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The Language of Leadership

February 22, 2012 in Bill Hybels, Leadership, Membership with 0 Comments

“Words matter. And giving people language with which they can express the values of a culture is about 50% of what it takes to build a culture. So, the choice of words that you want to mainstream in your culture is exceedingly important.” – Bill Hybels

A healthy organization and/or self can dissipate because of the misuse and lack of intention with words. Within an age of constant emails, tweets, media, and—yes—blog posts, leaders must find a way to break through the noise to clarify vision and inspire those we lead. But this takes hard work. In attempting to elevate the value of what pastors lead emerged the phrase “the local church is the hope of the world.” This has become the rallying cry of a movement.

This month’s Defining Moments focuses on the power of words. Focused primarily on those who preach regularly, Bill also spends time talking about the seemingly insignificant communication moments that we have as leaders such as announcements. I would also extend this to tweets, Facebook statuses, or comments made in meetings throughout our culture.

Paul urged the church at Ephesus to not just hold back negative words, but to leverage them for the task of inspiration and serving those we lead (4:29). So, as Richard Allen Farmer challenges, how are you doing with the words you use as a leader?

Defining Moments is available exclusively for WCA Members to watch here.

We suggest you watch listen to this month’s episode, watch it with your team, and then schedule some time to discuss it together.

Individual Reflection Questions

  • How much time do you currently spend on sermon preparation versus your other leadership responsibilities?
  • What impacts this balance in any given week?
  • What mix of people currently provide feedback on your talks (solicited or not to which you listen)? (For instance, Bill mentioned having someone who checks his theology, another who gives him feedback on his logic, a business leader who tells him whether its accessible, and people from different genders and cultural backgrounds.)
  • Thinking about your next talk, what do you want people to know and what do you want them to do?
  • Can you tweet the main idea of your next talk?

    • Team Discussion Questions

    We encourage you to get together with all the communicators in your organization (student ministry leaders, teaching team, and even those who do announcements, etc.) and discuss a few questions:

  • Spend some time describing the process you’ve used in developing your best talks.
  • What words or phrases are common in your environment? (repeated often, most memorable, part of your church’s brand, etc.)
  • Thinking about your next sermon, what do you want people to know and what do you want them to do?
  • How does your team provide feedback to each other or filter the feedback you already receive?
  • Write out, word-for-word, a couple sentences you would deliver in an upcoming talk, presentation, or announcement. Then spend some time brainstorming five different ways to say the same thing.

    • By Andy Cook (@WCAAndy),
    Willow Creek Association
    Events and Church Relations

    Getting Ready to Cast Vision

    December 14, 2011 in Leadership, Membership with 0 Comments


    For church leaders, the next two weeks will be focused on Christmas services. No other holiday brings as many spiritual seekers through church doors who might be open to the transformative hope we celebrate. However, when the dust settles and the advent wreaths have been put away, most leaders will quickly shift their focus towards vision.

    In this month’s Defining Moments (a benefit WCA member churches), Bill Hybels and Jim Mellado revisit a classic Summit talk, “Making Vision Stick” by Andy Stanley. Andy explains three ingredients of effective vision casting:

      1. Define the problem. What problem is my organization designed to solve? If we don’t do what we do, then what doesn’t get done?

      2. Offer a solution. Your vision is the solution to a problem.

      3. Present them with a reason. Why must we do this? Why must we do it now?

    The new year brings an incredible opportunity to refresh a church’s vision. Similar to the U.S. President’s “State of the Union,” this is a dedicated time for pastors to breathe new life into their church’s calling and help people focus on what matters most. Around Willow, it has been the launch of new dreams and seismic shifts. At its core, the vision has never changed—to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Christ—yet this has been the occasion to reaffirm that calling with new language and strategies. (Here’s a link to a recent vision talk by Bill Hybels.)

