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Category: Leadership (page 24 of 30)

Follow Friday

I’m convinced that Twitter and social networking are operating on the cutting edge of society. Not necessarily the platform itself, but the opportunities it opens up for the spread of ideas. What used to take hours to reach the print is now being spun out in real time. What you used to have to wait for the evening news to see, you can now see instantly wherever you are. What used to take months to get to to the print press as a book is now updated daily.

But social media is so large, now, that it can be tough to find those people that you’d like to follow.

For a while now, Twitter users have been promoting their friends using the hashtag #FF (which stands for Follow Friday). Basically, on Friday, you mention a few people that you enjoy following on Twitter, and encourage others to follow them, too. (by the way, if you need a crash course on the language of Twitter, read mine HERE) Here’s an example:

It’s kind of like Facebook’s “Suggest” button. Mike suggests that people follow these Twitterers. Make sense?

I’m taking this concept one step further. I’ve been on Twitter now for about 2.5 years, and have stumbled upon some great leaders. To save you the time of reading their updates and visiting their blogs to see if they’re worth following, I’m handpicking the best of the best.

Not on Twitter? No worries. Even if you don’t use Twitter, you can follow people on Twitter. Just open up a Google Reader account, and subscribe to their RSS Twitter feed. (that sentence lose you? Don’t fear. My explanation of Google Reader is HERE)

Each week, I’ll present a different crop of Twitterers that you need to be following. This week, I give you 5 people who are influencing me right now. You should follow them…immediately.

5 people influencing me:

Seth Godin – Seth Godin is a entrepreneur, author, and speaker. And he’s a marketing genius. His books are helping shape the way I think about leadership and influence. Follow him on Twitter, @ThisIsSethsBlog and find him on his website HERE.

Matt Chandler – Pastor at The Village Church in Dallas, TX. I often listen to Matt’s sermons when I run…which means I laugh, I’m convicted, and when I’m done running, I have pages worth of notes in my head. My small group is also going through his Philippians study. Follow him on Twitter, @mattchandler74

Michael Hyatt – Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Michael is a prolific blogger (blog HERE) and Twitterer. His content is consistently helpful and insightful for me in my area of leadership. With my love of leading and writing, I don’t miss one of his posts. Follow him on Twitter, @michaelhyatt

John Burke – Pastor of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas. His book No Perfect People Allowed will mess you up. Follow him on Twitter, @johnburke_, though he’s not a prolific Twitterer.

Rick Warren – To be honest, when the Purpose Driven Life craze was in full swing, I was not on that bandwagon. Not because I had anything against it…I just hadn’t bought in yet. Or read it. Which explains why I hadn’t bought in. On top of that, early in my ministry career, Rick Warren was lumped into a category of pastors who were seeker-friendly at the expense of the Gospel. I’ve learned that that category is far from fair with Rick. His short Twitter updates strike to the heart. Follow him on Twitter, @rickwarren

Who’s influencing you?

The “Visitor” Treatment

August 22, 2010 / Ben Reed / 4 Comments

I read this on a sign at an O’Charley’s restaurant I visited in Nashville:

At our place, everybody’s a regular.

What a powerful statement, especially to me on my first time in the restaurant. That sign told me that I was being viewed a regular customer, even though it was my first time to ever step foot into the place. I knew none of the waiters or waitresses. I didn’t have my “special” seat. The waiter didn’t know my name or what I “always ordered.” Yet from the moment I stepped foot into the restaurant, I felt valued.

And the service I received backed that up.

I felt like an honored guest. My waiter went out of his way to make sure I was served well. He was skilled at his job, and was great at making our table feel served and appreciated. I really did feel like I was a regular there. The service was beyond my expectations…especially because there were 40 people in our group. My tea was always full. He made sure I was satisfied with each course of food. He made sure my son was happy. And he never seemed frustrated that my son was roaming throughout our section (for the record, he doesn’t normally do that, but he was in a foul mood because he was sick, so we let him roam a bit).

Yeah, our service was top notch.

