good2great

The Recruitment Challenge...

2010-12-05T17:51:19Z

It's been a ridiculously long time since I last blogged, but today something happened that brought me to a point where all I could think to do was to write this entry.

For many years I've held the firm belief that, when it comes to recruiting leaders for a church youth ministry, the BIG "NO" was to allow a passionate (but usually desperate for help) youth ministry leader to stand up in front of a whole congregation and suggest that "young jimmy isn't going to learn about Jesus unless YOU commit to serving in our youth ministry programme". Over the years I have heard story after story 9and experienced first hand) youth ministries struggling more than ever when wonderful people with amazing gifts and a heart to serve end up serving in an area that isn't neccessarily the one they are called to, through a sense of guilt or a desperate desire to plug holes in their church's multi faceted & growing ministry.

So you can imagine my surprise at church this morning when, after an amazing time of worshipping God through song and intercession, one of the leadership team came to the front to share about some amazing stuff that God was doing in the lives of the children and young people in our church (it really is amazing, some of the stuff that God is growing in our ministry to young people) and then suggested that we were in need of people to work within these ministry groups. I remember sitting in my chair thinking "how can this be happening? Surely the leadership of a church like this knows the benefit of growing a youth ministry team through personal conversations and seeking God's guidance as He brings individuals to your attention who he is calling to explore such a role".

And then it hit me - to the point that I didn't hear another word of the service as my brain worked overtime grappling with a new insight into how my God is much bigger than any "good youthwork practice" handbook - "Maybe Jon, YOU need to get back into church based youth ministry!!"

The fact is, I've spent the last two years avoiding any specific involvement in church based youth ministry. Not because I dislike it - I LOVE IT!! But because having served in churches as a youthworker role full-time for over 10yrs, and never really having had time to just be a family and part of a wider church family without any specific duties, I have been keen to not jump into a youth ministry role, but to be part of a worshipping congregation and focus my youth work energies into my role with YFC.

If the leadership of our church had asked me yesterday to join the youth ministry team I would probably have declined, and yet here I am responding to a general request from the front of church.

I must have sounded like a complete oddball trying to explain all that to the ministry leader after the service - I'm sure they thought I was about to complain about the announcement that they made, but actually said that they wouldn't have approached me personally as they knew I was heavily involved in my role with YFC etc.

So there you go. I learned an important lesson today in the weirdest way...

"God chose[s] things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise." - 1 corinthians 1:27

Lesson learned!! Church-based youth ministry? - hello, my old friend!!

A day in London...

2008-12-27T13:19:08Z

In November I visited London for the day, to meet with a guy from Kensington YFC (a.k.a. Oxygen).

It was a really great day, not only cos I got to go to london for the first time in ages, but also because I learned a lot from our meeting.

I won't go into huge detail here, but one key moment was a visit to the Tate Modern and a wander round the fairly recent installation by dominique gonzalez. It really helped me to think about using time and space creatively.

It's so easy to get bogged down by what's directly in front of you in the day to day work of a YFC centre, which is why I guess it's important for me to take reqular time to get further away and a totally different perspective on what's happeneing.

Anyway, more on that soon (hopefully).

back into the wilderness...

2008-09-22T18:24:07Z

During my time with YFC in North Staffs we experienced a whole load of "wilderness" time, especially around the transition from one director to another. It seemed to last forever, not really knowing what direction we were headed, but being aware that things were definately going through a change process but not knowing exactly what the change would be, or where it would take us as an organisation.

So starting in this new role at Cov YFC, I've always known there would be a wilderness time in the whole transition process, and although I decided to ask loads of "why" questions about the organisation whilst letting "business" happen as usual (as possible, anyway), I also decided that the "wilderness" needed to be as comfortable and SHORT as possible.

However, just over a month into the role, I'm starting to see similar patterns emerging as happened in North Staffs.

I know that I'm asking a lot of questions about the place, (yet it seems maybe not enough), but there seem to be a certain lack in people with answers. Don't get me wrong - the team, the exec, the people I've met around cov, they're all great, and I absolutely love the role (there really is so much potential and eagerness in people for God to do some cool things), so I guess it must come down to communication.

The team need to know what I'm here for (I think they do, but want to get out of this wilderness thing - or maybe just get used to things being "not the same") and more importantly, I probably need to find out exactly what the exec think I'm here for, cos if there are crossed wires on any of that core stuff, then problems may well be in the near future.

