhi, quoted by Gergen)
• Change comes about through buy-in. Big problems can be solved through small solutions (Dan and Chip Heath)
• Be honest and lead with a spirit of humility (Bono)
• Leadership is a blessing and a gift (Tony Blair)
• "Not every reader is a leader, but every leader is a reader" (David Gergen, quoting someone else whose name I didn't catch)

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek church, closed the Leadership Summit with practical challenges that we can undertake daily:

• Make time to meet with God everyday
• Commit to reading good books at least 30 minutes a day
• Review your replenishment strategy (Romans 8:6)
• Say "yes" to God every time the spirit prompts you
• Stop complaining about the lack of resources you have and equip with what you do have
• Believe in yourself

The conference was one that I will never forget. The highlights above are just nuggets of what was shared. I was spiritually renewed, mentally challenged, and reminded that there is SO much to do out there. Each of us can make a difference and lead where were are. It always starts with one.

Here are some pictures taken after then conference while we were in the airport. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of my boss, but here are two ladies with whom I work that are both colleagues and friends of mine:

Lisa-Jo and Juliene

Lisa-Jo and I