Dialogue

2011-12-23T16:21:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-22T08:16:00.000-05:00

An Interview with Coach K on Leadership

December 16, 2011

by: Loren Gary

I recently came across a fascinating interview thatacademics Sim Sitkin and Richard Hackman conducted with legendary Dukebasketball coach Mike Krzyzewski (“Developing Team Leadership: An Interviewwith Coach Mike Krzyzewski,” Academy of Management Learning & Education,2011, vol. 10, No. 3, 494–501). The conversation focused on recruiting anddeveloping team leaders, creating a context for team success, and sustainingone’s own leadership capacity. I came away impressed with the broadapplicability of Krzyzewski ‘s insights. Here are a few excerpts

On walking “the fine line between encouragingindividuals “to develop new capabilities as leaders and accepting theirliabilities: “I tried to meet twice a month . . . just empathizingwith them, not trying to get them to be anybody different. I was concernedabout insisting “You need to be this leader or that leader.” I wanted them tobe a player too, and I didn’t want leading to conflict with their naturalplaying abilities. . . . We want to keep their strengths while working on theirleadership.

On the connection between leadership roles anddemonstrated talent: In some organizations you only listen to talent.You’ve got to be talented before you can give advice or be recognized. We’vetried not to have that culture. If you have a guy go from freshman to senior,sometimes the freshman that you bring in is better than the senior. It wasn’talways that way; it used to be that if you’re an upper classman, you shouldalways beat out the younger guy. . . . So how is that senior guy going to be aleader when he is not the best player. “We had a walk-on who became ascholarship player and was a 5-year player, Jordan Davidson. Guys listened tohim more than anybody because he had established himself. So I think some of itis credibility.

On coaching your top performers:“I’ve found that when I am coaching my Duke team, I need to be the bestplayer’s best friend. Being the best player is a lonely position. Even thoughyou get accolades, no matter how good of a team you have, there is always somelevel of jealousy. Always. Because you’re competitive. A little bit of it isnot bad. But I want to make sure that I’m connected with that guy because in atense moment he also might produce better knowing that he’s not out therealone.”

On dealing with so-called derailer, who is underminingthe morale or effectiveness of your team—do you try to save him or get rid ofhim: “You save him. With the Olympic team, we would never selectthem because you don’t have enough time to help them. It’s a different missionwhen you’re coaching a college team. A kid can get sidetracked, and he might bea derailer because of insecurity or for any number of reasons. Saving a kid isimportant, because it might just be that he lost his starting job, or he’sdiscovered that he’s not good enough no matter how hard he works. Part of itcan be redefining what success is for that kid.

On ensuring that minor problems don’t become majorones, distracting the team from its focus on achieving collective goals: “Icontinue to pay close attention to the team’s context. Sometimes I’ll meet withmy team or my staff and I’ll say, ‘I want you to think about irritants. We’llhave a meeting on irritants and let’s try to get rid of as many irritants aspossible. In other words, let’s not let Duke beat Duke because every day wecan’t stand something.’ I try to make sure, even with the Olympic team, ‘Ok,let’s have a meeting. What’s bugging us right now . . . food, whatever?Nothing? Good, let’s go.’ You can lead better if everybody is not distracted.”

On ensuring your own continuous development as aleader: I’ve learned so much from getting outside of my area. I thinkyou need to get involved—whether it be a charity, a hospital, or working with akid’s group—to keep actively learning. If you look, you’ll see naturalleadership happening all around you all the time. You can learn about being abetter leader from everybody. You can go and study an orchestra. You can gostudy a basketball team, a business, or whatever. . . . In developingleadership, you’re not just helping a young kid on your team become a betterleader. By attempting to teach that person, you’re developing your.

From: Becoming A Leader

2011-12-21T14:31:00.000-05:00

Developing a Theology of Leadership

A free eBook by Tony Morgan. He writes about the book:

"It’s important to wrestle with and understand how God defines leadership. In this eBook, I share what I have learned—and am still learning—about biblical leadership. I also challenge you to take a look at yourself and what motivates you in your leadership role."

Morgan does a nice job of introducing the necessity for a theology of leadership, as well as giving a useful outline and ideas of how to create and implement this theology. You can read it below. And, if you would like, it can be downloaded from the home site liked below.

