Leadership & Market Place Ministry: January 2017

Monday, January 30, 2017

49 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Louie Giglio And Christine Caine – Passion 2017

Tonight Passion 2017 began from the Georgia Dome located in Atlanta. It you are unfamiliar with Passion, it is the 20th anniversary of a gathering of over 55,000 18-25 year olds with the sole purpose of making the name of Jesus famous. Over 1,600 campuses and 90 countries were represented. On a special note, this will be the final event at The Dome before it is tore down.
The three-day event began with words from Passion’s founder Louie Giglio and Christine Caine. Her challenging session on faith and endurance from Hebrews 10 and 11 inspired all in attendance. Included are images of her differentiating between Godly Ambition and Selfish Ambition.
The following are 49 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Louie Giglio And Christine Caine – Passion 2017:
Louie Giglio

“I hope all your anxiety and fear is washed away tonight. I hope you find family tonight.”
“There are tens of thousands of people in here and God knows every one of your names.”
“There’s something more important than everything else in world. The person of Jesus Christ. There is nothing close to Him.”
“At 84 you can still be loving God. Still running in your lane. Still making a difference for Christ.” – Louie on Dr. Charles Stanley

Christine Caine

“In 1997 you weren’t even born yet.” – to people 20 years or younger when Passion began in Austin, TX.
“The greatest days of the church are ahead of us, not behind us.”
“The first 20 years have just been a foundation of what is yet to come.”
“In 1997 this wasn’t here. It was there.”
“Here always becomes there. We’ve got to stop living for there and start living for here.”
“The followers of Jesus Christ do not need to grow weary or faint hearted.”
“You will have need of endurance. Not of faith or talent but endurance.”
“We’re going to need faith + patience, faith + endurance.”
“You do not need to freak out but you will need endurance.”
“We will have the victory but we will need endurance.”
“Faith doesn’t always mean you’re not going to go through pain and suffering.”
“This is our time. This is our place. God has given us the baton to reach our generation.”
“He is still on the throne and the government is on His shoulders.”
“We are running from victory, not for victory. Jesus Christ died and rose again. We have read the end of the Book and just in case you’re wondering, we won.”
“No one else will offer you forgiveness from the past and hope for the future.”
“I’ve built up some strength because I’ve come up against pressure.”
“We’ve developed a society that doesn’t have patience, that doesn’t celebrate waiting.”
“Don’t build resistance in the path of least resistance.”
“Because of Jesus we can run our race with hope.”
“We won’t live the life we want to live if we don’t learn to endure.”
“How did we get here after 20 years? Louie and Shelley just didn’t stop.”
“You don’t get endurance on an app. There is an app to help you build endurance but not an app for endurance.”
“The greatest thing you can do is lay your weights and sins at the foot of Jesus Christ.”
“If God can use someone like me…there is not one person in this room God cannot turn your mess around for your good and His glory.”
“Obedience to the Word of God is not legalism.”
“Doing what God tells me to do is for our good.”
“You’ve only got here and you’ve only got now.”
“We’re so busy scrolling through everyone else’s life we’re going to miss ours.”
“Don’t despise where God has you now.”
“The goal of Christianity is not fame, fortune or followers but faithfulness where God has placed me.”
“If you are not faithful here you will not be fruitful there.”
“Motives are very important to God.”
“I obsess about faithfulness today.”
“Why would I limit God to what I could think?”
“The further you go in life the more important one degree is. Where you begin your life is important.”
“Set the compass of your heart to be right.”
“The path of endurance checks your motives.”
“Jesus didn’t even do what He wanted to do. He did what His Father wanted Him to do.”
“if we are Christ-followers in this room we are not our own. We were bought with a price. We belong to Jesus.”
“Godly ambition lives for the glory of God alone.”
“I buried my mom three months ago.”
“Jesus have I done everything you wanted me to do?”
“He is the one who endured to the end. We magnify Him.”
“Jesus is the One who endured.”
“Because Jesus Christ endured let us therefore endure for our generation. The same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives inside you and me.”

Just an amazing message. I can’t wait for the rest of the conference.

Click HERE or on the image to the left and as a free gift for subscribing to this site, you can receive my new Ebook 1269 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2016’s Top Christian Leadership Conferences. Featured are the Johnny Hunt Mens Conference, ReThink Leadership, Orange and Leadercast Conferences among others. If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader. Enjoy!!!

5 Scientifically Proven Mindfulness Skills that WILL Make you a Better Leader (and a better person)

by Charles Stone

As a pastor, I’m always looking for ways to enhance my leadership. I believe good leaders should never stop learning. In the past few years as we’ve learned more about the human mind and brain, science is affirming an ancient contemplative practice rooted in church history and scripture, mindfulness. It’s helped me so much that I’m currently writing a book on Christian mindfulness. Five basic skills comprise the essence of this practice. In this post I explain those skills that will benefit any leader.

First, what is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a spiritual discipline akin to biblical meditation. It’s setting aside daily time to be still before God, to be in His presence in the present moment. It’s not emptying our minds, but filling our minds with thoughts of Him and His Word. And it’s not some weird new age practice. It’s a science based practice that helps us disengage from automatic and unhealthy thoughts, feelings, memories and reactions to simply be in God’s presence. It’s both a devotional practice and a way to live each moment.
Last year hundreds of studies were published that showed the benefits of mindfulness. Here are a few of them.

improved memory
less anxiety and depression
a healthier heart
better ability to cope with stress
enhanced relationships
less reactivity
overall improved well-being

One scientifically proven tool is called the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire based on the five skills I’ve described below. You can take this inventory here to evaluate how well you practice these skills. If you want to read more about how to develop them, I recommend the book, In this Moment: Five Steps to Transcending Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroscience. The authors explain the skills in depth.

Skill 1: Observing. In this skill you learn to notice what’s happening inside you and in your immediate surroundings, like zooming in with a camera lens.

Skill 2: Describing. In this skill you use your words to convey what you’re observing. This involves learning to label your emotions and describe bodily sensations.

Skill 3: Detaching. In this skill, you learn to keep your unhealthy comparisons, predictions, and evaluations about your life from sticking to your soul, akin to how food slides off a Teflon coated frying pan.

Skill 4: Loving yourself. Loving yourself does not mean we become self-centered. Rather, we practice what Jesus told us to do when he said we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. It means that we learn to love ourselves as we are, rather than basing our view of ourselves on other people’s approval or on our own performance.

