Leadership Summit Day 2 Highlights

The 2011 Global Leadership Summit is in the books. I'm so proud that Grace Church is associated with this event. We had nearly 300 leaders from a variety of different organizations and over 30 churches from throughout the region. The conference blog is here if you'd like to catch up with some of the backstage information and session summaries. I'm including my favorite quotes from each speaker on day two along with a link to Tim Schraeder's blog summaries of each talk - he does a great job capturing each speaker with thorough notes. 


Mama Maggie Gorban - Silence yourself to listen to God.  Silence your tongue to listen to your thoughts.  Silence your thoughts to listen to your heart beating. Silence your heart to listen to your spirit.  Silence your spirit to listen to His Spirit. In silence you leave the many... to be with the One. 


Michelle Rhee - I would much rather have anger than apathy (in the people I'm trying to lead). 


Henry Cloud - Don't let someone else's character problems stop your vision.


John Dickson - Some of the most inspiriting leaders in all of history had no structural authority. Sometimes you don't need the power to hire and fire to change empires or individuals. You don't need the keys to the kingdom to have impact on the kingdom.


Pat Lencioni - In order to be vulnerable as leaders we must overcome the fear of being embarrassed. When we're leading/serving others- we sometimes have to do things that could embarrass us.  We have to ask questions that might make us look stupid. 


Erwin McManus - The church needs to reclaim its place as the incubator of God-given talent and potential inside of every human being. There is no better way to live than to redeem the image of God in every human being. 


If you were at this year's Summit - what was the most impacting moment for you?

Leadership Summit Day 1 Highlights

This was one of the best first days of the Willowcreek Global Leadership Summit since I've been attending the conference. It was a great mix of practical leadership advice, stretching vision ideas, and personal inspiration and challenge.  I'm including links to Tim Schraeder's notes from each session since they are very thorough along with my favorite quote from each keynote speaker of today.


Bill Hybels - Are you naming, facing, and resolving the problems that exist in your church or organization?  Leaders call problems 'problems' and then turn over heaven and earth to try to solve them.


Len Schlesinger - We have been educated to believe that failure is a dirty word, but failure doesn’t mean “game over;” it means try again with experience.


Cory A. Booker - The world you see outside of you will always be a reflection of what you have inside of you


Dr. Brenda Salter McNeal - A mutli-national, multi-lingual, multi-racial church was born in Acts 2. From the beginning the church was a global movement. Are we going to be global Christians?

Seth Godin - If failure is not an option... then neither is success.


Steven Furtick - Having good ideas doesn't make you a visionary, it makes you a daydreamer.  The difference between the two is having the courage and audacity to act. If the size of your vision isn't intimidating to you, there is a good chance that it's insulting to God. 

Getting the most out of conferences

We are hosting the Willowcreek Global Leadership Summit this week at Grace Church. It is 

a tremendous event and has had a huge impact on our church over the years. As an 

occasional attendee at conferences of this sort, I'm always looking for ways to leverage the 

time most effectively.  I was reminded of some advice I received a few years ago from my friend Bob about getting the most out of conferences.  Here are a few thoughts that I found 

most helpful. 

1.  Note Taking. Keep a running list of thoughts and notes from each general session and breakout workshop.  If possible take your laptop so you can email and live blog what you are learning.  I like to take notes for application and action instead of content when there are reliable bloggers who are blogging content (a common occurrence at most conferences).  I 

have found that they capture content far better than I ever could - so I just need to be responsible for what I'm going to do with the information.   

2.  Daily Wrap-Up. If you’re with a team use meal times and breaks to debrief your learnings/insights. Group discussions always yield great understanding of the session/topic, 

you get to hear other point’s of view.  Include insights from these debriefing times in your notes.

3.  What do you think we need to think about?  Good conferences raise questions, great conferences cause us to question and evaluate what we’re doing.  Be sure to write down 

what questions you’re beginning to ask, questions you believe we should be asking, 

questions worth asking.  Plan to incorporate these questions into future meetings with 

your teams when you get back home. 

