Random Leadership Thoughts

John Maxwell just received the lifetime achievement award and they asked him to share one piece of advice with leaders. Here it is: intentionally add value to other people's lives everyday!

WOW! Is that powerful? It's exactly what Jesus did......and what He wants us to do in the lives of others.


There are several leadership conferences that take place through the year. One is called Catalyst and it just took place 2 weeks ago. Mark Batterson (author of In a Pit.....) shared a few thoughts from Catalyst that I thought would benefit us.

He wrotes:

I love the two prayers I've heard the last two days. Both of them are two word prayers. Rick Warren shared what he said was the most dangerous prayer. And Craig Groschel shared the other. I love both of them.

1) Use Me

2) Disturb Me

So simple. So powerful.

Here are the three thoughts Craig shared. He talked about practical atheism. That is when we believe in God but we do life as if God doesn't exist. Here is what happens when we become practical athiests:

1) We believe our effort is more important than God's power!
2) We believe our private life doesn't effect our public ministry.
3) We believe we must please people more than we must please God.


What do you do when you realize you are the most powerful person in the room? That is the question Andy Stanley asked in the first session at Catalyst. The answer is: wrap a towel around your waist and wash feet. And I love the response of his disciples: they were stunned by his humility! What a great reminder: the more power you have the more humble you need to be!

One of lessons I've been learning is that nothing is more dangerous than praise from people. You have two options when people praise you: the praise can turn into pride or you can take the praise from people and praise God. And how you handle the praise will make you or break you.

If we are following the example of Jesus, we need to leverage our power for others not ourselves! And that isn't a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength. Insecure leaders leverage their power for themselves!

So here is the question leaders need to ask themselves: how can I leverage my power for the other people in this room?

Some powerful thoughts, eh? I'm still sorthing through them in my heart and mind.......and trusting God to continue to work in me to be the leader He wants me to be.

Blessings to all of you!!!