Leadership Summit – Day 1

As most of you know via facebook, the staff, elders, and other faithful Wildwood leaders have been hitting up the Leadership Summit Conference put on by Willow Creek Community Church every year in Chicago this Thursday and Friday.   I figured that it would be awesome to communicate some of what I am learning through the conference and hopefully provide some great insight that was provided to me to you for a whopping price of FREE!  I’ll just list the speaker, what they do, and what I got from them.

Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church

Hybels opened up his message by allowing us to glean the four filters through which he makes decisions every day, he does it this way:

• Bible
  • What does it say about the topic
• What would advisers say about it
  • This doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with the advisors – your role here is to listen to those around you but ultimately YOU make the decision not them – follow the prompting of the Spirit
• P/G/E
  • What have you learned about the pains of Past decisions?
  • What have you learned about the Gains in past decisions?
  • What have you learned from Experience in past decisions?
  • The key to making P/G/E is journaling which I am a HUGE advicate of – be able to look back on how God has mvoed in your life
• Hybels has a new book out called Axioms which is defined HERE and for which he shamelessly pegged during his talk by providing some axioms he has when it comes to leadership and they are:
  • “Vision Leaks”
    • This is how he goes about continuing to thrust vision to the forefront of everything he does because it…”leaks”…people forget
  • Get the right people around the table”
    • Those people who support and serve alongside of you need to have similiar vision and buy into what you are trying to accomplish as an organization
  • “Facts are your friends”
    • Get to know them…
  • “Take a flyer”
    • Every once and a while do something crazy – take a leap of faith!

Gary Haugen – Founder & CEO, International Justice Mission

• Gary was probably most of our crews favorite speaker of the day, though not mine, so you better keep reading
• I did like Gary though because he had a unique way of approaching social justice through a biblical perspective – good stuff!
• Gary opened with simply stating that GOD LOVES THE WORLD!
  • That’s what the whole incarnation thing was all about but the most difficult thing for most people to believe is that God actually does love the world because if He did, then why all the pain?
    • Gary’s answer is that we are God’s plan for showing a world that doubts His love that He truly does love them.
  • Jesus says, “You are the light of the World”
    • God is not just concerned about us being lights to evangelize the gospel but to be lights into the hurt of a hurting world through lending helping hands.

Bill George, Professor of Business Management and Ethics at Harvard, a lot of CEO stuff too…

• Bill was my favorite and not because he was the shortest but he told you how it was and got out of the way.
• Bill hit on several things that I thought were worth some more thought on my end and they were:
• Four jobs of the 21st century leader:
  1. Birng people around the mission and value of an organization
  2. Empower people to lead
     1. If you are around me for any length of time you will find that this is my HEART!
  3. Serve
  4. Collaberate
     1. Build partnerships – we are not our own islands!

• Six ways that leaders develop:
  • Make sure you know your purpose – what you are about
  • Become self aware.  How?
    1. Be with people
    2. Get feedback
    3. Have times of introspection
  • Have good values
  • Build support teams around you
  • Live an integrated life

John Burke, Lead Pastor, Gateway Community Church

• John was interesting fella but it was good to have a Texan around for a bit!
• John’s main platform was, “What are your barriers to Grace?”
  • What keeps people from coming into interactions with Christ?
• How do you figure out what these barriers are?
  • You get your hands dirty
  • You talk to people around you
  • What are peoples perceptions
• John says that the two main barriers that he is asked about his church and that he finds are common within culture today is not wether he is a calvinist or an arminianist but:
  • What do you think about gays and
  • What do you think about other religions

Then the conference ended off with a couple of other fellas but to be honest with you…I hit cruise control after John due to sensory overload – my tank was full…

Looking forward to tomorrow and hope you can glean something from thoughts from today!

Filed under: Religous