What older leaders should know about younger leaders

I ran across this post from Brad Lomenick of Catalyst fame about older leaders understanding younger leaders better.  At age 40 I find myself in the middle of this spectrum between young and old.  We have worked hard at Grace to continue to stay young with our staff hires and our volunteer leaders. It is so easy for churches to allow their ideas, their methods, and their programs to become outdated and stuck.  We want to avoid this by creating ample opportunities for young leaders to be involved in leadership roles in our ministry. I have seen the truth of Brad's post first-hand as I've worked with young leaders.  I picked the three insights from Brad that I resonated with the most (Brad lists 14).

1.  Willing to work together - young leaders are more willing to collaborate than any other generation before. They trust each other. Really. And see collaboration as the starting point, not some grandiose vision of teamwork that is far off in the distance. Collaboration is now the norm. Many young leaders don’t care who gets the credit- it’s way less about WHO and way more about WHAT.

2. Authenticity and humility wins - trust is incredibly important. Leaders won’t have followers going forward unless they trust them and see that they are authentic and real. Authenticity is not only important to the next generation; it’s a requirement. The next generation wants to follow leaders who are willing to admit that they don’t know it all.

3. See social justice as the norm  Leaders who care about the poor and lean into causes and see the social gospel as a key ingredient to following Christ are no longer seen as the exception. Young leaders see taking care of the poor and sharing the Gospel as BOTH crucial to the advancement of the Church and of God’s Kingdom. 


If you are an older leader, what are some insights/experiences you have had in working with younger leaders?  Younger leaders, what would you add to this list?

Are people glad to see you coming?

I heard a quote recently that said, "would you rather lighten up a room when you enter it or when you leave it?" If you are a leader, and you are leading in a God-ordained way, then most often, those you lead will be glad to see you coming around the corner.  This applies to your workplace, to your neighborhood, to your family, to your team, etc. Three things should happen in those that you lead when you walk into the room...

1. They will be refreshed and ready to grow when you are around. They will not dread your presence. 
2. They will look forward to seeing you. You will add energy to their day and not drain energy from it.
3. They will be filled with hope and not despair. They know that even when it is dark in their world you’ll come looking for them.

For those who are not leading teams of people, try applying these 3 criteria to your kids or your spouse... how are you doing?

Game Day Thoughts: March 6, 2011

Sunday is Game Day.  As a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day our staff plans for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1. Grace Harborcreek worship launch in the commons - Today nearly 60 people gathered for worship in the Commons at Grace to do church.  This is the team that will launch a campus in Harborcreek starting next month.  They're using this month to continue to build community and camaraderie among the team, practice setting things up and working together, and discover the roles that they will fill in making church happen in Harborcreek.  They had a great launch - the spirit in the room was great - and God is building His church.
2. Stories - today I spoke on the text in Mark 4 where Jesus calms the storm.  You can catch up with the sermon and resources here (will be posted Monday 3/7 sometime due to my coughing fit at 9:15). I got to tell the story of my friend Kristin and her journey through the storm of losing her husband far too soon.  As I preached today, I became aware of deep heart-work going on in the room. Despite the fact that I was really sick, coughing up a lung, and sounded like I had the voice of an ax-murderer - the Word of God did its thing with the help of the Holy Spirit. I found out after the service as people came forward that there are stories in the works through some of the people of Grace that are incredible. People spoke to me about getting clarity on storms that they are navigating, new levels of courage that they are achieving in walking with others through storms, new heights of faith in Christ, and one particular person who recently went through the unspeakable pain of a spouse who committed suicide - approached me to let me know that they are willing to tell their story to the church. So they might help others who are going through difficulties. God is at work in a big way in the lives of people at Grace.  I was also moved by Heiden's introduction to the Lord's Supper today. This college student/athlete is going to have a huge kingdom impact. 
3. Mid-Course Correction - This may seem minor to some but I've been around Pastors enough who have dysfunctional teams to appreciate this little moment. In between services a few of our staff had about a 3 minute conversation about a video element that we did at the 9:15 service that seemed abrupt and disrupted the flow of the service.  We instantly pulled it from 11:00 with no questions asked. No drama, no egos, no agendas, no bickering, just action.  Tomorrow morning the decision will be reviewed to see if it was the right one, but for now I'm just loving the unity and single-mindedness of our team. That kind of stuff makes me very happy ... and grateful.

