“People” People

Teddy Roosevelt said, “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success in leadership is knowing how to get along with people.”  Were told in Proverbs 27 to be diligent to know those around us.  I learned in college the 10 ideas to becoming a “people” person and since it was a Baptist school at the time, all of the ideas start with the letter “R”.

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1. REACH out to people.
2. REMEMBER a person’s name.
3. RECOGNIZE a person’s potential.
4. REQUEST information about them.
5. Be RESPECTFUL.
6. RELATE on their level.
7. Be RELIABLE.
8. Give REASSURANCE to people.
9. Be a RESOURCE for people.
10. REQUEST their help.

As I read through that list I thought there is at least one missing.  RESPOND.  People want to know just as much about you as you do about them.  There is a certain level of transparency that is required of a leader if the people they lead are to trust them.  There is a level of understanding that people need to have that lets them know you are just like them.

When you ask good questions you will see what they really care about.  You’ll find out about their future dreams and goals.  You’ll find out about what they cry about or what they sing and laugh about.  To do this you must become a good listener and when the time is right you must become a good responder.

There are at least 10 things to discover about someone in order to have a better understanding of them and this is a two way street.

1. Their background
2. Their present situation or station in life
3. Their personality
4. Their spiritual gift (s)
5. Their natural abilities
6. Their dreams for the future
7. Their hurts -past and present
8. Their joys -past and present
9. Their priorities
10. Their key influencers as well as who their friends are

Remember as a leader “you must care more about who they are than what they do.” -Perry Noble. You can have good people skills and not be a good leader, but you cannot be a good leader without good people skills.

As a leader use your head to gain knowledge of people.  As a leader use your heart to demonstrate a concern for people.  As a leader use your hands to help people.  As a leader use your life to connect with people.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Everybody wants to be someone.  Everyone needs someone.  Take the time to discover the potential that others do not see in themselves and point it out to them.  Be real with people and let them into your life.

15 Reasons We Don’t Lead Like Jesus

So I have been really digging into the life of Jesus and I have noticed how He related to His disciples.  I think understanding how He interacted with those men is crucial to understanding some key dynamics of leadership and how to lead a team.  Everyone wants to be known as a good leader but why are there so many bad leaders out there?  Why are there so many out there who don’t get the team dynamic or how to pour their life into a team?  I wish I had an answer because this would not just be a blog post but it would be a book.  Maybe I would see you at Barnes & Noble as I sign copies of your book, however I don’t have the answer and the reality is I would not consider myself a good leader…not yet.  So what did Jesus do that we could model in the teams that we lead?

1. He called them to be with Him and He called them with a purpose in mind.  He called them the way they were with all their faults and deficiencies.
2. He began to develop  them to reach their potential, even though they were far from being champions when He started with them.
3. He took them with Him on day to day activities.
4. He taught them.  At times he taught by simply asking them questions.
5. He game them ministry opportunities with clear assignments.  He gave them power.
6. He took the time to hear their reports and gave words of encouragement to them.  Told them to rest.
7. He answered their questions and their request for information.
8. He gave them assignments so He could do His ministry.
9. He let them get a close up view of who He was, letting them in on the inside.  Teams buy into the leader before the vision.
10. He intervened in their lives when He suspected problems.  He was close enough to them to know there was problems.
11. He corrected them when they were wrong.
12. He enjoyed fellowshiped with them.
13. He prayed for and with His disciples.
14. He dealt with their failures and restored them to service when the time was right.
15. He commissioned them and empower them to carry on the work He started.

When you look at who He had to work with it is amazing that the church exists today.

• Peter- impulsive, impatient and a denier.
• James and John- sons of thunder, judgmental, un-compassionate and inconsiderate.
• Thomas- was a doubter.
• Philip- was slow to understand and learn.
• Nathaniel- was questioning and cynical.
• Matthew- was a tax collector.
• Judas- was a schemer, betrayer and a thief.
• All of them were position conscious, not servants.  They were self-centered and thinking only of themselves, not ever of Jesus.  They did not know how to pray, did not know about the last days, did not understand the ministry of John the Baptist, did not know about the Holy Spirit, had little faith, were scripturally ignorant and were fearful and ran in the face of opposition.  As a group they fought with each other, they did not understand the big picture, they were afraid to ask questions, they argued whether Jesus would use an IPhone or a Blackberry, they bickered over the level of the sound system in the auditorium, who would get the biggest budget, who reserved the space first to do their program and who should be able to hire an assistant.

I think you get the point that the same arguments of then are the same arguments today of those we lead.  Maybe that is why we don’t lead like Jesus because all of that takes hard work.  Maybe we don’t lead like Jesus because we put so much hope in potential and when it doesn’t work out like we thought we just give up and stop leading and start doing.  Maybe we don’t lead like Jesus because we are not close enough to Him to know how to lead like that.  Maybe we don’t lead like Jesus because were not perfect.

Nobody will ever be the perfect leader, but just because we won’t be the perfect leader doesn’t mean we can’t work towards being a great leader.  Based on what I see in the scripture, Jesus was a great leader because He was personal and He got into the lives of those He led.  I don’t think it was the big numbers and miracles that drew the disciples to Jesus it was the fact that He called them, empowered them, walked with them and at the end of the day He called them friends.

That’s Why It’s Here

A person who has always intrigued me is Walt Disney.  When you think of vision you have to think of Walt Disney.  Here is a man who had a dream to build a world that would capture and engage the imagination.  What I didn’t know is that he died before the completion of the project.  Soon after the completion of The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, someone said, “Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?” Vance replied, “He did see it. That’s why it’s here.” Even after Walt Disney passed from this life, his vision for the future held strong. He had established firmly in the minds of all those he came in contact with the vision he held for the future. He had a passion and a desire and those things are contagious.  Because of that passion and desire people today plan their entire year around visiting the Magic Kingdom.

