Month: June 2018

How the Summit Equips Leaders to Make Tough Decisions

Posted on June 6, 2018 by - Business, Confidence, North America, Stories, Team Building

In 2011, Paul Leverington’s career took a drastic turn. As the result of a restructure within the organization, he stepped into a culture where the entire leadership team was let go along with the turnover of 75 percent of the staff and Paul was elevated to the role of President and CEO. For such a time as this, Paul found encouragement and clarity by attending The Global Leadership Summit, which he attended for the first time just a year before he became CEO and two years after becoming a Christian.

Encouragement when you need it most

“The Summit brought me encouragement when I needed it most,” said Paul. “I felt as though the Lord was speaking directly to me through some of the speakers. The Lord used the Summit to equip my leadership for the challenges I would face in the workplace.”

Paul believes the work place is one of the greatest platforms for ministry. With this belief, he takes his role very seriously, especially when it comes to making hard decisions about the people he works with.

“Owning a business or leading a department is hard, especially as a Christian in the world we live in today,” says Paul. “You have to be bold and courageous. The Summit gives me courage to move forward and do what needs to be done.”

Courage to make a tough decision

One of the speakers who had the biggest impact on him was Liz Wiseman, who talked about leaders who are multipliers vs. diminishers. (Multipliers are leaders who empower others, whereas diminishers are leaders who diminish the talent and potential of those they lead.) “We had been dealing with a great person in our organization who was a diminisher,” says Paul. “It had been a struggle for us for several months.”

“However, even though the individual was very talented, the diminishing style of leadership they used was crippling the potential of the people under their leadership. During Liz Wiseman’s session, I felt like she was talking to me. I knew what I needed to do, and made the tough decision to let this individual go.”

Why Paul will continue to attend the Summit

“If I hadn’t attended the Summit over the past 7 years, I’d be a much different leader today,” says Paul.

For example:

  • I wouldn’t have had the courage to make many of the decisions I needed to make to hire well, let people go, connect with other influential leaders, pour into my staff and my customers and show people the love of Christ through my ministry platform in the workplace. The Summit refuels my soul and recharges my biblical perspective, readying me to make courageous decisions.
  • I’ve learned that fear restricts God’s will, joy and progress in reaching our full potential in Christ.
  • I’ve learned there are people out there with incredible stories of hope, healing, suffering, break through, redemption and transformation.
  • I’ve learned how the Lord has used people to their full capacity. To think big and connect with all you know to make your vision a reality.

“I believe business leaders need the Summit,” says Paul. “We need to be challenged to lead our businesses for the Lord. We need to be encouraged. We need to hear from other speaker’s stories who are doing it and living it, and let their inspiration fuel our own. I am so grateful for the Summit.

“Every year, the Summit influences me to be a better leader. I’ve never regretted it once. In fact, I invite people in my network to go because of what it has done for me. If you have a teachable heart and want to learn how to be a better leader, the Summit is for you.”

4 Ways the Summit Changed a Leader, Changing Her Community

Posted on June 4, 2018 by - Stories

“The vast majority of great leaders I learned about in the history books didn’t look anything like me,” says Naomi Bivins, co-pastor of The Foundation Church in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. “So I tried to conform as much as I could, but I had it all wrong. I learned leadership isn’t at all relegated to a particular style, age, race or gender. Leadership means going first, but taking everybody else along with you while serving them along the way—the very same way Jesus went first, but served and took all his disciples with him.”

My perspective changed

When Naomi started attending The Global Leadership Summit in college on a scholarship from her local host site, little did she know how it would transform her perspective on leadership, and become a critical event in the way it shaped her leadership. “The Summit changed the way I lead by showing me there was a different way, a more excellent way, to approach leadership,” says Naomi. “Not only did the Summit supply experts and quality communicators, who inspired my own public speaking skills, but more importantly, the Summit connected how leadership impacts families, communities and nations.”

