I will forever marvel at Jesus mastery of leadership development.  His every word and every movement was filled with great intentionality.  As I was reflecting recently on Mark 1:16-18 I was fascinated by his purposeful wording as he recruited Peter and Andrew into a discipling relationship, ”Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

When he said, “Come follow me.” he was inviting them into a relationship, into community, a place where they would be challenged, encouraged and grow like never before.  It was a teacher-student relationship that would provide friendship and camaraderie. They viewed him as a great teacher and they understood he was inviting them to be students.

But that wasn’t all he was inviting them to. When he said, “Come follow me”, in the very same breath he said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” They knew enough about Jesus at that point that they would understand he was inviting them not only into relationship but into mission as well.  He was calling them to give up their lives, to serve God’s purpose, to care, to love and to sacrifice for others. It wasn’t just a call to be a student; it was a call to be a servant as well.

Too often leadership development is simply an invitation into a program rather than an invitation into relationship.  Too often the objective is to dispense information rather than life transformation.  Too often the focus is on sit and soak rather than serve and be stretched.

How would it potentially change your leadership development approach if you invited trainees into relationship AND mission?

If we want to maximize the God given opportunities of our lives then it’s essential that we operate in our strengths.  Marcus Buckingham defines a strength as “consistent near perfect performance in an activity.” This is a simple but profound description of a strength.  When we operate in our strengths results come easy, our work is almost effortless and we experience a deep sense of satisfaction and joy.

While I’m a big proponent of knowing and developing strengths, yesterday I sat down and did an inventory of my weaknesses.  It was a very insightful and helpful exercise to begin my week.  As leaders there are times we need to focus on our weaknesses…not to develop them but to design systems and structures to minimize their influence in our leadership.

As you begin your week give this a try…

• Write down your top three weaknesses
• Look at your top performance priorities for the upcoming week
• Review your schedule for the upcoming week
• Decide how can you minimize your weaknesses and maximize your strengths to produce the intended results for the week.

Today’s Leadership Challenge: Write out a Strong Week Plan where you are functioning 80% of your time in the areas of your strengths.

There is no shortage of opportunities for each of us to do good things.  And not just good things but significant things that will have eternal impact.  While this can be exciting for a leader it can also be debilitating.  The leader who naively says “yes” to every opportunity will soon find himself frustrated and ineffective. Choosing to narrow the focus of our lives is a difficult discipline, but essential to maximizing the impact of our giftedness.

If you feel your a little scattered lately here are a few questions that might help you narrow your focus:

• What’s the ONE problem in this world that God wants to use me to do something about?
• What’s the ONE thing I’m doing today that will make an impact in that area of need?
• What’s the ONE gift or strength God has given me to make a difference in that area of need?
• What’s ONE thing I need to stop doing to make me more effective in my mission?
• Who is ONE person that can regularly check on my progress and hold me accountable for staying focused?

Take ONE hour today to process these questions.

Sometimes we become so busy doing what we do that we forget to stop and ask if what we’re doing still matters.  The culture around us changes, people change and needs change.  This is why it’s crucial to build feedback systems into everything we do.  An organization that doesn’t solicit feedback will soon become irrelevant and eventually non-existant.

So find ways to ask your customer about their experience with the services you provide.  Ask: What did we do well?  In what way was it helpful to you? What could we do better next time?  Seeking this type of feedback and then acting on it will help improve the reach and impact of your organization.

Where do you need to ask for feedback about your organization?

When leaders allow themselves to be overwhelmed by uncertainty fear will grip their spirit and stall progress toward their calling and mission. Ultimately fear is rooted in a belief that God is not in control. So when a leader is struggling with anxiety it’s a matter of changing their mindset more than changing their circumstances.

One morning i was meeting with an individual who talked to me about the problems he was facing and expressed a sense of defeat in the overwhelming odds against him.   Later that day I had another meeting with an individual who held a similar position and was facing similar circumstances.  But instead of talking about the problems he was facing he told me about the opportunities in front of him.  He acknowledge the challenges yet spoke with hope and optimism as he anticipated the hand of God to move in his situation. Both men were facing financial difficulty, relational challenges and lack of resources.  The only difference between the two was their perspective.

Paul told the Philippians “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6) Paul expresses a strong confidence that the work God has begun in us will be brought to completion, perfection.  He’s certain of it.  That Greek word for “confident” (peitho) means persuaded, already convinced. I’m reminded of that every time I begin to feel fear and uncertainty.  My circumstances may not be what I would like but I can be confident that God is in control.  And when the conviction that God is in control grips my heart it changes the way I lead.

“Organizational decline is more about what you do to yourself than what happens to you.” –  Jim Collins, Global Leadership Summit 2010

Leaders never face a static environment.  Conditions are always changing, culture is alway shifting and challenges are always on the horizon. Unfortunately in the face of unexpected difficulty many leaders experience decline in attitude, vision, action, hope, faith, courage or confidence. And when the spirit of the leader is in decline organizational decline is not far behind. Our response to the challenges we face as leaders will make us or break us.  That’s why it’s important to process them well.

If you’re facing challenges in your leadership today here are a few questions to consider…

• Am I responding in fear or faith?
• What does God want me to learn as a leader?
• What’s the most important decision I can make today?
• What are the top three things I need to do to move the organization toward the mission?
• Who do I need beside me to provide encouragement and strength through this season?

When you invest in the development of your own leadership everybody wins.  Bill Hybels (Global Leadership Summit 2010)

Personal development isn’t just about improving our leadership, it ultimately raises the level of leadership in the whole organization.  When you grow others grow.  While there may be many obstacles that prevent us from being perfect leaders, there is no excuse for not being a growing leader.  Leaders who are not practicing self development make repeated mistakes, maintain poor leadership habits and lack the leadership wisdom that will enable them to adapt to a changing culture. But leaders who develop the discipline of personal growth are making constant adjustments, learning from their mistakes and developing leadership wisdom that will sustain their leadership over the long haul. But our self-development not only impacts the way we lead but it impacts the leadership of those around us.  I’ve always believed that growing leaders grow leaders.  Here are three keys to making sure that “everybody wins” through your personal leadership development.

