How to successfully build your leadership with willing followers

For years experts have said that leadership was intangible and not measurable. However there is a basic measure - leaders are determined by their followers. No followers, no leader. Most influential leaders no matter what title they have or role they play are those with willing followers.

The whole point of leadership is to get whole hearted followers for a given course of action. However most potential leaders ignore followership and instead focus on being more engaging, interesting or convincing. At times they may rely on their positional power and end up, not with committed followers but with agreements at best, compliance at worst and marginal results.

The term whole hearted implies leaders have engaged their followers both in the heart and head in other words emotionally and intellectually. It also implies that the follower decides to whether or not to give his or her commitment.

So how do you gain whole hearted commitments and willing followers? The first step starts with the conversation
you have with a potential follower. Here you express your decision goals, and you include three critical decision goal elements:

1) a confident statement of the goal which has value or benefits to the potential followers
2) an invitation for followers to look at or listen to the goal and strategy and
3) an acknowledgement that the potential followers are decision-makers.

Take for example the following interaction: I believe we can reach our target of cost reduction by making a few changes to our process. Let's discuss this approach and you decide if it something that you can support. By putting forth your ideas with the confidence that others can decide on and treating followers as fellow decision makers, you have a greater chance of being heard and with an open mind and gaining credibility.

Planning and logic alone will not guarantee commitment. Commitments are whole hearted decisions and that means engaging the heart and head. Not everyone sees information the same way because emotions shape logic.

Opening a conversation with a well stated decision goal establishes rapport, openness and trust; it also lets followers know they are decision makers and so feel safer talking and revealing their true attitudes toward a plan.

A follower’s potential attitude can be positive, negative or neutral and can vary from moment to moment. Exceptional leaders are able to intuitively recognise intuitively recognize momentary changes in attitudes or points of view in a conversation. They focus more on how something is said, and by that, what is said makes more sense. Recognising and adapting to what is said is what enables leaders to influence others.

Let's look at an example of what this looks like - when you give someone directions to your home, you first determine where the other person is starting from. The directions you then give vary based on where the person is at that moment in time. In the same way if a potential follower considers your goal or strategy difficult to execute then you must simplify it. If a follower sees a plan as being to risky you then reduce the risk. Since followers vary in their attitudes you will need a range of responses that make sense to followers.

Regardless of a potential follower’s response, you must treat followers seriously so they talk openly and consider your goals and strategies. Acknowledging their point of view and taking them seriously are easier to do with the following:

1. Give them your total attention: Prove you care by suspending all other activities, suspend your point of view and show interest in what the other person is saying.

2. Respond: Responses can be verbal or nonverbal (nods, expressing interest). the key is to show that the message was received and had an impact.

3. Prove understanding: Saying I understand is not enough. You need to prove understanding by occasionally restating the gist of the idea or asking questions which prove you know the main idea. This is different from proving that you are listening and transmits a different message when people are communicating.

4. Prove respect: Take others’ views seriously. Telling someone, I appreciate your position, or I know how you feel, does not help. Such responses are usually followed by the word “but” and your viewpoint. Instead, show respect for the other person’s view by communicating at their level of understanding and attitude. An adjustment in tone of voice, rate of speech, and choice of words shows you are imagining being where the other person is at the moment.


When others sense they are being taken seriously; they in turn will take you seriously as their leader. Understanding that successful leaders are great followers first will assist you in becoming a better, more effective leader.

Does your leadership facilitate?

What does my life mean? What am I doing here? Do I matter? Is there more to existence than consumption? Are we called to improve the lives of our fellow human beings? Are we called to take care of the earth? Is it really possible for one person to make a difference?

This “higher purpose” mentality sounds lofty, but it is actually the kind of thinking that is now driving some of the best human efforts on the planet, whether in business, science, the social sector, or entertainment. Make no mistake: meaning can be commoditised, just like toothpaste and cars. We would be amiss to imagine that the significance movement is altruistic at its core. But we would also be amiss to imagine that it is altogether insincere. More than ever, humans are waking up to the fact that they have the power to affect life, for better or worse. We’ve had several centuries of mostly worse. Now, many are choosing to do what they can for the better.

But do we really believe this? Do we really have faith that people want to build better workplaces, better neighbourhoods, better mousetraps, or better ministries? One manager of a Fortune 100 company described his dilemma as a leader:

“I know in my heart that when people are driving in to work that they’re not thinking, ‘How can I mess things up today? How can I give my boss a hard time?’ No one is driving here with that intent, but we (as leaders) then act as if we believed that. We’re afraid to give them any slack.”

