Tag: Leadership

0

Diversity

I'm diverse.....I don't intend to be or try to be...I just am. I'm a 6'4", 260 pound black dude with dreads living and doing ministry in GRANGER, IN....um yup! Indiana. So yeah, I'm diverse... and there's nothing wrong with that...actually it's pretty refreshing I think...but I'm biased. As I grew up learning leadership skills, I've always valued diversity immensely! Specifically in this area, I not only value diversity, I've always tried to seek it out! One of the ways I've tried to do that is through reading...I hate to read, but I love learning so because of that I find myself being forced to read...and what I read usually has some diversity to it. This collection (above), at first glance, doesn't seem overly diverse but there are VERY diverse agendas in each one...and I appreciate that!  Each of these 8 books challenged me in a different way and now I'm better because of it.  (this isn't my all-time favorites list or anything just some really good ones I keep on my shelf at work)

I believe, we become better leaders by engaging a more diverse learning/education process.

For example, if all I read was student ministry books...I feel like I'd become a one-track leader.  Nothing at all wrong with student ministry books (I hope to maybe write one someday) but I value learning from other areas of leadership as well (ie. business, sports, life coaching, psychology, theology, etc.)

What are some of your treasured leadership books that have really helped you so far?

I want to keep becoming a better leader.

0

Truth's from the baseball field

One of my favorite quotes and principles of all times is:

"You can have everything in life you want, if you just help enough other people get what they want."

This principle carried me through almost every phase of my collegiate career.  It literally was some of the 'leadership glue' that brought all of the areas of my life together so that I became one person where ever I was. It's easy to be a chameleon and Truth someone different in every environment but standing tall in who you are no matter the circumstances is the true test. Well that's a post for another time, so this afternoon, I was thinking about Zig's quote when I was at a local baseball field hanging with one of my small group guys and his buddy who plays on the baseball team with him.  I was having mini flashbacks to my high school days on the baseball team when I used to dream about playing college baseball and/or football. Today, I was particularly thinking about my sophomore year when I was a shortstop on the varsity team and all I could think about most of that year was "baseball is my ticket into college" and "I gotta do better this year".  I had won Rookie of The Year my freshman year on the varsity baseball team for our region and I led the team in home runs, batting average, and on base percentage that year as well so going into my sophomore year I was really focussed on being better than I was the previous year, which was hard coming of a .525 batting average and .800 on base percentage. Anyway, that year was all about me!  I loved my team, coaches, the atmosphere, etc. but when I really looked at what I was trying to do it was "be the best".  Oddly enough that year, I improved a little bit but rolling into my Jr. year a LOT changed!  That year I knew that if I stayed healthy I would definitely be going to a D-1 School whether it be in football or baseball so there was no more "pressure to perform", I just needed to stay healthy. That Jr. year something inside of me changed to, I felt this need to "help"... I felt like I could help the coaches more by helping my teammates excel, so I kinda became a cheerleader.  No, not the ones with the pom poms and the high kicks....although that would have looked hilarious...I began to really cheer on my teammates.  Before it was, hurry up and bat, so I can wow people with how hard I hit the ball, or hit it hard to me so I can make a great play.  That Jr. year, I legitimately wanted my teammates to hit the ball, get on base, make their catches and throws, and succeed.  This is when I really discovered what I call "The Joy of Team" (I'll write about this later). Up to this point I hadn't ever heard Zig's quote, I just knew there was something special about being on a team and wanting "THE TEAM" to win!  This is something that kept growing inside of me until the time I was at Notre Dame and heard this quote from Zig. Here's the truth about my athletic career: I really did find myself excelling more when I focussed less on me and more on team. Leadership translation: Who's on your team and do you really want them to succeed or are they merely people to help you get accomplished what you desire to accomplish? (I know that's a long way to get to that but I had a blast at the baseball fields today and wanted to share what was on my heart after hanging with the guys)

0

Great Reminder from Kara Powell

Scrapping through my email I got this great reminder from Kara Powell over at Fuller Leadership Institute. She wrote:

"Recently I’ve been thinking about how much of a leader’s energy goes into 30% of the people in their community.  For a youth worker, that means you’re investing lots of energy into the 15% of your kids who are doing super great and the 15% of your kids who are really struggling. But what about that middle 70%?  Who’s investing in them?  They aren’t as high maintenance or shiny as the other 30% but they’re probably the majority of your kids. Maybe it’s time to look down the list of your kids and ask questions about each kid:

1. How is this kid doing in their journey with God?
2. How could our ministry help this kid move a bit forward?
3. What adult(s) are investing in this kid?

Let’s not ignore the vast middle…"

Loved this and I think putting feet to this and making it walk is the key.  I think everyone would agree with the post but the challenge is making this happen.

0

How do I find a mentor?

I wrote about this previous here and I wanted to add to this list a little bit because it's been on my mind for a while. One of my greatest passions is to help student and leaders grow in whatever areas God's directing them towards.  One of the ways I've grown most as a leader has been to always have mentors in my life who will ask me the tough questions, call me out to greater things, and be someone to bounce ideas/thoughts off of. So I talk to students a lot about finding mentors in their life and they usually ask me "How do I find a mentor?"

