Leadership

leaders create opportunities

/ Craig / 1 Comment

In the last few months I have been captivated by this leadership idea:  leaders create opportunities.  I observe this practice in every significant arena of leadership whether it be at home, on sports teams, at work, in church, in government, or in neighbourhoods.  Leaders create opportunities for the people in their sphere of influence.  

I have observed a parent putting down money and time in order to understand what a child needs in order to learn well.  I have celebrated Jan Miko, principle, for creating an opportunity for children at Brock Elementary to sing at the opening of the new Olympic Curling Centre here in Riley Park when 4 weeks before Brock did not have a choir.  I have observed a youth hockey coach going way beyond the call of duty for his players to play on the GM Place ice and to meet Trevor Linden.  And last night I watched a pastor, Corneliu Ardelean, enjoy the fruit of all his labours to create opportunities for at least 20 other people to lead in a worship service.

Great leaders create opportunities for people to excel, to grow, to advance, to meet other leaders, to serve meaningfully, to succeed, to share the joy of life, to risk, to fail, to stretch…  What… to fail?  That’s right.  Even to fail.  Leaders create opportunities that encourage their followers to try and even to fail…but also, then to learn from those failures.

Leaders create opportunities for people to grow.  I have a built in matrix for considering the people I lead (and myself.)

Head:  What do they need to know?

Heart:  What do they need to build character and to fuel passion for God?

Hands:  What skills do they need to master?

Home:  What relationships do they need to nurture?

Horizons:  What dreams and visions are they aiming at?

Jesus was a brilliant leader.  As an exploration of leadership I suggest that you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in order to observe how Jesus created opportunities for the people he served.

Here are some more questions for reflection:

1.  Who created opportunities for me in my journey in life so far?

2.  What was at stake for these leaders when they created the opportunities for me?

3.  When have I not fully appreciated the opportunities in front of me?

4.  For whom am I creating opportunities?

5.  What needs to change in me in order for me to create new and extraordinary opportunities for the people in my sphere of influence?

6.  What strategic alliances can I make that will create opportunities for the people I lead?

announcement on the 2009 Summit on Feb 24th

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Hey Cityview!  Willow Creek is going to announce the speaker line-up 2009 Summit on Tuesday at 11 AM CST.  The alert is here.  This year the Tuesday announcement presented by Bill Hybles is going to be livestreamed on the Summit Facebook Group and at growingleadership.com/webcast.  Cityview has already made our early group registration for Aug 6-7 2009, however if you want to get in on this you can contact us at the office and we will help you.

integrity workshop–this saturday at Cityview

/ Craig / 1 Comment

integrity-eventIntegrity matters.  Just imagine what life would be like if the people, buses, cars, airplanes, homes, computers you depended on had no integrity.  What if they could not handle reality?  What about you?  Can you meet the demands of reality.  I have been ruminating on Henry Cloud’s work on Integrity for over a year now and find the material relevant for my own character and leadership development.  My family and the organizations I lead in expect integrity.  They need me to create and maintain trust, face the truth, work to create results, deal with the negative, make things grow, and live with a transcendent orientation.

I am looking foward to spending part of Saturday with leaders from around the City in an exploration of Henry Cloud’s work Integrity:  the courage to meet the demands of reality; How Six Essential Qualities Determine Your Success in Business.  We will use a DVD presentation created by Cloud to highlight the 6 qualities.  It will be an interactive time between leaders.  And, we will have three local speakers:  a bank manager, a school principle, and the CEO and founder of a local company.

See you Saturday at 9:30 AM at Cityview.

interested in the tricks of credit?

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In case you were not wondering and worried about your debt, it might be helpful to educate yourself on the tricks of the credit business.  Dileep Rao has an informative article at Forbes that I would recommend.  

I find that it creates great motive to stay off the addiction of credit card debt and borrowing!

humpty dumpty and church planting

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Steven Berglass, professor of psychology at Harvard, has written an entertaining but also seriously provoking article on the difference between workaholics who think they should start a business and the true entrepreneur.  I think his humpty dumpty analysis of the workaholic applies to ministry and the allure of church planting.  Not every hard working minister is a church planter.  Give the article, Are You A Humpty Dumpty Entrepreneur?, a read and let me know what you think.