Showing posts with label Drive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drive. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

What I Learned at Drive

Drive2011 was an incredible experience for both me and our team.

Here are a 11 huge takeaways:

1. I am inspired more than ever to build a church that unchurched people want to attend.

2. I am motivated to be more intentional in designing weekend experiences that engage, involve and challenge both churched and unchurched people.

3. Clarifying the win at every level and in every ministry environment in the organization is essential for success.

4. I have to push leadership down. That is, empower other great leaders to raise their level of leadership in the organization. I am doing way too much and underutilizing the gifts and talents of the stellar staff within our organization.

5. I have to lean into my strengths and lead from them. I get frustrated when trying to lead outside of my giftings.

6. People resist things they don't understand and cannot control. I need to do a better job communicating the "WHY" as much as the "WHAT" in ministry.

7. The gospel is offensive. It divides because truth divides. The key into designing worship experiences is to not offend someone until the preaching event. In other words, create welcoming and fun environments that prepare the hearer to receive the truth.

8. I need to develop my personal schedule around the age and stage of my life. Your schedule will change with the changing seasons of life, family and ministry.

9. The best thing you can bring to your staff is your energy. Be sure to plan your meetings with your staff at times you have the most energy.

10. Get the best and brightest brains in the room for two hours a week to work on the organization and leadership development. I need a system to get the smartest people in the room.

11. Your approach to communication should be shaped by the goal of your communication. Approach is everything. How you say it is more important than what you say. Make it simple, memorable and portable.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Drive 2011

This week some of my staff and key leaders are headed to the Drive 2011 conference in Atlanta, GA. Here are a few reasons why I like to go to conferences:

1. To grow. Leaders are learners. If you are going to grow to the next level in life and leadership, you have to expose yourself to new ideas, new people and new information.

2. To connect. Just getting away with your team creates opportunities to bond with each other and build team chemistry. The travel time and fellowship alone is a valuable investment.

3. To network. Every time I go to a conference I meet new people and make some new friends. These friendships have proved to be valuable assets to both my professional and personal development.

4. To dream. Conferences are like dream releasers. What a great way to catch a vision for what God could do in our church or ministry when visiting other powerful ministries that are full of vision and creativity. That vision is contagious.

5. To unplug. Conferences provide a unique opportunity to switch gears for a few days and be inspired and informed. It's refreshing to unplug from the daily grind of meetings, writing, sermon preparation, responding to email, etc.