Skill 5: Acting mindfully. This skill means that we learn to become more aware of what we are doing as we are doing it. We learn to be in the moment rather than being on autopilot or trying to get to a ‘better’ moment.

Developing these skills helps leaders be fully present for those they lead and care about.
The more present you are as a leader, the more effective your leadership.
What benefits have you read about or learned that mindfulness brings?
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The Gospel is Not Just About Your Afterlife

Hey!
If you’re struggling with finding joy in your Christian walk as you look ahead to the New Year, it may be that you have been taught–and are believing–a very small Gospel. Let me open up a path to a bigger gospel for you in this post:
The Gospel is Not Just About Your Afterlife
And Christianity is Not About Sin Management

It is out of a bigger gospel that we find our life and purpose. We now live as God’s family, serving others like we’ve been served by Christ, as a way of life.
Not because we are supposed to, but because this is who we are... [continue reading]
Here’s to the best year ever!
–Caesar
P.S. I am excited to announce my new book, Bigger Gospel: Learning to Speak, Live and Enjoy
the Good News in Every Area of Life, is coming out in January. I can’t wait for you to read it!

What The Bible Says About Lazy People vs. Hard Working People

In my study of some of the greatest leaders in the world, hard work was the second-most common trait of people who reach the top of their professions. Hard work is one of my favorite subjects and a passion of mine. Hard work is something anyone can do it only a few choose to do so. Nothing of significance happens in a leader’s life without hard work.
One of my favorite leaders is Chuck Bengochea. In addition to being the current Chief Executive Officer of Family Christian Book Stores and former CEO of HoneyBake Hams, Chuck is a world-class Iron Man contestant in his age category. Because I served under his leadership when he was the Chairman of the Elders for Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, GA, he and I became great friends. Once, I interviewed him for a business leaders Bible study I was conducting and asked him about the subjects of hard work and perseverance. Chuck’s words stunned all of us in attendance.
He said, “You can do an Iron Man. You just have to persevere and choose to, on that day, spend a lot time in agony.” Wow! Success is attainable but it comes with a price. I have learned many people wants the perks of leadership – the compensation, the notoriety, the material trappings, etc… But few are willing to pay the price of leadership. And one of the primary prices which must be paid is hard work. Booker T. Washington once said, “Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.” In fact, the only place success comes before (hard) work is in the dictionary.
The Bible has much to say about hard work. Allow me to give you just a few verses from the Book of Proverbs along with some key leadership lessons it provides.
If you do not work hard, you will not enjoy financial success. In fact, laziness will provide a clear path to poverty. Read the verse found in chapter 6:10-11, “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep – So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler.” Financial guru Dave Ramsey who teaches biblical financial principles said, “My children were taught at an early age how money works and that it comes from hard work. They’ve been on a commission – not an allowance – since they were little. They learned that if they worked around the house, they got paid. If they didn’t work, they didn’t get paid.”
Are you looking for more meaning in your life and work? Well, hard work brings leaders understanding and a sense of satisfaction. Chapter 12:11 says, “He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread. But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.” The Bible says not working hard is frivolous. In other words, there is no serious purpose to your actions. Hard work provides direction and intent. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher summed it up when she said, “What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.”
It may sound unusual to write this but one of the many benefits to hard work is it improves your quality of life. Chapter 13:4 teaches us, “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing: But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” What do you desire today? Is it financial gain? Loving relationships? Physical, mental and emotional health? A great church, business, or non-profit? Do you want to be able to give away great amounts of your time and resources to meet the needs of those less fortunate? Whatever it is you want to be rich in, it cannot be done apart from some hard work.
Many times people wonder why other people “get all the breaks.” They wonder why someone else is in charge and not them. Many times there is a very simple answer. Chapter 12:24 says, “The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.” Successful leaders, those who wind up in key positions of influence, do not talk about working hard. They actually do it. The writer of Proverbs goes on to teach us in chapter 14:23, “In labor there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty.”
These verses are sobering. The contrast between hard work and laziness is not a popular topic in today’s politically correct and entitlement culture. But if you want to get the most out of your leadership, you need to know that success smells a lot like sweat. Thomas Edison once said, “There is no substitute for hard work.” This is a lesson successful leaders know all too well.

4 Responsibilities Of Church Leadership

I am so excited for Bryan Miles and his wife Shannon on the consolidation of their companies (MAG Bookkeeping, EAHelp, etc…) into one HUGE brand called BELAY. If you want to grow your organization, they are the leading company to help you with virtual services such as staffing, bookkeeping, and creative copywriters. I cannot recommend them enough. To learn more about this incredible organization, click HERE or on the image to the left.
Bryan and Shannon are simply two of the finest leaders I know. Recently, the BELAY team wrote a blog post entitled 4 Responsibilities Of Church Leadership. I wanted to pass their thoughts onto you.

“In a recent podcast, Shawn Lovejoy talked a lot about how church leadership can help create vision and use it to move the church forward. In creating vision and leading people through it, there comes a lot of responsibility though. Shawn offers some advice:

Constantly remind people why you do what you do. Shawn says that vision has a tendency to leak. You can rally the troops in a staff meeting or in a board room and have tears in people’s eyes, but six weeks later there are angry emails from those same people. Everyone has their own ideas, energies and agendas, and it’s a leader’s job to constantly remind people why we do what we do. Most leaders think they communicate it too much, but most followers don’t. Most people don’t wake up every day thinking about your vision like you do as the leader. Try to close the gap between your passion level and the passion level of others.
Stay the course. Vision hijackers, as Shawn calls them, can kill or erode vision. They come in all shapes and sizes and unknowingly or unconsciously try to take over the situation. These are people who have usually joined in with the vision along the way. Leaders have to hang on to make sure you get to your original destination because it’s your responsibility to see the vision through to the end.
Snatch the wheel. With a hijackers, there’s not a clear intent to take over, so staying the course and sticking to your vision usually works. But there’s also someone Shawn calls a vision maverick who does have their own agenda or selfish ambition. They want to take your church and make it something else. This is where a leader must have courage to snatch the wheel back if necessary to protect the vision.
Let people go. The Kingdom’s big enough for both of you. Maybe your vision hijacker or maverick needs to go in another direction while you stay on your course. Shawn says many leaders have a tendency to hang on too tight to people who are struggling. But God may be birthing a vision within them that’s unique and different. In order to realize this, it’s important sometimes to let people go.