Anyway, hopefully a few meetings tomorrow will shed a bit more light on this whole area.

UNITY has to be the top priority - but unity requires a certain amount of shared sense of purpose.

More soon

There is a Season...

2008-06-30T13:08:36Z

Well, tomorrow sees the last of my journeys up to the north of England for the MLS gatherings. It will be a sad time, saying bye to some really good comrades and friends, but I guess it's really just another landmark along this long winding road towards leadership.

I'm also feeling quite concerned as I'm aware that my last book assignment is nowhere near completion. As some of you may know, this is due to a fairly turbulent time in my role at NSYFC.

I've known for a while now that it was time to move on, and that became official just under a month ago, so the time I would normally be committing to study for MLS has been eaten up severely by getting our house ready to sell, and filling in dreaded job apps.

Anyway, on a more positive note, after much soul searching, various interviews and LOTS of useful conversations with very wise people, over the weekend I was offered the role of Director of Coventry YFC, so it seems all this training may be put to good use after all.

I'm very excited by the path that lays ahead of me (and for my family), and I'll certainly keep this blog going, as it's been helpful to me to challenge myself to keep going and learning.

So keep watching this space. Thanks to all those that have journeyed with me on MLS this year, and I'll let you know how the last residential went. (apparently we're being graded!!)

See y'all soon.

The MLS Letter...

2008-06-21T11:47:17Z

As part of the MLS course it's been suggested that I write a short letter summary of the key lessons I've learned throughout the last 12 months of the course. So here goes...

1. Leadership isn't about status.

Being a good leader is about having the ability to inspire and motivate people, to spot and release potential in individuals and to do all that you can to ensure that your "workforce" are well supported and fully equipped to carry out the work that has been set for them to achieve for the greater good of an organisation. Jim Collins, in his book "Good to Great" refers to this as "the window and the mirror paradigm" - A good leader looks at himself when faced with failure, but looks to others to apportion credit for successes.

2. Leadership isn't primarily about quantifiable results.

Being a leader involves putting emphasis on "people" rather than "results". Results are obviously an important part of leadership, but long term results rely on the "health" of an organisation. Recruiting, Investing in and releasing "team" seems to be the key to the long term effectiveness of most leaders. "Every leadership decision you will ever face will be about people and relationships" - Roy Crowne (so it must be true!!)

3. Leadership isn't always about being at the front.

I loved the suggestion in the book "Lead like Jesus" that leadership requires work at both ends of the spectrum - spearheading vision and direction for an organisation, then empowering team to achieve that vision by getting "behind" them and supporting them in any way you can - giving them the authority to lead and make decisions.

I guess the biggest lesson I've learned on the MLS course though, is that there's no such thing as the "perfect leader". Leadership is a personal thing with no clearly defined goalposts or personal specification. And that leadership style will look different for everyone. Obviously there will be similarities in leadership styles, but I think the biggest danger is that as a leader one sees others who show some similar facets of leadership style and therefore tries to replicate everything that that leader does, rather than recognising that the similarity is only one small part of a possibly very different personal leadership portfolio.

In short, the MLS course has challenged me to not put this whole area of leadership in a specific "box", but to constantly challenge my ideas (and those of others) about leadership style and effectiveness. I've also had a complete 180 degree experience regarding the "leaders are readers" debate. I always thought that if that we're true I would never be a great leader, but I now agree 100% and am really excited to get into any book I can find on the whole area of leadership. And finally, I've realised the importance of not just looking at leaders in awe, but grabbing every opportunity to talk with them, ask good (and hard) questions, and be prepared to have a mashed brain for days afterwards.

I'm really excited about my future in leadership, finally accepting that maybe God HAS placed a leadership calling on my life and slowly developing the confidence to get out there and lead!! I can honestly say that this course will go down as one of the key defining moments in my ministry.

Thanks to everyone for their input throughout the year. I've really appreciated having people around me to bounce ideas off and challenge my concepts on this whole area of leadership. It's been an amazing ride.

And that's just the beginning...

Now Discover Your Strengths - The Review...

2008-04-19T19:45:42Z

Hidden deep in the extended link of this entry you will find a short review of Marcus Buckingham's book "Now Discover Your Strengths".

I have to be honest - the review is a little odd. Primarily because we've been instructed to only read up to Chapter 4 as we're learning the rest at our MLS session next week.

