12 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Olympians Simone Biles And Usain Bolt

On August 5th, the 2016 Summer Olympic Games will begin in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  While there will be much coverage, the world will likely be watching three athletes – Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, and Simone Biles.  These are three Apex Leaders, the best in the world at what they do.
I profiled Phelps prior to the 2012 London Games in the post What To Do Next When You No Longer Feel Challenged: Leadership Lessons From Michael Phelps.  But I have not profiled Bolt and Biles until now.
I found their approach to their craft fascinating.  They are so much better than their contemporaries that personal motivations must be driven by something completely different than most leaders.  Read their thoughts and see what I mean.
The following are 12 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Olympians Simone Biles And Usain Bolt gleaned from recent articles:
USA Today July 8th

1. Apex Leaders Have Different Sets Of Goals – In most competitions, Biles often has a significant points lead over her closest competitors.  Heading into the Olympic Trials, she was focused on a different set of goals.  Longtime coach Almee Boorman says, “The (margin of victory over teammates) means nothing to her.  It’s not goal-driven for her, like, ‘I’m going out to do better to beat somebody.'”
2. Apex Leaders Are Self-Led And Self-Motivated – Rather than being driven to defeat her closest competitors, Biles is driven by the pursuit of discovering just how good she can actually be.  Coach Boorman adds, “She holds herself to a certain standard and expectation.  ‘I trained this hard to go out and try to do my best in competition.”
3. Apex Leaders Do Not Have A Sense Of Entitlement – They feel to have to continually prove themselves, Briles concludes, “It would be bad if I walked into this competition (U.S. Trials) saying, ‘I already have my spot on the team.’  I feel if my personality was like that, which it isn’t, I wouldn’t be as good in practices.”

Sports Illustrated, July 18th

1. Apex Leaders Are Recognized By Their Peers For Their Greatness – Former Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Michael Johnson said, “I always put Jesse Owens above everyone.  But in terms of recent years, Bolt is the greatest.”  Trinidad sprinter Marc Bruns added, “The next Bolt will (not) be (again) for my children’s children’s children.  Possibly.”
2. Apex Leaders Work Hard – While Bolt was recognized for his potential at age 17, he was often indifferent to training.  Bolt only become the world’s greatest sprinter three years later after developing the necessary work ethic.
3. Even Apex Leaders Can Better With Coaching – No matter how accomplished you may be, everyone can get better with a good coach.  Bolt continues learning from his 66-year-old coach Glen Mills.  When Mills provides instruction Bolt can be heard saying, “O.K. Coach, O.K.”
4. Apex Leaders Produce Superior Results While Under Pressure – Since 2008, Bolt has won 40 of 44 100-meter races and 27 of 28 200-meter finals.  This means when he goes up against the world’s best sprinters, Bolt is a combined 67-5!  Embedded in his performance is five world records. In addition, he has also been part of three additional world records in the 4×100 relays.
5. You Never Have To Recover From A Good Start – If Bolt is currently beatable, it will be the result of an occasional mistake coming out of the blocks.  But if Bolt starts cleanly or even fast, the opposition has no chance.
6. Even Apex Leaders Can Grow Satisfied And Complacent – Bolt says, “Sometimes I question myself, ‘Why am I still doing this?  I’ve accomplished so much in the sport’, you know what I mean?  I still want to accomplish more, but it gets harder over time.”
7. Apex Leaders Have Multiple Income Streams – Bolt makes over $32 million annually in sponsorships from companies like Gatorade, Puma and Hublot.
8. Apex Leaders Are Not Easily Replaceable – No one is irreplaceable but do not be naive, everything does rise and fall on leadership.  When Bolt does not participate in a meet, the stadiums usually suffer from extremely poor attendance.
9. The Influence Of Apex Leaders Is Temporary – All leadership is temporary.  Therefore, steward it well while you have it.  Bolt is a realist.  He says, “I’m older now, and it’s harder for me.  But anytime I start feeling really down, I remind myself, You have got to get this done this year.”

***Bonus*** the following are two additional quotes on hard work from United States Olympians as they prepare for the Rio games:

USA Today, June 14th

“Some days, it does make me wish I was relaxing instead of putting in all this hard work.  But it it wasn’t hard, it wouldn’t be worth it.” – swimmer Haley Anderson on her attempt to win Gold at the 2016 Rio Olympic games

Sports Illustrated, July 23

“If you think you’re good but you don’t do the work, you won’t keep up.  One bad day, and you can go from No. 7 (on the team) to 17.” – USA women’s rowing coach Tom Terharr

What is one thing you learned from these leaders which will make you a better leader?

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 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

New Free Ebook 1269 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2016’s Top Christian Conferences

Welcome to my latest e-resource 1269 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2016’s Top Christian Leadership Conferences. In a continual effort to resource pastors and church leaders, few things are as valuable as quotes from leadership conferences.
Click HERE or on the image above to subscribe to this site and receive your complimentary copy.
Comments I frequently hear from pastors are:

• “Brian, I love your live blogs. When I can’t make it to a conference, I don’t feel like I miss anything.”
• “Brian, thanks for doing this. The comments challenge my thinking and make me a better Christian leader.”

The last comment is significant. The conferences from the first half of 2016 challenged the thinking of Christian leaders like few events I have attended.
Just some of the pastors featured are Andy Stanley, Johnny Hunt, Carey Nieuwhof, Josh Gagnon, and many, many more. Others leaders include Dave Ramsey, Brad Lomenick and Nick Saban.  In total, over 35 total leaders are featured.
Click HERE or on the image above to subscribe to this site and receive your complimentary copy.
The following are the conferences covered:

1. Passion 2016 – Held this year in three different venues, Passion is the largest gathering of Christian students in America today.
2. Johnny Hunt Men’s Conference – During this two-day event, Pastor Johnny and other speakers dealt with issues such as wrong thinking, bad choices, and a lack of self-control.
3. The Most Excellent Way To Lead Conference – This all-star lineup of speakers equipped those in attendance to succeed beyond their wildest expectations.
4. Orange – This conference is simply the finest children’s conference out there. No event helps you understand the phases of a child’s life and meet their spiritual needs more.
5. ReThink Leadership – As part of the Orange Conference, this has become my favorite leadership event. It is simply the finest conference in America for pastors. Because of the Ted Talk format and content provided by Carey Nieuwhof and his list of speakers, there is no event I recommend more.
6. Leadercast – One of the largest one-day events in leadership, this simulcast teaches leadership lessons from both the faith and business communities.