This principle holds true in churches as well.

The way you treat visitors at your church says much about what you, as a church, value. If you treat them as honored guests, you are saying:

1. We love you, even though we don’t know your story.

2. God loves you, and He does know your story.

3. We love others because God loves us…not because a person is an “insider.”

4. It’s ok to “come as you are.” Questions, mess, and all.

5. God’s big enough to handle your junk.

Can it be said of a typical Sunday morning at your local church, “At our place, everybody’s a regular.“?

When was the last time you thought, “What impact will this have on first time guests?” as you were planning a Sunday morning environment?

Have you ever tried putting yourself in the shoes of a first-timer, trying to see and experience what they do, from the parking lot to the worship service and the children’s environments?

Introverts, Extroverts, and small groups part 3

August 20, 2010 / Ben Reed / 0 Comments

The discussion started HERE with a look at the starting point of a small group, and the effect that has on introverts and extroverts. The discussion then shifted HERE to the middle-point of small group life.

**Now we’ll look at the ending season of a small group (which may last anywhere from 1 month to several). This is a sweet, sweet season in the life of a small group. By now, the group really knows each other. You understand how each person is gifted. You know where they struggle and how to encourage them effectively. You know their children, and the struggles and victories they’ve had at home. You’ve seen God change cold hearts. You’ve served alongside these people, cried with them, laughed with them, and heard them speak truth directly to your heart.

Though the above sounds like it’s all rosy, don’t think there aren’t still challenges to face.

The end of a small group

Extroverts may find this phase of small group life increasingly difficult. They’re ready for the group to end so they can get out there and meet a new group of people. They’ve done all they can, and assume God’s done all he’s going to do. Since the only thing left is the finish line, they’re ready for it. It’s like how the last hour of a car ride seems much longer than the first 10. For an extrovert, the end can’t come fast enough. And though extroverts get their energy from being around people, they can still find themselves bored since they’ve been around the same people for so long.

A word of caution to the extroverts: Just because you feel God’s done all he’s going to do in your heart doesn’t mean that he’s done. There’s still refining to do. There’s still change that needs to happen. And if you give up on the group now, even though you may feel bored, you may miss out on the best God has to offer you through your small group.

Introverts can really start to find their groove during this time. If they’ve pushed through the awkward phase of the beginning (where they didn’t know many people), pushed themselves to forge new relationships throughout the middle season, now they find that they’re surrounded by people whom they know and are known by. There’s a great trust that’s developed, and a sweet season of close relationships is where they find themselves. In fact, they feel so comfortable that they may be resistant to forming new relationships with others. Forming these was tough…they may not be up to the challenge of building new bonds with others.

* A word of caution to the introverts: Don’t let your current feeling of “success” drive you away from forming new relationships with others. Your feelings of comfort and safety are good, but shouldn’t paralyze you from taking steps of faith, and courageously reaching out to those you don’t know. They need to hear your story, and see God’s hand of redemption in your life. This season of group life may be the easiest for you, but don’t let it lull you to sleep, and cause you to forget that steps of faith involve risk.

I’ve got a few more thoughts to share. But I’ll save them until the next post. Until then:

Have these dynamics played out in your small group? In your own heart?

Do you think small groups are easier for an introvert or an extrovert?

**This is based on the assumption that your small group has an end-date in mind. In some small group systems, groups are together for life. In the system that I lead at Grace Community Church, our groups last 12-18 months.

Quit waiting

July 15, 2010 / Ben Reed / 0 Comments

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.

If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. (Ecclesiastes 11:4)

Change is difficult, no matter who or what you’re trying to change. We humans quickly habitualize (yep, I just made that word up), meaning that even changing things that aren’t “old and stuffy” is a big task.

Don’t find yourself noticing what needs to change, but paralyzed while you’re waiting for the “perfect” climate. Or the “perfect” new small group leader. Or having just the right amount of time. Or having enough resources. Or…well…the “perfect” anything.

And the moment you find the “perfect” situation, be ready…a storm is likely on its heels.