    As you prepare to cast vision, here are some questions to consider on your own:

      1. What is my church’s vision? What is stamped into the proverbial cornerstone as to why it exists?
      2. Does that still resonate in me as a leader? Do I still get excited about that vision?
      3. How do I breathe new life into that vision for myself and my church?
      4. In what ways is my church living out that vision right now? If people were to look at our church from the outside, would they guess that we’re all about that vision?
      5. What are the settings in which I need to be sharing vision within the next three weeks?

    Then, after watching this month’s Defining Moments, here are a few questions to talk about as a team:

      1. Rapid-fire, have each person share the vision of your church in a brief sentence.
      2. Now, have everybody rephrase your vision to be more personal or compelling for them personally.
      3. Where are the areas in which you have sensed vision “drift” in your church?
      4. Share some stories of times in which you feel you’ve most lived out your vision as a church.

    So, how about you? What vision will you be casting in a few weeks? How are you breathing new life into your church’s vision?

    By: Andy Cook (@WCA_AndyCook)
    Customer Experience Team Leader
    Willow Creek Association

    Thanks.

    November 16, 2011 in Membership, Resources with 0 Comments


    Now through Christmas we are making thousands of resources available to our members for $1 each (with free shipping). The list contains over 130 different books, DVDs, and resources, including:

      - Classic Summit Team Editions

      - Group Life resources to help train your leaders like Seeker Small Groups and Walking the Small Group Tightrope

      - Children’s ministry tools like Words Kids Need to Hear and teaching tools

      - Resources to help people in their journey towards faith including The Case for the Real Jesus

    We invite you to order as many as you can use to help bless your team as we make room for some outstanding new resources we’re developing for 2012.

    As we approach this holiday season, we want to say thanks to our friends, the members of the Willow Creek Association and help you honor and thank the members of your team. Together, we have had an incredible year where God did more than we could have ever asked or imagined—

      - A record-setting number of leaders gathered to experience The Global Leadership Summit in the U.S., creating so many leader-changing moments.

      - Globally, we’ve seen leaders respond to God’s work in hundreds of cities and cultures, unifying leaders across denomination, color, and income.

      - We’ve launched innovations like Engage, the Transformation Intensive, and our e-learning program LIFT, designed to help churches address their most important challenge—spiritual growth.

    Along the way, hundreds of churches have joined together with us share our core belief that the local church is, in fact, the hope of the world.

    It is our honor to serve and bless you.

    Andy Cook (@WCA_AndyCook)
    Director of Member Experience
    Willow Creek Association

    The Leader’s Inner World [Defining Moments]

    November 9, 2011 in Leadership, Membership with 0 Comments


    How is your inner world? This month’s Defining Moments was strategically selected to help you prepare for the busy ministry season ahead. Bill Hybels and Jim Mellado revisit Wayne Cordiero’s classic Summit talk “Dead Leader Running” (which we posted in its entirety earlier this week). Following a brief excerpt from the talk, Bill and Jim respond to the topic, identifying the sources of burnout and the questions that leaders must address in creating a replenishment strategy. (WCA Members, click here to watch this month’s Defining Moments.)

    During the clip, Wayne draws the picture of a tank, with a drain at the bottom. He then encourages us to identify what fills our tanks and what drains us. For him, he is filled by sports, riding his motorcylcle, paddling in the ocean, reading, doing devotions, and traveling with his wife. He’s drained by too much counseling, unresolved problems at home or with his staff, overtaxed schedule, or an inability to say no. These are different for everybody, but Wayne encourages us all to know what is filling our tanks and make sure it outweighs the time we spend draining them.

    We encourage you to spend 40 minutes listening to this month’s episode (or watch Wayne’s Summit talk) on your own and reflect on these questions:

      1. Do you like who you’re becoming? Why?

      2. Identify what fills your tank. As you think about your last couple weeks, when did you most feel alive? What were you doing? Where were you doing it? Who were you with?

      3. What is your replenishment strategy right now? How do you need to innovate your replenishment strategy based on your current season of life?

      4. Do you agree with Bill’s concern that email can put a leader on the defensive too much? Are you spending more time in “move ahead” or defensive mode?

