I told a few people I'd blog about the conference so they could read about what happened there. I'll do my best but I can tell you there is no way I'll be even close to sharing the passion, the motivation, the inspiration, the wisdom, humor and ideas as well as experiencing it in person. PLEASE, if you were even remotely interested in attending this year and made an excuse not to....do it next year! The date is already set August 9-10, 2012. It's not just for leaders it's for people who are looking to grow and be challenged.
A brief background of the conference. It is put on by Willow Creek Church in Chicago. I might have just lost some readers there who are thinking it's solely a Christian conference. IT'S NOT!!! They have people of all areas who speak and the ideas shared can be applied to any situation in life. Sure there are a lot of things incorporated which are Christian, but certainly there is something for all to learn. It is put on in Chicago and then is simulcasted across the US and many other countries.
Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek Church and author of several popular mainstream books opened with an introduction and spoke during the first session. He spoke a lot on leading people. He gave several ideas on how to rate people in your company or organization as well as how things are going. 5 questions were presented to the audience.
#1 What is your current challenge level? For example on a line graph split into thirds, one area representing being under-challenged, another being appropriately challenged, and finally another being dangerously over-challenged. Hybels stated there is a lot of research showing people who are just over the appropriate range in the dangerously over-challenged are the most productive and most motivated. Any other area on the line is dangerous. If you are not challenged you will atrophy, if you are appropriately challenged you become too comfortable, similarly if you are too far in the dangerously over-challenged area you will burn out and lose passion.
#2 What is your plan to deal with challenging people? What stuck out to me in this topic was challenging doesn't have to mean they are bad at what they do. In fact they might be great assets to the company but what happens if the company goes in a direction that doesn't is beyond that persons capacity? How will you let them go?
#3 Are you naming, facing, and resolving the problems that exist? His examples came from Acts 2-4 and 6. Read it.
#4 Are you clear about your core values, missions, visions? Hybels shared his staff is working to define the central gospel of Christianity in 5 words to refocus. The same can be done for any organization or company.
#5 Have you had your bell rung recently? Have you had an experience or heard some new nuggets of information that has rocked your world? You need to be constantly looking to improve. Humble yourself to learn from other leaders.
Final thought: You have to believe God will move you from here to there.
Len Schelsinger, president of Babson college (focused on entrepreneurship) among other accomplishments spoke on taking action. I saw an outline for his session beforehand and was excited to hear him speak. I hope to purchase his book called Action Trumps Everything because I strongly believe as a church we need to be doing more acting and less talking or watching.
Here are a few key ideas I took away from his session:
* You have to identify what is unacceptable about "here" to get people to move to "there."
*Believe in the future by creating it first!
*If you can't predict the future...act! Create it
*What would you do if you were Indiana Jones and you fell into a dark hole? Take small steps with what you've got on hand. What do you care about? Stop worrying about what you want to do and start thinking about the next steps.
*Failure doesn't mean game over, it means try again with experience. Quite likely you learned something else nobody knows through your failure.
1. Know what you want
2. Start with the means you have at hand
3. Observe and reflect on what you learned from each step
4. Take steps based on what you can afford to lose
5. Bring other people with you for support
Honorable Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He has a documentary about what he's been doing in Newark called Street Fight.
His session was more motivational. He shared various experiences and stories of working in impoverished neighborhoods full of gang wars, drug dealers, and high rates of crime.
A few key thoughts:
*The only way to bring about change is to do it myself
* Who you ARE speaks so loudly I can't hear a single thing you say.
* In life you can either accept situations as they are and do nothing or you can accept responsibility to change it.
*Are we evidencing our truth?
Simple thoughts, but thoughts that are often forgotten.
Ok, I think that's enough for tonight. There were still 3 other speakers who shared on the first day. All were equally as inspiring. It might take me all weekend to share. ;) Get comfy!
I feel like I learned a lot of good information when working in groups and motivating others. Mostly I was motivated myself to pursue things I want to pursue. To not be afraid of failing and to TRULY believe God will work for me and through me.
Really, you need to go to one of these things.
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