If you’re waiting for everything to line up perfectly, change will never happen.

Where things don’t line up “perfectly,” creativity, collaboration, and hard work more than make up the difference.

Leaders know what changes need to happen. And they go ahead and “plant.” Because if you never plant, you’ll never harvest.

What changes need to happen in your church? In your small group? In your life?

6 reasons not to use Twitter to bash your organization

July 13, 2010 / Ben Reed / 2 Comments

I posted this on Twitter the other day:

Church politics are stupid.

It was based on a conversation I had with a guy about his past experiences with local churches. He had been burned many times, and still carries some of those wounds. It wasn’t based on anything that’s happening in the church where I serve on staff.

I’m all about challenging my system. And I’d encourage you to continually evaluate the effectiveness of your system, too. Tweak it, hack it up, throw it out. Make your system do what you want it to do. Criticize it. Mock it. Stomp on it.

But if you’re a leader in your organization, don’t do it on Twitter.

Why not?

6 reasons to not use Twitter to bash your organization

1. It’s too easy. For me, wisdom doesn’t roll off of my tongue. Stupidity does. If I’m going to say something that’s dumb, it’s going to be because I don’t think before I speak. I just rattle off something without putting diligent thought to my words. Twitter makes it incredibly easy to post whatever you’re thinking. It’s as easy as a text message. And though that’s one of the beauties of social media, it can be one of the uglies when you don’t think before you update. (Which makes me so thankful that social media wasn’t a big deal when I was in high school…because I would have publicly said some dumb things)

2. There’s little accountability. You can fire off an update and then just let it ride. Although there’s the false sense of accountability because Twitter operates on the public sphere, it’s not really accountability. Because you can always wriggle your way out of what you said. “Oh, that was just what I said on Twitter…” And an @reply or a direct message (for you Facebook users, a wall post or a message) is much more easily ignored than a coworker sitting across the table from you.

3. All of the right voices don’t hear it. As much as we Twitterers would like to think, the whole world hasn’t adopted social media. Though it’s changed the landscape of information sharing, not everybody has bought in. And even for people who have bought in, there are varying levels of involvement. Some people check it once/week. Others check it once/hour. Lots and lots of information is shared…and lots and lots of information is never read. If you’ve got some scathing criticism to say about your organization, there are other key leaders who need to hear that…not just your friend from 2nd grade.

4. You’re limited to 140 characters. How would you feel if your boss came into your staff meeting and said, “Can’t believe the decisions our finance team is making! Hope they enjoy getting fired…” and then walked out of the room? You’d want a little more explanation, right? You want more than 140 characters to help you understand where you went wrong, and possible solutions to the problem. There’s too much left up to interpretation when criticisms come through Twitter.

5. You have little control over the conversation. If criticisms are introduced in person, they can be immediately addressed and explained in person. If they are introduced via Twitter, your words are stewed over, conversed, and twisted before you can ever fully explain yourself. It could be days before you are able to sit down with those you criticized, and in the meantime, your words have taken on a life of their own.

6. It could get you fired. Read the story about the Cisco employee HERE.

If you feel the need to be critical of an organization you don’t work for, that’s a different story. I’ve done that…and it’s worked out well. Read my story HERE.

But if you work for, or are a leader in an organization, and you feel the need to be critical, that’s fine…just don’t do it on Twitter.

Greatness isn’t Demanded

July 12, 2010 / Ben Reed / 0 Comments

Don’t demand an audience with the king
or push for a place among the great.
It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table
than to be sent away in public disgrace. (Proverbs 25:6-7)

Anybody can force their way to the “head of the table.” But being at the head of the table doesn’t guarantee you’ll have committed followers. Or that you’re a good leader. Positional leadership doesn’t get you an “audience with the king” (influence). It may get you a seat among the court, but having the ear of his audience takes time. And trust. And respect.

Building trust takes time and effort. When you earn the respect of those you’re called to lead (and don’t simply demand that they follow you), they’re willing to go the extra mile to help accomplish the vision. They’re willing to work hard for you. And they’re willing to give you grace when you fail.