There was also an amazing thing that happened tonight at GraceYouth. I won't spill the beans here because there is a letter going out to the church tomorrow with all the details.  Let's put it this way - the future of that ministry is a little clearer these days... stay tuned. 

I will post a recap of the sermon and some other stuff later this week.  If you were at Grace this weekend - what were some of your highlights?

Game Day Thoughts

Sunday is Game Day.  Not because of the NFL or NBA or any other sports. But as a Pastor, it's the day the church convenes for worship.  It's the day our staff plans for all week.  It's the day our teams at Grace are on high alert and in full-service mode.  It's game day. Here are a few of my highlights from today:

1. Baptizing my son Chase - What an honor it was to baptize my 9 year old. He started asking some deep faith questions over the summer - and decided it was time to take the plunge.  I wish you all could have been in my office before the services this morning as we prayed together.  I prayed that God would use this moment and this experience to breathe faith and love into Chase. That no matter what he will go through in his life - the highs and lows, the disappointments and victories - that he would be able to point back to this day as a marker and a reminder of God's love and faithfulness to him.  I'm excited to see what God has in store for his life - he's such a cool and unique kid. Here's the video.  

    

2. Next Step Coaches at work - We had a really cool response after both services today.  Lots of people came forward to take a step in their relationship with God. I'm already getting some intense emails of God at work.  After 11:00 in particular it was so cool to see some of our leaders and Next Step Coaches kick into action having conversations with the folks who came forward to do business. These coaches are part of a new initiative at Grace designed to help personalize the discipleship process for people.  We recognized a while ago that the spiritual journey is an individual one and that God is a hand-crafter and not a mass producer.  We want to provide coaches or personal spiritual advisors at every step of the journey for people.  We need more coaches - if you're interested in serving in this role you can contact Doris for more info.  There is an informational/training meeting coming up this weekend.  This is one of the most important ministries in the church right now.  As we continue to grow as a church - this will help to personalize people's experience at Grace - and help them to progress in their faith journey in a way that makes sense for them.

3. Multi-Site Team lunch meeting - following the service today we had a meeting with all the Grace Harborcreek team leaders and their ministry counterparts at Grace McKean.  I presented some information about the ways in which the two campuses will stay connected at the ministry level and how each ministry (kids, youth, small groups, communications, etc) possesses constants that will keep our ministries on track when we're in two locations and will assure that each campus will still feel like Grace even if there are some differences in how we do things.  It was awesome then to hear the chatter around tables as these leaders interacted and began the collaborative process of starting a new campus at the most basic level.  I'm so pumped for Easter when we launch Grace Harborcreek. The stage is being set for a solid new body of believers who are passionate about doing the work of Christ in this world. 

On to a new week - will be sermon prepping on Monday and Tuesday.  I'm preaching on the Parable of the Sower this weekend.  Sometimes the familiar passages are the hardest ones to preach.  This one has a very difficult section about Jesus teaching in parables in order to cause confusion and not understanding - it will be a challenge to bring meaning and understanding to that concept.  

If you were at Grace this weekend- what were some of your highlights?

Grace Values 7, 8, 9

As we have embarked on launching Grace Harborcreek - one of the exercises that has been very valuable for our leaders is re-clarifying our values as a church. These are the things that define us, that carry our DNA, that ensure that whether you walk into Grace McKean, Grace Harborcreek, or any of our future campuses that you will recognize the church as distinctly Grace. In my State of the Church sermon I talked through these 9 values and will briefly outline them in this 3 part series of blog posts.  You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.


7.  We gather in groups because we're better together

• Acts 2:42ff paints a picture of the early church meeting in the temple courts and also meeting from house to house – there were both large group gatherings and small group gatherings.
• Just going to a worship service is not enough - it's too easy to be anonymous.  
• True life change happens in smaller groups - whether they're groups of 25, 12, or 2.
• At Grace we are investing tremendous time and energy to provide resources that go along with our weekend services so that groups can meet during the week to discuss what they are learning on the weekend.  Check out these resources at our sermon series archives (click on the 'details' button to see the resources). 

