Browsing Category: Leadership

The Twenty – #9: The Best Style of Leadership I Know

“Yes, we need emerging leaders, but we also need emerged leaders who will work alongside them.”
–The Art of Curating Worship pg. 51

A “good” leader. That seems like such a relative term these days. Even the term leader is tossed around haphazardly most of the time. Everyone seems to have their own variation on a definition which, most of the time, has been tailored to fit their own personal needs.

But when I strip away the world’s definition of a leader…even the church’s definition of a leader…I’m left with Scripture’s definition of a leader.

And I think that is a leader who humbles himself. Before God and those he’s* leading.
One who is eager to train and equip others.
Who is willing to admit they don’t have all of the answers but is walking in obedience anyway.
One who holds decisions with open hands.
One who encourages and empowers.
One who hasn’t made himself a leader but whom others have called leader.
One who has been given authority, not one who is a self-proclaimed expert.
One who at the end of the day is always willing to surrender to the whispers of the Spirit because he recognizes that he is just a steward, that he doesn’t own any of what he’s been entrusted with.

I like the quote above because an emerged leader who will work alongside emerging leaders exemplifies a humble leader. He is encouraging and empowering. He has been called leader and given authority. He is humbly walking in obedience while training and equipping others. I’m not sure what “style” label I would put on that type of leadership…but maybe that’s part of the point.

What is the best style of leadership you know?

This is the fourth post in a series of twenty. For more on the background, check out this post.

*Note: The use of the word “he” doesn’t mean I think leaders should only be men, it’s purely for simplicity of words & message. :)

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The Fear of Success

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. ”  – Marianne Williamson

I become more convinced every day that in general that statement is true. We seem to be more afraid of success than we are of failure. We think it’s failure we are afraid of but only because it’s easier to admit. After all, people expect you to be afraid of failure, but being afraid of success seems kind of ridiculous.

I have to count myself guilty of fearing success. In an effort to be as humble as possible…to not do anything that may be mistaken as pride…to guard against ego, I stay as far away from my own success as possible. I will work to help others succeed all day long, but myself? Not so much.

With success comes accountability. With success comes the risk of bigger failures. With success comes the risk of losing control. With success comes responsibility.

But, with success also comes an opportunity for God to be glorified. I’m grateful for the voices of wisdom in my life who’ve pointed out to me that failing to act because I fear success is wasting my gifts. It’s saying to God, “sorry, I just don’t think you’re big enough to keep my heart from pride, to keep my ego in check.”

But the truth is, Christ lives in me. And through Him I can do all things. And that includes being successful without becoming prideful. So, I’m resolved to tackle my fear of succeeding. Will you join me?

Comment Deep Thinking, Just Life, Leadership

Why I Never Thought About Leaving


The church I left at the end of June is just a year and a half old. I moved to Appleton with the pastor and his family in October of 2008 to start laying the ground work and looking for gathering space. When we found a place we started holding unofficial gatherings on Sunday nights in February of 2009 before our official launch on April 19, 2009.
When the adventure started, I never thought I would leave. My plan was to be at this church with this team for the very long foreseen future. I did ministry with my pastor for seven years and really never thought about the day that wouldn’t be the case.

But there’s an ugly side to why I never thought about leaving and it’s called pride. With just the pastor and myself on staff, I did just about everything except preach, cast vision, and do counseling. Whether I wanted to admit it or not there was a part of me that thought, “If I leave, the church will not survive.” Honestly, when God started whispering in my heart that it was time to go over a year ago, that was one of my thoughts. “God, that is crazy. The church isn’t even a year old, I’m comfortable here, I’m just getting settled, and I mean, let’s be real, this church needs me.”

Woah! Time out. That needs idea is a dangerous one.

God in His graced showed me that my church didn’t need me. And I hate to break it to you but your church doesn’t need you either. And to be really honest, I don’t think God needs us either. In His grace & mercy He uses us as tools to accomplish His purposes here on this earth. He graciously blesses us with the gift of being able to partner with Him in the spread of the Gospel. If He wanted to do it without us, I think He could.

