Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands

16. Feb, 2010 0 Comments

I recently began studying this book with some ambitious leaders at Oak Hills Church. We launched into the first two chapters last week with insightful discussions centered on creating culture and not just systems, the power of hope, and engaging others in the dialogue of learning. I am pumped about all we will learn together as we dig into this book.

It would be challenging to list all the great ideas conveyed in this book but here are the ones that stood out to me:

To lead well we must possess the strong belief that our best days are ahead of us, always ahead of us. Hope and leadership are inexorably linked… Sometimes the gift of hope is about believing in others before they can even see it in themselves.
Vision is about stirring and provoking, reminding and imagining. It’s about showing people the wonder of an improved future and infusing them with hope. Vision is abour creating a reason to believe again.
Good leaders create momentum not just in the execution of the vision, but in the discussions leading up to the vision.
Strategy gives us the potential to move our organizations from having a soft, benign presence in the community to being unstoppable forces in our world.
Great leaders push themselves to understand the unique and valuable contributions of everyone on the team.
Much of the frustrations that leaders face comes from trying to solve what needs to be managed and trying to manage what needs to be solved. Solving problems is much easier and more static. But managing tensions requires that you hold things open when what you would much prefer is closure; it is living in the foggy gray areas when what y ou want is clear black and white.
Leadership is the promise of development. Whether it is stated or not, inherent in great leadership is the promise that as a result of being led by me, you will emerge more connected in your relationship to God and stronger in your gifted areas.
Leaders who are appropriately connected to the reality of their brokenness and the gift fo God’s forgiveness are able to easily utter the words that build community: “I’m sorry.” Great leaders say it authentically and often.
Good leaders teach their teams to think. One of the strongest response a leader can use is this: “I don’t know; what do you think?”
…leaders respond from a position of wanting to gather information and trying to understand. Whether it is negative feedback, a missed opportunity, or the future direction of the organization, this leader is interested and inquisitive, wondering not if this will be solved, but how.