To hear more from Shawn about the responsibilities of church leadership and much more, check out the full podcast here!”

Critics: Stay Away or Draw Close to Them?

by Charles Stone

Criticism hurts, especially the non-constructive kind. We tend to stay away from such critics. But is that the wisest choice? Should we draw close to them instead of pulling away from them? In this post I explore the idea of not shunning your critics.

Murray Bowen, the father of family systems, coined the phrase “non-anxious presence.” He used this term to describe a personal quality that when a leader exhibits it, can keep a family or a group’s overall emotional reactivity and anxiety down. He and others suggest that leaders should not cut off their critics, but should actually stay connected to them in a calm way.
What does a non-anxious leader look like?

can truly listen to another, even if he or she is bearing bad news or criticism
can hold his emotions in check when in the hot seat
seldom gets defensive
can acknowledge the emotions of his critic
will calmly and courageously respond instead of reacting

Ernest Shackleton, one of the greatest explorers ever, modeled this non-anxious presence with his Antarctica expedition crew as they were marooned for over a year in 1915-1916 after their ship was crushed by the ice. His calm presence and his drawing to difficult crew members allowed him to lead them all to safety. Not one man perished. Here’s what he did.

His photographer, Frank Hurley would feel slighted if the crew didn’t pay attention to him and would become difficult to work with. Instead of isolating him, Shackleton gave him a place in his tent and often conferred with him.
His physicist, Reginald Jamer, was an introverted academic. Shackleton feared that his personality might invite ridicule that in turn could escalate into a serious issue. He made him a bunkmate as well.
When Shackleton selected a crew to take a lifeboat to sail from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island to assemble a rescue party for the entire crew, he selected the carpenter, McNeish. He chose him not only for his skills but also because he was concerned that McNeish could create discontentment with the men who were left.
Finally, Shackleton specifically picked two other crewmen because he felt they might cause trouble in his absence. In total, more than half of the group he chose were potential troublemakers.

So, how can we present a non-anxious presence to those who are our critics or to those with whom our personalities rub? I suggest these five ideas.

When criticized, truly try to understand the critic’s perspective. Ask questions. Really listen.
When someone criticizes, thank them for sharing it.
Keep a good sense of humor. Don’t allow the criticism to suck the life from you.
Spend some social time with the critic so he can get to know you. Share some of your personal life story.
Do something thoughtful for your critic, something that he or she would not expect from you.

As counter-intuitive as this may seen, staying calmly connected to your critics can actually help you grow as a leader and move your church or organization forward.
At what point do you believe you should you draw the line with criticism? That is, when should you cut if off before it truly damages you?
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Friday, January 27, 2017

How to Get Started with Prayer

Jan 25, 2017 12:23 pm | Mike Glenn

Developing habits of prayer are essential to the disciple’s life. It looks like this:
1. Find a place and a time, then start showing up there every day. The experts tell us it takes 21 days to fix a habit in place. Show up at the same time and place for 21 days and you’ll develop the holy habit of prayer.
2. What do you do when you get to your place and time of prayer? Focus your mind by reading Scripture. The Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible. It’s a great place to start. If you’re new to reading the Bible, begin with the Gospel of Mark. It’s a quick, easy read and you’ll find out a lot about the ministry of Jesus in a very short time.
3. Pray using the acronym ACTS:
A = adoration
C = confession
T = thanksgiving
S = supplications (praying for what you need)

Remember—every day at the same place and same time. We want to get to the place where we can stop thinking about speaking to Jesus and actually start speaking with Him.

If you miss a day, don’t worry about it. Get back into it as soon as you can. Soon the day will come when you never think about missing it.
Now you have the plan.
The post How to Get Started with Prayer appeared first on MikeGlennOnline.com.
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The 5 Causes of Failed Tasks

An entire industry has emerged to track and assist our progress in doing tasks. Fifteen years ago it was Franklin-Covey and Day Timer planners. Today there are apps like Omnifocus, Wunderlist, Any.do, and more—all seeking to save us, minute by minute and day by day, from task failure. Plus, there are books like David Allen’s Getting Things Done.

But let’s assume you’ve figured out a mechanism for your to-do list. You’ve merged it with your calendar and your assistant and you’ve divided it by day, week, month, and year. You’ve split tasks into a “must do, can do, might do” system (as well as the ever-popular “don’t want to do” column).

What if you’ve done all that, and the tasks still don’t get done? What then?

I’ve seen five causes of task failure. And keep in mind that when I say, “task,” I include all categories of consequence that belong on your list. That includes personal and work, company and community, local and global.

Read these causes of failure and tag anything you need to work on in 2017.

We are overloaded in capacity. Some of us simply have trouble saying no. We take on every assignment and project that comes along, and at the end of the day we run out of time, energy, or brain power. Warren Buffett said, “The difference between successful people and really successful people is the really successful people say no to almost everything.” I tend to agree. Steve Jobs had this to say:

Solution: I call it “the fine art of swapping” and I’ve described it here. Short version? Take things out to get things in.

We procrastinate and have a lazy bone. This, at its root, is a character flaw. (Picture the 12 year old mowing the yard in the dark because he waited and waited to start the task.) The Washington Post did a great article last year on the causes of procrastination (a lack of prioritization ability and lack of connection with our future selves) and includes such nuggets as Mark Twain’s quote, “If your job is to eat a frog, eat it first thing in the morning, and if your job is to eat two frogs, eat the big one first.”

Solution: Get great at prioritizing using the Eisenhower Matrix. And get great at disciplining yourself to let your feelings follow your actions, not the other way around.

We lack certain skills. We have time and want to but we lack competence and know how. We don’t know enough about computers to update the company web page, for example, but we try to do it anyway. What are the things in your job description that you simply don’t know how to do?

Solution: Delegate the tasks you can and grow the skills you must. We can improve some of our skills to be more competent, but clearly some people are more organized or have a more natural feel for time management. That holds true in every area. Be willing to ask for help and to grow in areas where you need to.