Margaret Wheatley put it best when she said, “Most of us know that as people drive to work they’re wondering how they can get something done for the organisation despite the organisation—despite political craziness, the bureaucratic nightmares, the mindless procedures piled up in the way.”

Ben Zander, in his book, The Art of Possibility, claims that leaders often operate with the assumption that people don’t want to contribute; that they want us to do everything for them. Yet, from Bono’s One campaign to Arts for Aids to the Sustainable Energy Network, there is a new level of participation and individual commitment. Perhaps people are tired of being told there is nothing they can do. Perhaps they are tired of clogged bureaucracies. Instead, they are persistently and quietly organizing themselves—over the Internet, over coffee, over anything—because they want to make a difference. They are rolling up their sleeves and doing what they can because, well, they finally know that they can—without the help their employers or the institutions they attend.

There is no question that good-old fashioned narcissism still abounds. But the rising tide of activism is getting hard to ignore, and this time around, it seems to be more grassroots than ever and embracing several generations, not just one. What assumptions have you made as a leader about the people in your church, your ministry, and your community? Are people really just out for themselves? Do they really want us to do it all for them? How do we know? Have we tested that assumption lately? And if it’s true that many people really do want to make a difference, how will our leadership facilitate rather than exterminate that desire?

Great leadership believes great things about people and releases them to do the impossible.

What Makes For A Unique Training Experience?

It has been a challenge to describe the unique distinctive of the Leadership Matters Course. With so many courses being advertised as leadership training, as graduates of LMC, we need to be able to describe what is different.

If we were to simply give an outline of the materials covered in the LMC curriculum, there may seem to be little that is different to other leadership training courses. The question needs to be answered "What is unique about LMC?"

Many courses that are advertised as training are, in reality, lectures that are given in a teaching mode, rather than a training mode. ‘Teaching’, while very significant, tends to focus on the delivery of prescribed content in a lecture format. But in our context ‘training’ is focused on developing the participant’s skills and doing it in such a practiced way that they will remember the principles.

Participants will remember far more because they have had the opportunity to actually practice the new skill, or apply the new insight, than if they only have a record of it in a handbook.

There are a number of things in the presentation of LMC that make it unique. Four very significant aspects are:

1) The amount of time the participant is actually ‘doing’ and ‘practicing’ the material rather than passively ‘listening’. Each of the trainers is motivated by the phrase ‘Participants will not remember so much what WE say, but they will remember what THEY do’.

2) Participants are asked to practice a new skill only after the trainer has first modeled it.

3) While the trainers do introduce new material, they are committed wherever possible to help the participant discover the answers themselves. Participants do this by sharing their combined knowledge in a very interactive environment.

4) There is a carefully planned structure to the progression of the training which follows a Biblical emphasis.
a. Firstly, we help the trainees recognize their own worth and gifting in God’s eyes as the essential reality for them.
b. This is followed by developing an understanding of Gods concern for them to be loving and caring for other people.
c. With these two in their rightful place we then focus on the situations that as leaders they will need to address.
Being able to guide the discussions and insights from the participants; and balancing the introduction of new content with that, is what necessitates the specialized training given to all the trainers.

Given this background, another helpful way to show the differences between LMC and the many other training courses is to state the outcomes that the graduates can expect when they actively apply the training. The ongoing relevance of the course will be directly related to the ability of the participant to apply it to their own situation.

Warmly in Him,
David Cummings

What Happens If Nothing Changes In The Way We Lead?

Perhaps like me you go through a similar routine at the start of a new year. We start by admonishing ourselves for the mistakes of the past year - projects left undone, opportunites not seized. We grit our teeth and resolve to make changes in the way we do things in the coming year, only to find ourselves making the same resolutions: I've got to get organised, I'll set priorities this year, I promise to delegate more etc.

While they are worthy goals - the truth is we will more likely than not find ourselves at the same spot next year. But what would happen if we were to make a determined and real change in the way we lead our organisations? Better still - what will happen in our organisations this year if nothing changes in the way we lead?

Here are seven leadership resolutions you might consider that will make a real difference in your organisation in the coming year. Which ones will provide the biggest payoffs? Do all seven, and chances are you will have the most rewarding year of your leadership career!

