Power to Change » business

How to Cultivate Creative Leaders

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:38:50 +0000

A scenario for you. You spot a problem within your organization. How do handle it? You could call in the relevant staff members and say, “Here’s a problem. Here’s how I’d like you to fix it.” Or you could take another approach. You could gather your team and ask questions: “Do you feel like we’re successful in this area? If we wanted to excel, how could we do it? Can you think of ways we could solve this problem?”

How you approach problems as a leader has a huge impact on how your staff develops. If you take the second approach – you’re implementing a servant-empowered leadership model. You’re engaging your staff in conversations where they have the chance to analyze the problem, and then figure out the best solution. And if your people self-identify the solution, they will own it. People always push harder and sacrifice more for their own ideas. You will cultivate innovation, creativity and sacrifice in your staff.

If you go with the first approach – you tell your staff what’s wrong and how you’d like them to fix it – you’re implementing a hierarchical model of leadership. Your people will learn to do what you say. They’ll wait and take their cues from you. When a problem comes up, they’ll expect you to fix it.

Which kind of staff do you want? That’s not a rhetorical question. It’s not always an obvious choice. There are definite disadvantages to being an empowering leader. Solving a problem takes more time, for one. You have to step back and let a team take a stab at something you could probably figure out within minutes. You may also feel a lot less valued. After all, the skill of standing back and letting a creative team of people innovate isn’t one that tends to be highlighted. You don’t get to be the one with the answers.

So you need to think about it:

Do you want people who will do what you say? Or do you want people who will solve problems?

And is your approach to problem-solving developing people in the right direction?

Four Qualities I Look for in a Christian Leader

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:25:51 +0000

How do you make sure to choose great people for your leadership team? I’ve asked myself that question many times, and I always come back to the same four qualities suggested by Tim Elmore.* A candidate might have a fantastic resume, an impressive education, or decades of experience. But if I can’t answer the following four questions with a definite ‘Yes,’ then I am not going to bring them on board. I’ve focused the following four points on how I hire for a Christian ministry position, but the principles apply within a business setting too.

1. Does this person demonstrate character? “Talk about your love for Jesus,” is how I start many of my interviews with Christian ministry candidates. Sometimes I can see their eyes light up. Without that spark there, I hesitate to hire them. Add to that consistent integrity and high moral stands. You can be confident that this person will choose to do the right thing, even when it hurts, and even when no one is looking. Bottom line – this is someone you can trust.

2. Does this person live with vision? People with vision think big. They’re able to look beyond what is and imagine what could be. They also have the ability to communicate that vision, and tackle the process of how to get there. In my role as a ministry leader, I watch for signs of redemptive vision: someone who finds their deepest fulfillment in helping God redeem our broken world

3. Does this person have guts? Call it courage, or will. Someone with guts isn’t afraid to take risks or commit to a course of action. This kind of person is willing to let go of the familiar and step out into new territory, doing what others are afraid to do

4. Does this person enjoy favour? In other words, does God answer their prayers and do people follow them when they call? Is God using this person to make an impact? Is this someone I would enjoy having around? Will they inspire, build up, empower and mobilize the team? Are they appreciated by everyone from their director to their colleagues to their kids?

What about you? What do you look for in a Christian leader?

*Adapted from Tim Elmore, Authentic Influence – Leading Without Titles, Nashvile: Lifeway Press, 2000, pp. 23-32.

Be a bulldozer.

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:21:18 +0000

Sometimes colleague say to me, “Here’s my list of projects. How can I possibly get all this done?” My answer? Be a bulldozer.

Of course, there are several ways you could interpret that. A bulldozer is an incredibly powerful piece of machinery. It has the capacity to shift a huge load from point A to point B. If something is in its way, a bulldozer will simply move it. When I say, “be a bulldozer,” I don’t mean you should flatten whoever or whatever is in your path to get the job done.

Have you ever seen a bulldozer in operation? A bulldozer works at peak efficiency when its load is overflowing. Watch and you’ll see how it’s always losing a little off the sides. The bulldozer operator doesn’t bother to stop and try to scoop up the overflow. That would be an enormous waste of time.

When I say, “be a bulldozer,” I mean you shouldn’t worry about being a little overloaded. Think of it as an excellent way to make sure that you’re spending your time and energy on the most important things. When a bulldozer isn’t overflowing, it’s actually underutilizing its power. It’s the same with people. If you keep your load too light, you’re probably not using your gifts and abilities to their highest capacity.

So if your load feels a little too heavy, try to see it as a good thing – as an opportunity to maximize your potential. Focus in on your highest priorities. Yes, some tasks and projects will fall to the side. But if you’re prioritizing right, what gets dropped won’t be anything critical. If it is really important, you can always get it moving again on the next load. You may even realize that what gets dropped is a task you shouldn’t be doing anyway.