We are out-worked or out-played by competition. There are score ties in hockey and soccer and sometimes in football, but for the most part there is a winner and loser in every competition, whether it’s between Duke and North Carolina, Wal-Mart and Target and Amazon, or you and Brad, the other sales rep. To quote the old Navy football coach, “A tie is like kissing your sister,” or to quote Ricky Bobby, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” Sometimes the other man, woman, team, or company just beats us—plain and simple.

Solution: There are two options here: (1). Sometimes you need to work harder and smarter. If you got outworked and outplayed, go back to the drawing board and learn things. Evaluate well and put your knowledge into practice. (2). But sometimes you simply need to accept that there are more important things than winning at all costs, particularly if you’re defining winning as having the most money, stores, growth, etc. In particular, you need to embrace an abundance mindset, which I wrote about here.

We practice poor planning. This is what Jesus meant when He talked about the cost of being a disciple: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish’” (Luke 14:28-30).

It’s where we get the phrase “count the cost,” and although Jesus meant it to illustrate a spiritual reality, it was common sense then and now in financial and business planning. We all know business decisions that flopped and left people open to ridicule. This also plays in small decisions, like this mom who planned a task for 2:00 AM after a business trip.

Solution: You’ll never be able to plan perfectly, but to quote another writer in the Bible, “In the abundance of counselors, there is victory.” Don’t believe your own ideas. Involve others in your major decisions and in outlining the steps.

Conclusion:
Did you identify which one is the greatest cause of your task failure? If not, go back over them and make the call. Here’s the list again:

Lack of capacity
Procrastination
Incompetence
Beaten by competition
Poor planning

If you can’t tell which is your most common cause of failure, ask your spouse or closest friends. They may be able to help. Once you have a winner (or a loser, depending on how you define it), work on improving in that area this year. Make 2017 a year with less task failure.

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21 Things We Need From Pastors In 2017

I believe we are living in the Golden Age of pastors. In my opinion, never in human history has there been so many gifted communicators. For instance, in the Atlanta area alone there are nationally-known communicators like Crawford Loritts, Michael Youssef, Andy Stanley, Charles Stanley, Craig Oliver, Kevin Myers, Johnny Hunt, Mike Linch, Ike Reighard, Brian Bloye, JR Lee, Bryant Wright, Creflo Dollar, Dr. Cynthia Hale, Jentezen Franklin, Rob McDowell, Jeff Henderson and Louie Giglio. These pastors are all within 45 minutes of my house.
Never have pastors been more educated. With the creation of social media, there has never been the ability to communicate with so many as quickly and effectively. The books Christian leaders write are life-changing. And never in human history has there been so much creativity in terms of the communication and presentation of the Gospel message.
We want our pastors to work on their craft, to be prepared, to think of new and creative ways to communicate the timeless message of Jesus Christ. But because of the over-abundance of pastoral talent and our access to it, we no longer need slickness and craftiness. But there are things we do need.

When you stand up on Sunday, we do not need you to impress us with your brilliance and insight. We just need to know you have been with alone with God and He has marked your life.
We do not need a talk. We need you to have a message for us from The Ancient of Days addressing the issues we face at this point and time in human history.
We need you to have calloused knees on our behalf.
We need you to elevate the importance of The Bible. It is God’s Word on paper and we want to know what it says.
We need you to preach the inerrancy of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, the sinless life of Jesus, and Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection.
We need you to tell people there is a Heaven and a hell and everyone will go to one or the other.
We need you to challenge us to live righteous and holy lives.
We need you to prioritize the pursuit of personal holiness over the pursuit of personal freedoms.
We need you to be a picture of the desired destination at which you wish for us to arrive.
We need you to put your relationship with God above all else and your family second.

But we also need you to know many other things:

We need you to know how much we love and admire you.
We need you to know how often we pray for you.
We need you to know how much we appreciate the fact you could make far more money consulting or in corporate America but you choose to pastor sheep like us.
We need you to know how much we look forward to hearing you each Sunday.
We need you to know we have you and your family’s back.
We need you to know we were glad you were there at our most defining moments – weddings, funerals, baptisms and baby dedications.
We need you to know how sorry we are for saying stupid, uneducated and ill-advised things we deeply regretted later on.
We need you to know we should have paid you more.
We need you to know that if you need anything, all you have to do is ask.
We need you to know how glad we are you did not resign this past Monday but decided to come back for another Sunday.

Finally, let me conclude my thoughts by telling you the 21st thing we need from pastors in 2017. We need you to know how much we really, really need you in 2017. Thank you for being our pastor.

Miles Advisory Group Combines Operating Companies, Launches BELAY, a New Virtual Staffing Solutions Brand

ATLANTA, Jan. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Mobile, cloud and collaboration technologies let a growing number of companies operate with a 100% remote workforce or rely on virtual help at least part of the time. This can save company executives time and money, but it can be a challenge to find the right people when it’s time to add virtual staff. A new Miles Advisory Group virtual staffing solutions brand, BELAY, aims to change that.
BELAY is a virtual staffing company that offers remote bookkeeping, copywriting, web support and administrative assistant services. The new brand is led by Bryan Miles, cofounder and CEO of Miles AG, a conglomerate company that consisted of several operating units, including MAG Bookkeeping, Render, Ellipsis and eaHELP, a virtual assistant organization that was recently included in the 2016 Inc. 5000 list. Miles merged his successful operating units into one full-service virtual staffing solutions provider: BELAY.

“One of the things that set our operating companies apart in the marketplace was our passion for people and commitment to serving our business customers,” said Miles. “Now we’re bringing them all together under one umbrella, delivering comprehensive services with that same passion and commitment. At BELAY, we don’t see the business leaders we work for as clients — we see ourselves as trusted colleagues who are as committed to their organizations as we would be to working for our own family business.”
The leader of a virtual company himself, Miles understands the challenges BELAY’s clients face. Executives who lead growing companies often struggle with managing multiple job functions, which can distract them from innovating and serving customers. With help from BELAY’s carefully screened experts, leaders can delegate with confidence and take control of their schedules, refocusing their energies.
BELAY takes care of the vetting process, finding the right people for the job and matching virtual workers’ skills with client needs across a range of essential business tasks. The company puts a premium on worker commitment and uses effective techniques to create a culture of service to others.
“At BELAY, we understand that when business leaders use our service, they are putting their organization in our hands,” Miles adds. “Although we rely on technology, there’s nothing automated about the service we provide. We’re all about being real people in a virtual world.”
About BELAY
Growing an organization is difficult in our demanding world. BELAY provides virtual solutions to help you realize growth. We staff specialists in bookkeeping, copywriting, web support, and administrative assistance who become an extension of your organization—matching the right person with the right skills to meet your needs.
BELAY equips you with trusted support that allows you to focus on your goals, navigate operational gaps, alleviate risk, and free up your organization to climb higher. Learn more at https://belaysolutions.com/.