I’ve seen this deficient form of leadership with younger leaders. By God’s grace, they’re given a leadership position. And then, instead of working to build trust among their team (which is made more difficult because, often, those they’re leading are more mature), they demand compliance. “Things are going to change around here. I’m the pastor/teacher/worship pastor/small group leader, etc. What you need to decide is whether or not you are on board. If you’re not on board with the changes, then you can leave.” In their zeal for change, they overlook wisdom. And they damage relationships in the process. They’re “sent away in public disgrace.”

I’ve seen this with older leaders, too. They’ve “pushed for a place among the great” and gotten it. They’ve forced their way into leadership, so when the direction they’re headed is questioned, they see it as a personal threat (instead of a suggestion for healthy growth) and become prickly and defensive. They don’t put up with new, fresh ideas. “Who are you to question my authority?” they say. “You just don’t really know what you’re talking about. When you’ve been around as long as I have…”

Followers who are demanded aren’t really followers. They’re workers. Hired hands. Slaves. And they end up frustrated, bitter, unmotivated, and underutilized.

Build relationships with those you lead. In time, you just might get an invitation to the head of the table.

Are you a leader prone to forcing your way to the table? Have you ever found yourself demanding that people follow you?

Fixers

July 6, 2010 / Ben Reed / 4 Comments

I was running the other afternoon. In southern GA. Along the beach. I’ve got my headphones in, and I’ve been running for ~1 mile. I passed somebody who was walking the other direction on the sidewalk, and she started trying to have a conversation with me. All I picked up was, “Did you know it’s hot out here?”

Nope. Had no idea.

I’ve had people ask me if I knew I had a sunburn. “You should put more sunscreen on.”

I’ve had people tell me that my child is hungry. Tired. Cold. Hot. Ready to go. Wants to stay. Isn’t happy.

I’ve met with other leaders who, the moment we sit down, want to try to diagnose my leadership woes…even though we’ve never spoken before.

Ever met those people who try to fix everything? I do.

It happens in small group, too. You know the person I’m talking about. When a request is shared, they’re they first to offer a solution…not necessarily the first to offer to pray.

And for a long time, that bothered me.

But I’ve got a different perspective to offer. I now see this “fixer” mentality as an extension of the cultural mandate (or creation mandate) given in Genesis 1:28:

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

In addition to God creating the earth, He gave man a directive: fill the earth and subdue it (this is what theologians refer to as the cultural mandate). Rule over the earth on God’s behalf. Bear the image of God by exercising dominion over the earth (just as God himself does). This involves protecting, preserving, repairing, and promoting the health and wellbeing of living things here. In short: make sure things work.

So when something is broken, it should bother us. Whether that’s our house, our pet, our landscaping, the system of government that we find ourselves in, the systems of our organizations, or relationships with others, it should grate against something innate within us when we see brokenness. Because it grates something within God himself. And we are His image-bearers. Which means that when we’re bothered by brokenness, our hearts are in alignment with our Creator.

The small group “fixer” has a heart that is beating like his Creator’s. He sees something that’s not right, and immediately says, “I don’t like that this is broken. Let’s fix it!” Maybe she doesn’t go about it the right way. Maybe he’s too brash in his desire to repair. Maybe she comes across as offensive and unhelpful. Probably their eagerness needs to be tempered with wisdom. Probably they need to exercise grace. Probably they need to be quicker to offer up prayers. Probably they should be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19).

But their hearts are in the right place. And we would do well to remember this.

Ever met a “fixer”? Are you a “fixer”?

How invested are you?

July 5, 2010 / Ben Reed / 0 Comments

Your organization has a mission, right? You’ve been a proponent of the direction that you’re headed. You’ve spoken from stage, written in emails, and shared with team members just how much you believe in the vision that God’s laid on your heart.

But how invested are you, really, in the mission and vision of your organization? To what lengths are you willing to go to carry out that vision? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to do what God’s called you to do?

Is what God’s calling you to do really worth everything you’ve got?