The truths contained will take you and your leadership team a day to read, a year to process and a lifetime to implement.  Click HERE or on the image below to subscribe to this site and receive your complimentary copy.
My prayer is your enjoy this resource and it makes you a better leader.  It would be an honor to have you as part of our tribe of leaders.

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He is the founder of I Was Broke. Now I’m Not., an organization that provides financial teaching through live events, print and web resources. He is also the president and CEO of INJOY Stewardship Solutions, a company that provides solutions that resource the vision of the local church.

In addition to I Was Broke. Now I’m Not., Joe is the author of several books including: Oxen: The Key to an Abundant Harvest, What Everyone Should Know About Money Before they Enter The Real World, and Funded and Free. Joe’s personal finance story has been featured in Money Magazine. He has been privileged to share his passion with hundreds of thousands of people throughout North America through Financial Learning Experiences, personal finance messages and one-on-one financial coaching sessions.

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© 2016 | I Was Broke. Now I’m Not.

The Hidden Bias that Trips Leaders Up

by Charles Stone

Decision biases can negatively affect even the best church or business leader. Wikipedia lists almost 200 social, memory, or cognitive biases (I had to stop reading the list to keep from getting depressed). However, I’ve experienced one that I believe often trips leaders up. It’s called the confirmation bias. It’s a thinking bias that looks for information that supports our preexisting attitudes, beliefs, and actions. As a result, we spotlight only the information that supports the decision we want to make, to the neglect of other information we need in order to make the best decision. With Google, we can easily search out and find information that confirms almost any belief or decision. And, research tells us that the confirmation bias is strongest in the religious arena. So, how can leaders counter the confirmation bias?

Let’s say you are faced with a decision about whether or not to start a significant new ministry that you really, really want to start. How can you minimize the temptation to yield to the confirmation bias and avoid a wrong decision?
In Acts 16 the Apostle Paul gives us some clues from his second missionary journey. He needed to make a decision about the direction he and his team would travel, north, south or west. The four inputs below guided his decision making and can help us leaders minimize the confirmation bias.

Input 1: Subjective inner witness.

This input refers to what we sense in our heart… God’s leading, a peace, a pull toward a certain direction, that feeling of rightness after we pray over an issue. Paul initially planned to take his journey south but the Bible says the Spirit kept him from going that direction. He then planned to go north. Again, the Spirit kept him from going that direction. Some scholars believe these closed doors point to a subjective inner witness in Paul’s heart. In both cases he may have simply felt a sense in his heart not to proceed. One caution on this one, though. Never make a significant decision based simply on how you feel. Feelings can be fickle. 

Never make a decison based solely on how you feel. Feelings can be fickle.

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Input 2: Circumstances.

In Paul’s case, another possible reason scholars suggest for the two closed doors was Paul’s health. Sickness may have kept him from taking those routes. Luke, a doctor himself, joined the missionary party halfway through this journey which may clue us to this reason for the closed doors. God will use circumstances, both closed doors and open doors to direct us to His will and avoid the confirmation bias. When God closes doors, don’t force open another one. God often uses circumstances to say No or to say Go.

Input 3: Mental reflection.

This input refers to using your mind to think through your decision by collecting data and comparing options. Paul certainly must have thought about the closed doors. He used his mind to reflect over and think about what God was saying by keeping him from going in directions in which he initially thought he should go. So, analysis and data collection are important, but even in those cases we can cook the books by only collecting information that confirms what we want to do.

Input 4: Collaboration

Collaboration means that you invite wise people into your life who will tell you the truth to help you weigh your options. Although we think we want to hear the truth, often we really only want reassurance that we are making the right decision. Recall some American Idol contestants who sung horribly, yet would argue with the judges who told them the truth, that they sung horribly. With significant decisions, we need objectivity from others. In Paul’s case he had Silas, Timothy, and Luke with whom to dialogue.
The term devil’s advocate comes from a practice no longer used in the Catholic church. When an individual was up for canonization (to be made a saint) the church would appoint someone to argue against sainthood (the devil’s advocate). The practice ended in 1983 and since then canonization has occurred 20 times faster than in the earlier 20th century. So, perhaps you need to ask someone to be a graceful devil’s advocate to help you think of reasons why the decisions you want to make may not work. Think, ‘constructive disagreement,’ as Chip and Dan Heath write about in their book Decisive (a very good read). 

Constructive disagreement is a valuable tool when making decisions.

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So, every leader must deal with the confirmation bias in decision making. The next next time you must make a weighty decision, consider this four inputs to minimize this bias.
What has helped you counter this bias?
Related posts:

• 5 Ways to Improve Decision Making
• 5 Ways to Minimize Decision Fatigue

15 Habits Of Church Staff Who Get Fired

Recently, I was speaking with a church staff member who was lamenting mistakes he had made as leader.  These mistakes caused him to lose tremendous amounts of influence with the pastor, fellow staff, and key volunteer leaders within the church.  Ultimately, he lost his job.
There was no moral failure.  No financial impropriety.  Just plain poor leadership.  His story was a heartbreaking because it could have all been avoided.  There were numerous warning signs.  Constant coaching was delivered.  He just simply kept running through Stop signs.
His story provides a series of guard rails for all church staff members to learn from.  While this is not an exhaustive list, the following are 15 Habits Of Church Staff Who Get Fired.  What is interesting is none of the items listed had anything to do with the performance of his department.