1. Craft a big, bold, breath-taking story and tell it every day.
What is the most exciting, rewarding, and scariest future you can imagine? What great battles will be won, treasures found and people freed? Paint the story in full colour. What does the future look like? How are we going to get there? How is tomorrow going to be much better than today? People want to be part of an important story. Tell it to them and help them find their own starring role.

2. Multiply the strength of your leadership connections.
Consider for a moment the 8-10 individuals with whom you share management and leadership responsibilities. What would change if your relationships with those on the leadership team remained as is?
How much more effective would your leadership team become if you dramatically strengthened your personal connection with every one of these people? You have probably created a mutually acceptable status quo with these individuals so change will not be easy. Are there some difficult conversations that you need to have? Try this: honour their uniqueness; share more of yourself; learn about them; ask how you can serve them. Be careful, this is very potent.

3. Act with exceptional compassion and kindness.
You are not the only one feeling a bit beaten up these days. The members of your organisation are faced with many of the same challenges that you face…imperfect products and processes, unpredictable environments, insatiable customers, disappointing staff performance. Seek out ways to show your humanity every day. Treat everyone in the organisation with dignity and respect, especially those who are struggling. They will walk through walls for you, but do not do it for that reason. Do it because it is the right thing to do. We spend much of our waking lives inside organisations and you have the power to make these places where the human spirit can thrive or die. Use this power well.

4. Tell the absolute truth.
Stop spinning, sugar-coating and avoiding. You’ll be amazed at how many people start listening to you. How much more effective would your organisation be if the half-truths, positioning and face-saving were eradicated? The tough part is that you cannot make this happen by mandating it. You must go first. You must model it.

5. Hold everyone accountable.
Accountability is not tyranny. It is a very good thing. A caring leader insists that people do what they say they will do. When you hold people accountable, you are saying that their work is important. You are saying that they are important. Every time you let a deadline slip or a deliverable go incomplete, you are discounting the person whose job it is to deliver on these commitments. Make it a habit to ensure that every piece of work is accompanied by a personal commitment. Measure. Give feedback. Initiate consequences. Celebrate being part of an organisation that keeps its promises.

6. Confront underperformance.
You know in your heart-of-hearts who in your organisation is under-performing. Commit to seeing that this performance changes early this year. Now here’s the caveat. Before you take any action, ask yourself these questions – “What is my part in this situation? How have my actions or lack thereof contributed to this situation? What do I need to do differently?” Approach the individuals in question and describe your responsibilities and personal commitments to change. Then, and only then, it’s their turn.

7. Be distinctively you.
What would you get if you could put all of the leadership qualities of Bill Gates, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, George Washington, Jack Welch and Winston Churchill into one individual? Probably a bland, non-descript person indistinguishable in the crowd. These men and women made a difference because they had the courage to be themselves. Have you forgotten who you really are? What excites you these days? What are your passions? Where do you want to make your mark? When you are at your best, what are you doing? Maybe it’s time to figure out what is most important to you, tell everyone around you, and let this fuel your leadership.

Why not make this your best year ever as a leader. What will happen if nothing really changes?

Resources to Engage

Links to help provide resources and to engage with others of similar mindset:

CABE: A initiative among Business Executives. Well worth exploring: http://www.cabe-online.org/history.htm

BE THINKING: This website keeps our minds alert and in-gear: http://bethinking.org/

2SIGNIFICANCE: Businessmen with a flair for influencing others for the Kingdom: http://www.2significance.com.au/

ETHICAL LEADERS: The Don Soderquist Business Centre is well worth checking out: http://www.soderquist.org/

By Global Nomad

4 Leadership Secrets Revealed

I was browsing through a bookshop the other day and found a couple of books including a recent edition of Fortune irresistible. I simply couldn’t walk away from a magazine and books that promised to share the secrets of leaders from companies such as GE and P&G. The articles were well written and interesting, but as I read, I was struck by the fact that I have seen these same ideas in dozens of books over the years.

The truth is that there are no secrets to leadership. We know what it takes to successfully lead organisations. It is however just simply put - tough, and we'd like to find an easier way to do it. Perhaps Ken Chenault of American Express has the answer.

Leading today's organisation is not for the faint-hearted, but the elements of what it takes to be successful at the craft are well-known.

