I speak to hundreds of managers every year who all know that empowerment is a necessary component of delegation and moving team members upward into higher positions of authority. Yet, when we talk about leadership and management I have them fill out a short list of characteristics of dysfunctional leadership styles. The number one characteristic … More Without trust….
It sounds strange: leadership and grace together. Like oil and water, a duck out of water, or a square peg in a round hole these are incompatible partners trying too hard to make sense of things. It sounds like double-talk. It sounds like something that not only shouldn’t be put together,but simply doesn’t fit together. … More Leadership and Grace Together
Every organization, church, geographic region, and family has one…a culture. The cultures we are in surround us, envelop us, and develop us. When we walk into a distinct culture we feel it, yet unwittingly become transformed by it. Whenever I go to Texas, within about 5 minutes of getting off the plane I start saying … More Culture Building
“It’s a great day to serve the Lord” No single sentance I’ve ever said in my life has garnished more interest and more response than this sentance. I came up with it as an alternate repsone to that daily question we all ask when we see our friends and colleagues when you start your day … More It’s a great day to serve the Lord!
Here is the mystery about leadership: you can be dysfunctional and still be successful. You can operate out of a leadership style that is micro managing, dictating, controlling, yelling, disconnected, or patronizing and still be successful. Sad but true. The problem is that there is human carnage all along the way. The assumption is that … More The Mystery about Leadership
Be open and vulnverable about your own weaknesses. One of the hardest things for a leader to do is be open and vulnerable. They want to be viewed as strong not weak, professional not amaturish, and someone who has all the answers. So, we have an awful lot of “leaders” running around who cast these … More Be Open and Vulnerable
It requires courage to be a Servant Leader. Why? Servant Leadership is counter-intuitive and counter cultural. It goes against every urge we have to be the center of attention…to command and control. Because it requires extreme discipline to cast off ego and narcissistic desires and look out for the interests of others. A typical self-centered … More It takes courage to be a Servant Leader
Servant Leaders are passionate about grace, in fact grace is their driving force. Grace seems like an odd thing to connect with leadership. Grace seems soft, easy, and undisciplined. The catch phrase “leave it at the door,” or “it’s not personal, it’s business” seems to imply that your personal life has nothing to do with … More Lead with grace
I have learned that forgiveness and grace are hard work. Because the best kind of forgiveness is to forgive even if they haven’t asked to be forgiven. And the best kind of grace is to give it even if they don’t deserve it. And the hardest thing of all: to keep doing it even if … More Grace and Forgivenss