Also, I've heard/seen Mr Buckingham speak on a similar theme several times, so much of what I've read has kind of amalgamated with the stuff I'd heard on the subject before.

Anyway, having said all that. I think the principles in this book are excellent. I'm more and more convinced that the idea of playing to our strengths is what transforms great teams to excellent teams. And if you want to know why, you'll just have to click the link (or even consider reading the book yourself.

So here goes...

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I was given a copy of the book when I applied for the directors role at NSYFC. Having been shortlisted, I was asked to complete the online "strengthsfinder" exercise and report my results to the interview panel for the role. At that point, I never actually got round to reading the book, mainly because I had 1 week to prepare for a major interview & figured that the book was a fairly low priority, and the results I got from the online test were quite unusual as well, but more on that later.

So, as part of the MLS course I've been asked to read this book, so this time I actually have (well, the first 4 chapters anyway) and I have to say that I've been very excited by some of the ideas that are raised. The truth of the matter is, that after reading the first chapter you pretty much know what the rest of the book is going to be about, but it's good to have the basic concept expanded on.

But what is the "basic concept" I hear you ask...

Put simply, the essence of the book is that if you want to be hugely successful in life, work and play, it's not only important to know what your strengths are, but to invest time & energy into developing those strengths, rather than using up our time trying to plug holes in areas where we're not so adept.

One of the things I've loved about this book so far is some of the "one line" ideas that you can't help but get stuck in your head. For example: The world says we need to strive to be "well rounded individuals", but realistically, those we think of as successful usually show character traits that suggest they are not "rounded" but "sharp" in one or two key areas.

I also loved the idea that the English language just isn't broad enough to explain fully how peoples gifts and abilities are an aid, rather than a hinderance. The book again gives some clear examples of how strengths can be mis-interpreted. For instance, one may look at a person who is exceptional at imposing order and structure, and consider them "anal", or one may look upon a person who strives for excellence as an "egotist". There are many more examples throughout the book, but hopefully you get the idea.

The book suggests that a strength is made up of 3 components: knowledge, skill and talent, and claims that certain of these areas can be built upon whereas raw talent is something you either have, or you don't.

We can also break down this idea further - knowledge can be gained, which is good news, but we need to specify two types of knowledge that we can gain. These are factual (the stuff you can read in a text book) and experiential (which you can't read about, but rather gather as you try, make mistakes, unpack why certain things work and others don't, and then somehow retain that knowledge for future use.

The book also suggests that it's when we stop trying to change or expand our talent base, and start to invest developing our knowledge to complement these that people will notice a "change" in us. Whereas actually we haven't changed, we've decided to stop trying to change what we're good at, and instead develop our knowledge to fit with the talents we already have.

Skills, Buckingham claims, are simply the formalisation of our developed knowledge into a structure that we can actually use, almost like having index cards full of knowledge information, and deciding how best to arrange them in order that they make sense when needed. And again the impetus is on developing skills that (using our knowledge) we know will aid us in converting our talent into a real strength.

However, the danger is that we put so much energy into our develoment of knowledge and skills that this can almost take the place of any real talents we have. Knowledge and skills can help us to achieve, but they will never make us perform as well as we could if they aren't routed and developed around an innate talent.

So, where does this leave us?

Put simply, I've realised whilst reading this book that investing in areas of natural talent will always produce better results that trying to be someone who's "ok" at many things but can't pinpoint exactly what our primary giftings/talents are because they somehow got lost along the way with all the other "skills" baggage we've aquired.

Having said that, I've now completed the online assessment twice - once two years ago, and then again in the last few days. And I have to say that it's amazing how the results can vary depending on the role you're playing at the present time.

I was deeply shocked by the results of the strengthsfinder assessment when I completed it 2 years ago. Of my "top 5" strengths, I only really agreed with two of them, and having done the test again I can honestly say that it was because subconsciously, I was answering the various questions from a "what would a good director say?" stance. And it would also be fair to say that this time when I completed the questionnaire I vaguely remembered some of the answers I'd given as they popped up on the screen and thought to myself "why on earth did I choose that response".

As a result, the 5 key strengths from this latest assessment, I would say sum my strengths up pretty well, and unsurprisingly, the only two that are the same as before are the two that I felt were acurate last time.