What do Toilet Repairs and Leadership Composure have in Common?

by Charles Stone

Some time back I had scheduled a plumber to fix minor leaks in some toilets in our home as we prepared to sell our house. My wife was to meet the plumber in my absence and give him the instructions I had given her. At about ten minutes after the appointment time she called and told me that he had come and said the fixes were so simple I could do them. I asked her what he charged us to give us that sage advice. Her response? “$125.” I was not a happy camper. Here’s what happened next and what I learned about leadership composure.

When she told me that he had left without fixing the toilets and then charged us, my emotions took over. I was ticked off. Livid better describes how I felt. I couldn’t even think straight. My wife immediately sensed the anger in my voice and assured me that she’d call him back and have him return to complete the repairs.
After we hung up, I felt bad that I had gotten so angry. I tried to regain my composure because I had scheduled a full day to complete a chapter for my next book. We pastors often want to figure out why bad things happen, so I began to ruminate over the situation, thinking that if I figured it out, I could calm my emotions.
Well, I am anything but a handyman. I can’t drive a nail straight much less fix something as convoluted as a toilet. I imagined myself spending an entire day trying to fix the leaks. I could see myself breaking something worse that would force sewage to back up into the house. And with all the sewage, we’d never sell the house. And because we couldn’t sell the house, we go into foreclosure and lose the house. And when we lost the house we’d have to live in a van down by the river . . . . Well, maybe I didn’t imagine it that bad. But I did imagine me getting hyper-stressed trying to fix the toilet.
Then I recalled some neuroscience research from Ethan Kross’ on distancing and emotional control. He has discovered a simple technique that helps moderate our anger: take the perspective of a third party observing yourself in situations that prompt anger.
When I recalled that research, I now imagined myself physically stepping away from the car, where I got my wife’s call, and watching myself talking to her and getting angry. When I did that, immediately I thought, “How silly to get upset over a leaky toilet.” It was amazing what happened next.
That simple mental exercise helped quickly lessen my anger. As a result, I was able to think clearly the rest of the day without any emotional “leaky toilet” intrusions. Kross likens that phenomenon to how a friend can help us calm down by giving us an objective perspective of an emotion causing event.
We pastors often face issues that can make us mad.The next time that happens to you, step back and observe yourself becoming angry. See if the Holy Spirit will give you a fresh perspective and clearer insight to moderate your anger and be a more composed leader.
What has helped you moderate your anger brought about by ministry demands or family stress?
Related posts.

Leaders Are Readers

By Brian Nixon, Special to ASSIST News Service

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO (ANS – January 12, 2017) -- “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” This quote by Harry Truman has been used by many to advocate the importance of reading to leadership -- in any given field. Pastor and author, Warren Wiersbe, summarized it as, “readers are leaders” [1]. But the question is -- is it true? Are leaders readers? Whether or not we can validate that great leaders in the past were voracious readers (think of Queen Elizabeth of England or King Charlemagne of Europe), we do know that many modern leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King, Jr. were readers. And though I’m sure there are some fine leaders who aren’t consistent readers, we do know that reading provides many important benefits for the brain.

Research points to the power of reading. According to an article in Cambridge Medicine, research shows that “the kind of ‘deep reading’ that can sometimes happen when we lose ourselves in a book can actually make new neural pathways in our brains” [2]. Reading also helps with attention span, mental decline, memory, stress, sleep, depression, and a host of other benefits [3]. Without a doubt reading is good for your health.

But does it make you a good leader? One way to tell would be to compare the benefits of reading to qualities of leadership. And to find the best qualities of leadership one must turn to groups that specialize in leaders, such as Forbes and Entrepreneur.

According to Entrepreneur, qualities such as focus, confidence, transparency, integrity, inspiration, passion, patience, innovation, open-mindedness, and authenticity help define a great leader [4]. And Forbes lists honesty, delegating, communication, confidence, attitude, creativity, and commitment as some of the characteristics [5]. And in an article by Anne Latham for Forbes, she narrows the qualities down to three: respect, self-awareness, and clarity [6].

It’d take a brain scientist to correlate the two fields, comparing the benefits of reading to leadership. Luckily some have done this. In an article for Harvard Business Review, John Coleman states, “Reading can also make you more effective in leading others. Reading increases verbal intelligence (PDF), making a leader a more adept and articulate communicator. Reading novels can improve empathy and understanding of social cues, allowing a leader to better work with and understand others -- traits that author Anne Kreamer persuasively linked to increased organizational effectiveness, and to pay raises and promotions for the leaders who possessed these qualities. And any business person understands that heightened emotional intelligence will improve his or her leadership and management ability” [7].

Leadership aside, there’s research that shows reading can make you happier as well [8]. In an article for The New Yorker, Ceridwen Dovey writes, “For all avid readers who have been self-medicating with great books their entire lives, it comes as no surprise that reading books can be good for your mental health and your relationships with others, but exactly why and how is now becoming clearer, thanks to new research on reading’s effects on the brain. Since the discovery, in the mid-nineties, of “mirror neurons” -- neurons that fire in our brains both when we perform an action ourselves and when we see an action performed by someone else -- the neuroscience of empathy has become clearer. A 2011 study published in the Annual Review of Psychology, based on analysis of MRI brain scans of participants, showed that, when people read about an experience, they display stimulation within the same neurological regions as when they go through that experience themselves. We draw on the same brain networks when we’re reading stories and when we’re trying to guess at another person’s feelings.”

Dovey continues, “Other studies published in 2006 and 2009 showed something similar -- that people who read a lot of fiction tend to be better at empathizing with others (even after the researchers had accounted for the potential bias that people with greater empathetic tendencies may prefer to read novels). And, in 2013, an influential study published in Science found that reading literary fiction (rather than popular fiction or literary nonfiction) improved participants’ results on tests that measured social perception and empathy, which are crucial to “theory of mind”: the ability to guess with accuracy what another human being might be thinking or feeling, a skill humans only start to develop around the age of four.”