I removed fear from my leadership equation

InSpire Conference photo credit: Janette Laws of Christ Church UMC Hickory

The Summit has uniquely equipped and encouraged her in each leadership endeavor. “I was able to say yes,” says Naomi. “The Summit has helped me remove fear from my leadership equation. Decisions I make are no longer based out of fear, but rather approached with confidence and resolve. This has developed over many years of attending the Summit.

“For example, when I was asked to lead InSpire, a women’s ministry event, I pulled heavily from Summit resources to cast vision, organize, initiate conflict resolution and coach those I led. I was also led to write a book, The Perfect Paradox: Finding Rest in the Work of Perfection, which was only possible because I turned to Summit encouragement to take my skills from good to great by joining a writing group.”

I discovered I was capable of leading regardless of my gender

“Most importantly, being a woman from a conservative background, I had few examples of strong female leadership from Christian platforms. Seeing women in leadership speak from the Summit platform where both men and women gleaned instruction, eventually brought me to the conclusion that I too, by God’s grace, was capable of leading well within faith environments, regardless of my gender. I could use my leadership skills in the very place that I adore—God’s Church. Our church began with defining the purpose, vision casting and communicating those ideas to others who caught the vision.”

I became equipped to launch a new church

“Leaders change the world, for better or worse, one decision at a time. Most recently, the Summit changed the way I lead in August 2017. When my husband’s job relocated us, we began thinking of planting a church. After we moved, we launched our church plant on August 6, 2017 in a county in North Carolina with a 25 percent poverty rate and high rate of opioid use.”

With Naomi and her husband’s focus on worshipping together, making and equipping disciples, and caring for the poor all built on the foundation of Christ, the Summit provided timely support and encouragement for their new endeavor four days after they launched the church.

“We began to ask, how do we play offense in our county?” says Naomi. “Since there is so much financial need in the area, we decided neither of us would take a salary. We had put a goal in place of giving away 80% of our church budget, and the Summit inspired where it should go—to play offense by aiding the widow, the poor and the foreigner in our community and abroad. It showed me so many creative ways of impacting difficult situations to bring light in dark places. Though we are a small fellowship, through our sacrificial giving we aid a Christian group home for children, a food pantry for the elderly, tutoring for immigrants, crisis intervention housing for the homeless as well as two international missionaries serving community enhancements in Russia and Argentina.

“Each church member contributes from their resources and gifts to help each other so that no one person is doing everything. We have two sisters who are 87 and 90 who feed everyone every Sunday morning. We have a painter who helps with building maintenance. We have a gardener who brings fresh flowers and beautifies the church. I teach and counsel, while my husband administrates and leads worship. The members get to hear each week how their giving impacted someone in our community or abroad. God has shown us that generosity is mutually beneficial, and we have learned that intentionality and teamwork are required for sacrificial giving. We wouldn’t be able to give in the amount that we do without pooling our resources, and we are able to connect personally with those we support both financially and, more importantly with prayer and community.”

If I hadn’t gone to the Summit…

“Before I attended the Summit, I was so selfishly ambitious as a young woman that I would probably have become a work-a-holic, without children and frustratingly oppressive to my employees,” says Naomi. “Profit margins and bottom lines would have dictated many of my decisions and I’m not sure I would have connected that I could use my leadership skills within my faith.”

“Since college, I have attended many leadership conferences, however, even after a decade of attendance, the Summit remains the only conference I look forward to each year. The Summit’s dedication to excellence, diverse speakers and inspiring dialogue never fail to awaken my desire to be a better leader.”

How the Gates Foundation Approaches Resource Allocation

Posted on June 4, 2018 by - Articles, Church & Faith-Based, Execution, Leading Organizations, Performance Management, Resource Allocation

Have you ever wondered how the world’s largest philanthropic organization allocates their resources? Today, we’ll take a look behind the scenes at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and discover the principles they hold to steward their resources well.