For a breakdown of my top 5 strengths, see my previous blog post.

As with every book I've read throughout the MLS course so far, I would highly recommend that anyone read this book. The concepts are simple, and yet the working through of many of them are quite eye-opening.

And even if you don't fancy reading the book, it's worth the pricetag simply to gain access to the strengthsfinder online assessment - It's arleady helped me to feel far more confident about the strengths I've always felt I possessed, and given me the clarity to know where now to invest my time in developing skills and knowledge to complement them.

A phenominal book!!

My Top 5 Strengths!!

2008-04-17T14:43:39Z

I just completed the online strengthsfinder assessment, and I have to say I'm quite satisfied with the results.

I won't rabbit on now, cos there should be a review of the book "now discover your strengths" up on here within the next few days, so if you're interested, click the extended link and discover what (the internet says) my 5 top strengths are...

]]> My Signature Themes...

Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Maximizer

Excellence, not average, is your measure. Taking something from below average to slightly above average takes a great deal of effort and in your opinion is not very rewarding. Transforming something strong into something superb takes just as much effort but is much more thrilling. Strengths, whether yours or someone else's, fascinate you. Like a diver after pearls, you search them out, watching for the telltale signs of a strength. A glimpse of untutored excellence, rapid learning, a skill mastered without recourse to steps--all these are clues that a strength may be in play. And having found a strength, you feel compelled to nurture it, refine it, and stretch it toward excellence. You polish the pearl until it shines. This natural sorting of strengths means that others see you as discriminating. You choose to spend time with people who appreciate your particular strengths. Likewise, you are attracted to others who seem to have found and cultivated their own strengths. You tend to avoid those who want to fix you and make you well rounded. You don't want to spend your life bemoaning what you lack. Rather, you want to capitalize on the gifts with which you are blessed. It's more fun. It's more productive. And, counterintuitively, it is more demanding.

Learner

You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered--this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences--yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the "getting there."

Arranger

You are a conductor. When faced with a complex situation involving many factors, you enjoy managing all of the variables, aligning and realigning them until you are sure you have arranged them in the most productive configuration possible. In your mind there is nothing special about what you are doing. You are simply trying to figure out the best way to get things done. But others, lacking this theme, will be in awe of your ability. "How can you keep so many things in your head at once?" they will ask. "How can you stay so flexible, so willing to shelve well-laid plans in favor of some brand-new configuration that has just occurred to you?" But you cannot imagine behaving in any other way. You are a shining example of effective flexibility, whether you are changing travel schedules at the last minute because a better fare has popped up or mulling over just the right combination of people and resources to accomplish a new project. From the mundane to the complex, you are always looking for the perfect configuration. Of course, you are at your best in dynamic situations. Confronted with the unexpected, some complain that plans devised with such care cannot be changed, while others take refuge in the existing rules or procedures. You don't do either. Instead, you jump into the confusion, devising new options, hunting for new paths of least resistance, and figuring out new partnerships--because, after all, there might just be a better way.

Individualization

Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are impatient with generalizations or "types" because you don't want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You instinctively observe each person's style, each person's motivation, how each thinks, and how each builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person's life. This theme explains why you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person's need to be shown and another's desire to "figure it out as I go." Because you are such a keen observer of other people's strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This Individualization theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team "structure" or "process," you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.

Focus

"Where am I headed?" you ask yourself. You ask this question every day. Guided by this theme of Focus, you need a clear destination. Lacking one, your life and your work can quickly become frustrating. And so each year, each month, and even each week you set goals. These goals then serve as your compass, helping you determine priorities and make the necessary corrections to get back on course. Your Focus is powerful because it forces you to filter; you instinctively evaluate whether or not a particular action will help you move toward your goal. Those that don't are ignored. In the end, then, your Focus forces you to be efficient. Naturally, the flip side of this is that it causes you to become impatient with delays, obstacles, and even tangents, no matter how intriguing they appear to be. This makes you an extremely valuable team member. When others start to wander down other avenues, you bring them back to the main road. Your Focus reminds everyone that if something is not helping you move toward your destination, then it is not important. And if it is not important, then it is not worth your time. You keep everyone on point.

The Roy Crowne Experience (pt.2)

2008-04-16T18:53:19Z

Our team training at NSYFC today was led by Roy Crowne who'd come up to stoke to speak about "passion" (the attidtude/emotion, not the film or youth worship event).