1. Disloyalty – You are not loyal to the senior pastor.  Loyalty does not make you a leader.  But disloyalty disqualifies you as a leader.  Nothing will get you fired faster.
2. Pushiness – You invite yourself into conversations with your superiors or other departments.  Wait to be invited in by others before speaking your mind.
3. Disrespect – When dealing with other leaders always show them and their families the respect they deserve.
4. Bad Theology – You hijack passages of Scripture and misrepresent them for your personal gain.
5. Greed – You want portions of other departments’ budget for your ministry.
6. Glory – Visibility is what you crave.  You want increased platform time and website real estate at the expense of others.
7. Selfishness – You want other ministries to promote your ministry offering them nothing in return.
8. Lack Of Integrity – You lie and misrepresent the truth.
9. You Skip The Process To Avoid Hard Work – You constantly want special offerings for your area of ministry.
10. Demanding – You want messaging series built around your area of ministry at the expense of other ministries.
11. No Self-Awareness – You think your ministry is more important than anyone else’s.
12. Pride – You are not humble.  You think you are always right and everyone else’s approach to ministry is wrong.
13. Cruel Behavior – You have unjustly fired qualified personnel hurting them and their families.
14. God Complex – Jesus loves the staff and leadership and you have a wonderful plan for their life.
15. Just In Case You Missed It – Disloyalty – Let me repeat this one because it deserves a second mention.  You are not loyal to the senior pastor.  You talk about him to others.  Nothing will get you fired faster.

Wise leaders learn from the mistakes of others.  Please learn from this list.  The lessons learned may allow you to keep your job and preserve your ministry.

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!!!

Craig Sager’s ESPY Speech And 10 Things Only Top Leaders Continually Work On

Everyone wants to become a better leader but only a select few are willing to pay the price needed for lasting success.  Allow me to give you 10 Things Only Top Leaders Continually Work On.  
Less successful leaders either do not know these lessons or they become complacent, satisfied or simply give up.  Don’t be one of these leaders.
Listed is the source where the lesson originated from followed by the lesson itself.
ESPY Awards

• Time Management – Never waste time but it when it is gone, it cannot be replaced.  “Time is something that cannot be bought, it cannot be wagered with God, and it is not in endless supply.  Time is simply how you live your life.” – Craig Sager accepting The Jimmy V Award For Perseverance.  For his full speech, see the video above.

Inc Magazine – February 2016

• Speaking Truth To Yourself – Columnist Amy Morin reminds us of these four pieces of advice when things get tough – This has happened before.  Failure is the path to success.  This won’t matter nearly as much in five years.  And live according to your values.
• Creating Winning Habits Which Form A Winning Culture – Under Armour Founder and CEO Kevin Plank says, “Winning is a part of our culture – it’s who we are.  And culture is formed on habits.”

Inc Magazine – July/August 2016

• Getting More Sleep – Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, says, “We lose 11 days a year in productivity because of the epidemic of sleep deprivation.”  Most experts now recommend being in bed by 10:00 PM.
• Narrowing Their Focus – You always see more when you look at less.  Lolly Daskal notes, “When you know your own ambitions and foibles, you make smarter decisions that link clearly to your future goals.”

Books

• Being Brave – The ability to have hard conversations and make hard decisions is always something leaders need to improve upon.  Navy SEAL commander Rorke Denver says in his amazing book Worth Dying For, “If you want to be brave, you must practice.  Practice manages fear, practice sharpens performance, practice build self-confidence.  Any one of those three can be lifesaving in a gunfight, but they will also make you braver in everyday life at the office or walking down the street.”
• Being Humble Or You Will Be Humbled – “The lesson of humility comes to everyone eventually.  Either you learn its value, or life drills it into you – and life can be a painful teacher.” – Louisville Cardinals head basketball coach Rick Pitino in his book The One-Day Contract: How to Add Value to Every Minute of Your Life

Music

• Not Quitting –  Persevere because longevity buys you credibility.  “Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.” – Miles Davis

Sports Illustrated – October 5, 2015

• Sharing The Credit – Nothing gives a leader more credibility than when he/she gives credit way.  Notice the following quote from golfer Jordan Spieth after winning the 2015 FedEx Cup as the sport’s best player.  Eight times he uses the phrases “the people”, “Our”, “we”, “team”, “those” while using “I” only twice.  This is a clinic on good leadership. – “I have the opportunity now, with a year like this and a ($10 million) bonus like that, to celebrate and to share it with the people that have made it possible.  And that’s kind of the plan.  Our team did an unbelievable job this year.  Everything was exactly how we needed it to be to peak at the right time.  If we can continue to do that, then we’ll have more seasons like this.  But right now, we’re going to enjoy it, and I’m able to help out those who made this possible.  Because it was not a single effort.”

Sports Illustrated – June 6, 2016

• Being Willing To Change – Change is inevitable.  Relevance is not.  “It’s hard to see the change in your sport, and hard to accept and swallow sometimes…But I don’t know why other sports are more accepting of that change.  Baseball is the only sport where people try to hold on to the past and prevent that change from happening.” – Toronto Blue Jays outfield Jose Bautista.  For Bautista, there is one thing harder to swallow than baseball refusing to change its unwritten rules on celebration – Rougned Odor’s right hand

What is one lesson from this group of 10 can you begin working on TODAY to become a better leader?

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 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

Are We Being Too Tough On Pastors?