If it’s not worth everything, maybe you need to pray for a bigger dream.

But by the twenty-third year of Joash’s reign, the priests still had not repaired the Temple. So King Joash called for Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why haven’t you repaired the Temple? Don’t use any more money for your own needs. From now on, it must all be spent on Temple repairs.” So the priests agreed not to accept any more money from the people, and they also agreed to let others take responsibility for repairing the Temple. 2 Kings 12:6-8

Triple Threat Leadership

June 21, 2010 / Ben Reed / 2 Comments

A friend of mine, Alan Danielson (on Twitter HERE), has recently released a self-published book, Triple Threat Leadership (to read all of his posts on Triple Threat Leadership from his blog, click HERE).

Triple-Threat Leadership is written to help you understand and developing the three skills that are absolutely necessary for you to be an effective leader: casting vision, creating strategy and fostering relationships. Alan does a great job unpacking each of these leadership qualities, and works to help you implement them in your leadership roles. Included in the book is an assessment that you fill out that will help diagnose your leadership strengths and show you the weak areas you need to work on.

Instead of me giving you a rundown of the highlights of the book, I thought I’d let Alan convince you why you need to read it.

What was your driving inspiration/catalyst for this project?

Triple-Threat Leadership is a concept that’s been growing in me for many years. In my 20 years experience leading churches I’ve seen the Triple-Threat principles surface repeatedly, and over time I began to articulate what I was observing. In a sentence, Triple-Threat Leadership is based on the belief that good leaders do three things well: cast vision, create strategy, and foster relationships. I found these observations to be universal truths that applied to all leadership situations, and whenever I’ve utilized and/or shared the principles people have whole-heartedly agreed with my findings. I have a passion to help people in any and all kinds of leadership roles, so I put my thoughts on paper, created a workshop and began sharing it with clients. Finally, I’ve written the book at the urging of my friends, and clients who have learned these principles and seen them in action.

I’m sure that the readers here have lots of books on their shelf right now to read. Why should yours be the one they pick up next?

First, because everyone’s followed a bad leader at some point and hated it. No one wants to be a bad boss, manager, or volunteer leader and this book will help them avoid the pitfalls they’ve seen others fall into. Second, because it’s a concise, easy read that will affirm what people already believe about leadership, while at the same time challenging them to become even more effective leaders. Third, because it gives leaders a common vocabulary that will help them simply and accurately discuss their leadership successes and challenges. Lastly, because it will clearly expose people’s blind spots and help them know how to dramatically improve their leadership ability.

What value do you think this book has for small group pastors/leaders?

The Triple-Threat principles apply across the board, so small group pastors and leaders will immediately see how it can impact their own leadership settings. The book is not just for CEOs or Senior Pastors. It’s for anyone who is in leadership.

Some people say that, in leadership, you should work on what you’re good at, and the stuff you’re weak on…just find somebody else to do that. Yet you encourage readers to work on their weak spots, too. Why?

Great question! This book is not about shoring up all of your weak spots. This book is not about being good at all leadership skills. This book is about being good at the three most important leadership skills. Regardless of your leadership talent or personality type, all leaders need the three skills outlined in Triple-Threat Leadership. Leaders lacking one or two of the skills detailed in this book will be able to lead, to a point, but they will never reach their fullest potential.

If you’d like the chance to win a free copy of Alan’s book, either:

1. Leave a comment on this blog telling me what your favorite color is.

2. Tweet this: Check out @benreed ‘s interview w @alandanielson & his take on leadership here: http://ow.ly/219×3

If you’re not a winner, or you don’t have a favorite color, you can still get a 10% discount by using this coupon code at checkout: benreed

Category: Leadership (page 24 of 30)

The “Visitor” Treatment

Introverts, Extroverts, and small groups part 3

The end of a small group

Quit waiting

Greatness isn’t Demanded

Fixers

How invested are you?

Triple Threat Leadership

About Me

Let’s Connect

My Book

Starting Small: The Ultimate Small Group Blueprint