The Global Leadership Summit Kicks off!

The Global Leadership Summit Kicks off!

August 11, 2011 Ocean Grove NJ -- The Satellite simulcast of the Global Leadership Summit kicked off this morning here with a bang! It started with announcements about the mission and programs of The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting (OGCMA) and a powerful prayer by Scott Hoffman. Then the simulcast started with a video and a picture of the moon. The script included “... it's always darkest before the dawn....” Could this statement be an indication of a theme of the conference?

Exuberant singing erupted. People were on their feet clapping! And, the leadership speakers hadn't even begun yet. Songs included “We Love you Lord” and “Praise To The Lord, The Almighty.”

Bill Hybels Kicked off the speaking

Introduction to the Summit:

• This conference is unapologetically Christian, but also agnostic as to who we invite to speak

• Here, leaders humble themselves to learn from each other

• Please respect our beliefs, we promise not to engage in weird religious behavior

• Leadership really matters across all disciplines

• When people are better leaders, everyone wins: followers, causes and all

5 Critical Questions

1. What is your current challenge level at work?

On a continuum, where would you place yourself?

A. Appropriately challenged – “to do” list at begin of day, can say you completed things at end of day

B. Under-challenged: shop on internet, do crossword puzzles, don't fill fulfilled at work

C. Dangerously Over-challenged: get up, look at list and say “OMG!” At work, the list gets longer, you get a stomach ache mid-day, but not because you're hungry. You're not present with your family, because you're focused on work.

When are you at your absolute best on this scale?

Research shows that the best place is a bit above Appropriately Challenged. You need to stretch. Just like muscles, they need a little challenge.

You need a challenge, but not to be overly-challenged. If you're overwhelmed, you need to ask for help.

If you are a leader that is putting everyone in a over-challenged environment, you're not being

your most efficient as a team. You can't stay in the dangerously over-challenged environment for long. You need to replenish.

People need to be appropriately challenged and stretched a bit: not under-challenged, not over-challenged.

2. What is your plan for dealing with challenging people in your organization?

They use the “line exercise.”

If revenue dropped 50%, what programs and people would you need to get rid of?

Are these people under-performing, not challenged, or not in tune with the values or mission?

Team Poison: How long will you let them be a poison for your team. You need to talk to them and give them a deadline to improve.

Under-performers: We start a performance improvement plan and the team works together to improve things.

Values Violations: This usually results in an immediate firing.

If you leave this challenged people without being checked, it drags down the great people on your team!

3. Are you naming and facing the problems that exist in your organization?

In the Bible, Acts Chapter 6, they addressed the problem, then the Church grew rapidly.

Every program has a lifecycle. Nothing “rocks” forever. Just like Ecclesiastes, everything has a season.

We need to arrest tired ideas on the downward curve and regenerate them.

4. When was the last time you reexamined the core of what your organization is all about?

Have you re-examined your goals and values?

The best leaders do this often. Is your message clear? Can you put it on a t-shirt? Do people know what it is?

Churches are in the people transformation business. There is only one power on this planet that is able to do this: the Gospel (The good news of Christianity). We all know what that Gospel is, don't we? Well, sometimes we are “fuzzy” about it.

Take time to define the message. Draw a circle in a meeting. Ask them to come up with 5 words to summarize the central message of Christianity (no “God words”). For business leaders, this would be the 5 words that best describe your organization goals. This exercise can cause lots of disagreements, it's not as easy as it seems.

Bill puts these 5 words in the circle: Love (Christianity is the one global religion that is driven by Love: John 3:16), Evil (because of the atrocities in history and in our world today), Rescue, Choice (Salvation is a gift, by we have to choose to take it), restore. Example: he tells people to fight for their marriage, but God loves you, there is evil, but there's also rescue and restoration that's available. God has the power to do it!

5. Have you had your leadership “bell” rung recently?

Has any book, speech, or discussion inspired you. You need the refreshing challenge every now and then.

After he spoke in Thailand, another speaker got up and set a challenge to lead people to Christ and laid out a plan.

Summary:

How you finish is how you'll be remembered. Don't end it with a whimper. Do you want the next 5 years to be the best 5? We call leaders to decisions! It's time to pray and make a commitment.

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For more information on the Leadership Summit and Ocean Grove (“God's Square Mile on the Jersey Shore”) where their mission of Spiritual Birth, Growth and Renewal is lived out in community, visit my earlier post:

http://henrywill4.blogspot.com/2011/08/info-on-leadership-summit-im-attending.html

You'll also find links there to other great bloggers and tweeters on the conference.