1. Be the kind of person to whom others attribute the qualities of leadership. Words like authenticity, integrity, trust, and respect are often used, but it boils down to having the requisite personal stature, as measured by organisation members, to earn the right to lead. (Bonus points: create an organisation of stature.)

2. Determine where the organization is going and how it is going to get there. (Bonus points: create an organisation that can effectively respond to the inevitable changing winds and tides that will surely throw it off course.)

3. Craft innovative business models, systems, processes, and structures which unleash the natural talents and capabilities of people, while harnessing the inevitable chaos associated with organisation life. (Bonus points: create teams and organisations that re-design themselves as they encounter obstacles and opportunities.)

4. Build a purpose-driven community where all members get to contribute, learn and earn in a big way. (Bonus points: create the environment and processes that will supply an endless supply of leaders that are even better than you.)

Great leadership is not a secret; it's just hard work on four well-known fronts.

Give Us Trainers With Credibilty

The following is a quote from Bill Hybels book 'Courageous Leadership' page 132. It captures what we desire to see in trainers for the Leadership Matters Course.

"I usually hesitate when people ask me to participate in leadership development programs. 'How is it going to work? ' I ask. If they respond in the typical fashion: 'We are going to get Jo Shmo (with a Ph.D. in this or that) to teach on leadership' I tell them the same thing I tell everybody else. 'Most good leaders are not going to want to participate in that program because Jo Shmo is not a leader. He's a classroom teacher. He might even be a great teacher, but he never really led anything. True leaders want more than theory from teacher types. They want to be around other leaders who have actually been in the game, leaders with a few bloodstains on their uniforms. "

This powerfully illustrates the point of why we are intentional in recruiting key trainers for the Leadership Matters Course. We are looking for individuals who have a lot of experience. For each LMC, a team of three experienced leaders, who are good trainers, should be able to lead a successful course. They work together with others on their team who have a little less experience.

That's why we desperately need people with ample life and ministry experience to be the key trainers in each LMC. Our focus is to train leaders in pastoral and mission work. We need people who are leaders in their ministries; who have field experience. They have "a few bloodstains on their uniforms". We have often recognized this. In fact this has been an issue where some have disagreed with us. They say: 'Anyone can teach LMC, because it's about principles and the philosophy of training'. But we said 'No' to this, for the very reason that Bill Hybels so clearly points out to us.

The tendency may be to become somewhat lenient on this point, due to the pressure of our great need for trainers. At the moment, this is not so much an issue, since we have many who want to help out. A few years ago, we recognized that if experienced leaders, with this stature of giftedness and experience, have the desire to do training, they will prove to be the ones that can successfully carry several courses in a given year. We knew that if we worked almost entirely with people with less leadership experience, we would soon find out that the reputation and effectiveness of the LMC would suffer and eventually die a quiet death.

The ongoing involvement of David Cummings for example has been an enormous significance and has been widely appreciated.

In this sense we can't over estimate the value of people like David in the process of making the course as successful and popular as it is right now. We need people with much respect, a clear maturity, obvious skill, and with plenty of ministry background. We want to grow; we want to keep a good reputation and we want to gain admittance into more organizations.

As you read this you can pray that God will give us more of these experienced trainers. We also need them in the French and Spanish language world, as we are purposefully trying to get the course going in those languages. Depending on the level of an individual’s giftedness we can train people in the skills of being a good trainer. We can't train people, however, to have the credibility that comes from a rich life and ministry experience. Only God can bring about that growth. He also needs to call them to be involved in training other leaders. They need to see that with all their experience, the best investment they can make with their life and ministry is to pass on some of the lessons they have learned to others. That is investing in the future!

In Bill Hybel's words: The 'Jo Shmo's’ won't do it because leaders want to learn from leaders!' That is for the 'pillars' in the team.

by Joop Strietman

Natural Leadership Development

I have been thinking about and having conversations around Leadership development of late. These realities have been challenging my thinking:

• Leaders can't be recruited from the platform. We have to challenge them one-on-one.
• Leaders won't be fulfilled performing tasks. We need to give them responsibility.
• Leaders don't follow doers. We need to make sure they're connected to another strong leader.
• Leaders don't want to be micromanaged. We have to eliminate the tendency to control the process and, instead, hold people accountable for the outcomes.
• Leaders won't commit to ambiguity. We need to offer a clear vision. (And, it better be big.)
• Leaders don't just show up. We have to be intentional about leadership development.

