Month: May 2017

740 Young Leaders Attend the GLS in Indonesia

Posted on May 10, 2017 by - Asia, Because of the GLS, Stories

In February 2017, 740 young leaders joined the youth edition of the GLS in Bandung, Indonesia. The energy in the room was palpable as everyone engaged with the content. It’s exciting to see young leaders be so impacted and empowered by the GLS as they discover how to bring positive change and influence into their communities, not just for the future, but here and now.

Thank you to those who prayed and supported the Youth GLS event in Indonesia!

Here are just a few of the encouraging comments we heard from attendees:

 To have a meaningful life, leadership within God’s principle is necessary.

This event helped me break my limitations. I have a new perspective on leading people. Diving into the details of the video content made me realize there is still more to be done in my life. To have a meaningful life, leadership within God’s principle is necessary. I hope there are more GLS events in the future.—Reinald Nathaniel, Youth GLS attendee, Indonesia

 

Can I really be a good influence to others?

The GLS was a turning point for me. It definitely strengthened every part of my life. I am a leader, but deep inside, I have felt doubt. I feel so insecure about my ability to lead, and sometimes I keep questioning, can I really be a good influence on others? My doubts come from various factors, one of them being intimidation and the idea that spiritual matters are highly individual in my culture. I admit, I’ve been scared to be a spiritual influence in the lives of others. I fear being an annoying person. But, during Craig Groeschel’s session, I learned about the 5 C’s necessary to become a great leader. I’m working on my confidence because I want to be a good influence.—Youth GLS attendee, Indonesia

If God has chosen you, then He alone will provide all you need.

I still remember when Craig said, “If God has chosen you, then He alone will provide all you need.” That was my turning-point moment. What can I do when God chooses me? I believe God is never wrong. From that moment on, I longer doubt God. I am confidently stepping out and trying to believe that under any circumstances I lead, the Lord himself will provide all the capacity and skills I need. He himself will allow me to influence others and create more leaders. If the Lord chose me without doubt, there is no longer any reason for me to doubt myself. I know who is in control of my life and my leadership.—Grace Christa, Youth GLS attendee, Indonesia

A leader is not determined by his position, but by his influence.

Being a leader of an organization was always a daunting role for me. I was always afraid that I couldn’t communicate well enough to my team. So I signed up for the Youth Global Leadership Summit, hoping to improve my leadership skills. But I left with vastly more than that. I learned a lot of new things and gained perspective I should have as a leader. A leader is not determined by his position, but by his influence.—Youth GLS attendee, Indonesia

I can’t speak highly enough about how much value you can get from this experience!

The GLS wasn’t just about learning something new. The main benefits came from discussing, receiving feedback, and interacting with the other participants. I am now able to share my thoughts better with the team. The Youth Global Leadership Summit inspired me so much. I can’t speak highly enough about how much value you can get from this experience!—Jaklyn Rahardjo, Youth GLS attendee, Indonesia

 

Thank you again for praying and supporting the GLS in Indonesia. Your thread of influence extends farther than you realize.

 

To learn more about the GLS, go to www.willowcreek.com/summit.

Adding Value to People in a Millennial World

Posted on May 9, 2017 by - Articles, Character, Diversity, Leading Others, Servant Leadership

Each day, a greater number of millennials are filling roles of influence in work places, communities, government and churches.

As more young people step into leadership, we must ask the question, “What motivates the millennial leader?”

Millennials live in an era of constant snapchat communication, daily life-style vlogs, reality television and Facebook Live. Our world is consumed with a desire to capture every experience so it may be recorded, shared, watched and liked by the masses.

Where does this desperate need for our lives to be documented publicly come from? And is this millennial mentality beginning to seep into every age group and culture?

In Time magazine’s article Millennials: The ME ME ME Generation, author Joel Stein shares statistics revealing the root of our social, live-streaming, snapchat generation.

“The incidence of narcissistic personality disorder is nearly three times as high for people in their 20s as for the generation that’s now 65 or older, according to the National Institutes of Health; 58% more college students scored higher on a narcissism scale in 2009 than in 1982. Millennials got so many participation trophies growing up that a recent study showed 40% believe they should be promoted every two years, regardless of performance.”

We live in a world shaped by narcissism and entitlement.

In fact, narcissism is so tightly woven into the fabric of our culture, it is often disguised as positive aspirations. We are inundated with quotes such as, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” “Believe in yourself.” “You can do anything you put your mind to.”

At some point, leaders of every age must take a step back and ask the hard question, “Have I accidentally reoriented my leadership around achieving MY dreams, believing in MYSELF, or promoting MY agenda?”

In order to break free, we must redefine leadership for ourselves, embarking on the adventure of recreating our role as leaders from the inside out.

