leadership(42/5)
We want to see four or more generations of leaders
[At a leadership gathering] we want to see four or more generations of leaders present, or we have failed. So, we say to leaders we work with, “Tell me about the people you are mentoring, and tell me about the people your mentees are mentoring.” There is always an expectation of four generations, minimum. All good leaders are intimately aware of the two generations below them and the generation above them.…
Crisis demands shared leadership
The shape of our two primary political party’s response to COVID demonstrates the great need we have for multiple dominant parties. In the early stages of the pandemic, it was the Democratic party’s response that proved most human. Most Democrats were swift to listen to scientific guidance and protect the vulnerable, to release funds and organize a coherent response. The Republican party, in contrast, quibbled with the scientific community, claimed moral superiority in upholding freedom at the expense of the vulnerable, and balked at even modest capital expenditure.…
A strong team will mitigate nearly every disaster that can befall a planter
A strong team will help mitigate nearly every disaster that can befall a planter, yet few planters are intentional about it on their first try.
The test of a church plant is how it fares once the planter departs
The true test of any church plant is how it fares once the planter departs.
Train your team for your absence by taking them everywhere
The key to training your team for your absence is to take them with you wherever you go, having them shadow you like a disciple would a rabbi.
Wise planters learn everything they can about leadership
Once a planter recruits a team, it takes constant communication to maintain the bond of working together. In the same way that a modern soldier must clean his gun, so the planter must regularly look after the team. Many planters have not been taught basic leadership principles and know little about managing teams. Therefore, wise planters learn everything they can about interpersonal communication, team leadership, conflict resolution, and Christlike leadership.
Leadership failures
Since having my own run-in with a notably horrific manager I’ve made new discoveries about the nature of my manager’s faults. Let’s catalog them here, starting with this link: Disrespectful Employee
Choose leaders over companies
You may have heard the adage, “people leave managers, not businesses.” If this is true, what does it mean for your next job? Through a story with two endings, I’ll demonstrate that this adage means more about your job hunt than your exit strategy. At the beginning of my career I believed, if I honed my skills and lengthened my resume, eventually I’d be hired at one of the star tech companies of my generation.…
Leaders develop towards their ideal
It’s important to know where you’re headed and why. According to Boyatzis, the first step towards a self-directed approach to learning is the discovery of what you desire to be and what you currently are (Boyatzis, pg. 19). Coined the ‘ideal self’, the vision of what you want to become in the future. Daniel Goleman applies this research to the efforts of executives and senior managers who have lost the motivation to develop their leadership skills further in their current position or their ‘current self’.…
Leaders form healthy team norms
Leaders uncover the norms of their teams and of individuals. The combination of individual values, personality, and the surrounding culture influences the team’s norms from their first day together. Some norms have a positive influence on the team, but not all. One of the leader’s roles is to read the team’s norms, to expose the negative norms that impact everyone and to strengthen the positive norms through repetition and awareness. Norms encompass the habits of the team, such as the “angel’s advocate” to protect new ideas (Goleman, pg.…
Keep the vision steady
People follow a leader in part because of his life’s direction. When he’s going where the people want to go, and they believe the leader can help get them there, they’ll follow him to the end ({maxwell-minutes}, pg. 235). Thousands were willing to follow Gideon into battle against the occupying armies of the Midianites, although they had feared them for years (ESV, Judges 7). If a leader loses focus on the vision or switches to another vision, his followers may disband.…
A leaders primary service is connection
Leadership opportunities come to those who connect with others. Maxwell spends three-quarters of every day connecting with people because, the stronger the connection, the more opportunity to lead (Maxwell, pg. 166). When Absalom stole the kingdom from his father David, he did so by connecting one-on-one with the nation (2Sa15). Although his desire was corrupt, the pains he took to ingratiate himself with individuals shows how powerful connection can be. So, though it took forty years, Absalom was able to steal the hearts of all the Israelite people, and he did it under one of Israel’s greatest kings!…
Attraction between leaders and followers is mutual
Attraction between leaders and followers is mutual. People who follow a leader don’t do so because it’s against their best interests, they do so because they expect that good will come to them as a result. Likewise, leaders don’t accept followers merely because they show up, but because they see the value they add to their team. When the leader shares his vision, the people who follow are those who want to go there or who value that path.…
Bring others to the summit
Leaders shouldn’t be alone at the top of the mountain, but they must be intentional to bring others with them. There’s a common saying, “It’s lonely at the top.” When a leader strives to become the best he can often fail to take anyone else with him, leaving him standing on the peak with himself and a few weak thanks for the people who helped him get there. Maxwell pokes a hole in this saying by urging us that “it’s lonely at the top, so you’d better take someone with you (Maxwell, pg.…