Open publication - Free publishing - More ben stroup

Link

2011-12-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

Communities of Grace vs. Communities of Performance

So is your community a community of performance or a community of grace? Try these diagnostic tests:

Communities of Performance

The leaders appear to have it all figured out
The community appears respectable
Meetings must be a polished performance
Failure is devastating, because identity is found in ministry
Actions are driven by duty
Conflict is suppressed or ignored
The focus is on orthodox behavior (letting people think they have it all figured out)

Communities of Grace

The leaders are vulnerable
The community is messy
Meetings are just one part of community life
Failure is disappointing but not devastating, because identity is found in Christ
Actions are driven by joy
Conflict is addressed in the open
The focus is on the affections of the heart (with a strong view of sin and grace)

In performance-oriented churches, people pretend to be okay because their standing within the church depends on it. But this is the opposite of grace. Grace acknowledges that we're all sinners, all messed up, all struggling. And grace also affirms that in Christ we all belong, all make the grade, all are welcome.

From Tim Chester @ Resurgence

2011-12-19T03:00:00.000-05:00

The Power of Vision

Shared vision is a unifying forcebecause it:

Unleashes energy When an organization’s vision stems from theinnermost values and beliefs of its people, it generates a tremendousexcitement, a compelling spirit, and a powerful level of engagement.

Kindles Commitment  Seeing the relationship between theirorganization’s vision and what they personally believe in and care deeply aboutkindles a passionate commitment.

Provides Perspective  A vision illuminates the organization’s purposeso that all members are completely clear about what they are doing, why theyare doing it, and how their work relates to what they personally believe in.Members see themselves as part of a larger whole and they see where they fitin. Day-to-day activities have more meaning because it is clear how theycontribute to the greater welfare of the organization.

Supports Empowerment  When leaders are assured that shared directionand values drive employee decisions, they are more willing to let go of controland let others assume responsibility. Leaders spend less time managing othersand day-to-day crises and more time focusing on planning and big pictureissues.

Sparks Creativity  Creativity flourishes because there is more roomfor autonomy within the broad guidelines that a shared vision provides. Becauseeveryone knows that they desire the same result and share the same values, theycan act more independently without concern for competing self-interest.

Triggers Trust  People work together more easily. Because theyrealize they are not so different from each other, they begin to trust eachother’s unique contributions. The organization becomes a partnership, whereeach person has something to contribute in his or her own way.

Stimulates Creative Disagreement  Peoplecan argue about ideas without fear of it leading to damaging personalityconflicts and without fear of ridicule and exclusion.

Encourages Proactive Action  Instead of passively waiting fordirection, people at all levels take proactive action because they share trulyresponsibility for their organization’s future.

Vision: A picture of your preferredfuture. Can you, and your team, conceive (picture, articulate) what could yourteam accomplish if you came together as a unified force? What do you want toaccomplish? Have you envisioned it?

From Jesse Lyn-Stoner: Before You Decide Vision Is Passé: 8 Reasons Why Vision Matters

Coming Together on Culture: Theological Issues

2011-12-16T08:41:00.000-05:00

From Tim Keller: The Mission of the Church and Cultural Transformation?

Coming Together on Culture: Theological Issues

2011-12-15T09:09:00.000-05:00

Character vs. Charisma in Leadership

Character-based leadership is leading from who you are, not your position or power. Your character creates true influence, especially when your character also includes being competent. Your rank in the company or your title doesn’t create real leadership influence, but a substitute influence that manipulates others to do what you want done. Your true influence comes from the people who volunteer to join you on your quest, from understanding the mission and trusting you have the strategy and the competence to help them get there.

But character is difficult to know and easy to mask. We often don’t know or even like who we truly are. For me, the real Mike Henry can be much less than I’d like. I’m reminded of the line by Frank Cross (Bill Murray’s character) from Scrooged. (It’s at the 5:50 mark in this video.)

It’s Christmas Eve! It’s… it’s the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we… we… we smile a little easier, we… w-w-we… we… we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be!

Charisma can become a counterfeit for character. Charisma, defined by Wikipedia as a compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others, can help character-based leaders. When a leader has charisma, their charm inspires others. Charisma works like an emotional intelligence that enables leaders to be graceful in relationships

But if that charisma masks the truth, it becomes a counterfeit of character. Our world is one where image matters. Character-based leaders try to fix the true person, the source of the inspiration, influence and leadership rather than simply trying to mask it.