These are fascinating facts and revealing research into the influence reading has on an individual. So it appears that there is weight behind the statement that “leaders are readers.”

Because of this, do yourself a favor -- if you’re a leader or not, find a quality book and read it. You’re health, headship, and happiness may depend on it. And if all else fails, it will, as one library website stated, “Seriously damage your ignorance.”

1) On Being a Leader for God

2) https://cambridgemedicine.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/your-brain-on-books-studies-show-reading-causes-measurable-changes-in-the-brain/

3) http://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/mindandbody/why-reading-is-good-for-the-brain/ar-AAdUrDU or https://www.scribd.com/doc/192848367/What-Reading-Does-for-the-Mind-Anne-E-Cunningham

4) https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270486

5) http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/#2e558c193564

6) http://www.forbes.com/sites/annlatham/2016/03/06/3-traits-of-top-notch-leaders/#5337053f4189

7) https://hbr.org/2012/08/for-those-who-want-to-lead-rea

8) http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/can-reading-make-you-happier

Photo captions: 1) Readers are Leaders image. 2) Book image. 3) Reading can seriously damage your ignorance. 4) Mark Ellis.

About the writer: Brian Nixon is a writer, musician, artist, and minister. He's a graduate of California State University, Stanislaus (BA), Veritas Evangelical Seminary (MA), and is a Fellow at Oxford Graduate School (D.Phil.). To learn more, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Nixon.

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15 Reasons Why Top Church Volunteer Leaders Quit Conference Session

During the upcoming online Propel Conference I am privileged to be one of the featured speakers. My session will be entitled 15 Reasons Why Top Church Volunteer Leaders Quit.
This content, along with all the other sessions, is going to be quite helpful to you and your ministry team. As a reader of this site, I want to give you an advance overview of these 15 reasons. I will be unpacking the following challenges for volunteers during my session. They are:

No Return On Investment
No Life Change
No Difference
No Desire
No Breaks
No Attachment To Vision
No Appreciation
No Community
No Direction
No Urgency
No Respect
No Future
No Emotional Attachment
No Margin
No Chance

Few things are as valuable as the volunteers at your church. You do not have to lose them. Make sure you Click Here to Register Your Team at the Lowest Rate. You don’t want to miss this!
Important Note – Early registration ends in a few days so this is your last chance to get your entire team registered for only $97. After that the price goes up from there.
Last year they had over 1,000 pastors and staff members attend and this year’s event is going to be even bigger. Me and my team will be watching the event and we would love to have yours attend as well. It’s all online so no travel is required.
If you want to grow yourself, your team and your church, I can’t recommend the Propel Conference enough.
Register Here
See You There! Just a reminder, early registration ends in a few days! See the image below for the other featured speakers.

21 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Patriots Day The Movie

Today I saw the absolutely incredible movie Patriots Day. This movie is tense, gut-wrenching, exciting, and a wonderfully moving tribute to the victims of the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the bravery of its first responders, and the resilience of the city of Boston and its surrounding communities.
The post-movie interviews of real-life individuals portrayed in the movie is as well-done as anything I have seen. Director Peter Berg has delivered a masterpiece. The way he wove the individual stories of law enforcement and the victims together was extremely impactful.
Two things you should be aware of. Like many of these type of films, it reflects the violence of the event. The scene where a police officer faithfully stays with the body of a deceased young boy is absolutely heartbreaking. Also, there are dozens and dozens of F-bombs. I will give them a break here as it probably accurately reflects the culture and level of intensity. However, the opening scene of a Wahlberg arrest was pointless and not needed.
The following are 21 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Patriots Day The Movie:

#RealityCheck – Prior to going to the film, I received an unexpected $375 car repair. Needless to say I was quite upset. Then when I witnessed what those involved in the bombing experienced, I was quite embarrassed by my attitude. This movie provided a healthy and much-needed dose of perspective.
Chemistry Matters In Leadership – This is the 3rd film made by Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg. They clearly have great chemistry and know how to bring out the best in each other. For my reviews of their first two films click Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon.
Great Cities Have Great Civic Pride – Patrick Downes, who would play a significantly inspirational role later in the film, said “There are three things to do on Patriots Day – watch the marathon, run the marathon, go to Fenway and cheer for the Red Sox.”
Crisis can happen in an instant. What was supposed to be a joyous occasion changed countless lives forever.
First Responders Are Great Leaders And True Heroes – First responders deserve our admiration and respect. They run into situations everyone else is running away from.
Young leaders value and follow experienced leaders. When the FBI arrived on the scene, Saunders was visibly frustrated and upset. One of his fellow officers advised him to calm down. The younger officers were watching and following his lead.
Expertise is invaluable during times of crisis. FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers, played wonderfully by Kevin Bacon, was experienced in dealing with terrorist acts and provided needed wisdom, insight and expertise.
You must be decisive during times of crisis. DesLauriers immediately setup a command center, reconstructed the crimes scene, and began organizing all available resources to identify and apprehend the terrorists.
Clear communication is a necessity for leading during a time of crisis. Several times during the movie, law enforcement were advise to clear the lines of communication. Also DesLauriers’ instructions left no room for interpretation.
First Responders Pay A High Price For Our Safety. After witnessing the massive amount of injuries at the bomb site, Saunders said, “I’ve got these images in my head. They won’t go away.”
Partnerships are more effective when the focus is on solving the problem. There were a number of federal and local agencies working together to capture the terrorists. I was very impressed with their professionalism and sense of teamwork. They focused not on their individual rights and turf wars but rather solving the problem.
Know your goal. Know your role. There were several instances when different agencies were responsible for various assignments. In each instance, there were seamless handoffs to the most skilled individuals.
Good prevails when good people do something. Saunders said, “You’ve got to start letting Boston work for you.”
Evil prevails when good people do nothing. One of the bombers had three classmates who immediately recognized him from the news footage. In addition, they shared texts with him and found bomb making materials in his closet. Yet, they did not notify law enforcement.
Put your best resources into solving your most pressing problems. When the terrorists were identified, the amount of military and police personnel and resources given to the search were appropriately massive.
Love Never Fails – Saunders said, “When the devil hits you like that the only way to fight back is with love…That’s the only thing he won’t touch.”
Boston Red Sox superstar David Ortiz told the Fenway crowd at the first game after the bombing, “This jersey doesn’t say Red Sox. It says Boston…Stay strong.”
“It took days to plan this bombing. Love responded in an instant.” – real life bombing survivors and amputees Patrick Downes and his wife Jessica Kensky in a post-movie interview
“Boston Strong says we’re going to stand up and defend ourselves.” – post-movie interview
“The bombers took lives and limbs…but they gave us a stronger sense and common cause.” – post-movie interview
“Be confident that good will always defeat evil.” – Downes

Once again, just an absolute triumph by Berg and demonstrates the incredible resiliency of the Boston community.