Cultural intelligence is crucial for todays leaders
Cultural intelligence (CI) may be the deciding factor in 21st-century leadership. “Nearly 90 percent of leading executives from sixty-eight countries named cross-cultural leadership as the top management challenge for the next century (Livermore, pg. 14).” Livermore’s research, which aggregates this surprising statistic, indicates that the leaders who can navigate the intercultural landscape will be the most valuable asset to any company in the 21st century. Charisma and efficiency may top the charts on most U.…
Empowerment is relational
Empowerment is relational. The word ‘empowerment’ conjures the image of a father handing his truck’s keys over to his son. It means autonomy and authority for the empowered. Merriam-Webster lists as synonyms commission, authorize, enable, and invest (empower). Spreitzer’s study discovered four conditions that foster empowerment in an organization. The conditions may be summarized vision, teamwork, roles, trust (security), and, from Maxwell’s definitions, I infer clarity (pg. 202-203). Galvanizing vision. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owner will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood (King Jr.…
Leaders are assisted by intuition
Intuition is like spiritual gifts in that it only assists a person but doesn’t define them. Intuition is a word with an ambiguous definition. We know it exists because others aren’t the same as we are. Little Jimmy could play the piano before he could walk, and we couldn’t carry a tune after graduating high school. Nevertheless, the knowledge that there’s a leadership intuition does little to change one’s perspective on leadership (although it may change one’s perspective on themselves).…
Leaders with vision and no compromise fail
Leaders with a holy vision and no compromise fail. Early in the rise of Lincoln’s political career his party was at a crossroads. They sought to elect a new Illinois politician, but could not decide upon the man. Abolitionists cried for a candidate with a bold public stance against slavery. Unionists urged for a moderate voice to subdue the rising discontent between North and South. Each had their candidate; each vilified the other’s.…
Personal connection improves performance
Short interpersonal connections make work a better place to be. Although the man who spent 27 years alone in the wilderness may not agree, (Finkel) humans were made to connect with one another. Cultures vary widely on the relevance of this fact, from those who require personal connections prior to business transactions to those single-minded in getting the job done. Nevertheless, every culture recognizes a need for a connection with others when conducting business.…
Serve a better leader
Serving a better leader is a price to become a great leader. A person who desires leadership may take whatever opportunity that awaits him. Time spent in the presence of another leader is educational, but a green leader wants to get started now! He can’t wait to arrive at the pinnacle of leadership and so departs from his preparation before he’s ready (Maxwell). Elisha waited years before his leadership had a chance to shine.…
Emotional intelligence defines the organization
When a CEO needs to change their organization, they must direct their attention to transforming management. Those few who manage the company, both the C-suite and the general managers, set the mood and either help or hinder change. And it is the top leader, the CEO, who helps them change. Joan’s story capitalizes the effect a top manager can have on her direct reports. Joan didn’t begin an inspection of the business to identify what was wrong, she spent time with her leaders.…
Value proposition canvas
Deliver post-MBA graduates consulting experience in their dream field. Business Description: MBA graduates who desire to integrate their studies with the daily practice of a startup find it a challenge to connect with entrepreneurs who will pay for their consulting services. These graduates may face ‘imposter syndrome’ - the sense their education belies their ability - and desire a testing ground for the concepts they have learned. A consultant who acts as a middleman between the fresh MBA student and a selection of businesses, who will connect the student with a personalized business tailored to their MBA experience and will benefit the business by identifying talented managers, partners, and consultants available for hire.…
Leadership style depends on circumstance
Leadership styles can be developed and applied based on the circumstance. There are a range of leadership styles, many of which you may have encountered. A leader who regularly made decisions based on the group’s consensus? You’ve seen a leader use the democratic style. A leader who energized you with a compelling idea of the company’s purpose and inspired you to join it? You’ve experienced a visionary style. A leader who shouted orders to you in a crisis situation, giving you clear direction when fear threatened to immobilize you?…
Emotional presence affects followers
The emotional presence of a leader has a wide-ranging impact on all business functions. All functions of a business are relational. The salesperson and the customer relate in the sale. The engineer collaborates with his co-workers and his manager to build a product. We live and work in a web of relationships, and the emotional states of others effects us. This is because our emotional wiring, called the limbic system, is created as an ‘open-loop’ ((Goleman, pg.…
Leaders initiate relationships
