4 Lessons for Living in a New reality - Bill Hybels (from Dave ferguson)

The following are some of the highlights of Bill's opening talk at the 2009 Leadership Summit:

I want to share some lessons with you that I am learning in this new reality.
I'm not sure we are going to experience the old normal anytime soon...if ever. The normal we all knew and loved has left the building.
In the middle of this new reality we hear the whispers of God saying, 'this is why I gave you this leadership gift...for times like these."

PHILOSOPHICAL LESSON
In a single week the stock market lost 20% of it's total value within a week. As a result of that hundreds and thousands of people began to lose their jobs. In the middle of that we made a critical decision that we will be an Acts 2 church for today. We still believe that the church is the hope of the world and we will be the dispensers of that hope. We are the church and we will still be the church!

FINANCIAL LESSON
When you head into a financial downturn you see the financial forecast going down and the financial needs going up.
Advice from Jack Welch: "Cash is king!" Cash simply gives you the time needed to make the important decisions you need.
At Willow they have 25% of the total annual budget in cash reserves.
Follow these "golden rules" if staff reductions are necessary:
Give as much as advance notice as possible.
Be clear about the cause for the reductions.
Be as generous as possible.
Suggested budget disbursement: 50% or less of total budget is for staffing; 10% is for Spirit-led initiatives; 15% is for debt reduction and 25% for ministry expenses.
People will still be extremely generous if the cause is compelling.

PEOPLE LESSON
I have been learning a lot of lessons in regards to the people who work with me and for Willow:
Ask yourself, "Are we hiring fully yielded, rightly gifted, fired up people for the mission who want to see God do great things."
Ask: How many "key" seats do we have in our organization? And then ask how many of our "key" people are filled by a fully yielded, rightly gifted fired up person?
Recommended book, How the Mighty Have Fallen by Jim Collins

PERSONAL LESSON
This lesson started with a conversation with a friend where we both admitted to each other, "I'm a little worried about you." It remind me of a dangerous time when I wrote in my journal 20 years ago these words, "The pace at which I'm doing the work of God is destroying the work of God in me." We must reinvent replenishment strategies for the new reality. The best thing you bring to your church or organization is a "filled up" person. You need it and they need it.

Imperatives for Creating Change - Gary Hamel

I came across this interesting piece, its short but may get your thoughts ticking over.

Gary Hamel was ranked as the #1 Business Thinker of 2008 by The Wall Street Journal and called "the world's leading expert on business strategy" by Fortune Magazine. He is the author of Leading the Revolution and The Future of Management.

The following are some of the thoughts from Gary Hamel's talk Manage Differently Now given at the 2009 Leadership Summit:
Our problem is not greed or materialism; our problem has to do with change...we live in a time of unprecedented exponential change.
The reality is that most organizations get shackled to one model and stuck in one paradigm.
Over time visions become strategies and strategies get codified and and you get stuck in an old paradigm.
Success is a self-correcting phenomenon.
The really hard thing is not inventing, but re-inventing yourself and bringing about change.

IMPERATIVES FOR CREATING CHANGE1. Overcome the temptation to take refuge in denial.
Overcoming denial usually requires that we go through four steps:

1. Dismiss 2. Rationalize 3. Mitigate 4. Confront.
"Microsoft is only two years from being irrelevant" - Bill Gates

2. Generate dozens of new possibilities
We are in too big of a hurry to find a solution; we need to first spend time thinking through all the crazy possibilities.

3. Deconstruct what you are already doing.
Most churches end up doing the same stuff because they read the same books and use the same consultants. We need to reconsider everything..spare the gospel. Why can't a sermon be created though an open-source conversation? Why can't we bring laptops into the sanctuary to take notes? Why is the sermon more of a lecture and not a discussion? Why...
Mental models of leadership teams are increasingly irrelevant but at the same time their power is increasing.
Is the challenge finding great leaders OR leveraging the people that God has sent us?
Young people want to work for corporations that functions more like the web where everyone has a voice and is judged by what they produce.
Jesus is the answer and He is the hope for humanity. And the church is God's plan A for delivering that message. There is no plan B!

The Global Leadership Summit

Well the Global Leadership Summit is coming up soon and I for one am pretty excited!

I appreciate the Southern DAB and their commitment to getting leaders along to this great conference, with encouragement and also a little financial help!

But, don't think this is just for pastors - its not even just for leaders! This is a great conference for anyone who want to be encouraged in their faith.

This year we are hoping to take most of the board members from Croydon Park, and if its like last year, we'll bump into the Gawler guys there too!

So, anyway, if you're interested then make sure you check out the dates and get along. For more info check out their website here.

The 'Sickness Within' (an online video sermon)

Hi all,
One of our blog readers suggested we post this link for a sermon.

"Is it really what’s inside that counts? If so, what’s going on inside you? Worry? Doubt? Loneliness? Lust? Sometimes the internal struggles that no one else sees are the ones that blind us the most. We’ll get the inside story on how God offers hope and strength for overcoming these battles in this series, The Sickness Within."
http://www.lifechurch.tv/message-archive/watch/the-sickness-within/5

Peace

Ten Fatal Flaws that Derail Leadership (from neoleader)

I thought these were great, certainly spoke to me....

Lack energy and enthusiasm. They see new initiatives as a burden, rarely volunteer, and fear being overwhelmed. One such leader was described as having the ability to “suck all the energy out of any room.”

Accept their own mediocre performance. They overstate the difficulty of reaching targets so that they look good when they achieve them. They live by the mantra “Underpromise and overdeliver.”

Lack clear vision and direction. They believe their only job is to execute. Like a hiker who sticks close to the trail, they’re fine until they come to a fork.

Have poor judgment. They make decisions that colleagues and subordinates consider to be not in the organization’s best interests.

Don’t collaborate. They avoid peers, act independently, and view other leaders as competitors. As a result, they are set adrift by the very people whose insights and support they need.

Don’t walk the talk. They set standards of behavior or expectations of performance and then violate them. They’re perceived as lacking integrity.

Resist new ideas. They reject suggestions from subordinates and peers. Good ideas aren’t implemented, and the organization gets stuck.

Don’t learn from mistakes. They may make no more mistakes than their peers, but they fail to use setbacks as opportunities for improvement, hiding their errors and brooding about them instead.

Lack interpersonal skills. They make sins of both commission (they’re abrasive and bullying) and omission (they’re aloof, unavailable, and reluctant to praise).

Fail to develop others. They focus on themselves to the exclusion of developing subordinates, causing individuals and teams to disengage.

http://www.neoleader.org/?p=1235