John Maxwell challenged us in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership with this statement:

"When a leader can't or won't empower others, he creates barriers within the organization that people cannot overcome. If the barriers remain long enough, then the people give up, or they move on to another organization where they can maximize their potential."

He went on to explain, "Only secure leaders give power to others." In other words, failure to empower other leaders is a sign of insecurity.

This stuff is smacking me right between the eyes. Where are my limitations and insecurities limiting the leaders around me? What changes do I need to make to empower new leaders? How does our ministry need to change in order to improve leadership development?

How Do You Measure Up?

Think about someone whom you consider to be a very good leader. What is it about this person that has earned them this status? Perhaps they are very inspirational, personable or visionary. Maybe they are pillars of virtue, incredibly creative or exceptionally encouraging of others. They might be strategic thinkers. These are all important leadership qualities, but are they appropriate measures?

I suggest that leadership has only one real measurement …the organisational outcomes it produces. In other words, how do others behave differently because of your leadership? Do they work harder; do they work on the right things; do they learn and grow; do they also lead? I believe that there is a lot of emphasis particularly in the leadership development field on what leaders do and not on what they create. Perhaps we should take our eyes off the leader and instead look at the impact they have on their organisation.

It is only appropriate that we be able to help leaders conduct a check up on their effectiveness. I find the following questions particularly useful for organisational leaders in assessing their impact.

Key Organisational Outcomes

1. Alignment – Are all the arrows going in the same direction?
2. Engagement – Does everyone bring their best talents and efforts to work everyday?
3. Retention – Do people stay through the good times and bad?
4. Innovation – Is there a constant supply of ideas, change an improvement?
5. Spiritual Health – Is everyone connected and in tune spiritually?
6. Collaboration – Does important work get completed with no one person taking credit?
7. Talent – Is the organisation known for exceptional talent and development?
8. Productivity – Are people 2-3 times as effective as those in competing organisations?
9. Agility – Do people thrive on change?
10. Responsiveness – Does the organization live ahead of the curve?
11. Pervasive Leadership – Is there extraordinary leadership throughout the organisation?

Leading today's organisations is extremely challenging, and we all come at this role with our unique personalities, talents and experiences. I would encourage you to put your sights on the most meaningful organisation outcomes and seek to find your own best road to get there. How do you believe that the International Training Alliance (ITA) and LMC measure up?

How to Ease the Pain of Delegation

The ability to delegate sets leaders apart from followers. That is because many people find it difficult to give up control. Delegating duties and responsibilities is essential in today's downsized organisations. The following key points will help you take the pain out of delegation.

1. Find the right person for the project.
Do not assign the project to just any warm body - unless any outcome is acceptable. If you want the job done right, however, you must find the right person for the job. If none exists, find the most capable person and train him or her well.

2. Delegate authority and accountability.
The worst thing you can do is delegate a task and then tie a person's hands. If you have picked the right person or trained someone well, you must then give that person authority so the job can be done without your supervision. If you have to minutely supervise the project, you have not truly delegated it. In addition, you should make the person accountable for the quality of the work performed.

3. Make the task perfectly clear.
Carefully explain the nature of the project to the person you are giving responsibility. This may be done verbally or in writing, depending on the complexity of the task. The newer and more complex the task, the more questions the person you are giving responsibility will have. Answer all questions promptly and thoroughly.

4. Agree on a deadline.
When the person to whom you are delegating fully understands your expectations, both of you are in a position to determine a mutually acceptable deadline.

5. Review and coach.
There is a learning curve associated with any new activity. During this time, you should periodically review the other person's progress and offer additional coaching if needed.

6. Lay the groundwork for more delegation.
Once you get your feet wet, you will find more things that can be done by others to free up your time. Begin training people to assist you in more operations and you will find yourself with more time to do what you do best.

How To Connect With Your Audience

Connecting with people is critical for selling, persuading or getting the point across. And one of the ways we connect with people is to tell them stories about ourselves.

I was at a business workshop recently, and the stories that were most effective (by acclamation of the attendees) were ones where the person let down his/her guard, and revealed something personal. This is one of the reasons storytelling is more effective than reciting a list of benefits to a prospect. In addition to being interesting and easy to understand, it also helps create a personal bond with the audience. It means that you may want, in your ministry storytelling, to reveal anxieties, fears and feelings. In other words, to give the audience your confidence.