When I was a teenager I did not look forward to the dreaded family meeting.  Myself, my brother and two sisters, would gather around the kitchen table where my dad and step-mom would pull out the yellow legal pad for an airing of the grievances.  My goal would be just to say, “Yes sir”, “Yes ma’am”, and “I’m sorry” until the storm passed.
For some strange reason my sisters always took an alternative root and debated the topics.  This never turned out well.  They never seemed to learn the purpose of these meetings.  It was not about right or wrong or behavioral modification.  It was about survival.
Well, it is time we have our own family meeting.  But this meeting does not include my biological brothers and sisters.  This family meeting is with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
So if you will permit me,  have a seat as I pull out my yellow pad.
As a church consultant for INJOY Stewardship Solutions, I have noticed a disturbing trend for quite awhile but have not addressed it.  But the time has now come.
We are way too tough on pastors.  WAY TOO TOUGH.  And here is the worst part, as lay people and church members, we are honestly not qualified to question the quality of their preaching.  We know what we like but that is where our scope of understanding usually ends.
We are not public speakers.  We do not have to create 40+ public presentations to the harshest critics alive.
The internet has made everyone an expert, myself included.  With a few clicks of a mouse I can watch sermons, listen to live streams, or download podcasts of some of the greatest communicators of all-time.  And it begs the question, if I can do this and mimic Andy Stanley in my small group or Sunday School class, why can’t my pastor?
This is a false premise.  God uniquely made Andy Stanley (or any other top pastor you could name) and gave him a unique style and approach.  He also uniquely made your pastor and gave him a unique style and approach.  You can’t be Andy Stanley but you can be the best you God created.
So if the preaching is biblical and exalts Jesus, just say “Thank you”. And be thankful as well if you live in America or another country where you do not have to fear for your life as you listen.
Leadership is a more complex issue.  Many pastors have been given the spiritual gift of leadership.  Many have not.  I do not think any pastor went to seminary and said, “I want to study for years, be paid well below my level of education, be constantly scrutinized for everything I do, put my family in a glass house, and fight Satan on a daily basis because I want to be a CEO of an organization.”  To the contrary, they went to seminary to learn how to reach more people for Jesus.
Do pastors make mistakes?  Of course, we all do.  Can pastors get better in terms of their communication and leadership?  Of course, we all can.  Do they deserve our respect and support while on their individual life’s journey?  Of course, just like we all do.
It is a common occurrence for me when talking to a pastor to have them say, “I don’t know how much you can help me.  We’re a pretty small church.”  To which I ask, “Well, how many do you run in attendance on the weekends?”
“200.”
“300.”
“400.” These are the common answers.
To which I respond by saying, “Pastor, the average church is America is running around 85-90 people.  You’re multiple times larger than the average church.  Also, I can’t get my wife and daughter to listen to me half the time:-)  You have 200 people showing up to hear you every week.  You’re doing something right.  Let’s talk about that.”
Perhaps someone reading this post has been part of those conversations.
We are too hard on pastors.  Perhaps pastors are even too hard on themselves, each other and their staffs.  We, as a church leadership community, need to slow down, gain some perspective, and celebrate the incredible things God is doing through pastors at hundreds of thousands of churches across our country.
God’s not dead and neither are our churches.  Pastors, thank you for all you are doing.

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 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

9 Hidden Factors That Influence Your Leadership More Than You Think

By Carey Nieuwhof

“Are you living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow?”

So you’ve noticed something.
Your ability to lead well seems to fluctuate.
Some days (and seasons) you seem to be in top shape. You have energy and enthusiasm, a clear mind and your decision making is sharp.
But on other days (and in other seasons) you’re sluggish, fuzzy or so burdened down you feel like you can’t lead anything well.
What gives?
What I’ve learned in leadership is that on most days, there are hidden factors at work. These hidden factors can make you excel, or they can completely work against you.
Knowing what’s at work in the background can be tremendously liberating. Once you realize what’s helping or hurting you, you can deal with it.
So what hidden factors threaten to make or break you as a leader?
Here are nine I’ve identified at work in my leadership. You’ll notice many have to do with a leader’s mind, while a few are more physical.
It should be no surprise so many of the factors are in your mind. Leadership, after all, is a mind game.
Work at the mental aspect of leadership and you’ll discover what many leaders have discovered: Changing your mind can change everything.

1. The weight of leadership

Anyone who has led anything remotely significant is familiar with the weight of leadership.
The weight of leadership is the sense of responsibility you carry that goes with your job.
The problem is it never turns off easily.
It follows you home. It accompanies you to bed. It travels with you on vacation.
It’s hard to shake the weight of leadership. You feel it because you are the leader, and you’re likely the leader because you’re the kind of person who feels it.
So what can help lift the weight of leadership? A few things:
Naming it
Doing something fun (the power of distraction)
Prayer
Talking to a friend or mentor who understands
When it’s appropriate, the weight of leadership can spur you toward leading better. But when it crushes you, all of the benefits of feeling responsible for what you lead disappear.

2. Pace

Many leaders run hard. But you can only run so hard so long.
For many of you, it’s been too long.
Any leader can run hard for a season, but even if you avoid burnout, eventually it becomes counterproductive to run hard all the time.
Why?
Your mood tanks. Your fatigue rises. Your productivity drops.
And—bottom line—it’s unsustainable.
Smart leaders ask themselves: Am I living in a way today that will help me thrive tomorrow? If not, why not?

3. Lack of sleep

I’ve written about sleep before, and I’ve become a sleep evangelist of sorts over the last decade. (Here’s why sleep is a leader’s secret weapon in my view.)
Frankly, my conversion was involuntary. I used to pride myself on how little sleep I got. Now, most days, I unapologetically nap during the day and generally get six to eight hours every night.
The truth is, before I started taking sleep seriously, I was awake, but I was a zombie. And despite being awake more hours, I wasn’t nearly as productive as I am today.
To say I’ve been 10x more productive since I started taking sleep seriously is probably not an exaggeration. I wanted to write a book all through my 30s. Never got a manuscript done.
I’ve written three in the last six years. Plus launched this blog, and a podcast, started speaking at conferences more often, and worked full time on top of that.
I find when I cheat sleep now, it feels like my world comes crashing down. If I can call an audible and simply admit “Man, I’m tired” and get some rest, things come back into alignment surprisingly fast.
Not convinced being rested is a key component to great leadership? Gary Vaynerchuck and Arianna Huffington have a fascinating conversation about the necessity of sleep for leaders here.

4. The amount of time since your last break

Leaders are often famous for taking little time off.
Like missing sleep, you make a mistake when you don’t make the time to recharge.
I’ve discovered over the years that if I am going to operate at my peak, I need a break or a diversion every six to eight weeks, if even for a day. An extra day off, a short trip or something that can refuel me (even if it’s somewhat work related) is often really restorative.
The longer it’s been since your last break, the longer it will take for you to feel truly great again. So take a break.