8. We will do anything short of sin to reach people with the gospel

• Some say Grace is too outreach oriented – I’m not sure that’s possible when we think of the stakes.   
• Of all the things that a church does, reaching people with the gospel is the one thing that we won’t be able to do when we get to heaven.  We’ll be able to grow in intimacy with God, fellowship with other believers, serve others, worship God, but we won’t be able to reach the lost.
• As a church we will always walk in a healthy tension between growing up those who are here and reaching out to those who aren't here yet.
• The 3rd Largest Mission Field in the world is the US. (next to India and China) with 200 million people who are unreached.
• Over the past 30 years an average of 4,000 churches close their doors per year while only 1,500 new churches start.  Christianity is losing ground in America.
• The church must maintain a very sharp outreach edge and must refuse to get comfortable.

9. We're real people, no masks, no games. 

• Finally, we just really value being authentic.
• We’re committed to shooting straight - using real language to talk about faith, not hiding our faults, apologizing when we do dumb things, taking on real subjects head on, etc. 
• Our Pastors will not preach from a pedestal but will relate as fellow travelers on the journey.  Always willing to preach the hard truths of the scriptures but bringing ourselves to the table too.  
• We refuse to play the game of putting on our Sunday best and pretending that everything is OK. So, it is important for the people of Grace to be open to share real stories of struggle and triumph, sadness and joy, despair and hope.   

Grace Values 4, 5, 6

As we have embarked on launching Grace Harborcreek - one of the exercises that has been very valuable for our leaders is re-clarifying our values as a church. These are the things that define us, that carry our DNA, that ensure that whether you walk into Grace McKean, Grace Harborcreek, or any of our future campuses that you will recognize the church as distinctly Grace. In my State of the Church sermon I talked through these 9 values and will briefly outline them in this 3 part series of blog posts.  You can read part 1 here and part 3 here.

4. We participate. We're not just spectators.

• Church is not a spectator sport.
• Many churches have the 80-20 rule - where 20% of the people do 80% of the work.  This is completely unacceptable.
• Christians don’t go to church – they are the church.  And they bring the church with them wherever they go.
• Role of a church staff is not to do all the work of ministry but to prepare God’s people to do ministry. (Eph. 4:12)
• You were created for ministry, and if you miss your ministry, you miss the reason for which you were created.
• Serving is far more satisfying than sitting.

5. We give because Jesus is radically generous.

• The early church mirrored the generosity of Jesus (Acts 2:42ff) and so should the modern church.  
• In general, Christians are no more generous than their non-religious counterparts. This should never be.
• A lack of generosity is not a money issue, it's a heart issue.  It's a sure indication that hearts are not being changed by the gospel. 
• Strategic, systematic generosity is the answer to greed.
• Jesus is not a killjoy when it comes to money, He simply says that there’s a better way to live.  A way that leads to peace and joy and not this crazy turmoil that so many people are in trying to play the game that says 'accumulate and consume, accumulate and consume.'
• God's design was for His ministry in the world to be funded by the overflowing generosity of his people as their hearts are being changed, so we will never resort to gimmicky shortcuts like spaghetti dinners and raffles. 

6. We serve our community, expecting nothing in return.

• Would our community care if our church didn’t exist anymore? 
• The church exists for the community and not the other way around.
• Jesus said throughout his teaching that one of the things that will distinguish his followers from the non-followers, is that their hearts are going to beat fast for people in need. Their hands are going to be busy trying to do something about it. Their wallets are going to reflect a willingness to stretch and sacrifice for those who continually live with less. 
• We hope to focus our efforts in the coming years on defining and getting after the 3-5 unacceptable realities in Erie... those 3 to 5 issues that the church can't just sit back and allow to continue.  Not on our watch. 