Character is what’s truly on the inside – the real you. If we believe in the power of character-based leadership we won’t substitute charisma. Our character will dictate the charisma. Maybe we’re not very charismatic. Character-based leaders don’t need charisma. Charisma makes a few things easier. But in the end, true character inspires, especially when bundled with a great idea and excellent execution. True character creates true influence. To generate influence through any other means is simply manipulation.

True character creates true influence.

So this year, for more than just a couple of hours, I will be the person I always hoped I would be. I will trust more (and for me that means I will trust Christ more, too). I’ve got to risk being vulnerable and I’ve got to stick with my plans. I must resist the temptation to change my mind and my commitment and persist with projects and ideas. I don’t want to be a quitter.

What about you? You don’t need permission to lead… you don’t need permission to change the world, if you start with yourself. If you’re going to spend more than just a couple of hours being the person you always hoped you would be, what will you change? Go ahead, ink it below. And thank you for reading this blog and being part of this group this year. I appreciate it

By Mike Henry in December 15th 2011
@ Lead Change Group

2011-12-10T07:53:00.001-05:00

Christmas vs. Christmas

A very good reminder from Mark Taylor at The Center for Youth Ministry Training.

A re-post, The original article can be found here: Christmas vs. Christmas

After watching a myriad of Christmas movies around this time of year, an overwhelming sense of frustration and, ultimately, disappointment begins to take over. We come to the climax of the typical Christmas movie. Things aren't going quite as planned. Nobody has any Christmas spirit. People bicker. No one believes in Santa anymore. Then someone begins to stoke the fire of the Christmas spirit within the characters. Maybe they even see Santa. The spirit of Christmas is restored. All is good and well in the world...for one day. Maybe only that night.

We grow up with movies about Santa and Christmas. Santa shows up on the eve of December 24th. Then he seems to be absent for the other 364 days of the year. What is he doing? Making the toys for the boys and girls of the world? No. I think the elves do that. Getting fat? Some role model. We grow up with commercials and commercialism. We buy presents. We give presents. We receive presents. This cycle represents the joy of the season.

And I sit here thinking how can Christmas, as it is presented, do anything but disappoint and let us all down? An obese man dressed in scarlet who pops up once a year? Billions in merchandise? Serving in a soup kitchen on Christmas day? Perhaps broken families?

As Ecclesiastes so aptly puts it, anything without Christ and God is meaningless. A season of good feelings, artificially generated (boostered by mass marketing) can only miserably, and utterly, fail. Human endeavors to produce good will toward men can only produce a shadow of that which is instilled in us by our Creator. The idea of taking Christ out of the Christmas season makes about as much sense celebrating someone's birthday by not inviting them to their own party.

So it only makes sense that the brokenness begins to overwhelm, suicides are more prevalent, and emptiness forms in our lives. Without Christ, all of our hopes and good intentions lie, teetering, on the edge of fantasy and futility. They will be dashed to pieces. They will never amount to anything.

Instead we turn to the answer—the meaning and hope in it all. And Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, came, and was born of the virgin, Mary, to save all people from their sins. And this doesn't lose its meaning or power when the clock strikes midnight on December 26th. God sending his son, Christ coming to live with his creation, the shedding of blood to save us all: these acts provide us with the means to love our neighbor. These acts provide us with the hope of restoration and healing in our lives. These acts cause the flashy lights, the cinematic drivel, the hypersaturated climaxes to fade away into the background where they deserve to be.

We celebrate a God, in ultimate power, taking the position of ultimate humility, to walk with his children. And that, Charlie Brown, is why we celebrate Christmas. That is why this counterfeit of a holiday that brings out the worst in people and disappoints to no end, amounts to nothing when compared to the incredibly true and powerful story of a baby that brought hope to the world.

2011-12-08T07:07:00.001-05:00

2011-12-04T08:57:00.001-05:00

This is a test to see how my new format looks.

For the Love of God

2011-05-28T06:50:00.001-04:00

Dialogue

Coming Together on Culture: Theological Issues

For the Love of God

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Rasied From the Dead

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