During the first part of the morning (on the first day actually) Hybels shared a change in schedule. CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, was supposed to speak on the second day. I think he was supposed to speak about Vision and how Starbucks has done well to stick to their vision. Well apparently a group of homosexuals found out Schultz was going to be speaking at a church (they thought Willow Creek Church was anti-gay, my, how they are misinformed) and so they started a protest on Facebook asking people to boycott Starbucks. After meeting with the Summit leadership, including Bill Hybels, Schultz was released of his contract to speak and didn't show. Hybels and his team immediately pursued those who started to the boycott so they could sit down and discuss Willow Creek's ACTUAL view on homosexuality. I'll let the reader make their own opinion about Schultz but having watched how Bill Hybels handled the situation was encouraging. Here is a video clip of the situation.
After Rhee shared we went to lunch and came back to Dr. Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist, speaking on The Evil, The Foolish, The Wise. Essentially saying, "you cannot deal with every person the same." Seems easy right?
*The wise person is someone who changes when faced with changed. They make sure they are the match for the situation, are good with feedback, stay challenged.
*The fools try to change the truth, instead of changing themselves to go along with it. They will generally shoot the messenger, minimize and externalize the situation. They are usually angry people who take no ownership.
*The evil person is bent on destruction. They want to inflict pain and will usually involve lawyers, guns, and money in trying to "solve" any situation. These people, Cloud said, need to be removed because they will attempt to destroy any vision or step of progress that is trying to be made and they WILL bring others down with them.
*I liked one of his opening statements: "God has called you to be a steward over a vision. To change something. Are you going to allow difficult people to prevent you from carrying it out?"
*When looking for people to be your support in your vision you should ask yourself, "What does a person do when the truth or reality comes to them?" Are they wise, foolish, or evil?
Again, "Don't let someone's character problem stop you from carrying out the mission God has called you to. Which reminds me of Paul and Barnabas splitting up. Not that they weren't both effective, but they knew their visions were different at a certain point of what God wanted them to do and they had the maturity to split. Unfortunately, I know not all people will handle things as maturely.
John Dickson, senior minister at St. Andrews Anglican Church in Sydney spoke on Humility. It was an interesting topic with a different twist. Dickson is a senior research fellow in the Department of Ancient History at a local university so his study on humility went far back into the ancient civilizations. One cool note and story he shared was of being in a band in his early years and getting to meet Bono. Him and a friend snuck in to the hotel where U2 was staying and were able to meet the band. It was a great story. Here are a few points on his talk of Humility.
*Humility does NOT mean Humiliation or Low Self-esteem.
*It IS to hold power in the service of others.
1. Humility is common sense. None of us is an expert at everything (although we try to be...or I try to be sometimes). Expertise in one area counts for very little in another.
2. Humility is beautiful. We are more attracted tot hose are who humble. Mark 10:43, Philippians 2:3-8
3. Humility is generative. it's a place of learning and growth.
4. Humility is persuasive. Ethos - Character, is central to persuasion
5. Humility is inspiring. It makes people think they can be just like the "great" (This is where his story of meeting Bono came. Bono had enough humility to meet with Dickson and his friend when he didn't have to, so Dickson had a sense like he could become great like Bono)
Since Schultz couldn't make it, his stand-in was Patrick Lencioni. President and found of The Table Group, which does consulting for businesses. He spoke on vulnerability which I felt tied in nicely with Humility. He had a lot of great stories about meeting with CEO's and other leaders of companies who were unwilling to be vulnerable and the impact it had on their employees.
*Vulnerability means you're open to attack.
*There are usually 3 fears of being vulnerable:
1. Fear of losing the business or fear of rejection -- Enter the danger, speak the kind truth (we won't always be successful)
2. Fear of being embarrassed -- Ask questions, are you looking out for their (employees) best interest? Celebrate our mistakes. He shared a short story about a woman farting in a large group meeting and trying to ignore it. If she would have acknowledged it everyone would have had a good laugh and moved on, but as she ignored it, it grew more awkward. It was a funny story.
3. Fear of feeling inferior -- Show people you are willing to do what you ask them to do. You won't always be rewarded. Honor your clients work.
*Being vulnerable breeds trust, loyalty, and commitment.
Last, but certainly not least, Erwin McManus. Erwin has written many books and is the pastor of Mosaic church in California, among other things. A lot of his books could be considered "post-modern," if you believe that term to exist. He has a new way of thinking about things that is often right along with the newer generations. His topic was "Chasing Daylight" or seize the day!
*One of the greatest challenges as a Christian is to change how we do relationships.
*Looking at Ecclesiastes 1, "There is nothing new under the sun..." this phrase is killing the church. People are not looking for things to do better.
*Why do we wait for someone else to create the future? (sound similar to another speaker's topics?) Become cultivators of human talent (Acts 7)
*There is no ordinary person born but most of us all painfully, tragically die ordinary.
*What is spiritual leadership if we do not set the human spirit free?
*The church needs to reclaim it's place as the epicenter of creativity
*It's not that hard to bring people to Jesus by telling stories.
And there it is. My final summary of the leadership speakers. While I know this is dragged out for those reading, it's been nice to go through my notes a few weeks afterward and review some golden nuggets I took away. Each person, though not all Christian, seemed to have a pretty God-centered message. Yes, there were times where the content was more business related but still those principles can be implemented in other areas.
If you've never gone to a Leadership Summit before, you NEED to go next year. Yes, I said NEED TO.
It's already scheduled, August 9 & 10 2012.
1 comment:
I would agree that The Summit is a MUST attend event for everyone.
The thing that really gave me pause was McManus' statement that you reiterated: "The church needs to reclaim it's place as the epicenter of creativity."
For so long, the Church was the leader in all things artistic - music performance and composition, poetry, writing, painting, architecture, etc. Somewhere along the way, we began to follow and copy. It seems that "we" feel that we need to have a "Christian" version of everything (which I know you've addressed on other posts) when we should be at the forefront of all things new.
It just makes me so sad. As you've pondered in your post "Christian Symbolism," its as though God's story is oozing from all things, but we need to create the vehicles for His person to do more than ooze. And we need to do it in a culturally relevant, attractive, creative way.
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