Who’s ready for two days of power packed leadership content?
750 cities, 130 different countries, 60 different languages
We’re gathered together with one clear and one specific purpose: we want to become leaders that people want to follow.
When leaders get better, everyone gets better.
Leadership is simply influence. You have influence, therefore you have the capacity to be a strong leader.
If you’re a parent, you have influence…unless you have a teenager. If you have a friend, you have influence in their lives.
One of the biggest myths about leadership is that you have to be in charge to lead. Leadership is never about title or position.
As a leader, the only way I know to deal with difficult situations is head-on, with transparency, with compassion.
I have deep compassion and aching concern for everyone involved.
We are entrusted with power and we must always and only steward that power for the good of others. Any use or misuse of power for evil is sinful.
Why am I here? Because we must make a difference. With all the problems in our world today, we must stop making excuses. We can make excuses or we can make a difference, but we cannot make both. We must step in.
I hope to be a voice of healing, to raising the standards.
People are longing for leaders that will unite rather than divide. The world longs for someone to stand up instead of backing down.
Jim Collins, Level 5 leaders – “mixture of profound humility and furious resolve.”
A humble leader can learn from anyone. Take a serious posture of humility.
Show respect to everyone today.
We will cast vision for a brighter future. We will inspire others to more than they think is possible. We will ask for wisdom to make the difficult calls. We will confront injustices and right wrongs. We will speak up for those without a voice. We will get better. When a leader gets better, everyone gets better.
You are not here by accident. Your leadership will be stronger by end of our time together.
How many of you have ever worked for a leader you love? How many of you have ever worked for someone you’d love to give some advice on how to do it better?
Had a sales manager that would yell at you and then would hug you. He said he did it because he loved us. I think he did it because he was psycho.
Bret Steambarger polled 4,000 individuals about what we need to do better. Bosses said finances and technology. Asked followers: in what areas do your leaders need to get better? Leadership & emotional intelligence.
Leadership is: where are you taking me? Emotional intelligence asks: how are you treating me?
How do we become a leader that people love to follow?
There is a big difference between a leader who is popular and a leader who is respected. You may be popular if you are respected. But you will never be respected if you are just concerned about being popular.
You will always feel valued when you are under great leadership.
You will feel inspired when you are serving under great leadership.
You feel empowered. You know that someone trusts and believes in you.
How do we create an environment where our teammates feel valued, inspired empowered?
What qualities do you need?
1) We need a heart to care.
You will never be a leader others love to follow if you aren’t a leader who loves people.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
Key phrases: “I notice…” “You matter.” I notice the effort you put in and that effort matters to our organization.
Good employees do not lead organizations; they leave bad managers. The #1 reason people leave organizations is that they do not feel valued.
My rule is that I want to appreciate more than I think I should. Then I double it.
We are a church with 30 different locations in 10 different states.
I got thank you notes from the spouses of people that I gave knuckle bumps.
Say it. Show it. Write it. Celebrate it. Never rob your team member of the blessing of celebrating them.
Me centered leadership vs you centered leadership.
Some leaders will make you think that they are important. The best leaders will help you see that you are important.
2) We need a passion to inspire.
You may notice I did not say motivate.
Inspiring is pulling rather pushing. It is pulling out of them what is already there.
Employees who describe themselves as inspired are twice as productive and employees who identify themselves as satisfied.
The Bain Research Group surveyed 2,000 employees. They found 33 attitudes of leadership.
If you have an optimistic outlook, if you have a posture of humility, it inspires others. Even someone who consistently follows through is inspiring. Being generous with recognition is inspiring to those around you. Be consistently empathetic, listening.
One standout quality that stands above the rest: centeredness. One who is secure, stable, confident, not easily swayed, not trying to impress anyone, fully engaged. They have internal alignment with the external. Driven by purpose and obsessed with vision. The absence of centeredness demotivates. The presence of it inspires.
All you need is one or two well-developed strengths to inspire.
The church does not exist for us; we exist for those who are not us.
I don’t want to push them into something. I want to pull out of them what already exists.
Passion transforms it from a job to a calling. When passion meets inspiration, obsession is born.
3) A willingness to empower.
The best leaders unleash higher performance through empowerment, not command and control.
If you think you need to control everything, you become the lid on your organization.
You can have control or you can have growth, but you can’t have both.
Do not just delegate tasks. If we delegate tasks, we are creating followers. Instead delegate authority. If we delegate authority, we are creating leaders.
As leaders, we are going to make the decisions that only we can make. We are going to delegate the other decisions deeper into the organization. Favorite words need to be: I trust you. You decide.
The better you become as a leader, the fewer decisions you make.
The strength of an organization is reflected by how deep into it people have the ability to say yes.
What if I try and they don’t quite deliver? You have to trust them where they are. The best way you can find out if you trust someone is to trust them.
If you don’t trust your team, you are either too controlling or you have the wrong people. Either way, the problem is yours to solve.
Think about the qualities of Jesus as a leader.
He had a heart to care.Who did he hang out with? He loved to befriends sinners, people who were broken, despised. He would speak truth and love.
He had a passion to inspire. “I did not come to be served, but to serve and to lay down my life as a ransom.” “I have come that you may have life and life to the full.” I came for the sick, the sinners.
He had a willingness to empower. He selected people that everyone else had overlooked: fishermen, tax collectors, two brothers known as “sons of thunder.” They left higher paying jobs for something that made a difference. He empowered them. He didn’t just give them tasks, he gave them authority. He told them what and where but he trusted them with the how.
Here we are 2,000 years and people are still following him.
4) A courage to be real, transparent, vulnerable, not always know all the answers. You step into the role that you are given and live with passion and integrity.
As leaders we feel so much pressure to always be perfect, strong, right. People are not looking for that. They are looking for honesty, integrity, vulnerability.
We’re going to do the best we can. When we get it wrong, we’re going to say “I’m sorry.” The stakes are very high. It’s time for leaders to stand up.
You don’t have to be like someone else. You don’t have to be John Maxwell, Angela, Bishop TD Jakes. You don’t have to be right or inspired. You have to be real.