Keep in mind that even a bulldozer needs to stop and refuel, so make sure you have margins in your life for rest. And if the load is really unmanageable, you may need to ask for help. Two bulldozers are often better than one.

When Right is Wrong

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:58:53 +0000

I’m a driven individual. I’m passionate and single-minded about what I do. When I look at the organization I’m responsible to lead, I want us to be the best we can possibly be. I want us to do the right things, the right way. I like to be right.

Sometimes being right is wrong. This is a lesson I’ve learned as a leader. I can come up with an amazing idea, a great system, a brilliant solution to a problem. I can figure out the most efficient, productive way to handle a project. I can see all the flaws in how other people are coming at an issue. I can be absolutely, one hundred percent right. And still completely wrong.

Say you’ve expressed your opinion. You’re convinced it’s the right call. But the people around you aren’t so sure. They see things differently. They’d rather do it their way. You can stick to your guns, and insist that everyone adopt your proposal. You can throw logic and arguments at them until they recognize they’re mistaken. This is one time when you might be right. But you’ve alienated everyone around you. You’re on your own. You’re right, but you’re also wrong.

What I’ve learned as a leader is that being right doesn’t matter unless your relationships are right too. Does this mean you abandon your great idea? No. It means that you make relationships your highest value as you move ahead. You invite your team into the process. You let your idea be shaped by the people leading with you. Does this involve compromise? Does it require humility? Definitely. But what I’ve found is that more often than not, the people around me shape my idea into something even better. I’ve stood amazed as together, we went much further than I could have alone. It’s possible to do the right things, the right way, with relationships that are right too.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

What about you? How do you handle the tension between the need to be right and the need for healthy relationships?

How To Reach Business Leaders

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:41:28 +0000

Preston worked with a group of marketplace leaders right in his city to host a leadership fourm. These events bring Christian and non-Christians together to hear a business speaker and a Gospel message. Are you ready to mobilize business leaders in your city? We can help.

Related:
Want To Get Involved?

Is Success What Matters Most?

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:38:40 +0000

As a business person Preston has always been driven by success. When a business venture failed, Preston’s ego took a blow. He felt responsible to the other investors who lost money when the business had to be sold. He started to wonder if there was more to life than success.

Business Leaders Discover God

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:50:43 +0000

How can business leaders who have no opportunity or interest in attending church be reached with the gospel? LeaderImpact’s discovery groups are one way to engage peoples’ immediate needs (learning to be better leaders) and helping them to understand their spiritual needs as well. Tim’s recent conversations with not-yet-Christian businesspeople demonstrate the effectiveness of these groups. Would you consider becoming a part of one?

Related:
Want To Get Involved?

Mixing Ministry and Business

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:34:51 +0000

Can ministry and business co-mingle? The Great Commission is just not for Pastors and people in ministry but we are all called to share Christ with the hurting and the hopeless. How can you help in the Great Commission?

Forgiving People Who Don’t Deserve It

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:59:43 +0000

It’s hard to forgive someone when you have the resources to get even. But being able to forgive people who don’t deserve it is a key success factor for any leader. For Leonard Buhler, it’s his faith in Jesus that gives him the strength to forgive.

A Blessing So Great

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:00:54 +0000

Explore biblical giving: Take the online interactive giving study

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there will be food enough in my Temple; if you do, I will open up the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great you won’t have room enough to take it in” Malachi 3:10

Tom and Marti were newlyweds. They were just getting started in business and had all the expense of setting up housekeeping. So they found their budget severely strained. In fact, the bills were piling up. Then they were challenged to tithe their gross income. Their first response was, “Impossible! We can’t even pay our present bills, let alone take 10 percent off the top.”

As they prayed together, however, they felt definitely led that this was God’s will. Since they wanted to please Him by obeying His command, they began systematically and faithfully to give priority to their tithe. At first, it was nip and tuck, and some of the other obligations had to wait. But after a few months they were amazed to see how they were able to accomplish more with the nine – tenths than they had previously been able to accomplish with the total amount.

Now they are enthusiastic over the privilege of laying up treasures in heaven, seeking first the kingdom of God. Tithing was only the beginning. Now they are giving 40 percent off the top because God has prospered them so abundantly.

I began to tithe as a new Christian when I was made aware of the scriptural principle that everything belongs to God and we are only stewards during our brief time here on earth. Actually a tithe is the Old Testament concept and according to the New Testament concept every believer has the privilege of laying up treasures in heaven far beyond the amount of the tithe. There is a law of sowing and reaping: The more you sow, the more you reap.

To the Christian, it is not how much we give to God; it is how much we have left after we have given to Him – and to His kingdom.

Bible Reading: Malachi 3:5-9

Today’s Action Point: Today I will take inventory of my giving to the Lord. I will begin at least to tithe, expecting that God, as He promised Malachi, “will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that I won’t have room enough to take it in.