Grace Values 1, 2, 3

As we have embarked on launching Grace Harborcreek - one of the exercises that has been very valuable for our leaders is re-clarifying our values as a church. These are the things that define us, that carry our DNA, that ensure that whether you walk into Grace McKean, Grace Harborcreek, or any of our future campuses that you will recognize the church as distinctly Grace. In my State of the Church sermon I talked through these 9 values and will briefly outline them in this 3 part series of blog posts.  


1. We worship and pray to a big God who has big plans.

•  Worship is not just music, it's the full trajectory of our lives.  
•  In corporate worship at Grace our goal is to ascribe greatness to God. Our hope is to create an environment where people can connect with God in all His glory.
•  The book of Acts provides a great study of the church at prayer- their prayer was defined by a sense of desperation for God to show up.  
•  God's people must pray bold prayers because God has bold plans for us. 

2. We teach the Bible - even the tough parts.

• Our commitment at Grace is to teach Bible.  We have a high view of the Scriptures and won’t pull punches or water it down when we teach it. 
• We're also committed that the scriptures are not only taught by the Pastors but from one to another within the church.  
• Those who are more mature should be instructing the next generation in the ways of faith.

3. We grow in our faith. There's always a spiritual next step.

• There is an expectation throughout the scriptures that true followers of Christ will be making consistent spiritual progress. The theological term for this is progressive sanctification.  
• We recognize that every faith journey is different and there is no such thing as assembly-line spirituality. God is a hand-crafter, not a mass-producer.
• But there is something common common to all Christ-followers no matter how new or how mature, there is always a next step toward Christ-likeness.
• Our commitment at Grace is to provide spiritual coaches to help at every step as people pursue spiritual maturity.  We've identified some of the common characteristics of growing disciples as 
• L   ive in community
• I   nvest in others
• V  olunteer your time
• E  quip yourself

You can find values 4, 5, 6 here and 7, 8, 9 here

Simple questions for debriefing an event

Today our staff will gather.  It's our first meeting since Christmas and we'll be doing some evaluating of our Christmas services. We have used these simple questions to debrief events for a few years. They seem to allow us to get the necessary stuff on the table without getting too far off track. 

1. What went right?
2. What went wrong?
3. What was missing?
4. What was confusing?

Ok - I know that was four things and I usually do things in three... we'll all survive!  I wish I could give credit here because these questions came from someone I talked to somewhere (I didn't come up with them myself) - but I have no idea who!  If it was you, feel free to claim them.


Do you have any good debriefing questions that have worked well in your organization?

Why I go to my own Church when I'm on Vacation

I attended church at Grace this past weekend. This is not earth-shattering news since I'm the Senior Pastor there. What makes this time different though, is that I was on vacation. Many Pastors use their vacation time to visit other churches. I do this on occasion too. There are tremendous advantages to attending other churches while on vacation. You can relax, not feel the crunch of people issues and worship details, you can scout out what other churches do well and bring some of those ideas back to your own church (and if you attend another church locally, you can also say hello to folks who have left your church to attend that church - which is always an interesting encounter!) But when I'm in town I love going to Grace as a normal attendee because...

1. Community -I'm not just the 'hired help' at Grace, but I'm part of the covenant community there. I absolutely love my church and I miss it when I'm not there. I miss the people, the corporate worship, the preaching. When attending Grace while on vacation, I get to sit out in the seats in a different section of the worship center, and worship alongside members of my church family. (I almost scared the life out of one guy who came in late and scooted in next to me without realizing it- you would have thought he saw a ghost when he finally looked over and saw it was me).
2. Family - I love going to Grace with Kim and our kids while on vacation. It demonstrates to them the value of covenant community. But more practically, usually I have to leave early to get to church, so I'm not part of the pre-church routine with Kim. But on vacation weeks I can go into their rooms and wake them up, make them pancakes, help get them ready, drop them off at the front door while I park the car, etc. I know many people take these moments for granted... but not pastors. (I also found out the hard way that it's not acceptable to offer all the kids gum in the car on the way to church... it's the little things!)
3. Team Support - I love to come to Grace and support our teams while on vacation. It allows me to experience the friendliness of the ushers when we walk in and the hospitality in our children's ministry. I get to fully participate in worship (and sing especially loud) without having to think about what's coming next, and I get to sit under the teaching of some of our great pastors. It's a different perspective and vantage point by which to experience the life and character of our church.