Roy is one of those guys who it seems could talk to you about anything and you'd think it was the best idea in the world - he just has that... passion(?) about everything he speaks about. It was really good to see a large crowd from local churches turn up to hear him as well.

Anyway, after some AMAZING worship, Roy's talk and then a sandwich lunch, I had the privilege of taking Roy out for a starbucks in Hanley and stealing another hour of his time to discuss vision, plans and generally follow on from our meeting in Februaury where I interviewed him as part of the MLS course.

At the February meeting Roy had set me some "homework". Nothing major - just to decide what I was going to do with the next 5 years of my life!! And I had to report today that I'd pretty much fallen at the first hurdle.

The trouble is, that I have a good idea where my passions, giftings and strengths lie - the problem has always been knowing how best to utilize them. I do know that I'm still extremely passionate about seeing young lives impacted with the Gospel, and that for me that's always going to be achieved best by investing in TEAM. The question is, should that team be a team of church youth leaders, a team of interns (gap years) or something bigger/different?

I guess the key thing from today is to break it down more specifically into manageable chunks (i.e. 1 year at a time), and distinguishing between what I (or we as a family) would like to do, and what we NEED to do, so that would include things like "being in a better position financially etc, and working from there. Now that sounds slightly more manageable.

Anyways, My thinking on the whole "5 year" thing is much clearer now, so I really need to get this whole plan thing done and dusted -Roy's given me til mid May to get it to him and I guess we'll go from there.

Right, back to the MLS projects - to be posted here v.soon.

Ciao

I think I found my 3rd book!!

2008-03-10T20:23:52Z

Now, discover your strengths is a book that I was given when I applied for the directors role @ NSYFC.

I was asked to complete the "strengths finder" online test to find out what my major areas of strength were, and I have to say it was quite acurate. I obviously read the sections of the book about the strengths that it claimed that i possessed, but since then it has sat on my bookshelf gathering dust.

Now, whilst at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit in October, Markus Buckingham (the author) did a session based on the findings of this book, and it really got me excited, so I've decided to dust down my copy and read it as my next book assignment. Should be interesting.

I'm also hoping to revisit the whole online test thing, as I reckon that the strengths I thought I had 3 years ago are probably quite different to the ones I have now. Anyway, I hope I haven't given too much away about the book in this entry, cos I'm really quite excited to see how my reading goes, and whether I come across anything I didn't expect.

Keep watching.

The Late Review...

2008-03-02T19:57:34Z

It appears that whilst attempting to lead like Jesus, I accidentally forgot to publish the review of the book of the same name.

So how did this happen? Well, I finished it on Tuesday, literally minutes before going to collect a friend from the station, and somehow managed to save the review as a draft rather than as a published item.

I've now corrected this error, and the full book review can be found, two entries down from this one.

Oooops!!

(moral to this story: look in the mirror when apportioning blame, but look at your watch if you're supposed to be collecting someone from the train station!!)

MLS, and the quest for knowledge...

2008-03-01T09:02:46Z

Every time I head up to the North East for an MLS gathering, I know that I'm going to come back buzzing from the great teaching we all receive. And this week was no exception. Having read books like Good to Great, it's really amazing to hear leaders speak of their experience of the practical workings-out of some of the concepts I've been reading about - especially the whole area of getting the right people onto into your team, and (just as importantly) getting the wrong people out, and without breaking employment law.

With regard to my leadership development, I'm becoming increasingly aware that Leadership (and especially equiping, inspiring and releasing TEAM) is a real passion I have, and yet the one thing that I done far less of since joining NSYFC . So now I'm quite keen to sit down and talk through this exact issue with Liz (my boss) and see where we go next.

I think for me though, the key "nugget" from the MLS sessions this week was a small comment about investing in things outside of work that will keep you feeling alive and invigorated.

There's an amazing quote from a guy called Dallas Willard which is so useful. He says:

"It is the clear mandate of every Christ follower to carve out for themselves a fully satisfying life under the rule of God, or else sin will ruin you."

I'm very aware that over the last few years I've invested loads of time in learning LOTS of new skills, and taken on various new interests, and figured it was because I loved "learning" suff, and although that is true, maybe I need to find the one thing that I can really invest in, not as a "skill" but as an "escape" for refreshment. I have a tendency to (when I can afford to) buy lots of small things to keep me interested (& interesting), but maybe working through this whole area, I may actually find the one thing that I can invest in more long term.