Why Thinking About Vice Increases Your Chance of Giving In

In a recent Science Daily article - a study by researchers from Duke, USC, and UPenn explored for the first time how questioning can affect our behavior when we have mixed feelings about an issue. The study, forthcoming in the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, found that asking people questions, like how many times they expect to give in to a temptation they know they should resist, increases how many times they will actually give in to it.

A number of experiments were run including college students illustrating how questions that seemed innocent enough, actually encouraged people to lower their guard to the extent that they were actually giving in to the vice.
Despite very real negative repercussions, respondents to a question about their future class attendance engaged in the negative behavior (missing class) at a significantly greater rate than those not asked to predict their behaviour.

While the results were especially pronounced for those with low self control. Its implications only serve to strengthen why those of us in leadership and management have all the more reason to lean on the Lord and be rooted firmly in the Word so as to avoid the numerous vices that pervade our lives and societies.

However on a positive note - two moderators were discovered which can prevent intention questions from exacerbating indulgences in vices -

1. Having people explicitly consider strategies for how they might avoid the behavior.
2. Having people create a self-reward for sticking with their stated usage patterns.

Why Put Your Spirtual Vision In Touch With Reality by John King

Greetings from Ephesus, the city in Turkiye where the apostle’s Paul and John built up a Body of believers.

It is rather intriguing for me to be staying in the shadow of the ruins of this ancient city. The conference centre that we are holding this LMC at, is located amidst the farms and villages that now occupy the silted in harbour to the city. There is no evidence of there ever being a harbour here now. Even the huge city was buried and lost for generations. I spent some time in the ruins of the 40,000 seat amphitheatre where Paul confronted the mob who spent two hours shouting about how great their gods were. I wandered along the now unearthed street where the silversmiths had their shops and looked off toward the nearby Isle of Patmos. As I turn the pages of the New Testament to read the enduring words of both John and Paul, I'm awed by what our Father preserves and what He allows to crumble. That gives a unique perspective on what 'reality' is.

In a study that I'm currently working through called 'The Vision of the Leader', Bruce Wilkinson (Walk Thru the Bible) makes a statement comparing long and short visions. He says, "We can have a vision for 500 years from now with ability to look back with God’s perspective." He enlarged my perspective on the Seven Year Letter that we wrote ... and even on expanding my Life Management Plan to consider my 'after life' portion of existence. That is a big spiritual vision and is probably more in touch with reality.

When John wrote the prophetic words of Jesus “turn back to me …. If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand …” (Rev 2:5) it’s likely that he could hardly believe that not just a church but a whole city would disappear when the light went out. But the very things that I would class as being fairly permanent, did disappear.

Jeremiah was so frustrated with the spiritual state of his people that he was called the weeping prophet. His vision was so far beyond his times that he never saw it realized. Yet 500 years later, people were still so aware of his mourning that they wondered if Jesus was actually Jeremiah. Jeremiah’s ‘after life’ existence was still making an impact.

I’m taking a longer look at my Seven Year Letter !

On behalf of the ITA team

John King

Becoming an Easter People

I came across this excerpt from Eugene Peterson called, Living the Resurrection and wanted to share this with you. I think it is especially relevant in light of Easter which we have just celebrated. Hopefully it will encourage you in your workday or wherever you are…


“The [world] is obviously not a vacation paradise. Its more like a warzone. And that’s where we Christians are stationed, along with the children, to affirm the primacy of life over death, to give a witness to the connectedness and preciousness of all life, to engage in the practice of resurrection.

We do this by gathering in congregations and regular worship before our life-giving God and our death-defeating Christ and our life-abounding Holy Spirit. We do it by reading, pondering, teaching, and preaching the Word of Life as it is revealed in our Scriptures. We do it by baptizing men, women and children into the name of the Trinity, nurturing them into a resurrection life. We do it by eating the life of Jesus in the bread and the wine in the Eucharist. We do it by visiting prisoners, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, healing the sick, working for justice, loving our enemies, raising our children, doing our everyday work to the glory of God…all this is pretty ordinary. It doesn’t take a great deal of training or talent to do any of it….”

We are called to be an Easter people, a resurrection people…people who proclaim life in a world of death and distraction. May we live together (united, even though we are part of different local communities) as the people of God in the everyday work to which God has called us.

Happy Easter.

How to Develop Great leadership

In an interview with Fast Company, GE's CEO Jeff Immelt reveals his own leadership checklist which often shares with up and coming leaders at the company's famous management-development center.

