Every year the Pacific Conference hosts the “Global Leadership Summit.” This year, it was a bit different as we encouraged Watch Parties, rather than a larger gathering. Eight of us gathered at the Conference Office for our Watch Party last Thursday and Friday. It was great to be together, to watch, learn, and share (even with masks and social distancing!)
LET’S TALK
Like every year, I was challenged and stretched in my own life, personally, and ministry. Here are seven takeaways from the Leadership Summit.
Takeaway #1
On Organizational Change (Craig Groeschel)
Craig often says, “Everyone wins when a leader gets better.” Leadership is never about position and power, but about trust and influence. Leadership is particularly needed during change. People don’t hate change. They hate the way we try to change them. As we lead change, we should never cast blame, rather we should take responsibility. You can make excuses, or you can make progress. But you can’t make both. Leaders lead.
Further Study: https://www.life.church/leadershippodcast/
Takeaway #2
On Workplace Resilience (Marcus Buckingham)
“Resilience is when the world hits you, and the challenges hit you, you can withstand it. And if you can’t, you still back up and bounce back.” The Biblical term for that is perseverance. So how can we build in that kind of commitment in our churches? Marcus cautioned that, “Too many leaders are saying too much about what they’re going to do, and then not doing it.” We must follow through! When others see the leader keep at it, they too are willing to pay the price.
Other comments about resiliency:
- Risk and Resilience are intricately linked. If you let people risk and you don’t chop them off, they’ll do it again.
- Keep confidences.
- Excellent communication – make sure others know before they need to know it.
- Allow those you lead the freedom to make choices on their own.
- Leaders are a step ahead of the situation.
Further Study: www.marcusbuckingham.com/standout
Takeaway #3
On Authentic Leadership (Albert Tate)
Albert Tate shared an incredible story about Elijah McCoy, who invented a lubricating process for the locomotive. Many tried to counterfeit his invention, but none could measure up to be the “real McCoy!” See story here https://bit.ly/3kuudpj
Authentic leadership isn’t something outside of me that I have to grasp, but it’s something inside of me that I have to grow. Leadership isn’t something we do. Leadership is something we are.
He shared about three types of leadership: Table-flipping Leaders, who stand for justice; Foot-washing Leaders, who serve others; and Limping Leaders who are vulnerable and broken.
Further Study: http://treymcclain.com/gls2020-tate/
Takeaway #4
On Understanding People (Vanessa Edwards)
We tend to see people based on two factors: Warmth (Trust) and Competence (Respect). People who are off-the-charts on warmth are perceived as sweet and smart, but not competent and relatable. Others, who are off-the-charts on competence are seen as smart but not collaborative or a great team player.
We need to have both. One challenge she gave was to conduct an email audit – look at your last ten emails, count warm words, & count competent words
Another observation she made was that hands are trust indicators. We use hands to show intention and trust. The least popular TED Talkers used an average of 272 hand gestures in 18 minutes. The most popular TED Talkers used 465 hand gestures in 18 minutes. Our brain gives 12.5 times more weight to our gestures than our words. You must be able to talk on two tracks. Always show your hands on video calls and when you speak.
Further Study: www.ScienceofPeople.com/GLS
Takeaway #5
On The Pace of Leadership: (Michael Todd)
Success is not just where you end up. It’s how you get there. Too often the leadership pace is at an unsustainable place.
Think about it, Jesus accomplished everything in three years and was never running to His next appointment. Not striving, but striding. Stride means to walk with long, decisive steps in a specific direction.
The pace of walking lasts longer. When you find the right pace, everything starts to work better. “The pace of grace” is the sweet spot between great results and genuine rest.
Moreover, when you find the right pace, it’s easy for your team to follow you. We don’t need leaders who do great things for a short time. We need leaders who will be here over the long-haul. Poor pace produces missed moments, missed meaning, and missed miracles. The right pace loves your family. It allows you to be present, and being present is a gift to you.
Further Study: https://churchleaders.com/news/380250-michael-todd-are-you-leading-at-the-right-pace.html
Takeaway # 6
On How to Multiply Your Time (Rory Vaden)
Time management is one of the leader’s biggest challenges. We need to think differently about time —the “multiplier.” Multipliers don’t make decisions based on urgency and importance alone. Multipliers make a third calculation, referred to as significance. Urgency is how soon does something matter. Importance is how much does it matter. Significance is how long does something matter.
Rory shared these questions to help focus on the most essential tasks:
- Can I ELIMINATE it? Can I live without it? Saying “No” today creates more time in the future.
- Can I AUTOMATE it? Developing a system for reoccurring tasks is a huge time saver.
- Can I DELEGATE it? Be willing to invest the time now to teach the task so that you can successfully give it away for the long term.
- Must this task be done now (CONCENTRATE), or can it be done later (PROCRASTINATE)?
Further Study: www.RoryVaden.com/GLS
Takeaway # 7
On The Metrics of Migrative Leadership (TD Jakes)
Migration is about getting out of our comfort zone. When we fail to migrate, we talk to people like us—who think like us, who vote like us, who dress like us, who walk like us, and who talk like us.
How can we be more migrative in our leadership?
- Recognize Reality Is Different Than Our Own. Look at the truth behind what is said. Admit when the other person’s reality might be right or “kind of” right. Recognize how we share similarities, but we do not always share the same experience.
- See Someone Else’s Perspective. Your whole world is shown in who you talk to. It’s right there in your contact list on your cell phone. Your world is not the world. Understand others because we are better together than we are apart. It is hard to get different types of people to come together because we come with the baggage of our background and our perspective and our viewpoints.
- Create a Level Playing Floor. Level the playing floor where every person can be heard regardless of their background and be valued. To make an impact on underserved communities, bring people to the table different from us for a 360 perspective. Talk even when you’re afraid you might say the wrong thing. If you can build a demographic that is different from yourself and respect their perspectives, we can have a level playing floor, and we can change the world.
Further Study: https://globalleadership.org/articles/leading-others/td-jakes-plays-the-piano-to-prove-a-point
LET’S TALK
I know I’m leaving you a lot to reflect and digest. That’s what makes the Global Summit such an enjoyable experience. I encourage you to check out the additional websites including the notes at the Summit’s home page: https://globalleadership.org/
Oh, and mark your calendars, next year’s Summit is August 5-6, 2021. We are planning to use the same format as “Watch Parties” in various locations in the Pacific Conference. We’ll keep you updated!
Coffee with Randall 