Leaders initiate connections with their people. Maxwell’s analogy about the locomotive expresses a key point about leadership - the leader must initiate a connection with his followers. The leader who sits in his office will never build the relationship necessary with his people to inspire trust and respect in his people. “Great leaders don’t expect their people to move forward and latch on to them. Instead, they reach out to people, no matter where they are, and work to make a connection.…
Unteachable leaders are doomed
A leader who can’t be taught is doomed. Every leader makes mistakes. The most inspiring leaders in the Old Testament all make terrible decisions at some point. Moses murdered an Egyptian, David slept with Bathsheba, and Joseph provoked his brothers to jealousy. The New Testament’s leaders share their own failures. What distinguishes the inspiring leaders from those used as case studies of what not to do is their teachability. In their stories, even if their mistake is dramatic, it does not end their leadership.…
Leadership determines corporate size
Not all leaders operate at the same level of influence. Those who garner more respect on account of their character and skill operate at a higher level of influence. The strongest leader draws others of equal or weaker skill and character to themselves like a magnet. This has a cumulative effect; the strongest leader draws those who respect him, and they draw others, etc. This creates a pyramid of sorts, where the best leaders are followed by above average leaders, who are followed by average or new leaders.…
Favor respect over positional authority
Leaders who grow don’t depend on the same motivations for others to follow them. Often when a leader starts off in an organization, his only claim is title. He was hired as a manager, he was selected as a senior so-and-so, etc. People follow him because of his title or out of respect for another’s selection, but only because they must. If no other reason develops besides position, the people will stop following.…
We need global leaders
There is pressing need for global leaders, for we live in a pivotal moment in world history. The effects of globalization have manifested themselves in economies world-wide, and a wave of protectionism threatens in its wake. American voters have reacted to the loss of jobs caused in part by international trade and the uncertainty of an economy that reacts to forces beyond its borders (Williams). This sentiment is not restrained to America alone; a BBC poll in 2008 estimates “only 5 percent of the global public believes that the economic benefits and burdens of globalization are being shared ‘very fairly’” (Cabrera, loc.…
Leaders develop over decades
Growth in leadership is a multi-decade investment with a clear direction. A leader is recognized as such only after the labor of leadership development has born fruit. Or to use a boxing analogy, “Champions don’t become champions in the ring–they are merely recognized there” (Maxwell, pg. 30). The period before the championship moment is measured in decades, not days. To arrive at the level of influence of recognized leaders, an individual must take intentional steps on a regular basis towards that goal.…
Leadership books are not created equal
Bradberry and Greaves' leadership book promises “a new way to understand great leadership and an innovative method for any leader to become great (loc. 66).” What it supplies is a research compendium of distinct, pithy paragraphs and examples of the positive and negative feedback from which the paragraphs were drawn. Perhaps in an attempt to validate the research effort expended, the authors resort to detached, directive explanations and tacked-on snippets of feedback stripped of context.…
Spider followers need an extra push
A spider organization, first coined by Ori Brafman in The Spider and the Starfish, is an organization where a tiny group holds authority over the entire organization’s power and decision-making. The test of the spider organization is, if your top leaders were to disappear (the head), what would happen to the rest (the body)? A “spider follower” is someone who has spent enough of their lives in spider organizations that their behavior has been shaped by the system.…
Every venture needs a strong leader
Though any venture requires sets of skills not usually found in one person, if one person does not have leadership ability there will be no team. There are many business functions necessary to a successful business startup. There’s the development of ideas, the testing of those ideas, the execution, the refinement. It’s rare for one person to possess the skills necessary to do all functions well. Therefore a team of people with diverse strengths can increase the likelihood a venture will manage itself well.…
Owners must prepare for crisis
Leaders must mitigate the effect of crisis on their businesses by moving from reactive to proactive engagement quickly. When a crisis affects a business, four leadership reactions often happen. If nothing is done to transform the reactions into proactive effort, the crisis may spell the end of the business, or at least of the leader. First, leaders become paralyzed. Struck by the shock of crisis, like a turtle a leader hides in their shell waiting for the crisis to go away.…
Ask individuals for feedback not groups
It’s not enough to ask the room what it thinks. A leader must ask individuals. Imagine you’re one of a dozen presidential aids gathered to assist Kennedy in the growing Cuban crisis. You’ve had a week to consider current events and chart potential results from the available presidential responses. Earlier, in conversation with other aids, you discover the most popular approach is an invasion trained and funded in secret by American forces.…
Ask questions from a humble heart
Questions are powerful when asked with the right heart. What about questions is more powerful than answers? Questions lead the person questioned on a journey to find an answer ((Marquardt, pg. 84)). The questioner holds the power to send the person questioned on a fruitful journey, or they may send him on a fruitless journey. The questioner may inject their own pathway into the question itself. If the questioner does so, he limits the person questioned from finding his own way and may result in no new destination at all.…