How We Work

To bring about the kinds of changes that will help people live healthier and more productive lives, we seek to understand the world’s inequities. Whether the challenge is low-yield crops in Africa or low graduation rates in Los Angeles, we listen and learn, so we can identify pressing problems that get too little attention. Then, we consider whether we can make a meaningful difference with our influence and our investments, whether it’s with a grant or a contract.

All of our strategies—more than two dozen across the foundation—have emerged through this process of identifying what we want to accomplish for people and where we can have the greatest impact. Once we commit to an area of need, we define our major goals and identify a clear path to achieving them.

How We Develop Strategy

In each of our divisions, we develop goals and strategies before allocating resources and making investments. We continually collect and share data on our progress, reflect on lessons learned and make course corrections as needed. Essential to this process is ongoing dialogue with our grantees and partners—which is embedded throughout our strategy lifecycle.

How We Make Investments

Within each strategy, which has an allocation of resources, we collaborate with grantee and partner organizations to develop proposals that align with our strategic priorities and the organization’s focus and capabilities. An important part of this process is reaching agreement on what success will look like for the investment.

We use a standard four-phase process to develop all of our grants and contracts. The duration of each phase depends on the complexity of the project as well as the capacity and geographic location of the prospective partner.

Phase 1: Concept Development

Our program officers work to identify ideas that support our strategic priorities, in consultation with foundation colleagues, researchers, policymakers and other partners in the field. This phase concludes with an internal decision that a concept is aligned to a strategy, and that we should proceed with development work.

Phase 2: Pre-Proposal

We use a variety of ways to explore and refine concepts, with the help of organizations in the field. Regardless of the approach, we remain committed to understanding the perspective of others, in order to further shape the proposed body of work. This phase ends with the decision to solicit a grant or contract proposal.

  • Direct solicitation—When we know that an organization is well-suited to perform the work, we directly solicit an early phase concept memo or proposal.
  • Discussion—In some cases, we invite one or more organizations to discuss the concept with us and explore their interest together with their capacity to undertake the work. If the organization has the expertise, capacity and interest, we will invite them to submit a concept memo or proposal.
  • Request for proposal (RFP)—When we want to broaden our network or fund multiple organizations for a project, we may issue an RFP. Public RFPs are posted on our website; private RFPs are directed to specific organizations.

Phase 3: Investment Development

We give applicants guidelines and templates for developing a proposal, a budget, and a results framework and tracker. A program officer reviews submitted materials with internal and, at times, external experts and works with the applicant to integrate recommended changes.

We also complete our due diligence, confirm the applicant organization’s tax status, determine how to structure the transaction and assess risk. Our legal and financial analysis teams may also participate during this phase.

A foundation executive makes the final decision about whether to fund the proposed grant or contract. Before funded activities can commence, the foundation and the partner organization sign an agreement that includes intended results, targets, milestones or reporting deliverables and a payment schedule.

Phase 4: Management and Close

During the life of an investment, the program officer and partner discuss how they will work together and keep in close communication to understand the progress and challenges of ongoing work. By maintaining quality interactions with clear and consistent communication, they are able to share feedback early and often.

Occasionally a program officer or foundation staff member will participate on advisory committees, and occasionally they take a seat on the board of the organization.

At the end of the project, the partner will work with the program officer to submit a final report that summarizes the results achieved and lessons learned.

How We Measure And Evaluate Results

From the outset of the grantmaking process, we work with partners to define the overall results we hope to achieve and the data needed to measure those results. We call this approach Outcome Investing.

To give our partners flexibility in how they achieve results, we do not require them to report on all of their activities. Instead, we focus on purposefully measuring the most critical metrics of progress that support continued learning, adjustment and alignment. However, the nature and frequency of measurement depends on the type of work. For example, scientific research projects may be measured differently than efforts to expand vaccine coverage.

Our foundation evaluation policy sets out parameters for evaluation, and it explains how and why we use evaluation and where variation is warranted. We acknowledge the ongoing debate about evaluation methods in many fields in which we work. We avoid one-size-fits-all prescriptions and strive to make selective, high-quality evaluation an integral part of how we carry out our work.