5. What’s happening at home

Too often leaders think they can separate what happens at work from what happens at home.
Leading poorly at home always impacts how you lead at work. Just like you carry the weight of leadership around with you wherever you go, you also carry the weight of a bad marriage or a fractured family with you wherever you go.
If you win at work but lose at home, you’ve lost.

6. Constant connectivity

You can leave work, but thanks to your phone, work never leaves you.
I’m a connected guy, but even I found the constant buzzing of my phone to be too much.
Last year I turned off all notifications on my phone except for phone calls and text messages. And I’m selective about giving out my cell number.
I no longer feel my phone vibrate every time someone emails me, tweets me, likes a pic on Instagram or interacts on Facebook or Snapchat.
This isn’t just a tip for home; it helps at work too. It’s very hard to do any thinking if your phone is buzzing every minute, which for a season of my life it was.
Another change I made last year: sleeping with my phone in another room, turned off. Yep, I know that’s radical. I use an old school alarm clock to wake me up. Most of the time, I’ve slept so well I wake up before the alarm. Imagine that.

7. Your spiritual state

As a Christian, I believe everything starts and ends with God.
Your ability to give love is directly related to how deeply you receive love. Your ability to love is like a bank account: you can only withdraw what has been deposited. Make too many withdrawals, and you go bankrupt.
As you know, leadership is a series of withdrawals. So you better make some deposits.
There is no greater source of love than God.

8. Nutrition

Almost all food is brain food. Not all of it is good, but all of it affects your brain.
And if you’re paid to think (like many who read this blog are), your nutrition is critical.
Skipping meals, loading up on sugar and otherwise eating poorly impacts everything from your energy level to your blood sugar levels to your ability to think clearly.
I know for me, eating well is essential. Sometimes when I’m getting upset or angry, I realize it’s likely due to the fact I haven’t eaten or I’ve eaten poorly.

9. Change of venue

I realized a long time ago that I am deeply impacted by two things:
Choice of venue
Being in a single venue for too long
Sometimes, you simply have to step away from the screen, get out of the office and change the scenery.
In fact, I find my best ideas come to me when I’m not behind a computer screen or I’m within the first hour of a fresh venue.
Ideas I love often come to me when I’m cycling, doing yard work, in a fresh place (or favorite place that isn’t an office), or doing anything that doesn’t require me to sit behind a screen and write.
As a result, I have three or four ‘offices’ I use regularly, ranging from space at our church to a home office to the back porch to our living room.
Sometimes all I need to do to get fresh perspective is change venues.

What Do You Think?

These are nine largely silent factors that impact my leadership.
What are you discovering? What helps you be at your best? What hinders you from doing your best?   So…
If you want to love the people you lead, it starts with God.
If you want wisdom, it comes from God.
If you want to exude grace, that also comes from God.
When you sever a limb from the tree, it’s only a matter of time until it withers.

5 Church Growth Essentials from the Apostle Paul

by Charles Stone

When I was in seminary Church Growth 101 was a required course. I took interest in the whole field and became a student of church growth. I read a pile of books and attended most of the big church growth conferences. Some of the principles I’ve applied have worked. And some have failed royally. When we look at the early church, though, obviously they did something right. They grew exponentially. In this post I suggest 5 church growth essentials from the Apostle Paul that we see from his first missionary journey.

Church Growth 101 from the Apostle Paul

First, a bit of background. At this point in the early church, described in Acts 13-14, we see three significant movements: the main church leader moving to Paul from Peter, the target group for evangelism shifting from primarily Jewish to Gentile, and a move from a rural focus to an urban focus. Paul and Barnabas visited six cities on this first missionary journey.

Principle 1: Rely on the Holy Spirit.

In these two chapters we see the obvious work of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, while not dismissing good leadership, thorough strategic planning, and great outreach events, only God by His Spirit grows the church (Col. 2.19, 1 Cor. 3.7). In chapter 13 we see the work of the Holy Spirit in several ways.

1. He was involved in the selection of Paul and Barnabas to go on this missionary journey (13.2).
2. He planted in their hearts the desire to go (13.4).
3. He gave Paul great courage to confront a wizard who wasn’t too happy that Paul was evangelizing his boss (13.6-12)

So, if you want to see your church grow, make sure the Holy Spirit is guiding and directing your plans and decisions.

Principle 2: Evangelize through your most natural relationships.

When Paul would enter a city, he would make a beeline to the synagogue. Why? Because he was a Jew and Jews would be there. Their common Jewishness bound them together. It was also natural for him to go there first, because the Jews were already religiously minded and Paul could easily talk about what was common between them, the Old Testament scriptures, prophecy, and the longed for Messiah.
Some of the most fruitful ways to grow the church is to find those most open to the gospel, often those already in our circle of relationships.

Principle 3: Stay flexible in your approach.

Paul tailored his evangelism to the group he was with. His method of operation with the Jews was to go to the synagogue and start with the Old Testament.
However, with the Gentiles who had no Jewish reference frame, he took a different approach. In one very pagan city they visited on this missionary journey, they healed a crippled boy (14.8-18). The word spread. A crowd gathered. And because of a Greek legend, they believed that Paul and Barnabas were the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes.
50 years prior a Latin poet had written about a local legend that Zeus and Hermes, disguised as mortals, had once visited the hill country near this city and they weren’t given hospitality. Thus, Zeus and Hermes destroyed the homes of those who refused hospitality. Now, the people thought that Zeus and Hermes had revisited them again (because of the miracle Paul and Barnabas had done) and wanted to avoid a similar fate. So they responded with wild fanaticism by offering sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas in order to appease the Greek gods.
Paul was shocked. Yet, he did not quote the Old Testament to them, as he did to the Jews. He appealed to what they knew, nature and natural law. He spoke of God being the God of creation and the general favor he shows everyone through the rain he provides that waters mankind’s crops.
Paul flexed his approach toward the particular people he was evangelizing. With the Jews he used one approach and with the Gentiles another.
It behooves church leaders to know their communities and to use flexible approaches rather than cookie cutter methods we might learn in a book or at a conference.

