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In
a recent issue of his Tuesday Mornings newsletter,
Tom Barnard wrote, "In the March 2003 edition of one
of America's most popular automotive magazines, six famous
auto designers were asked, "What will America's cars
look like in the next five to ten years?" While their
answers were diverse, the men agreed that the cars of the
future will be lighter, stronger, and cheaper (that would
be nice), without sacrificing safety and quality. They are
already planning what tomorrow's cars and trucks will look
like. One designer boasted that his company "is building
its heritage now." I like that. I believe they call that
vision!
"Tomorrow
is on the minds of corporate executives, manufacturers, city
planners, environmentalists, scientists, bankers, estate planners,
investors — virtually everyone who cares about where
they will be five or ten years from today. Do the leaders
of your church carry on conversations about where
they want to be tomorrow? They should. You should."
Tom
goes to to observe, "God wants to be part of our tomorrows.
Why? Because He cares. God knows exactly what will
take place in our tomorrows…He knows the decisions
we will make…He knows the successes or failures
we will experience...and He knows the resources we will need.
And best of all . . . He offers a promise:
"Tomorrow
the Lord will work wonders among you!" (Joshua
3:5)
The
writer of the letter to the Hebrews made an interesting
statement that is recorded in chapter 13, verse 8. He said,
"Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever."
Early
in this new year, spend some time thinking about your tomorrows
— and about the God who is already there waiting for
you.
Michael
Duduit, Editor
michael@leaderlinks.com
www.michaelduduit.com
Please
forward your copy of LeadingNow
to friends and colleagues who are also interested in Christian
leadership issues. Thanks for your help in leading others
to LeadingNow!
Why
do Christian leaders lack guts?
In
the Winter 2005 issue of Willow magazine, Bill Hybels
says, "Sometimes I just wonder, why do so many of us
as Christian leaders lack guts? Why don't we look people in
the eye and say, 'Our cause is the greatest cause on planet
Earth! If we get our mission right, people wind up in heaven
for eternity! If we get it wrong, the alternative is unthinkable!'
"Why
do we hesitate from walking up to people and looking them
in the eye and say, 'I challenge you. I call you to give your
life to something bigger, better, greater, more important
than renting videos, and eating pizzas at night.'
"We
need to step up as leaders and ask people to go up to a higher
level." (Click
here to learn more about Hybels' book Courageous Leadership)
"Building
a Kingdom Dream Team" is an article by Bill Hybels that's
now available in the January/February 2005 edition of Leader
Links. Go to www.leaderlinks.com
to read this and other articles.
Do
leaders want to know?
In
the aftermath of some tough questioning Donald Rumsfeld received
from several US soldiers in Iraq, The Wall Street Journal
ran an article on whether bosses actually want to hear from
their troops. In the Dec. 14 article, Carol Hymowitz writes:
"In
the business world, too, some CEOs regularly hold town-hall
sessions with employees. The problem is that many workers
fear they will be labeled troublemakers if they confront their
bosses with tough questions — even if their views might help
the corporations.
"Many
businesses have formal procedures to encourage employees to
make suggestions, voice concerns or ask questions. Top executives
at General Electric, Home Depot, Albertson's and AOL, among
others, regularly hold meetings with employees. They also
have Web sites where employees can ask questions, sometimes
anonymously.
"But
whether employees are actually forthcoming about what concerns
them most — be that lack of resources to meet goals, missed
business opportunities or inequitable compensation systems
— depends on the boss's willingness to truly listen and then
act on what he or she hears.
"'The
drug of choice in most workplaces is avoid, avoid, avoid,'
says Dory Hollander, an Arlington, Va., career coach who has
seen employees discredited after confronting a boss. A manufacturing
vice president she coached waited until he had another job
offer before finally saying at a senior management meeting
that he thought the company's product-development and marketing
strategy was bound to fail. 'People were bowled over by the
thoughtful stuff he'd been sitting on and said they really
respected him,' she says. 'But he was already on his way out
the door, which may have been what enabled them to hear him.'
"'The
problem is, most executives don't really want this information,
don't think it's important or don't have the energy or diligence
to act on what they hear,' says former AMR Chairman Robert
Crandall. Town-hall meetings, such as the one Mr. Rumsfeld
held, are one way to become informed and build trust with
subordinates, he says."
The
Leader's Bookshelf
Leading
From Your Strengths (Broadman & Holman) by John Trent,
Rodney Cox and Eric Tooker is a solid and practical guide
to building close-knit ministry teams. The authors describe
the "Leading From Your Strengths" process that helps
team members understand and utilize the unique personalities
in team members. This is a short book (103 pages) but one
with plenty of insights for team leaders. (Click
here to learn more about the book Leading From Your
Strengths)
Don't
overemphasize value of technology
In
their book Smart Questions (Josey-Bass), Gerald Nadler
and William J. Chandon talk about the danger for leaders when
they overly emphasize "exciting new technologies."