A complete version of this explanation originally appeared on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website.

Ep 026: Liz Wiseman with Jeff Lockyer

Posted on June 4, 2018 by - Emotional Intelligence, Leading Others, Podcasts, Servant Leadership, Supervising People

The Global Leadership Summit Podcast

Get free, instant access to GLS Podcast Episode Show Notes. Leverage episode summaries, key takeaways, reflection questions, resources mentioned, related links and applicable downloads, including Show Notes PDF and Episode Audio File (MP3).

DOWNLOADS:

 Download Show Notes (PDF)

 Download Audio (MP3)

SUMMARY:

Multiplier leaders empower other people. They use their intelligence to activate the intelligence of others. On the opposite extreme, Diminisher leaders drain the intelligence out of people. They believe that their teams will not figure it out without them. In this interview, leadership expert Liz Wiseman and Jeff Lockyer discuss the concepts of Multipliers and Diminishers, as well as a third kind of leader: the Accidental Diminisher. Learn how to increase self-awareness about your own Accidental Diminisher tendencies and increase your skills of empowerment.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Liz Wiseman grew up in California with a Diminisher father and a Multiplier mother.
  • She first conceived the Multiplier concept during her years at Oracle Corporation, where she noticed that not everyone who was really smart created smart people around them.
  • Multiplier leaders use their intelligence to activate the intelligence of others.
  • Diminisher leaders drain the intelligence out of people.
  • An Accidental Diminisher wants to be a good leader, yet they are having a diminishing impact. Sometimes it is easier to draw upon our own capabilities than reach out and draw the best out of others.
  • Accidental Diminisher Types:
    • Idea Guy: Fount of ideas that squeezes out creativity in their team.
    • Always On: Full of energy and exhausts other people.
    • Rescuer: Doesn’t like to see people fail so they help—maybe too soon.
    • Pace-Setter: Leading by example but may unintentionally create spectators.
    • Rapid Responder: Responds quickly—maybe too quickly.
    • Optimist: Their positivity may underplay the possibility of failure.
    • Protector: Try to keep people out of harm’s way and may over-protect.
    • Strategist: Their big visions don’t create space for other people’s visions.
    • Perfectionist: Need for perfection may put undue pressure on their team.
  • Self-Awareness is the key to overcoming a Diminisher tendency.
  • Multipliers assume “people are smart and will figure it out.” Diminishers assume “people aren’t going to figure it out without me.”
  • Some Multiplier Experiments:
    • Extreme Questions: Shift out of the mode of telling and into the mode of asking. Try going into extreme question mode when things have either gone very well or really wrong.
    • Talk Up Your Own Mistakes: If you want to increase innovation and risk taking, talk about your own mistakes.
  • When trying a new Multiplier behavior, results may not be immediate. Be patient.
  • The best strategy for dealing with a Diminisher boss is to multiply up.
  • The hallmark of a Multiplier is intellectual curiosity.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

  1. Liz Wiseman described several Accidental Diminisher types in this podcast (see list above). Which of the profiles resonates with you as your potential tendency?
    My Accidental Diminisher Type might be: ________________________________________
  2. Reflect on the ways you might be unintentionally diminishing your team. What are three unintended consequences that your diminishing behavior might be having on them?
  3. Identify an “experiment” you could try in the next week to begin to break your Accidental Diminisher habit. Sign up for a free account on the Multipliers website for ideas.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

What is a Multiplier?
Oracle Corporation
Larry Ellison
Carol Dweck
Multipliers Book
Multipliers Exercises
Accidental Diminisher Assessment
info@thewisemangroup.com

RELATED LINKS:

Liz Wiseman
The Wiseman Group
Jeff Lockyer
Southridge Community Church
The Global Leadership Summit

To Will One Thing—Danielle Strickland—GLS 2018 Faculty Spotlight

Posted on June 3, 2018 by - News & Updates, The Global Leadership Summit

To Will One Thing—Danielle Strickland

Danielle Strickland’s leadership combines a commitment to justice and spiritual depth in a powerful way. We are thrilled to announce that she will be joining us for GLS 2018.