Principle 4: Deepen your spiritual roots.

Growing a church is not an either-or proposition, evangelism or discipleship. It is both-and. Paul certainly shared the Gospel. But in these two chapters he’s also encouraging believers to send their roots deep in the Lord. In fact, when the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas on this trip, the church as practicing two spiritual disciplines: prayer and fasting.
Later Paul encouraged them to continue in the grace of God and encouraged them to remain true to the faith. He was challenging them toward spiritual formation.
I recently learned a great insight about spiritual formation.
Everybody IS being spiritually formed. It’s just a matter of whether or not it is intentional or haphazard. 

Everybody IS being spiritually formed. It’s just a matter of whether or not it is intentional or…

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Intentional spiritual formation means that we intentionally seek, through spiritual disciplines, to be formed in the image of Jesus.
Unintentional spiritual formation means that we are being passively shaped by the experiences, circumstances, and people around us. Such spiritual formation yields little good fruit and potentially, bad fruit.
So, growing a church requires that leaders give attention and intention to spiritual formation.

Principle 5: Don’t bend to resistance to the Gospel.

Throughout history, when the Gospel changed lives, resistance was sure to follow. Paul repeatedly faced resistance to his work, while at the same time many responded positively to the Gospel. In chapter 13.49-50, many came to faith while at the same time those in opposition began a smear campaign against Paul. Did he and Barnabas leave town? No, they spent considerable time there.
In another city (15.1-2) the people stoned Paul and left him for dead. Fortunately, he didn’t die. Did he leave town? No. The Scriptures say that he went back into that very town.
So, when you see God bless your church with growth, don’t be surprised to experience resistance as well, sometimes even from within.
God wants the Church to grow. He wants your church to grow. And He will grow His church as we apply biblical church growth principles we see in the book of Acts.
What other biblical church growth principles should we add to this list?
Related posts:

• 10 Ways NOT to Grow a Church
• 8 Healthy Ways to Respond when Someone Leaves Your Church

7 Things Great Leaders Have Learned To Do

Great leaders have learned a set of practices, that if done well over an extended period of time, can provide you sustained leadership success. There are simply things great leaders consistently do that unsuccessful leaders don’t.
Grant Wahl, the great writer for Sports Illustrated, gave us a glimpse into just some of these practices in their June 27th edition.  Grant profiled German team Bayern Munich’s top midfielder Xabi Alonso.  Alonso is an Apex Leader, one of the very best at what he does.
As I read Wahl’s article, I gleaned 7 Things Great Leaders Have Learned To Do:

1. Great Leaders Have Learned To Prepare For The Future. – The leaders you study under, learn from and have been led by matters.  Alonso has played under legendary managers Carlo Ancelotti, Vicente del Bosque, Rafa Benitez, and Jose Mourinho.  In preparation for one day going into coaching, he played the last two years under Pep Guadiola.  He says, “(It was) very useful for me to understand more about football and how I want to do things.”
2. Great Leaders Have Learned The Value Of Compounding. – Greatness is often not the spectacular but rather small things done well over an extended period of time.  Alonso says, “It’s all about balance, about making a lot of right decisions.  Maybe they look unmeaningful (individually), but putting all of them together, they make sense.  My job is not to make spectacular actions.”
3. Great Leaders Have Learned To Position Others For Success. – The greatest leaders know their success in found in the success of others on their team.  Alonso noted, “When we win the ball, my job is to get it from the defense to the attackers in the best possible way.”
4. Great Leaders Have Learned To Make Great Decisions. – Alonso is always two-to-three steps ahead in his decision-making.  He said, “Before receiving the pass, I try to have an idea of what’s going to be the next decision.  When you get the ball, it’s probably too late, because you will have the opponent on top of you.”
5. Great Leaders Have Learned To Provide Solutions. – When a leader walks into a room, they will either bring problems or bring solutions.  Alonso says, “When I make a pass, my goal is for (my teammates) to have the best possible way, on the right foot or left foot, to have an advantage…That’s my idea: to create a pass with an advantage, not to create a problem.”
6. Great Leaders Have Learned To Take Risks. – The fruit is on the end of the branch, not by the tree trunk.  Great leaders go out on a limb and take great risks.  Alonso acknowledged, “When you’re closer to the goal in the attacking end, you should take passing risks, because one good pass can turn into a goal.”
7. Great Leaders Have Learned To Be Decisive. – Alonso feels it is better to make 2 or 3 decisive shorts passes  rather than one long pass.  He said,  “When you’re playing long passes, your players have much more distance between each other and when they lose the ball, it’s harder to get the ball back because they can’t pressure as well together.”

Prepare For The Future, Compound Excellence, Position Others For Success, Make Great Decisions, Provide Solutions, Take Risks, and Be Decisive.  Learn and practice these seven qualities and you too may one day be an Apex Leader.

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 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

A Tribute To The Greatest Collegiate Coach Of All-Time, Head Coach Pat Summitt

“You don’t take donkeys to the Kentucky Derby.  You better get you some race horses.” – Head Coach Pat Summitt’s dad after her first loss

On Thursday, July 14th at 7:00 PM EST in Knoxville, TN at the Thompson Boling Arena, the public is invited to attend a memorial service for the greatest collegiate coach of all-time, the beloved head basketball coach of the University of Tennesse Lady Volunteers, Pat Summit.  Coach Summitt recently passed away at 64 years of age after several years battling early-onset dementia from Alzheimer’s.

