Presently, I am nearing the end of a family vacation in Germany. Today, I had the opportunity to visit the city of Worms in which the Diet of Worms (1521) was held, leading to the excommunication of Martin Luther. I had no idea how humbling and inspiring my visit to this city would be. Standing […]
Category: Leadership
Many goals are impossible.
Yet their impossibility makes them no less worth pursuing. For instance… …A food bank will never fully eradicate hunger from its town. But should it settle for anything less? …A public school district will never see every student advance grades at the end of the year. But should it accept any pass rate lower than […]
In with the new. Out with the old.
The process of organizational change involves both additions and subtractions. New, more promising components are added as old, inadequate components are removed. It is always easier to add than to subtract. People don’t mind the contribution of new ideas quite as much as they disdain the loss of existing norms. In change leadership, credibility is […]
Faux Leadership
Leadership practices often aim to convey a sense of personal value to those being led. Leaders make efforts to ensure that followers feel valued by them. It seems though, that these practices are used to communicate a sense of value greater than that which actually exists within the leader. A leader doesn’t actually have […]
People will always perceive themselves to be as busy as you are…
So when you’re asking them to get involved in any activity, don’t appeal to their excess of time or your lack of it. Because they will never see themselves as less busy than you. However, people will make time for the things that are important to them. So appeal to the importance that your activity […]
First Follower
If there’s one leadership principle that we can all agree upon, it’s this: You are the best leader you know. If we were each just given the opportunity to be the point person in our organizations, they would all be significantly improved. While considering that principle with even the slightest hint of rationality allows us […]
Management and Leadership
The leadership movement has had innumerable positive effects on organizational behavior. Of that there is no doubt. But unfortunately for some, the focus on leadership has turned the word “management” into a four-letter word. Many key influencers no longer seek to be good managers, only good leaders. But it requires little argument to show that […]
Ability vs. Difficulty: Maximizing individuals
Last week I came across a book titled 13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How You Can Avoid Them by W. Steven Brown. The title of Chapter 3, “Try to Control Results Instead of Influencing Thinking” really caught my eye and is where I began reading. In this chapter, Brown discusses the way employees view […]
Paradigm Before Program
Creating change is difficult in every organization, especially churches. Pastors and church leaders often attend conferences or training sessions, hear a presentation on a new model of ministry and think, “We need to do that at my church!” They return home and immediately begin incorporating new programs into their organizations. However, this packaged-program approach is […]
Random thought…
You can measure the enjoyment level of those in a meeting by how quick they are to pack up at the end.