10 Resources Every Pastor And Church Leader Needs To Know About

From time to time I get asked to promote a number of quality resources which would benefit pastors and Christian leaders. I never have any problem doing this because I enjoy shining the spotlight on others but I also enjoy making you better.
Recently, I have had enough requests that I felt it was best just to put them into a single post for you to review. Check these out. They will make you a better leader.
Books

Finding Joy In The Midst Of Sorrow – This is a brand new book written by Fellowship Bible Church’s associate pastor Mike McCrum. If you know anyone who is dealing with disappointment and tragedy, there is no resource I could recommend more. With his tender heart, Mike will provide you tremendous amounts of comfort as you find peace in the faithfulness of God.
Preaching Sticky Sermons: A Practical Guide to Preparing, Writing, and Delivering Memorable Sermons – Co-written by Brandon Kelley and Joe Hoaglund, preaching remains relevant even as America becomes less Christian. Preaching Sticky Sermons is a practical and accessible book for pastors young and old. Kelley and Hoagland reveal how to make your sermons stick. They focus on four main areas of creating a sermon: Preparation, writing, delivery, and evaluation. This book will help you write sermons that stick not only on Sunday but also throughout the week.
Chasing The Light: 90 Devotions And Photos To Grow Your Faith – Let me say this, Dave Adamson has helped me get all my 2017 Christmas shopping done. I am giving a copy to each member of my family. In addition to being named my The #1 Person You Should Follow On Instagram And Why, Dave has written a masterpiece. The book’s photography is magnificent. The devotions are inspiring. Every Christian should have a copy. And I’m not just saying that. This book is that good.

Pastor Resources

The Pastor’s Toolbox – This resource from Church Fuel is a must-have for pastors and church leaders. This is a FREE PDF download is the organization’s Top 20 resources you should have in 2017. These include apps, websites and services.
Chase The Lion Free Sermon Serie From Mark Batterson – Chase the Lion sermon guides come with the big idea of each message, the passage(s) used, and the topics discussed. You also receive sermon ideas and talking points from Mark’s book to help your sermon preparation be more efficient and effective. Title graphic designs, scripture background slides, social media posts and bumper videos are also included in the bundle.

Weekly Giving

3 Keys To Raise Your Church Giving In 2017 – This FREE online webinar takes place this Wednesday, January 18th at 2:00 PM EST. It is put on by my friends Joe Sangl, Michael Lukaszewski and the team at Fully Funded. If you have been looking for something to replace Giving Rocket with updated information, look no further.

Leadership Training

Propel Conference – I am honored to be a speaker at this February 1st online event (Notice my promo picture in the lower right corner shown above). Hosted by Ministry Pass, the content on this conference is specifically designed for church leaders at churches under 300. Lead pastors, associate pastors, youth leaders, kids leaders and even elders at your church can all benefit from this training.

Worship Leaders

Flow Creative Arts Conference – My friend Tim Peters made me aware of this incredible online conference in April. The Flow Creative Arts Conference will help you rediscover, reconnect, and recalibrate your creative life to its Source. This is a must-watch for your entire creative team. Make sure you use the promo code 2017 to receive $10 off.
Worship Rocket – Produced by Todd Fields, Director of Worship Leader Developments for North Point Community Church, this 12-module coaching series helps you with every issue a worship leader may face. Each module includes videos, worksheets, and MP3 supplemental materials. For only $99, nothing would provide better value for a worship leader.

Business Leaders, Athletic Coaches and Sports Fans

The Leadership Of Nick Saban: Timeless Truths From The Incomparable Head Coach Of The Alabama Crimson Tide – This is a perfect gift for the business leaders and athletic coaches in your sphere of influence. Because of Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban’s unparalleled success and distinct leadership insights, I wanted to compile many of his thoughts so leaders all walks of life could learn from them. Therefore, you can click HERE or the image below to receive a complimentary copy of my latest Ebook The Leadership Of Nick Saban: Timeless Truths From The Incomparable Head Coach Of The Alabama Crimson Tide with a subscription to this site.

I hope these help you. Let me know your thoughts when you use these.