1. Personal Responsibility."Enron and 9/11 marked the end of an era of individual freedom and the beginning of personal responsibility. You lead today by building teams and placing others first. It's not about you."

2. Simplify Constantly. "I always use Jack [Welch] as my example here. Every leader needs to clearly explain the top three things the organization is working on. If you can't, then you're not leading well."

3. Understand Breadth, Depth, and Context."Its really important to understand how your organisation fits in with the world and how you respond to it."

4. The importance of alignment and time management."There is no real magic to being a good leader. But at the end of every week, you have to spend your time around the things that are really important: setting priorities, measuring outcomes, and rewarding them."

5. Leaders learn constantly and also have to learn how to teach. "A leader's primary role is to teach. People who work with you don't have to agree with you, but they have to feel you're willing to share what you've learned."

6. Stay true to your own style."Leadership is an intense journey into yourself. You can use your own style to get anything done. It's about being self-aware. Every morning, I look in the mirror and say, 'I could have done three things better yesterday.' "

7. Manage by setting boundaries with freedom in the middle."The boundaries are commitment, passion, trust, and teamwork. Within those guidelines, there's plenty of freedom. But no one can cross those four boundaries."

8. Stay disciplined and detailed."Good leaders are never afraid to intervene personally on things that are important. Michael Dell can tell you how many computers were shipped from Singapore yesterday."

9. Leave a few things unsaid."I may know an answer, but I'll often let the team find its own way. Sometimes, being an active listener is much more effective than ending a meeting with me enumerating 17 actions."

10. Like people."Today, it's employment at will. Nobody's here who doesn't want to be here. So it's critical to understand people, to always be fair, and to want the best in them. And when it doesn't work, they need to know it's not personal."

Nehemiah's Secrets to Answered Prayer

Rick Warren in a recent article provides us with a model of prayer for leaders from the first book of Nehemiah. Upon hearing upon the downfall of Jerusalem, he prayed for four months.
This was not just a casual prayer. It gives us a pattern for successful praying.

Rick provides four secrets to answered prayer from the life of Nehemiah:

1. Base your request on God's character

Pray like you know God will answer you: "I'm expecting you to answer this prayer because of who you are. Nehemiah said three things about God:

1. You're great – that's God's position.


2. You're awesome – that shows his power.


3. You keep your promises – God's covenant.

2. Confess the sin in my life.

After Nehemiah based his prayer on who God is, he confessed his sins. Leaders accept the blame but losers pass the buck. If you want to be a leader, you accept the blame, and share the credit.

3. Claim the promises of God.

Nehemiah is praying to the Lord and saying, "I want you to remember what you told your servant Moses."He's reminding God what he had said in the past. If imperfect fathers know that they need to fulfill their promises to their children, how much more does a perfect Father, a heavenly Father, intend to keep the promises he's made in his Word.

4. Be very specific in what I ask for.

If you want specific answers to prayer you need to make specific requests. If you make general prayers, how will you know if they are answered?

If you can't ask God to make you a success at what you're doing, you should be doing something else. God doesn't want you to waste your life.

Everyday Leadership

Leadership more often is exercised by everyday leaders in schools, homes and communities without much or any public attention being drawn. According to CCL's André Martin. "Leaders are people who, in connection with others, accomplish the tasks of setting direction, building commitment and creating alignment."

CCL in a recent study attempting to gain insight from everyday leaders attempted to explore definitions of leadership, key leadership skills and current challenges. The study included interviews with people from diverse backgrounds including teachers, a car dealership owner, medical doctors, an accountant, a judge, a mayor, a not-for-profit director, Peace Corps volunteers and stay-at-home moms, among others.

"The concepts of inspiration and guidance, vision, and change were articulated in one way or another by most interviewees," says Martin. Combining the key elements from the various interviews, one definition of leadership for everyday leaders is:

The ability to create a vision for positive change, help focus resources on right solutions, inspire and motivate others and provide opportunities for growth and learning.

What skills are needed?
Skills related to interpersonal openness and building relationships were the most frequently mentioned. Commitment, demonstrated knowledge, organization skills and ability to persuade/negotiate were also in the top five.

Looking to the future, there isn't much difference to present requirements: interpersonal openness and building relationships remained at the top, followed by organization skills and the ability to persuade/negotiate. There was a rise in the skills of communication, delegation and setting direction, suggesting, says Martin, "that leaders will need to be even more cognizant of where they are taking people and how to help people be involved."