This year so far really has been a time of re-discovering who I am - with a view to, at some point, working out "what I should DO". I've always tried to tackle those 2 questions the other way round, and worked out my identity from the my work role. It's a flippin scarey way to do things this way, but it's sooo the right way to start looking at stuff.

As usual, watch this space...

Lead Like Jesus - The Review

2008-02-26T19:53:54Z

Here it is - I finally got round to writing about the book "Lead Like Jesus", but where do I start?

The biggest problem is that it's supposed to only be 500 words, but I could easily write that about just one chapter. So, I'll keep it short and precise.

If you can't be bothered to read the whole thing - my "review in a sentence" is...

READ THIS BOOK!! It will tell you what you thought you already knew, and then ask the one question that you really hoped you weren't going to see - one of those questions that makes you think "OUCH"!! And Yes, it IS all about servanthood!!

Click the link below for the full 500 word document!!
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It actually took me a while to get into the first few chapters, which deal with a few important key questions before setting on the adventure of discovering Jesus style leadership. In simple language, the three questions that we are encouraged to grapple with in the early stages of the book are.

Am I a leader
Am I willing to follow Jesus as my "leadership role model"?
How do I lead like Jesus?

Blanchard describes leadership as "a process of influence", suggesting that "any time [we] seek to influence the thinking, behaviour, or development of people toward accomplishing a goal... [we] are taking on the role of a leader".

I think this is possibly the best description of leadership I have come across, and has helped me to think more specifically about the areas in which I consider myself to have leadership responsibility. The book makes a very clear distinction between "organisational" and "life role" leadership, which I have also found quite helpful. It's been quite a challenge to think through the different requirements for each role. For example, Life role leadership "focuses on growing and developing people and supporting mutual commitment" , whereas organisational leadership focuses on "measured accountability for long and short term results under constant scrutiny by a variety of stakeholders".

Once Blanchard has worked through the 3 big questions, clearly defining WHY Jesus is a perfect "life role model", he then moves on to look at 4 key areas that we need to work on in order to lead more like Jesus did. These are:

Heart - Our motivation as a leader, whether as a head of a family, church, or a large corporation
Head - Our beliefs and viewpoints about leadership
Hands - Why we should set clear goals and measure performance, consistently following up with those we lead
Habits - Why it is important to refresh and renew ourselves as leaders?

In brief, our motivation should always be one of humilty and grace - to seek to honour God - Blanchard uses a great TLA (three letter acronym) to help our thinking on this one. He talks about checking our "EGO", suggesting that in leadership we will either "Edge God Out" by putting our trust in something other than God and valuing opinions others than God's, or we will "Exalt God Only" which takes far more work and involves "altaring" (deliberate miss-spelling) our leadership EGO. The result of this being that we replace false pride and fear with humility and a confidence that comes directly from knowing who we are in Christ.

Usually I get annoyed by books that are filled with clever TLA's as they can make an author appear smug, but in this case, I found the idea very helpful. It's a great way to check how we're doing regularly - how are my pride levels? Am I fearful for my position, or confident in God's sovereignty over my life?

By far, the strongest point in the book came in the section looking at the HEAD of a leader. Again, Blanchard breaks down the way we think about leadership into two key areas - our role as a visionary, and our role in implementation.

Most organisations have a very clear chain of command, starting at the top with the leader, who has several heads of department working for them, and many more people working at ground level, serving the customer but needing to refer back to top management before making any major decisions. We regularly hear sales teams saying "I'll have to check that with my supervisor", and ask to speak to the manager when we feel that we've been treated unjustly. Blanchard agrees that the visionary role of leadership needs to come from the leader of an organisation, casting a credible vision that describes where the company is headed, but from that point suggests that the "normal" structure should be turned on its head, with the leader at the bottom of the chain, doing all that he can to support, release & equip his team, empowering them to make tough decisions, knowing that the leader is fully supportive of them and actually wants them to succeed.

And best of all, Blanchard backs up this idea by looking closely at Jesus' leadership with his disciples. Jesus was all about training his disciples to do "greater things" than He had. He equipped them and then released them, sending them into difficult situations with nothing but a reliance on the power of God. (I'd love to think that I had the guts to send people out in that way, but my mind always seems to be filled with backup plans).