Purity of heart is to will one thing. —Kierkegaard

Many of us believe that God should be leading our lives. But most of us, in moments of honesty, will admit He rarely is actually leading. Most of us have the luxury of planning and control. We get to decide what happens, from our daily schedule to our yearly calendars. I’ve been booking my 2019 calendar for months already.

How do we make room in our controlling, highly planned, busy lives for God to actually take the lead?

This is what I’ve been trying to figure out lately. It’s actually helped to have my calendar cleared for a month or two because of a broken bone and moving to a different country (most recently my son’s leg bone and today a raging storm affecting flights in and out of the airport I was headed to).

What I had planned was thwarted, and I couldn’t help but surrender to the idea that maybe God had some other plans—plans to put a 15-year-old ahead of my speaking schedule for starters, plans to make my first mission my home mission right now, plans to pay attention to my own people, up close and personal. My mission was being made through lunches and Lego® parties, school forms and bath times.

It’s not the normal, high-powered, frenzied, road-tripping, change-the-world life I’m used to. But I’ll tell you this: It feels more like God is leading. It’s fascinating to surrender to His lead instead of mine.

Surrender is a key word in this season.

What drives me most days is significance. I want what I do and who I am to matter. I think everyone has this hope. The problem with this drive is how you measure significance. The thing that makes our lives significant isn’t successful ventures or big crowds or even perfect families. The thing that gives our lives real “eternal” significance is doing God’s will.

Jesus made this super clear. He simply did one thing with His whole life—the will of His Father.

And if you look at the trajectory of His ministry, He really seems to waste a lot of time on seemingly insignificant ventures—small towns, low places and rowdy people—not the normal successful trajectory of significant living. But in the witness of history there has never been a more significant life than Jesus’. His life changed the world forever.

Maybe we overcomplicate what living a significant life looks like. Maybe it could look like one thing—doing God’s will.

I was talking to my Infinitum partner about this very thing. Every day when she wakes up, she asks God how she can obey Him today. “What would you like me to do today?” She tells God that her desire for the day is to do His will, and then she looks for opportunities to do just that.

As she was telling me this daily habit of hers, I was arguing with myself that it couldn’t be that simple, while realizing that is exactly what it is—simple… Just one thing. Today. Present tense. Available. Not forced, but surrendered. Open-handed. Not panicked, but trusting—trusting that God has a plan and invites me to be part of it on a daily basis. It’s believing with my thoughts and actions that His plan is better than any I could have possibly imagined. And it’s ditching my ideals of significance for simple obedience.

Yes. It’s becoming clearer that when Jesus told the Church He measured love through people who did what He said, He meant it. Because the only way love can be demonstrated is in relationship. You have one job—to do God’s will.

I’m starting to get better at this “letting God lead” business, and I’m really simplifying my life goals. It’s down to one thing—to will one thing.

Here’s the whole poem/prayer by Kierkegaard, if you are interested in turning this simple practice into a daily prayer:

To Will One Thing—a prayer by Søren Kierkegaard

Father in Heaven, what are we without you?
What is all that we know, vast accumulation though it be,
But a chipped fragment if we do not know you?
What is all our striving?
Could it ever encompass a world,
But a half-finished work
If we do not know you?
You, the One who is one thing and who is all.

So may you give
To the intellect, wisdom to comprehend that one thing
To the heart, sincerity to receive this and this only
To the will, purity that wills only one thing
In prosperity, may you grant perseverance to will one thing
Amid distraction, collectedness to will one thing
In suffering, patience to will one thing.

You that gives both the beginning and the completion
May you early, at the dawn of the day,
Give to the young the resolution to will one thing
As the day wanes, may you give to the old
A renewed remembrance of that first resolution
That the first may be like the last
And the last like the first
In possession of a life that has willed only one thing,
To know God.

Translated from the Danish—Kierkegaard, Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing
Original article appeared here.