Tasks of Leadership
CCL's definition of an effective leader is someone who, in connection with others, is able to accomplish three key tasks of leadership:

Setting direction is the articulation of mission, vision, values and purposes. Key questions are: Where are we going? What are we going to do? Why are we doing it?

Building commitment involves the creation of mutual trust and accountability, including addressing questions such as: How can we stay together? How can we work better as a group? What can improve cooperation?

Creating alignment is about finding common ground and areas of interrelated responsibility. Effective leaders ask: How can we develop a shared understanding of our situation? How can our actions be better coordinated?

3 Points from Aristotle on Presentation

1. Begin With the End in Mind
Knowing where you're trying to go before you start is crucial to leading an effective life (and handy for road trips too). Aristotle called this teleology, which is the study of matters with their end or purpose in mind. Fans of Stephen Covey will recognize the concept from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The same principle applies to any presentation. The overall story that a presentation is trying to tell is tied into your unique selling proposition, and you need to have a clearly-defined big picture perspective of how you're going to tell that story over time.
You do that by telling smaller stories, and, those smaller stories should each have a clear individual point and reason for being. Even if it's just to make your audience smile on a Monday.
Each story in some way should be also telling a part of the bigger story that demonstrates to your audience that they will benefit from engaging with you. There's a million different ways to do that, and developing your own unique style is as important as any other advice you might get.
Just always remain focused on where you're trying to end up. Even when the path disappears, you’ve got to remember where you’re trying to go.

2. It's Not About You
Aristotle nailed the key to persuasion. Aristotle said that persuasion involved being able to identify the most compelling naturally-occurring element of any subject.
Once identified, Aristotle argued that the most compelling way to communicate that natural element is via pathos, the ability to connect with the emotions, desires, fears, and passions of the audience. And you certainly don't accomplish that by focusing on yourself.

3. Tell Persuasive Stories
When it's time to bang out a winning story post that captivates your audience and prompts them to take action, Aristotle's got you covered. Here is his four step structure to persuasive presentations:
Exordium: This is your opening. You've caught their interest with your headline, but the opening is where you've really got to grab hold for dear life. It might be a shocking statement, an interesting factoid, a famous quote, or a vivid anecdote.
Narratio: Next you've got to show the audience you understand their problems. They need to identify with you, and you with them. In this section you demonstrate that you feel their pain.
Confirmatio: The solution appears. Use vivid imagery to illustrate that the technique or service you offer is the answer, and give examples featuring people similar to the audience.
Peroratio: Don't forget to expressly state the need to act upon the solution offered now. This is the call to action, and it's crucial, yet so many people simply stop at the confirmatio.

The Right Story at the Right Time
The point I hope you take away from this post is that you'll see certain timeless truths again and again in the world of marketing. How those truths eventually resonate with you depends on who tells you the right story at the right time.

This applies to you and your ministry. Someone in your field is going to connect with that motivated individual, convert them and disciple them.
If you're telling compelling stories, and others can't be bothered to, who's that someone more likely to be?

4 Tips on Leadership Development for You and Your Staff

Warren Allan Johnson in a recent post on his blog provides 3 tips from Bill Hybels who spoke at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit (August 10-12, 2006):

1. To develop your own leadership skills:

• Read everything you can get your hands on about improving your leadership skills. You should always have two books that you’re working on.


• Go where leadership is taught. Take the initiative to do this early in your life and career.


• Get around leaders who are better than you and ask good questions. Take them to lunch to ask your questions, if needed.


• Be involved in leading something

2. When hiring people, or looking for people to move into leadership positions, look for:

• Character


• Competence


• Chemistry

3. Leaders will eventually reach a point where it is wise to develop a “constellation of colleagues” to work beside them in senior leadership. The additional grid he uses to select who should be leaders at the senior level includes:

• Intelligence


• Energetic people


• Relational IQ – someone who doesn’t hurt people as they get things done


• Commitment - a “win or die” spirit

It’s important for the leader to develop other leaders because you eventually become the growth-limiting factor for your department, division or organization. If you don’t develop leaders, the good people in your organization will eventually leave for other positions where they can make an impact.

4. Keep Leading Something
It's important to keep your skills honed and to apply yourself whenever possible.

Tags: leadership, leadership development, recruitment, leaders character