No leader has ever flipped a societal norm on its head as well as Jesus Christ, Himself. Shuffling through Scripture, we are forced to confront the truth that Jesus Christ was anything but the leader the world expected Him to be.

Prophesies foretold a coming King who would overthrow the Roman Empire and rescue the people of Israel. However, the cry of a newborn infant was not the battle cry the Israelites had hoped for or expected.

In the matter of a moment, leadership was redefined forever as Jesus came to earth in a posture of humility and love, communicating a truth: Jesus came to serve, not to be served. (Matthew 20:28)

Hence, the paradox of leadership. Is leadership a platform with which to gain fame, fortune, respect and admiration? Or, taking a cue from the author of leadership, is it a grand calling for every leader to add value to the lives of the people they serve?

As a millennial leader, the calling of servant leadership challenges the shadow motivation behind my social, livestreaming, shareable, networking leadership.

If we truly want to embrace a selfless leadership that exists ONLY to add value to the lives of the people, there are three steps we can take today.

1) Reveal

It is never easy to admit the selfish ambition that lurks behind our leadership. In order to reorient our leadership, we must begin by admitting the narcissism, however small, that still exists in our heart. Admit it to yourself and talk about it with a trusted friend or mentor. Granting yourself permission to be weak often leads to greater strength.

2) Replace

Our behavior rarely changes unless we replace it with something else. It is not enough to simply hope our self-centered motives will fade away by telling ourselves, “Don’t be narcissistic.” Rather, we must give ourselves a fresh and focused calling for our leadership. Here is one to try on for size: Add value to people. Add value to their lives. Add value to their stories. Add value

to their families. Add value to their work. Add value to their communities. This is a high leadership calling you can aspire to.

3) Resolve

I recently met with the pastor of a growing church in the suburbs of Chicago. As we talked about the highs and lows of leadership, I asked him, “What is the single most important quality of a great leader?” Without a second thought he responded, “Add value to your people every day.” It doesn’t always have to be some great feat or grand gesture. Rather, he resolved to be faithful in taking a simple step of obedience in the way he loved his people.

This is leadership that truly matters.

TOP 5 Countdown: Reasons You Don’t Want to Miss #GLS17

Posted on May 8, 2017 by - News & Updates, North America, The Global Leadership Summit

The Global Leadership Summit 2017, taking place Thursday-Friday, August 10-11, is ramping up to be one of our best ever for so many reasons! You are invited to join 400,000 of your peers to learn how to maximize your leadership during two days of world-class leadership training. Also, don’t forget, you’ll save $20 when you register by May 23.

Not sure if you’re ready to take the plunge?

Here are the top 5 reasons you don’t want to miss #GLS17…

#5. Experience the highest-profile, most diverse faculty of any leadership event, anywhere.

GLS17 will feature 13 world-class leaders from well-respected companies and organizations, including Facebook, Google, International Justice Mission, Camping World, Equal Justice Initiative and more. Regardless of where you lead, the diverse variety of faculty is sure to offer you a unique blend of vision, inspiration and practical skills you can immediately apply. Watch the speaker announcement video below or see the full faculty lineup here.

#4. Leading isn’t always easy. Sometimes we need a good laugh, right?

Comedian, Michael Jr. is back! Check out this behind-the-scenes video from GLS15 to see what you have to look forward to at GLS17!

Hailed as one of today’s most gifted comedians, Michael Jr.’s television appearances include The Tonight Show, The Late, Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live. You can also find him at some of the most prestigious comedy clubs, including The Improv and The Laugh Factory. A Summit favorite, Michael Jr. regularly performs at corporate events and churches across the country inspiring audiences with his unique brand of humor.

#3. Your involvement supports courageous leaders with global impact.

Beyond the US event, the Summit will be experienced at more than 775 sites in 128 countries and translated into 60 languages. The Global Leadership Summit is the world’s largest leadership event. Much of the proceeds from the US Summit help to equip leaders in under-resourced regions to attend the Summit in their own community. Learn more about the global movement by watching this short video:

#2. Your leadership outcomes will improve.

 The independent research firm Excellence in Giving says that investing in the Summit is one of the most fruitful investments you can make in your leadership. Here are a few of the findings from the conducted research:

#1. Network with like-minded local leaders to impact your community.

With 600+ Summit host sites to choose from and an expected 160,000+ attendees across the United States, the Summit is more than an event—it is a catalyst for change and a resource to be leveraged for church and community impact. It is the kick-off for a year-round leadership development process to help Christians grow their leadership.

The Summit is the perfect opportunity to network with leaders from your community, and you’ll save on travel time and costs because the average person is only 20 minutes from a Summit host site. Unite with your local peers in transforming your community through The Global Leadership Summit.