7 Habits Of Highly Generous Leaders

If I have my pastor in the car with me and we go through a drive-thru at my local Chick-Fil-A and I purchase lunch for the car behind me, I am classified as “generous”. It does not matter if I am robbing God with my tithes and offerings, I am now classified as a person practicing a generous lifestyle.
Pastors enjoy preaching on generosity. It is an easier message to preach than responsibility giving or the tithe. In fact, pastors are now even encouraged to talk about generosity rather than tithing. This is because those who give responsibly are at embarrassingly low numbers. Relevant Magazine reported in a May 8, 2016 article that only 5% of professing Christians tithe. Furthermore, Christians give only 2.5% per capita compared to 3.3% during the Great Depression. Let’s be honest, why make 98% of your church angry with preaching? Stick with generosity language.
For those of us in the audience, generosity is an easier message to hear. We are left with no measurable form of behavior. We are not called into any form of accountability or standard of giving.
The pastor is happy because everyone said, “Good sermon pastor.” The congregation is happy because they were made to feel good because cooking their neighbor a meal took them off the hook from a financial commitment. Everyone wins….except the lives of the poor, under-resourced, diseased, orphaned, widowed and spiritually lost who would have been the beneficiaries of an estimated $165 billion of Kingdom revenue. But at least the person in the car behind me got a free lunch and my passenger called me “generous”.
Generosity, as it is currently being discussed, is completely subjective. Stewardship is measurable.
God is calling leaders to more than just generosity. Generosity (as we often define it) is not enough. He is calling leaders to sacrifice. The following is an easy formula for you to remember:
Responsibility (Tithe) + Generosity = Sacrifice. It is sacrifice that God wants.
But even though many have hijacked the word, God is calling us to generosity. So what are the practices of a generous lifestyle? One of the best pictures of generosity recorded in all of Scripture is King David just prior to his death. 1 Chronicles 28 and 29 gives us a detailed account of King David transitioning the kingdom to his son Solomon. What strikes me about King David’s generosity is it was not just a financial act to help fund the construction of Solomon’s Temple. He did provide significant financial support (more later), but he also provided for us a true picture of what a generous life looks like.
The following are 7 Habits Of Highly Generous Leaders:
King David invested in Solomon spiritually. He discipled him. In 28:9 he taught him about the importance of knowing, serving, and seeking God.
King David was generous with his praise and encouragement. On multiple occasions he reminded Solomon he was selected by God and therefore, to be strong and do the work he was called to. Leaders know encouragement is needed but never enough.
It also needs a plan to be successful. Inspiration has its reasons. Knowing he would not be alive to see it, King David still generously gave Solomon all the plans he had previously made for the Temple’s construction.
Regarding being generous with his personal finances, King David made an estimated $4+ billion investment in today’s money into the Temple’s construction.
King David was also generous with his platform and influence. He praised Solomon in front of the entire nation. A leaders’ personal platform is not for their personal benefit or gain. Leaders should always use their influence and platform for shining the spotlight on others and improving the lives of as many people as possible.
Finally, King David was generous in the area of pure joy. He celebrated accomplishment. A leader who does not know how to celebrate is not a leader worth following. It is written that King David “rejoiced” when the people gave willingly and the Temple was funded. King David teaches us that a leader’s success and true joy is found in the success of others.
The model of a generous life is when you invest spiritual truth, intellectual capital, money, praise, encouragement, influence and joy in another person’s life. It takes all of these and more to have a generous life.

The Value of Collective Wisdom

We are enamored with experts and their expertise. Expert analysis from expert analysts. Expert testimony from expert witnesses. Expert advice from expert consultants. Given the choice, we nearly always seek the opinion of the expert. We want the expert, the guru, the genius, to weigh in, to point us in the right direction, and to chart our course.

In his book, The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki proposes that this predilection for experts stems from a belief “that valuable knowledge is concentrated in a very few hands. We assume the key to solving problems or making good decisions is finding the one right person who will have the answer.” In short, we believe that if we can find the right “guy”—design guy, IT guy, marketing guy, finance guy—then our problems will be solved.

Surowiecki, however, contends that the strategy of “chasing the expert” is at best, misguided. Instead, he encourages us to “ask the crowd.” He proposes that collaborative thinking is more likely to provide the most effective answers and insights because intelligent groups can “aggregate and provide collective judgments that represent not what any one person in the group thinks, but rather, in some sense, what they all think.”

Now, before you start sweating nervously about that social media expert you just hired, let me be clear that I’m not proposing that informed individuals are of no value, and for that matter, I don’t believe Surowiecki is either. Rather, I think Surowiecki’s research hints at some truths that I’ve discovered throughout my career about the importance of collaboration and the danger of allowing one voice to drive the agenda.

Push for dialogue over monologue…
You may remember from some of my other blogs that I had a brief stint as a high school coach after I graduated college. While I certainly wasn’t destined to be the next Bear Bryant, I did enjoy my time coaching and was fortunate enough to glean a number of insights that I continually use in my career as an executive coach.

One such insight came during our annual coaches’ meetings, during which we firmed up our offensive and defensive schemes for the coming season. Each meeting seemingly started the same way: the offensive or defensive coordinator would grab the chalk (yes, this was before the ubiquity of white boards or electronic tablets) and start mapping out their respective scheme.

So long as either coach kept the chalk, their plan was bulletproof, their own personal version of Beethoven’s 9^th. Every play the O.C. sketched ended in a touchdown. Every defense the D.C. put together resulted in a forced turnover or goal line stand. It was only when each coach relinquished the chalk to their counterpart that the weaknesses in either plan became apparent.

Even the most sophisticated, well-researched strategies and initiatives are flawed. When we refuse to give up the chalk, when we demand to be the only voice, these flaws can go unnoticed until they become significant problems that require drastic responses. The longer we demand to hold the chalk, the less likely we are to create something brilliant, and the more likely we are to produce the next New-Coke or Windows 8.

Step back from the podium and listen to another voice. Dialogue is the best way to test a risk, secure legitimate feedback, and map a winning playbook.

Listen, but push back when necessary…
When we do, in fact, give up the chalk and take on the role of listener rather than presenter, the manner in which we listen becomes particularly important. For example, have you ever considered how the skill of a presenter, or even your preconceived notions about that presenter, affect how you receive their message?

Often, we tend toward one of two extremes. Sometimes we think so highly of an individual’s credentials or we are so impressed with their skill as a presenter that we buy everything they say lock, stock, and barrel. I call this the “infomercial effect,” and it is the only way I can explain someone deciding in the middle of the night that their life would be significantly better if they owned a pair of scissors that can cut a penny.

On the other hand, we can be equally biased in the other direction. We can arrive at a presentation assured that the presenter has nothing of value to offer. Whether this is because we are so sure of our own abilities or because we doubt the aptitude of the presenter, we either dismiss everything they say, or spend our time eagerly looking to disprove their opinions.

Neither of these tendencies is particularly wise or fruitful. The former tends to overlook flaws, while the latter fails to capture the wisdom of others.

Instead, we should strive to critically listen, honestly weighing the merit of a message, pushing back when necessary, asking for clarification when confused, and ultimately gratefully accepting wisdom, even if it isn’t our wisdom.

Strive for collective wisdom over expert opinions…
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”

Every leader can attest to the truth of this particular Proverb. We have all mapped out a plan that seemed perfect, only to have someone alert us to a glaring weakness. Unfortunately, we have also likely charged ahead with a flawed plan, dismissing criticism, only to realize our mistakes too late. Experts, geniuses, and gurus are not exempt from this trap. They too have blind spots. They too miscalculate.

This is why striving for what I call “collective wisdom” is so important. Collective wisdom is blended wisdom, but it doesn’t mean that we simply take everyone’s opinion and mash them all together. Rather, it means that we strive for meaningful collaboration, marked by meaningful dialogue. It allows the strength of each person to shine through, while also allowing those strengths to prop up one another’s weaknesses. Perhaps most significantly, it forces us to put down the chalk and listen.

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