They observe, "'When your only tool is a hammer, everything
looks like a nail' is a well-known expression that applies
to new technology. Too often, problem solvers resort to some
type of new technology, thinking that is the best or only
way to fix what is broken. The consequences of the technology
trap can be quite devastating.
"In
the 1980s, General Motors decided it was going to automate
all production activities with the latest craze at that time:
robots. The company spent nearly $40 billion to install robotic
technology in its facilities, only to remove almost all of
it within a couple of years as the quality of GM cars deteriorated.
To make anything work, GM even had to rehire more real people
than they had before they had installed the robots. As a result,
the average GM car in the 1990s saw increased production costs
in the range of $600 to $750 higher than its competitors to
pay off this fiasco." (Click
here to learn more about the book Smart Questions.)
Good
teams know how to disagree
In
his Dec. 15 Ministry Toolbox newsletter, Rick Warren
wrote about the importance of good teams. He noted that, "a
strong team is not threatened by disagreement.
Remember
there are two essentials to teamwork: a common goal and good
communication. In order to have good communication, people
have to be willing to express their opinions no matter how
different they are from everyone else's.
"Peter
Drucker says if only one side is being presented in a discussion,
then thinking is not taking place. So, if the people on your
team are not coming up with more than one opinion on a particular
item, then chances are not a lot of thinking is taking place.
Or maybe they are thinking, but they're afraid to express
their opinions.
"You
need to create a team environment where people are not afraid
to say something stupid, where they are not afraid to make
a mistake. And you need to make sure you are not threatened
by disagreement." (Click
here to read the full article.)
http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=185&artid=7770&expand=1
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From
this month's Leader Links
In
an article by Bob Buford, the founder of Leadership
Network notes: "Success and significance are similar
in terms of what you actually do day-to-day. But which
of these you pursue makes a difference in why you get
up in the morning, because the endgame changes. Success
commonly means using your knowledge and experience to
satisfy yourself with fame and fortune. Significance,
however, means using the same knowledge and experience
to serve others — that is, to change lives. The outcome
defines the difference and changes your attitude toward
what you do."
(Go
to www.leaderlinks.com
to read the full article. Click
here to learn more about the book Finishing Well.)
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In
case you missed the last Leader Links:
•
In an article on "How to Mentor Your Successor,"
Bob Russell wrote: "I can think of at least three good
reasons a church should have a transition plan. First, there
is a biblical precedent for it. Moses had Joshua, David had
Solomon, Elijah had Elisha, Paul had Timothy, Barnabas had
John Mark, and Jesus mentored 12 disciples to take over once
he had ascended.
"Those
biblical examples had some common characteristics as well.
The successor was chosen by God, not the mentor. The successor
was chosen long before the mentor's death. The successor was
trained by the mentor who allowed them to work alongside each
other and who gave on-the-job training. Finally, the mentor
stepped out of the way or was taken completely out of the
way when the time for transition came." (Click
here to read the full article.)
•
In an excerpt from his book Less is More Leadership,
H. Dale Burke notes, "To some degree, we all resist change,
especially when it doesn't seem to be necessary. After all,
if what we have is "good enough," then why take
a risk on an unproven, untested, who-knows-if-it-will-even-fly
idea? Yet the companies or churches with the greatest impact
on people are usually built on new and innovative approaches.
The products that not only beat the competition but redefine
the game are usually out-of-the-box. And every leader, including
this author, has been shortsighted at one time or another.
"One
example for me is bottled water. In 1986, a friend of mine
told me his relatives who lived in the mountains above Santa
Cruz, California, were selling their spring water to a bottling
company. This new company was planning to sell water to people-right
alongside sodas. I quipped without hesitation, "That
is the dumbest idea I've heard in years. There is no way people
are going to pay good money to buy what comes out of their
faucet for free." Fast-forward to 2004. Dale begins his
most recent vacation by going into a store and purchasing
an entire case — 36 bottles of water for his family. Someone
saw a need, took a risk, and an entire industry was born.
I've always heard the quickest way to get rich is to invent
a "better mousetrap," but I never dreamed someone
would come up with "better water." I thought tap
water was good enough. "Good enough" is always the
enemy of innovation." (Click
here to read the complete article.)
Remember
that you can always check articles and interviews from past
issues at the Leader Links
archives. Just go to www.leaderlinks.com
and click on the Archives link.
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