Distribute mentorship among everyone
When it comes to mentorship, everyone gets to play. Bradberry and Greaves assess “too many leaders assume that developing your people is a manager’s responsibility (pg. 68).” Their assessment falls short of reality; however, for not only leaders, but all members of an organization assume managers are solely responsible for the development of their direct reports. There is some truth the member’s assumption, for no manager worth their pay neglects the development of their team, and management by definition is “the art of getting things done through people (Clegg, Kornberger & Pitsis, cited in Ideas on Management, emphasis added).…
Empathetic leadership follows the golden rule
Leaders select their style by the rule, “whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them (ESV, Matthew 7:12)”. No one wants to be treated the same forever. A child is closely monitored and given explicit direction for almost every task, but a teenager balks whenever their independence is threatened. Onlookers pity the adult who is treated as though they are a six-year-old, and question the parents who allow their ten-year-old privileges typically reserved for adults.…
Leaders embody their core values
Leaders pay careful attention to develop their company culture. What constitutes a company’s culture? Anderson proposes five pillars of a company culture: Core Values Mission Performance Standards Core Competencies People (pg. 156) This list calls out many facets of a company’s culture, but in reality they’re all subsets of the first, core values. The mission is no better than a vision statement to drive company culture. A mission guides decisions across the organization, but it will not shape culture.…
Leaders face pivotal moments that define their purpose on earth
Leaders face pivotal moments that define their purpose on earth. Three years of traveling ministry and Jesus was championed by many in Israel as the long-awaited messiah. At his final entrance to Jerusalem, the people greeted him outside with shouts and palm branches. So great was the commotion that Jesus' opponents complained the “Look, the world has gone after him (ESV, John 12:19).” This seemed the pivotal moment in Jesus' life, when he would finally overthrow the Roman government and establish God’s kingdom in Israel.…
Leaders win by continually dying
Leaders give up more and more of what they have to succeed. To become a leader takes sacrifice. But many believe the sacrifice is a one-time cost and the privilege of leadership worth the price. For some, the cost is a graduate-level degree program. To others, it’s extra hours on the clock to become a star employee who deserves promotion. Others see the cost as family vs. career and choose to forgo a family for a while in order to be a leader in their industry.…
Leadership begins and ends at home
Leadership begins and ends at home. The place where one’s influence is fully tried, and where the effects of one’s leadership are most clearly seen, is in one’s own family. A leader with influence in the home will be obeyed by his children and respected by his wife. When Paul tells Timothy how to select good leaders for the local church in Ephesus, one key place he says to look is the leader’s family life:…
Leadership growth requires vulnerability
A leader must withhold no area from growth, no matter how they wished it didn’t exist or wouldn’t be exposed, if they are to raise the ‘lid’ of their leadership. A leader who reads Maxwell’s admission that he is below average in some leadership laws with any degree of humility must conclude there’s work to be done to become a better leader. To ‘raise the lid’ as Maxwell puts it (Laws).…
Learn to lead now
Future leaders serve as though they were already in their future role. “So, you want to be a leader?” the manager says to his subordinate. “Yes,” the subordinate replies, “I’ve been working here for five years now, I’m the best at what I do, and I think it’s about time I should be given a promotion.” “A promotion?” the manager responds. “You’re a dependable programmer, I’ll give you that. And you have worked here five years.…
Situational leadership applies to individuals and teams
Situational leaders select the right leadership style for the person and their goal. Leaders have different styles, and those styles are more effective when the follower’s culture is considered ((Goleman)). A directive style is expected in cultures with a high power distance, while a coaching style fits with a collaborative culture. This information might cause a leader to think of leadership styles only in the context of teams. Identify the team’s culture, select the leadership style that best fits the culture, and all will be well.…
Humility excels confidence
The long road of humility is better than the proud confidence our society esteems. Who doesn’t want to be confident? To never doubt that one has made the right choices; focused on the highest priorities. To be self-assured in one’s own ability; to face all problems with certainty of success. Confidence is heralded as a very great virtue; in business, sports, government and society the confident are highly esteemed. “They are confident because they are equipped, they are prepared, they are ready for challenges.…
Leaders focus on strengths
Humble leaders spend considerable time observing and considering their people’s strengths. There is constant temptation to hide one’s weaknesses, and all the more as a leader. We want to bury our weaknesses until we can make them better; until we no longer feel incompetent around others who excel. The more important we view ourselves, the more pressing the need to be perfect in every area. This is in direct conflict with the beautiful and necessary characteristic of humility in leadership.…