I would highly recommend that all pastors carve out at least one or two weekends a year where you use your vacation to attend your own church.

A Few Quotes from UNLEASH Session #1

Perry Nobel, the Sr. Pastor of Newspring Church, threw it down in the first main session of the UNLEASH conference that I'm attending right now. Here are three good quotes.

1. How many of you grandparents in the crowd would give your life to see you grandchildren come to know Jesus? ... How many of you would give up your music style?
   
2. When the church becomes as valuable to us as the stock market, we'll do something about the decline.
3. Christians have consistently used prayer as an excuse for inactivity.

There were a bunch more - but I'm limiting myself to three! If you were at UNLEASH feel free to add on your best quotes.

Making the Most out of Conferences

As we're getting ready to head out for the Unleash Conference for Church Leaders tomorrow - I have been pondering how we can make the most out of this learning experience. One of the challenges that people face is in translating the content, the experience, and the application of all we’ve gained from our time away. My friend Bob Bickford compiled a good list of suggestions to make the most out of training opportunities and conferences. He talks about some of the obvious things like good note taking, using meals to debrief with your team, networking with other like-minded leaders, and good post conference evaluation. But I picked three of the less obvious recommendations that I thought were helpful.

1. What do you think we need to think about? Good conferences raise questions. Be sure to write down the questions you’re beginning to ask and the questions you believe we should be asking as an organization.
2. Take 10-when you return from your conference ask for 10 minutes in the next staff meeting to summarize your experience and new learnings.
3. Divide and Conquer-if you attending the conference with a team, cover multiple sessions and breakouts rather than sticking together…this maximizes your learning and also makes the debriefing sessions varied and interesting.

Any other helpful advice for maximizing the impact of a conference?

How To Spark Initiative in Those You Lead

Ben Arment had a great post this week about this important leadership topic. His premise is that "nine times out of 10, when we complain about lack of initiative in those we lead, it's because we've unintentionally put a lid on it." He lists 5 ways to spark initiative... as always... I picked my favorite 3:

1. Responsibility has to come with authority. Has to.
   
2. Our environments have to be permission-giving. Experimental even.
3. Invite them to the table. People don't try when their opinions don't count.
   

You can check out the other two here.

Things I Enjoyed at Grace Today - March 7-8

We had a great weekend at Grace. Although we were missing a big segment of our college students due to spring break - it was still a phenomenal time with great energy and passionate worship for God. Al was on point, the band was rocking, Gary got dunked, there was "magic" happening in the children's wing, but here are a few of the other highlights for me:

1. Shawn and Stephanie's testimony video - I think we will have this posted at our vimeo site sometime soon, and you need to see it. Stephanie is pregnant with a baby boy named Benjamin who will not be able to survive outside the womb once he is born. It is a moving story of faith and hope.
2. Teaching S.H.A.P.E. - This was week one of our new SHAPE class and it is going to be tremendous. I love the makeup of the class and am pumped about what will happen when this class is unleashed with the knowledge of how God has wired them to serve.
3. Launch of our new strategy to encourage people to arrive on time - I know this is a nerdy Executive Pastor thing to get excited about, but we chose Daylight Savings weekend to unroll our strategy. A new countdown video at the beginning of services, closing of main doors immediately when service starts, ushers redirecting people to use side doors when the service is in progress, etc. The days of allowing lateness to distract those who are on time are over!

Grace readers - what were some of your favorite moments from this weekend?

Ways to Fail as a Team Leader

Church leadership requires a very high level of skill because in most cases the leader is working with volunteers. And recruiting and motivating volunteers requires a completely different skill set and a different level of leadership savvy than recruiting and motivating paid employees. I read a good article by the guys at Leadership Transformations on this topic. You can read all 10 ways to fail as a team leader here. I picked 3.