The last two sections of the book look at hands and habits of a leader. In summary, the book suggests that a key activity of effective leaders is be be a performance coach who makes an ongoing investment into the lives of those who follow. It talks about the different stages of developing leaders around you, and although the needs of people will be different at each stage, the role of the leader stays the same - to provide what the learner needs to advance to the next stage.

And finally, healthy leadership habits, it is suggested, help us to leave a positive leadership legacy, honours God, puts the love of Jesus into action and turns our success into significance.

I could easily write far more about this book as there are many more deeply profound ideas which I have not even touched on here. It is going to take me a long time to finish unpacking much of what I've discovered through reading this book, and although at times I found it quite a tough read, I am extremely glad that I persevered and grappled with the content at a personal level.

If you want to be challenged to think more about modelling Jesus in your leadership, I would definitely recommend reading this book. It will challenge you more that you could imagine. The big question - will you (and also, will I) take up the challenge to change and model Jesus in the way I lead others?

Watch this space...

Do I want to Lead like Jesus...

2008-02-14T22:58:35Z

That's the question that my present book asks again and again, and I'm pleased to say that the answer is "yes".

Some of the ideas even in the first part of the book are really simple, but challenging, like, does Jesus qualify as experienced enough to be your leadership role model? And again the answer is a resounding "yes".

Having now read a fair amount of the book, I think I may have worked out the ending - Leading like Jesus is ALL about being a servant leader, not a self-serving one.

Does that mean that I can stop reading it now? Well, no, and to be honest I don't want to. It's a really good (if somewhat annoyingly challenging) read. In fact it's one of the few books that I'm pretty sure I'll come back to again, and again.

My only slight frustration, is that Liz (big boss) mentioned today that she's read both "Lead like Jesus", and "Good to Great" within the last 3 weeks, and that makes me quite frustrated that I seem to either read slow and understand, or read fast and may as well not have bothered!!.

That reminds me, Richard Bromley gave me the title of a book I should read all about reading!! Sounds interesting - and maybe even helpful (if somewhat ironic).

Right, now where did I put it again?

MLS Looming...

2008-02-11T15:59:39Z

Ok. So I've realised that thelast month hasn't been as productive as previous ones (with regard to the MLS course, anyway), but hopefully that's all about to get fixed...

I have just over 2 weeks before the next MLS gathering, and that means just over 1 week before my present book assignment, character study and first project need to be written up and posted here. And that's all great, except I'm slightly behind on the whole book assignment, I'm not sure how to present my study on the leadership of Roy Crowne, and after spending a fair amount of time planning my first project (a large social event for NSYFC team and Executive committee members), it's now been canceled as our Chairperson has stepped down, so we're re-scheduling the whole thing.

So, as you can tell, I may be blogging quite a bit over the next few days - and when I'm not blogging, I'll either be working, or have my head buried in the Lead Like Jesus book.

Along side all that, I also have to come up with a 5 year plan for my life within 6 weeks when I'm seeing Roy Crowne again. I spent some time with Liz (the NSYFC director) this afternoon, looking at some of the basics, and it appears that it could be a fairly complex process, and involve me making decisions that I've been putting off for ages (without even realising it).

Anyway, do check here again soon. Cos there's hopefully going to be some iteresting stuff to read

Meeting the MAN (pt.2)

2008-01-23T20:41:57Z

Well, it happened - My "brown nosing" session with Roy Crowne happened yesterday, and all in all it went pretty well. Frustratingly, he seemed to have some kind of precognition of the questions I was going to ask, as he generally started answering them (in a very in-depth way) before I'd even finished each question.

I actually recorded the audio of the whole thing, and I was sorely tempted to upload it to this site, as it is actually highly stimulating, but although he gave me permission to record our time, I never actually asked him whether I could make it public, so I guess I probably shouldn't. However, if you really want to hear what he had to say (and if you suggested a question that I should ask, there will be an answer there somewhere), then either drop me an email begging for a copy, or hold on a few days and check back as I need to write up the whole thing as a character study for MLS anyway.

For now, I'll leave you with what I consider to be the best answer to a question that he gave...

Q: Being the leader of a big organisation like YFC, how do you avoid switching into "leader" mode in you personal & social life?

A: I don't!! I'm a leader all the time - that's who I am - it annoys my family a lot, but that's me!!

Absolute Genius!!