That is something I need to remind myself of daily. And it’s one of the reasons I left the church. I recognized that for myself, where I was at, I needed to spend more time focusing on my relationship with God and not what I was doing for Him. What I was doing was becoming more important than being in relationship with Him.

I think for many who work in the church it’s a slippery slide from planting the seed and watering it to planting the seed and thinking we’re responsible for the growing. Before we know it we can get to a point where we’ve cut God out of His Church.

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
1 Corinthians 3:5-7

What helps you stay focused, remembering that it is God who makes things grow?

5 Comments Deep Thinking, Leadership

Tribes vs. Movements

I read Seth Godin’s Tribes when it first came out, but recently decided I needed to re-read it. In the season of life I’ve found myself in “tribes” seem to be playing a big role. I’ve found a place in several different tribes of varying sizes. Tribes where I’ve found community, friends, & mentors. I’m also, somewhat begrudgingly, coming to the realization that whether I like it or not & whether I consider myself one or not, God may be calling me to be a leader within a tribe. And so, back to the basics I’m going.

I haven’t finished the book a second time yet, but in just the first few pages something struck me – the difference between a tribe & a movement. I think we often confuse or equate the two.

Godin defines a tribe as “a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.” A few pages later in the book Godin says, “Every one of those [stuck] tribes, though, is a movement waiting to happen, a group of people just waiting to be energized and transformed…A movement is thrilling. It’s the work of many people, all connected, all seeking something better.”

You see, a tribe is not a movement. All that’s required to be a tribe is to exist with commonality. A tribe communicates with itself. A movement communicates with the world…through action. A movement requires action…a movement is a tribe in action…a tribe in action creates a movement.

And the world needs more than tribes, it needs movements. It needs people who step out in faith and do something…together.

Sidenote: I found the image above in a Flickr photo group for To Write Love on Her Arms –  a tribe that has created a movement of love. Check out what they’re doing here.

Comment Deep Thinking, Leadership, Relationships

Leading From The Inside Out

I am a huge proponent of asking the question WHY. So, this video of course caught my attention. It’s been floating around Twitter so some of you may have already seen it. If you haven’t, it’s worth the 18 minutes and 5 seconds of your time to watch the entire thing. But, for those of you who just want the cliff notes, it’s too good not to share.

The Video…it’s not about having the time, it’s about making the time, and you should make the time for this one.

The Notes

Simon Sinek is on a mission to teach leaders how to inspire action. He published a book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action which I plan on adding to my collection soon. You can also check out his website.  In this 18 minute TED talk, he lays out his basic principle for explaining when things don’t go as we assume or why some people, organizations, leaders, etc. are successful while others aren’t. He calls this idea, the Golden Circle.

Sinek goes on to explain that every organization knows “what” they do. Some know how they do it. But, very few know why – their cause, purpose, belief, why they exist. We tend to communicate from the outside in. But the inspired leaders & organizations think, act, & communicate from the inside out. He provides some great examples of this, and his point is: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

He goes on to further explain his idea, the underlying biology which is quite convincing, as well as giving some more fascinating examples. His bottom line is this, your goal shouldn’t be to simply do business with people who need your product, but with those who believe what you believe. And if you talk about what you believe, those people will come. But, in order to talk about why you do what you do, you have to of course know why you do it. And you may even find that when you attract people who believe what you believe they will take your cause and make it their own.

Sinek concludes with this: (In reference to Dr. King) “He gave the I have a dream speech not the I have a plan speech…There are leaders & there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority. But, those who lead inspire us. Whether they’re individuals or organizations we follow those who lead not because we have to but because we want to. We follow those who lead not for them but for ourselves. And it’s those who start with why that have the ability to inspire those around them.”

So, I ask you, do you know WHY you do what you do? And by the way, your what may be much bigger than your job.

I’m at a point in my life where I need to redefine WHY I do what I do (the bigger than the job what). Join me in the challenge?

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