As we reflect on her life and career, allow me to make the case for Head Coach Pat Summitt being the greatest collegiate coach of any sport in history.
First, The Resume

• 8 NCAA Championships
• 1984 Olympic gold medalist
• 1,098 – 208 record.  An .841 winning percentage.
• First coach in college basketball to accumulate 1,000 wins
• 7-time National Coach of the Year
• 16 SEC Championships
• Never had a losing season in 38 years as a coach
• In fact, she averaged 29 wins per year for 38 years
• 18 of her assistant coaches became head coaches
• 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom winner

Second, Her Leadership Skills
I would like to continue my argument by learning directly from Coach Summitt herself.  In the recent EntreLeadership July Podcast #154, host Ken Coleman played a 6-minute clip from a previous interview he conducted with the legendary coach for Comcast Sports Southeast.
The following are 9 Leadership Lessons And Quotes From Apex Leader Head Coach Pat Summitt:

1. Apex Leaders Remember Losses More Than Wins – “I remember the first loss probably more than the first win.”
2. Apex Leaders Recruit Talented People – “You don’t take donkeys to the Kentucky Derby.  You better get you some race horses.” – Coach Summitt’s dad after her first loss
3. Apex Leaders Know The Value Of Having A Great Team Around You – “You win in life with people.  It’s not about me.  I’ve never scored a basket for the University of Tennessee…It’s all about the people you surround yourself with and what they bring to the court, to the game, and to understanding it is a team concept and they have to do it together.”
4. Apex Leaders Prepare Others For Success Today And Tomorrow – “When they leave here they leave with a college degree.  Hopefully, they leave here with a national championship.  But the most important part of that is they leave here as confident young women who are ready to go out into the world and be secure in who they are and move forward and be successful.”
5. Apex Leaders Know How To Win Championships – “Offense sells tickets.  Defense wins games.  Rebounding wins championships.”
6. Apex Leaders Are Excellent Communicators – “You might have an off-shooting night.  But you should never have a bad night on defense and rebounding.  You should never have a bad night or off-night on lack of communication.  We have to be in this together.”
7. Apex Leaders Are Others-Focused – “It is not about the individual.  We are winning for our team.  We are winning for our university and for the greatest fans in women’s basketball.”
8. Apex Leaders Overcome Adversity – “They have a preparation that allows them to get through adversity.  To be able to understand that it doesn’t last forever and you have to figure out a way to be successful.”
9. Apex Leaders Allow You To Become Your Absolute Best – When asked what one piece advice she would give young people, Coach Summitt said, “Look in the mirror and see yourself and challenge yourself to be the very best and to always do the right thing.  Never compromise your principles.  Never lower your standards.  Whatever it is you desire to do in life have the courage and the commitment to do it and do it to your absolute best.  And always, always know, you have to believe it to do it.”

Third, Unlike Any Other Coach, She Helped Launch The Sport Of Women’s College Basketball
Unlike Bear Bryant, John Wooden, and Nick Saban, Coach Summitt was there at the sport’s infancy.  The sport was largely built on her drive and hard work.  Women’s college basketball would look largely different without the efforts of Pat Summitt.  Let me explain.
Pat Summitt was named head coach of the Lady Vols in 1974 as a 22-year old.  Women’s college basketball was not yet even recognized as a Division I sport.  Coach Summitt had to purchase the team’s uniforms through doughnut sales and then washed those uniforms herself.
Summitt once told Time magazine in a February 2009 interview, “I had to drive the van when I first started coaching.  One time, for a road game, we actually slept in the other team’s gym the night before.  We had mats, we had our little sleeping bags.”
No other person in the pantheon of great college head coaches ever had to do such tasks as a head coach.  This is because the sport existed prior to their arrival.  Once again, there was no D-1 Women’s Basketball prior to her arrival.
Longtime rival UConn head coach Geno Auriemma summed it up by telling the USA Today in its July 8th edition, “One would be hard-pressed to name a figure who had a more indelible impact on her profession than Pat Summitt.  Pat set the standard for which programs like ours dreamed of achieving, both on and off the court.  Our sport reached new heights thanks to her success.”
Fourth, The Impact On Her Players
In an era when many people talk about the importance of student-athletes, a staggering 100% of Coach Summitt’s players graduated.  This was the expectation for everyone who ever entered the program.
Outkick The Coverage’s Clay Travis told Colin Cowherd on his June 28th simulcast, “She is Coach K (Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski) with a sense of humor…Pat Summitt was beloved by her players.”
He added, “Her players feared making mistakes for her but also feared doing it because they loved her so much.”
Finally, Her Impact On High School Girls Sports
Travis also pointed out, “Her ability to make people care about a sport they might not otherwise care about unbelievable in the state…It percolated throughout the entire region.  You cared about girls high school basketball more.  Girls (growing up in Tennessee) wanted to go play for the Lady Vols.”
I started this post by quoting Pat Summitt’s father when he said, “You don’t take donkeys to the Kentucky Derby.  You better get you some race horses.”  In essence, Coach Summitt ultimately wound up taking an entire sport to the Kentucky Derby.  Because of this, she is the greatest collegiate coach of any sport in history.  She will be dearly missed.

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 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!

When Plans Get Interrupted, What Should You Do?

by Charles Stone

What do you do when your plans get interrupted? Fume…fuss…cuss? I tend to fume. I recall two experiences that interrupted my well laid-out plans. In the process, I also learned a few important life lessons.

Interruption #1
I was taking a voice-over class in Chicago a few years ago and I had parked in the same building where the class was held. The valet kept the keys and after the class (later that night), I was to retrieve my keys from the security guard and drive home.
Except this week.
The guard couldn’t find my keys. She called the boss and while he drove back to the building, I had some time to kill. For the next while, I was able to have a meaningful conversation with Faith (the guard) about having a relationship with Jesus. She didn’t trust Christ, but I believe her heart opened a bit. Eventually, the boss found my key and I made it home.
One redeemed interruption.
Interruption #2.
Two days later I prepared for my quarterly overnight planning retreat at a retreat center a few miles west of my home. Just before I left, I opened my Mac to send an email. When I opened the lid … a black screen stared back. This had happened two weeks prior and I thought is was a one-time glitch.
Apparently not.
Fortunately, the first time it happened one of our staff was able to perform a convoluted fix because my re-booting, removing the battery, and screaming at my Mac didn’t work. But, he was now out-of-town. I checked with another staffer and he said he thought he could fix it. He did. By the time he fixed it, though, I had lost a half-day of my retreat. Plus, I had lost the file of my current sermon.
On my drive to the retreat center, I faced a choice, I could fume or pray. I choose the latter. Amazingly, that focused prayer time centered me and prepared my heart for the retreat, even though a train stopped me on the way there and when I arrived the place was locked.
Another interruption redeemed.