      5. What is your daily replenishment strategy? Are you so depeleted in one day that you can’t start tomorrow at zero? Weekly? Monthly? Annually?

    Then, we encourage you to watch the video with your team and discuss:

      1. Describe your best moment you’ve had this week. What were you doing? Where were you doing it? Who were you with?

      2. What drains you and what fills your tank these days?

      3. In what ways does working in your organization support your sustainability?

      4. How does your team culture support your personal sustainability? Do you support each other’s days off or interrupt? Do you know what activities fill/drain each other?

      5. What are your replenishment strategies?

    Every year at the Summit, by design, we challenge leaders to tune into their souls. Internally, we call it the heart session. We believe in leadership that is fueled by a sustainable, healthy soul.

    How about you? How do you sustain a healthy soul behind your leadership? What does your replenishment strategy look like? What fills and drains you?

    By: Andy Cook (@wca_andycook)
    WCA Membership Experience Leader
    Church Planter

    Do You Like Who You’re Becoming?

    November 8, 2011 in Leadership, Membership with 3 Comments


    The holidays are an incredible time to lead in a church. Innovative services get planned, new people join us, volunteers celebrate, and teams get refocused on the simple miracle of God’s choice to be “with us.” Yet, it can also be an exhausting time when families can get stressed, hours get long, and we get busy (er, busier). So, how do you know when you’re burning out?

    The team at the WCA is focusing this month’s content, webcasts, blog posts, and defining moments on the issue of sustainability. You know it and we see it when we interact with leaders, avoiding burnout is a huge topic.

    During this month’s Defining Moments, Bill Hybels identified three symptoms of when he’s starting to burn out:

      1. Irritability. Are small things causing a disproportionate reaction in you? For instance, does a minor inconvenience at home set you off? If someone is late for a meeting, does it bother you a little too much?

      2. Resentment. When we are under too much stress, we sometimes feel a kind of resentment for others who aren’t under the same pressure. Does it bother you to hear other people talking about a recent vacation or taking a break?

      3. Escapism. Do you find yourself looking for a way out? Bill gave the example of times when he’s thought about not bringing his boat back to shore.

    In Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Pete Scazzero helped to identify three more:

      4. Hiding behind God talk. Am I using spiritual language to deflect any spotlight on my inner cracks and becoming defensive about my failures? If a friend asked me how I’m doing, how would I react?

      5. Doing for God instead of being with God. Are you substituting times of reflection and personal devotions or skimming on those times to get more done for God?

      6. Mishandling disagreements. Are you talking behind people’s backs, blaming, using sarcasm (or even resent the question)? Are you leaking anger, avoiding, or withdrawing?

    It’s never fun to ask ourselves these questions, but they can be early warning signs of bigger things to come as the stress and hours get harder in the coming season. If you’re like me, you need several of the experiences we’ve designed to address the issue of sustainability this month:

    Earlier this week, we posted the full version of “Dead Leader Running” a classic Summit talk delivered by Wayne Cordeiro in which he challenged all of us to identify what fills and drains our tanks.

    Then, during this month’s Defining Moments, we’ve taken an excerpt from Wayne’s talk and asked Bill Hybels to respond and identify the symptoms of burn out and develop a replenishment strategy.

    Next week, we’ve invited Rick Gannon to lead a webcast for your team to view together. Called Guarding Rythms in a Busy Season,it will help us all prepare for the road ahead. Our speaker, Rick Gannon, is one of the leader’s I most respect because he has built a phenomenal church without losing his soul. I’ve had the honor of interacting with his team in several settings and they are each marked by the kind of Christ-centered leadership to which we all aspire.

    Whether you watch, tune in, or just spend some time journaling on this topic, we hope you’ll commit to replenishing your soul this season.

    What are your symptoms that you’re burning out? How do you know?

    By: Andy Cook (@wca_andycook)
    WCA Membership Experience Leader
    Church Planter

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