1. Fill your team with people just like you. Surround yourself with people who think like you do and share similar strengths and weaknesses. Could there be a more ideal team than one made up of multiple versions of you? A variety of gifts and skills on a team is incredibly important - we have such a great mix here at Grace.
2. Ask someone to do a specific job, and then do it yourself. Micromanagement is one of the surest ways to fail as a team leader. The team leader who aims to fail must avoid empowerment at all costs. If you want it done right, you’ve got to do it yourself.
   
3. Conserve affirmation. You don’t want your team members to become arrogant. Use affirming remarks sparingly. Try to space them out as much as you can. If possible, only tell your people you appreciate them once a year at the Christmas party. This is one I have to improve on - I think very highly of my team so often, but am not always quick to express that affirmation.

What are some other ways you've seen team leaders fail, or that you as a team leader have failed?

Leadership Axioms

On my last trip down to the SC (that's South Carolina) - I listened to a podcast by Bill Hybels about his new book Axiom. I had just purchased the book and wanted a little primer before I got into it. It was excellent. Hybels defines axioms as carefully-crafted phrases of just a few words through which leaders can communicate a complex concept, value, or a learned leadership lesson, and these axioms become part of the organization’s culture. They are short repeatable sound bytes that help organizations develop a common leadership language and value system. Here are three that caught my attention:

1. "Can I have an umbrella of mercy?" - We have actually used this one for some time at Grace. It's a phrase that was hatched by the Willow Arts team. It means, “I’m going to propose a high-risk idea, and something in me wishes there was an umbrella of safety over my head to protect me from bad reactions.” Everyone in leadership has felt the emotional risk that comes when a new idea is put out on the table. This phrase asks for some grace from those listening to "hear me out" without judgment.
2. “When something feels funky, engage.” - This was a new one to me, but it resonates deeply. Often when leaders are walking around, they pick up on a hint of something funky going in a particular department. Sometimes they tend to avoid addressing it and hope it will go away or resolve itself. That usually never happens! When something feels funky -even if you can't put your finger on exactly what it is - it's time for a leader to engage.
3. "Check your ego at the door" - Colin Powell developed some axioms that are called the “Powell Principles,” and this is one of them. Hybels noted how every part of this axiom is memorable — especially the visual imagery of arriving at a meeting, walking through the door, checking your ego like a coat, leaving it behind, doing your business, and picking it back up when you leave.

What are some leadership axioms that have been helpful to you?

About Meetings

Some people enjoy meetings and some people hate meetings.  I happen to lean toward the enjoyment side of things - but I don't like calling them "meetings" when they are with my team members at Grace.  "Meeting" has such a negative connotation to it.  I'll have to come up with some creative name for them - maybe you can help with that. I had a few such sessions with team members at Grace today, and tonight I reflect on some reasons why I tend to enjoy meetings:

1. People are smarter together.  This is almost always the case.  We typically come to much smarter decisions when we work with like-minded but diverse team members than we would have dreaming something up on our own.  I love the collaboration and results that come from working together toward a common goal.
2. Meetings are launching pads for progress.  Since I've been a working man, I've always considered the word picture of a launching pad when it comes to meetings.  Words exchanged around the table of a group of leaders are not empty words - they will eventually impact lives. That's why I try not to take any meeting lightly.  It's pretty amazing to see an idea through from the 'concept phase' with a small group to the 'implementation phase' that affects thousands.  It's quite humbling actually.
3. Meetings allow me to invest in the lives of people.  Email exchanges, conference calls, written proposals are all good - they are effective and efficient means to get things done.  But, there is nothing like sitting eyeball to eyeball with someone - catching up on their life for a while, and then rolling up our sleeves to solve a problem, birth and idea, or facilitate a change together.  It's a really cool dynamic when it's working.

Got any creative new terms I could use instead of "meeting?"

We Are Family

Last weekend wrapped up the "Awakening" Series at Grace. It was a cool series that I was privileged to be a part of. I love when ideas become reality from our creative team meetings for each series. This is the video for the family service. The first part was played as a sermon lead in - the last part was played as people exited the worship center. People start dancing at 3:34. Enjoy



We Are Family from Dave Hartland on Vimeo.