Archive for August, 2007
August 20, 2007 at 18:34 · Filed under life
We are back in Switzerland. What a whirlwind. The summit was once again amazing. We went all out — up before 7am, to bed after 11pm, with barely a minute to breath. 3 days of this and you are cooked. Since returning, I have been reflecting and writing down a list of some of the key insights several leaders gave, a sort of “top 20 leadership keys” that God has really touched my heart with. Here they are:
Reflections on the 2007 Leadership Summit.
1. We ARE writing the next chapter in Church history. Take responsibility. Give ALL your energy, time, money.
2. The pertinent vision which has the most impact is the vision which is deeply owned. A vision deeply owned goes through a process of formation, refinement and declaration. It has to be formed in every person’s heart, refined as they experience it in action and declared as they live it out.
3. Are you willing to die for the vision? Be an Acts 21:13-14 owner, not an hourly worker.
4. Deal with fear: Cast a vision more compelling than the fear; Dont let others’ fears be your problem; ppl are afraid of ‘different’ - accept it. Face your fear by trying something new.
5. The pastor must build the community, by meeting the needs of the community, whatever they are. Build a Transcendency Plan.
6. The way to maximum output is to have a strengths-based focus: As you grow, you become more of who you are; Focus your time on your greatest strengths; Have strength-based conversations with your teams. Volunteer your strengths in your team.
7. Colin Powell — Leadership is: action-oriented, problem-solving; Encourage a noisy system (get ppl in the mix!); Only people get things done; Reward your best performers; Prune constantly; Be prepared to dissappoint; Check your ego at the door; Break all the stereotypes; Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. Trust your element of instinct; Prepare to be lonely; Set a high standard of expectation; The key to leadership — I trust you.
8. A leader’s greatest fear is what happens in us rather than what happens to us.
9. We can get the most out of people when we take the time to hear them and see how they see it.
10. Be modern with yourself - become comfortable with change.
11. Ruthlessly do what you do well to impact the world.
12. Continually increase your learning bandwidth.
13. When building your inner circle, look for integrity, honesty, overall compatibility (values)
14. Entrust young leaders with great responsibilities.
15. Inspired, motivated leaders have impact.
16. Leaders have the responsibility to keep themselves motivated. (1 Sam 30:6)
17. When pursuing clarity in vision, be prepared to pay the price.
18. Learn inspirational language; Rub shoulders with inspirational people. (EIPs - Exceptionally inspiring ppl)
19. Identify and reduce demotivating dynamics. (Don’t expect your calling to overcome these)
20. Celebrate every sign of progress towards your teams shared goals.
August 8, 2007 at 8:26 · Filed under life
Boston came and went. Our trip to the NBA hall of fame, perhaps the highlight of the trip, was over in a few hours. Then it was off to Niagra Falls. Amazing. Almost got put in jail by the US border police on reentry. Kelly freaked. (We stayed in a massive Ramada run by an Indian family. (with an in-house curry stop)
The finally, we trekked down to Chicago and then Milwaukee for the final stages of our trip. Chicago was beautiful, but not only because of the skyline — Chris and Kelly have such a great network of friends that really care for them, not to mention awesome parents. The ‘rents bought us a room for two nights at this great place where we along with tonnes of the Hollinden friend/family were staying — the event? Lollapalooza. Too much to talk abt there, but enough to say that I am now a big fan of “I love Barcelona” and I have gained an appreciation for the musical talent Silverchair. Right. Our trip with Chris and Kelly was too quickly over, and it was off to see Dad and Karen in Milwaukee.
Then back to Chicago for the Summit the following Tuesday. It was a packed 3 weeks. Now for the Summit - guaranteed adrenaline rush. Plus we get to see Julio, Latana, Ife, Al and Fabiana! (Bonus — Dad and Karen are also coming!)
August 4, 2007 at 17:52 · Filed under life
I did not know that I was going to love Boston as much as I did!! It is an amazing city, so green, so pretty, with so much history! So much to see and do…
We stayed with Chirs and Kelly’s friend from Harlaxton, Cole, in ‘Brighton’, pretty central, and Cole skillfully slalomed us into and around town. Parking was rather expensive, but to see this jewel, it was worth it!
We did the freedom trail following (as much as Cole thought was necessary) the red line (not yellow brick road, but it felt something like that) through the oldest parts of town, beautiful architecture and gardens, churches with stories to match, and we had a lot of fun… although it was a pretty long endeavour. I believe we got started at around 1 pm and finished at 5 - so it was around 4 hours of walking, stopping to eat,drink (it was very hot) and read the signs… feet badly needed some rest, which we did at the cinema later on - watched Stardust… interesting, not particularly captivating, definitely dodgy spiritually, but with a very good cast and original storyline…. I think.
I badly wanted to go the Museum of Fine Arts, but just could not walk a step further and decided to settle on film viewing… and missed a once in a lifetime opp. Oh well, I do hope we will be back on Boston. If we ever were to move to the States, I believe it would have to be there!
August 4, 2007 at 17:35 · Filed under life
The next stop on our tour, was 4hrs east of the Catskills, in Cape Cod. All I knew about Cape Cod was that Kennedy lived there, at some point. Now, it seems, CC is a sizeable tourist hub, known for its fish and its laid back living. It was really pretty, and also really muggy! We visited some of the local favorite eateries including Skippers and The Yarmouth House, explored the JFK museum and Kelly & Chris took a touristic “rail and sail” ride around the area.
We stayed at the Gull Wing Suites, which had wonderfully cool AC powered rooms. (it must have been sub 60 when we got in there) Unfortunately, the AC broke at around midnight and Kelly led the trek to our new room down the hall. I was so tired I almost walked into another person’s room.
Although Hyannis was not as exciting as New York, we still had a nice time taking it easy! Chris and I ran a few times - it is always fun exploring the local landscape. On our way out of town, we stopped off at Plymouth Rock, the first landing site of English settlers in the 1620s. Very interesting!! (And beautiful!)