Walt once said, “As a leader you must live like everyone matters… too many leaders keep their distance from employees physically & emotionally.” Walt said, “The ability to relate with all types of people and backgrounds is not a gift, but a learned behavior.” Disney has learned that people will return on two things: 1.Satisfied with first visit. 2.The biggest return is positive interaction with Disney staff.

All that to say, for a vision to be complete and for it to last it has to be all about people.  Walt Disney was an example of connecting with people and connecting people with the vision.  Walt Disney World exists today because people bought into him as a leader because he lived out the vision in every area of his life.

What are you trying to sell?  What is your vision?  Are you fighting to be heard or do people listen because you care about people and your vision is compelling?

Leadership Choices

I am constantly looking to get better as a leader.  I have come a long way but I also know I have a long way to go.  Leading people is both a responsibility and a privilege.  Just because people follow you doesn’t mean you are a good leader, it simply may mean that they have to.  I have learned through difficult choices and circumstances what it means to lead with integrity and character and what it means to lead by abuse and the twisting of truth.  I am continually asking myself several questions: 1.  How do I want to be led?  2.  Is how I want to be led best for me or is it best for the organization and cause?  3.  Am I leading my team the best I can according to question 1 and 2?

Perry Noble did a post this morning on the 10 choices a leader needs to make in leading his staff, great post.  I would say these 10 choices don’t just apply to a church staff but to a volunteer staff in any organization as well as corporate America.  Check out what he wrote below.

#1 – Choose to believe the best about the people on your team rather than always assuming the worst about them.

#2 – Choose to trust them to make decisions that matter without having to run every minor detail by your for your approval.

#3 – Choose to believe that when they ask particular questions that they aren’t being disloyal but rather seeking clarification.

#4 – Choose to believe that they really do love the church and want to see it thrive.

#5 – Choose to lead through inspiration and revelation–NOT intimidation, humiliation, condemnation and manipulation.

You can find #6-#10 on his blog at www.perrynoble.com

What are your thoughts?  Do these apply to corporate America as well?  Do you agree, disagree?  Would you change any?  Add to any?

Catalyst 2009 Pre Lab Take Away

Catalyst 2009 – Lab Day from Ryan Geiger on Vimeo.

Change & Response

I saw a Comcast commercial last night where the gentleman starts out saying, “The world is changing and Comcast is responding.”  Sounds great, very touching, moving, relevant and yet what a horrible business model for anybody to follow.  This is not a hate blog towards Comcast, I have their service and it is fine.

Anytime an individual, a business, a church says that is is responding to change it says something about who they are and how they lead.  There are times that necessitate response but I would like to be on the other end that causes those around to have to respond.   The Gospel is powerful and requires a response from others.  Serving is powerful and requires a response from others.  Vision is powerful and requires a response from others.  Do you get where I’m going with this?  There is a time to respond and follow and there are times to initiate change and lead.

As Ed Young says, “Change, conflict, growth.”  Every situation involves this formula of change, conflict and growth.  When you are leading you will face this with almost every decision.  When you initiate change and lead you will see this formula play out in your organization.  I don’t want to respond to change, I want to be a catalyst for change.  You can’t be scared about who will say it and how others will react to it.  Leaders lead.  Leaders initiate change.  Leaders force others to respond.  How about you? Are you a changer or a responder?

National Leadership Forum Conference

A free two-day leadership event is coming your way, and you don’t even have to leave your computer to take part. Check out who you’ll hear from during the National Leadership Forum webcast:

• Jack Welch
• TD Jakes
• Mark Rutland
• Patrick Lencioni
• Dave Ramsey
• Craig Groeschel
• Megyn Kelly
• Erwin McManus
• Bill George
• Tim Sanders
• Matthew Barnett
• Henry Cloud

This is a fantastic opportunity to invest in leadership training and development for your team—whether staff or volunteers—without investing in conference fees or travel. Ken Blanchard will be moderating the webcast, which takes place on September 10-11. The event will be offered twice each day to accommodate different time zones: first at 7:00am-2:00pm GMT and then at 10:00am-5:00pm EDT. Capacity for the National Leadership Forum is limited, so you’ll want to register soon.

Vision 2009

I love vision. I love leadership. I love seeing the local church step up and become what God created it to be. I can’t even begin to tell you how important this previous series we just did was. Gus did a great job communicating what the vision of Fellowship Church is. We are here to redefine church through relationships not religion.

As Gus said all of our resources, time and energy go into what we call the BIG 5: Sunday Morning, Life Groups, Children, Missions and Students…

Everything we do is focused around those five areas. The reality is we could do more, but to do more would cause us to a lot of stuff good but nothing great, we know what God has called us to do. The how is always evolving. That is why our six core values could change at any time as God changes our heart and our focus.

Our six core values are:
Embrace People
We welcome, include and love all people from all walks of life. We reach out to everyone without expecting anything in return.
Live Authentically
We are transparent and honest about who we are and where we’re at in our lives. We do not hide behind a spiritual mask.
Engage Culture
We value culture as a way to connect with people across generational and ethnic boundaries. We leverage culture to communicate our and God’s love for people.
Apply Truth
We seek to live out biblical truth instead of just gaining knowledge. We learn how to apply truth so it makes a difference in our everyday lives.
Empower People
We give everyone the opportunity to dream and be who they are, enabling you to participate in church life regardless of where you are at in your spiritual journey.
Building Bridges
We reach out to others to be good neighbors and meet needs in our local community and across the world.

Jump on board with us as we redefine church for the lost, broken, hurt, confused people in the Delaware Valley.