Well here's the second round of my two cents:

1. Ask yourself what do you need in a mentor. (Clear expectations for both people is essential to having a healthy mentorship)
2. Think outside the box. (My mentors weren't always church leaders or business leaders...I had some Godly coaches, a few Godly teachers, My dad & mom were two of my greatest mentors even when I didn't realize it)
3. When it's time for the "ask", be specific.  (Example: "Can we maybe sit down over coffee for 30 minutes so I can ask you come questions."
4. Offer your mentor something. (Example: if you're asking them to mentor you in a specific area, bring research YOU'VE done in that area so that you can contribute to the conversation and so that they don't have to just spoon-feed you everything you'll ever learn...show some initiative)
5. Be appreciative. (Mentors are taking time out of their schedule/day to spend with you because  they care...so show appreciation, enthusiasm, offer to buy the cup of coffee...do something to show them that you see their time is valuable and you appreciate their time.)

0

Wisdom on 'commitment' from Kurt Johnston

Found this in my Leadership folder in my Evernote stuff and wanted to pass these thoughts along in case you haven't seen them.  It's from Kurt Johnston, who by the way is A LOT shorter in person than you may think from the Simply Jr. High Podcast he does, but great thoughts none the less. Sorry Kurt, had to let the world know. (and by 'the world' i mean the people who read this blog. ha) He said:

“We have a silly little saying that we use a lot: ‘Be committed to what you have committed to’. Instead of pressuring our leaders to over-commit, we ask them to prayerfully consider where they want to plug in and to do their best to stay faithful to that area. Our commitment to them is that we won’t constantly press them for more.”  How do you feel about your volunteers’ level of commitment?  How might the way you “press them for more” affect their ability to live up to what they’ve already committed to?

0

Hypocritical leadership

Just heard a great line in the movie 'Love and Basketball'.  It was a son talking to his dad after finding out his dad had been a hypocrite the whole time he was raising the son.  He said:

"Why couldn't you be the man you're trying to make me be."

This reminded me of students ministry leaders.  We should be the people we're encouraging our students to be.  This was a great reminder to me and reminded me 'we never take our hat off'.  Lead Strong!

0

Questions for every Student Ministry Part 1

Do we have a clear, elevating goal that compels people to serve?

THE 3 KEY WORDS: 1. CLEAR 2. ELEVATING 3. COMPELLING ~Is what you're asking of your leadership teams clear? ~Is the trajectory you're leading people going up, flatlined, or declining? ~Does it compel people into action Question is from : ~Carl E. Larson & Frank M. J. LaFasto, Teamwork:  What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong ~Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

0

Where do you gather?

I often think about the different places we "gather" and why they matter so much.  Places we hang out, places we make memories, places we go to share our lives. Above is a picture of one our my teams gathering places.  This is the "Ding Dong"!  Jeff's got a few pieces of killer furniture in his office and one of them is this simple ottoman called a "Ding Dong". When we were upstairs in our previous office space we'd kick back, put our feet up and talk about life and ministry around this crazy Ottoman every week and it was awesome!  It would be our excuse to be close and hang out.  Now that we're in our new office space (our department moved offices) and have an actually meeting room we haven't used the Ding Dong much and I can tell.  I might have to boycott the table for GSM meetings and bring in the ding dong so we can regain the connection we felt when we were around it and continue to get stuff done!

Sometimes we have to change things up a little to get just the right environment for our teams to flourish.  The question then becomes are we committed to doing whatever it takes to get our teams in environments where they can flourish?

I'm going to continue to try my best to do that and I hope you will to, they deserve it! For us: In theory, the conference table is practical and makes more sense.  In real life, it doesn't work for my teams dynamic...feels to formal, we're farther away from each other, makes things seem to serious, & we just work better in a more relaxed organic non-formal setting (ie. when we can throw balls to each other, bounce tennis balls off the wall, throw pens at each other, get side-tracked a few times, wrestle, make fun of the girls for not joining in the shenanigans, you know...that sort of stuff.)

In the end: YOU GOTTA DO WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM...AND FOR US, IT'S A DING DONG, OPEN SPACE, & PADDED WALLS!  I LOVE MY TEAM AND OUR CHURCH THAT LETS US MEET HOW WE NEED TO SO WE CAN FLOURISH!!!

0

I love these guys

I can't believe I get to do life with these two guys!!  Jeff Myers is in the Middle and John Keim is on the right.

0

Branding should...

(We used the 'Dirty Jobs' brand to talk to our students about Mission Trips)

I read recently about what branding really is and what it should do and it reminded me of why we changed the name of our student ministry to GSM (Granger Student Ministry). The article said, "Branding should..."

1.  IDENTIFY YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION.

"Having a brand identity helps differentiate yourself from other businesses/organizations. Your brand identity needs to provide your clients with a consistent experience in order not to confuse them, because confusion leads to doubt.  IT NEEDS TO BE MEMORABLE."

ME: Nothing more clarifying about the "student ministry of Granger Community Church" than "Granger Student Ministry".

2.  REPRESENT YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION WELL.

"When people see your business card or logo they should automatically get a sense of what you do, what kind of business/organization you have, and also get a glimpse at your personality. Also keep in mind how you want your client to perceive your business. IT NEEDS TO BE DESCRIBABLE."

ME: Since GSM is a living breathing organism, not a business, we're represented by real students and leaders...I know this secretly frightens a lot of pastors to know that their people are representing their church, BUT I LOVE IT!!!

BRANDING ASIDE:  WHO CARES if "OUR CHURCH" looks good or not...what if we cared MORE about making JESUS look good!!!