 

Register today to attend The Global Leadership Summit 2017, taking place August 10-11, at one of 600+ Premier Host Sites across the United States!

6 Leadership Principles that Change an Organization

Posted on May 8, 2017 by - Because of the GLS, Business, Culture, Learning Agility, North America, Stories, Vision

With 25 years of experience in building and leading an organization together, and several years of prior executive leadership experience, Mark and Dreama Waldrop of Therapy Management Corporation (TMC) have learned a lot about how to lead an effective organization.

“I’ve been most inspired by the role I get to play in leading and mentoring our leadership team to be more effective, authentic leaders–leaders our teams choose to follow and are not forced to follow.”—Dreama Waldrop

“Dreama’s dedication as a clinician and leader ensures that TMC’s vision is embraced throughout our organization,” Mark Waldrop explains. “She works closely with our leadership team to anticipate and prepare for changes in the industry that will impact our clients, patients, employees and company. Furthermore, her devotion to a company culture of ‘giving back’ has resulted in the majority of our staff participating together in giving back to the community financially and through volunteer work.”

Prior to co-founding TMC with his wife, Mark was the executive vice president of operations for a chain of 56 skilled nursing facilities throughout nine states. Mark uses his unique expertise and provider-side perspective to guide TMC in delivering service excellence to their clients.

Over the years, Mark and Dreama have applied many leadership principles to their organization, which make them stronger, including several they learned by attending The Global Leadership Summit.

But the six principles that stand out most are Find your “Hedgehog”, Focus on Vision, Incorporate Faith, Build a Healthy Culture, Give Back and Keep Learning.

1. Find your “Hedgehog” (Jim Collins)


In 2005, Mark and Dreama had no idea how the foundations of their company would be changed after reading the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins with their core senior leadership team. As a result, the leadership culture of their company changed for the better. They began implementing many of the key principles from his book, including the concept of the “hedgehog” business principle, which continues to shape the infrastructure of the organization. A “hedgehog committee” was created to drive their decision making.

Essentially, the hedgehog concept in business is a deep understanding of the intersection between what you can be the best at in the world, what drives your economic engine and what you are deeply passionate about. (Read more about Jim Collin’s hedgehog concept here.)

 

2. Focus on your Vision 

“The first session that changed the trajectory of our company was listening to the talk about moving our teams From Here to There,” Dreama says. In this talk, we discussed how leading from here to there involves understanding five major leadership foundations:

  • The power of vision
  • The toughest person you’ll lead (yourself)
  • Mastering 360-degree leadership (others)
  • Building a fantastic culture
  • Pursuing your unique calling

“I totally embraced what he said and we worked hard to accomplish this as an organization,” Dreama shares. “This idea has helped us be more focused on our vision and create processes to identify and correct obstacles along the way. As a result, we have seen consistent growth in our company.

“Now we embrace the courage to give glory and credit to God more publicly through our mission and vision, and not just internally. And we are constantly improving on executing our vision to make a positive difference in the lives of those we serve.

 

3. Incorporate Faith

Faith was always an important part of Mark and Dreama’s personal life, but it wasn’t until they began embracing faith as a way to lead their company that they began to see even more growth. Attending the Summit as a team had a big impact on them, and they began to incorporate faith into their vision and mission, giving God the glory for their direction. Two major things changed in their company—they embraced a culture of prayer, and they became a “give back” organization.

  • They embrace a culture of prayer. They pray and request prayer more openly, as well as invest in not just the professional growth of the staff, but also their personal growth. God whispered to them to start a prayer team as well as Bible study groups for their teams. Embracing faith internally as a company created a safe way to get a deeper understanding on what the field was thinking and feeling. As a result, they decided to take a leap of faith and be open to the public about being a faith-led organization. They not only pray as a staff, but also for their customers. This year, they added a prayer request option on their website.
  • They became a “give back” organization. God whispered to them to start a non-profit arm of their organization called Together Making Changes, establishing “giving back” a core value, not just an initiative.

 

4. Build a Healthy Culture (Patrick Lencioni)

A big step in building the infrastructure of an organization starts with a healthy culture. Patrick Lencioni’s Summit sessions as well as his books, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage were instrumental in helping TMC improve their culture.

“We worked for over two years to implement all of the human systems he spoke about in The Advantage, as well as the principles in his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team to ensure we were a healthy team first and foremost.

“As a result, we began implementing of the tactical meetings, focusing on clarity of communication and reinforcing our vision and mission.”

 

5. Give Back

As mentioned in point three about incorporating faith into their organization, giving back became key in their overall health and culture. In 2012, they started a non-profit called Together Making Changes. Today, almost their entire staff contributes through payroll deductions so they can give back to local charities in their community.