Here are the 3 lessons I learned from those interruptions.

1. Life can seem like a series of interruptions punctuated by a few plans that get accomplished. 

   Life can seem like a series of interruptions punctuated by a few plans that get accomplished.

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2. When interrupted, we all choose how we will respond.

3. When we respond with God’s grace, He will redeem even the most frustrating interruptions for His glory and our benefit.

How did you respond the last time you were interrupted?
Related posts:

• 6 Faith Qualities Every Leader Should Embody
• Do Pastors have Blind Spots?

13 Reasons Churches Have Plateaued Or Declining Attendance

Approximately four out of five American churches are plateaued or declining in weekly attendance.  This has been a trend for so long it is no longer debatable.  What is a debatable is what pastors and church leaders can do to reverse this negative momentum.
In a search for answers, I took at look at another industry suffering from declining attendance – NASCAR.  In its July 1st edition, USA Today writer Jeff Gluck took an in-depth look at the attendance issues the sport is facing and what they are attempting to do about it.  I found several significant applications to churches who also have declining attendance.
The following are just 13 Reasons Churches Have Plateaued Or Declining Attendance I gleaned from the article:

1. Attendance Is No Longer Being Reported Or Discussed – When a church tells you its membership rather than its attendance, you are in trouble.  Bristol Motor Speedway has a seating capacity of 146,000.  This venue once had 55 consecutive sellouts.  In 2016, the stadium appeared to be at half-capacity.  To hide the true impact of its declining numbers, in 2012 NASCAR stopped posting attendance figures.
2. People Are Less Engaged – Are you tracking and discussing your attendance numbers?  According to MediaWatch.com, seven of the first eight races in 2016 had lower ratings than the previous year.  Four of those races had their lowest ratings yet since Fox began broadcasting NASCAR events in 2001.
3. Key Leaders Are Leaving – Top leaders will not be reduced to a level of mediocrity.  Sprint, NASCAR’s top sponsor since 2004, is leaving at the end of this current season.  A replacement has not been identified.
4. Money Is No Longer Coming In – International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc which run 20 of the sport’s 23 racing tracks,  has reported event attendance revenue is down 49% from its peak in 2007-2008.  Much like a church, attendance revenue is the sport’s primary economic engine.
5. Young People Are Not Attending And Not Giving – Today’s young people have multiple opportunities to watch racing other than onsite attendance.  However, NASCAR is struggling how to monetize online viewership.  This is a similar problem churches now face.  Driver Brad Keselowski said, “It is easier than ever to get access to different platforms without attending.  That is a lot of how the sport is monetized, through actual attendance.”
6. Your Core Audience Feels Neglected – Constant changes in your ministry focus causes a loss of trust.  Similarly, NASCAR fan Lanette Williams said, “The constant changes NASCAR does, it doesn’t have the same good feeling it used to have.  We lost interest in NACAR.  NASCAR has lost interest in us.”
7. Your Audience Has Grown Old – Successful organizations are green and growing.  In other words, there is a continual pipeline of young talent being groomed for future leadership.  Fox Sports 1 had the highest cable rating for adults 50 and over for a recent race at Michigan International Speedway.  Conversely, the same race was tied for fourth in the age 18-49 category.  NASCAR is not green and growing.  It is brown and declining.
8. Your Audience Has No Sense Of Expectation – Your people are bored.  You see it in their eyes during church services.  They are glassed over.  Their body language is lifeless.  And worse, they do not invite their friends to church.  But people who have a great worship experience will likely return and bring others.  NASCAR COO Brent Dewar said, “A fan that attends a live event is an absolute keystone of the sport for us.  If the experience is awesome and they have all the amenities they want, all of our research points to the fact you have a chance to make a fan for life.”
9. You Are Losing Key Staff – Some NASCAR official are pointing to the loss of Jeff Gordon to retirement and Tony Stewart to injury as a cause for the sport’s attendance decline.
10. You Have A Weak Leadership Team – John Maxwell said, “Those closest to the leader determine the success of the leader.”  Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage says, “No one driver is going to sell you tickets, and no one driver is going to put you out of business.  Each driver represents a slice of the pie that makes up the whole.”  It takes a team.
11.  You Are Trying To Redefine Success – Instead of making the hard choices to make your ministry relevant again, you talk about how deep your people are and your grand vision for the future.  You take the easy way out by praying for “revival”.  Then after unsuccessfully praying for revival, you blame a lukewarm age and say, “Well, God just didn’t bless.”  Instead of NASCAR talking about how to increase raceway attendance, merchandise sales, and television viewers, some executives are now attempting to change the conversation to social engagement, followers, exposures and impressions.  But Just Marketing International’s Zak Brown brings a word of caution.  He says, “Digital is how the world is consuming everything but digital is still new.  I don’t think anyone has figured out how to quantify digital exposure yet.”
12. You Have Started Forming Committees – NASCAR calls it collaboration.  But in an attempt to garner young viewers, they have formed a driver’s council, a manufacturers council, an owners alliance, and now a track council.  Sound like your church?
13. You No Longer Focus On The Bottom Line – You do not count what counts.  The article concludes with Brown bringing everyone back to the bottom line.  He says, “As long as the needle is moving on their (sponsors’) business, that’s ultimately their No. 1 measurement.  Measuring eyeballs and attendance is less than, ‘Did I sell more cans of Coke?  Did I sell more Subway sandwiches?’  As long as those metrics say, ‘I sold more because of my NASCAR sponsorship,’ that becomes priority No. 1.”  Your church’s No. 1 priority should be glorifying Jesus and delivering the type of ministry needed to reach as many people for Him as possible.  To begin seeing growth in your church, keep the conversation there.

Pastors and church leaders, we can learn a lot from NASCAR’s declining attendance numbers.  Let’s don’t make the same mistakes.  The message of the church is far more important than machines making continual left turns.

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 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!