To date, they’ve been able to give away almost $400,000! Not only do they give financially as a team, they also donated a total of 4,353 volunteer hours.

“To us, one of the most rewarding aspects of running a faith-based business is the opportunity it provides to give back to others in need. We created Together Making Changes precisely for this purpose,” Dreama shares. “I’m most proud of our teams for their commitment to ‘giving back’ and helping others.”

The mission—to serve as the catalyst for passionate people to enrich the lives of those we touch in the communities we serve.

 

6. Continue Learning

“I’m most proud of the leadership team for the commitment they show to being true Level 5 leaders, understanding the importance of continuous learning, and walking the talk,” Dreama shares.

Mark and Dreama have been inviting their team to The Global Leadership Summit over the last several years, as it has been instrumental in the growth of their organization.

 

 

Do you want your organization to grow? Consider bringing your team to the Summit this year for continued learning.

 

 

68 Students Give Their Lives to Christ at the Youth GLS in Lome, Togo

Posted on May 5, 2017 by - Africa, Because of the GLS, Stories

More than 525 emerging youth leaders attended the GLS in Lome, Togo in April 2017.

Gathered for the anticipated event were several church youth groups from multiple denominations, as well as university and high school students.

The event was well received, so much so that 68 of the attendees made decisions to give their lives to Christ!

Several of the attendees mentioned that empowering and encouraging youth, was a powerful way to transform the country of Togo.

Thank you for your prayers and support for the GLS in places like Togo!

How Shipping Containers Become Homes of Hope

Posted on May 3, 2017 by - Because of the GLS, Church & Faith-Based, Latin America, Nonprofit, North America, Stories

Patrick Staggs is an engineer living in Delaware, and co-founder of a non-profit called Homes of Hope. Over the last five years, Patrick has never missed a Summit. What God spoke to him during the event in 2015 will change lives forever.

Something at the 2015 GLS did more than stir my heart.

I prayed for God to help me bring the gifts he has blessed me with in my career to do something greater for the world. 

The exact prayer I prayed was, Lord, I am so grateful for the incredible gifts you have blessed me with that have allowed me to grow in my career and provide for my family. I never want to take that for granted. I also know that you did not give me those gifts so I can just engineer aluminum cans. You HAVE to be preparing me for something GRANDER. Please use me. Smack me in the face and point me in the right direction. I am here and I am ready!

At the same time a few thousand miles away, my close friend Lance Manlove was on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic and was praying the same thing. 

As he was leaving the island, he was looking at the storage containers on the ships and an idea struck him:

What if you could convert these containers into homes that could help those in need?

We spoke with each other on the phone while I was sitting on the lawn at the Summit in South Barrington. That incredible moment sparked the beginning ideas for Homes of Hope.

When Lance came back from that trip and described his experience, the passion in his voice was so powerful I could not wait to experience it for myself. Lance and I buried ourselves in developing the models, the prototypes, working the fundraising and logistics. Once we were there and started to work with the members of the church and the community to deliver our first Home of Hope, the emotional moments really start to hit you.

Walking through these areas in the Dominican Republic you start to feel a bit overwhelmed, and somewhat hopeless for the people there. But then you start working with them, eating with them, praying with them, celebrating with them. They are such incredible people who are so faithful and hopeful in the face of incredible daily challenges. I had never seen anything like it.

Lance and I are both engineers. We are now using our engineering background to convert containers into homes.

We’ve taken this idea and developed home container “kits” that can be ordered by any church organization. These teams build it, and when they’re complete, they seal it up and we take it to the location. We designed this organization with the goal of providing a system and a model that can be duplicated globally. Our shipping container is universal and we want our formula to be as well. Lance has done an incredible job of setting the vision for Homes of Hope. And the great thing is that as we grow, it seems God keeps opening up our vision for this organization and its future.

We want to make the whole process safe, organized and easy enough so the churches can have maximum impact, and ultimately spread the love of Christ in a unique hands-on way that can affect so many people.

As a new organization, we have built two complete homes and delivered the last one to a family in the Dominican Republic. It was an experience that will change the lives of that family for generations.

I know that building one container home will not fix the poverty problem. But it will bring one family shelter and show them the love of Christ.

Doesn’t that make tomorrow better?

We are in the process of building our next project, which is a two-unit, two-story home with four apartments. These apartments will become a women’s refuge center for those facing domestic violence in the Dominican Republic.

We will install it on a mission trip a week before this year’s Summit!

The Summit has been instrumental in the foundations of Homes of Hope. I would never miss it!

How will you make tomorrow better through your influence today?