• Commit yourself to a daily leadership growth plan. If it’s reading one chapter of a book a day, researching a leadership topic on particular blogs or asking veteran leaders key questions, try to learn something new everyday.
• Carry a notebook and write down one new thought or insight every day.
• Put what you learn into practice.  The best way to learn something new is not to think about it but to do it.  Find ways to apply your new insights right away.
• Teach others what you’re learning.  Each time you share what  you’re learning you reinforce those principles in your own mind and you help others on their leadership journey as well.

Today’s Leadership Challenge: Discover one new leadership insight today and find a way to put it into practice this week.

In 1997 when we planted Carolina Forest Community Church we had a vision for our church to be the hub of all recreational sports for children in our community.  Three years into the vision we were able to build a multi-purpose building which allowed us to start Carolina Forest Community Center, a place where children could experience a Christ Centered environment and build their character and athletic competence. In that building we started our first basketball league and were shocked when that first season over 300 children signed up.  Next we built our first baseball field and then the vision really began to take off.  By the second year Carolina Forest Community Center was running basketball, baseball and football leagues with hundreds of children participating.  The Community Center is now in it’s 10th season and I’m proud to announce that The Carolina Forest Little League baseball team won the 2010 South Carolina State Championship title.  Congratulations to Senior Pastor Rick Adkins, Coach Greg Lembcke and his team for this exciting victory.  Below is the article from the Myrtle Beach local newspaper telling their story.  The boys have traveled to Georgia and are playing in The South East Regional Tournament today!  Watch for them on ESPN and pray that God will use them to be a strong testimony for Him as they represent Him, CFCC and SC Little League.

Carolina Forest Little League wins state title

By Todd Garvin – tgarvin@thesunnews.com

IRMO — The Carolina Forest All-Stars prayed for a stellar showing before the state tournament. On Wednesday, those prayers were answered.  The 11- and 12-year-old Little League team from District 5 captured the South Carolina state championship Wednesday with a 10-5 win over Greenwood Abbeville to advance to the Southeast Regional next month in Warner Robbins, Ga.  ”It’s all still just surreal right now,” said coach Greg Lembcke. “We knew since coach-pitch that God had put a special group of kids together.

“It just shows you that with hard work, prayers are answered.”  Answered prayers included a rally from a 4-1 deficit on Wednesday.

Carolina Forest plated three runs in the third to tie the game at four and then broke it open with four more runs in the fourth.

Jared Lembcke had two RBIs, Daniel Covert chipped in two RBIs and Aiden Stewart also had two RBIs, including a solo home run.

“I’ve never coached a more determined group of kids,” Greg Lembcke said. “We were confident that whoever we put in there was going to get the job done.  ”It was a total team effort.”  Austin Schmitz struck out 10 in five innings to get the win. Dylan Roberts struck out a batter and enticed two popups to close out the six-inning game.

Carolina Forest will face host Georgia at 1 p.m. Aug. 7 in Warner Robbins. Other teams in the regional are North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama.

In Monday’s post Vision + Values = Organizational Strength I said, “When executed properly core values define the way a company operates, gives clarity for decision making and assures greater engagement of employees.  However most leaders invest all their energies on vision and tend to neglect values.”

Leaders must pay attention to values because values determine behavior. One organization I’ve witnessed living out strong core values is Columbia International University.  I’ve had the privilege of getting to know the President, Dr. Bill Jones and several of the CIU staff.  With each interaction I walk away impressed with their heart for the Scriptures and commitment to world missions.  It comes out in everything they say and do.  When I finally had the opportunity to visit the campus I began to understand why their values were so visible in their lives.  On the grounds of the campus they have CIU’s 5 core values literally etched in stone displayed for everyone to see on a daily basis.

As a leader this reminds me that I have to find ways to reinforce and make visible our organizational values so that ultimately those values will be visible in the attitudes and actions of those on our team.

What are some practical ways you can reinforce the core values of your organization?

Church Planting and Leadership Development are two of my favorite subjects.  And now in my new role at the Launch Network I get to bring those two passions together!  I’m excited to announce that we’re gearing up for Fall sessions at The West Ridge School of Church Planting and I want to warn you, we’re breaking the mold of traditional church planter training.

We believe leadership development should be a highly relational process.  So through this six month training experience you will build relationships with other pre-launch planters, receive coaching from seasoned ministry experts and be mentored by experienced church planters who have proven success.  These highly  interactive sessions will challenge your thinking, strengthen your leadership confidence and help you refine an effective strategy for a successful launch.  We want to walk with you, pray with you, challenge you and help you refine the work that God is doing in your life.

Over these six months you will have the opportunity to hear from and interact with expert practitioners like:

• Brain Bloye, founding pastor of West Ridge Church.  Under Brian’s leadership West Ridge has grown to more than 4200 attenders in 13 years and has planted nearly 50 churches in the past 6 years.
• Tony Morgan, strategist, coach, writer, speaker and consultant who equips leaders and churches to impact their communities for Christ.  Tony has written several books including Simply Strategic Growth.
• Jim Akins, Church Planting guru, veteran church planter, coach and Director of West Ridge School of Church Planting.
• I will also be attending each session to provide on site coaching and teach sessions on How to Build a Leadership Development Culture and Designing Your Small Group System.

And you have the opportunity to hear from successful church planters like JR Lee, Mike Lukaszwski and others who are still in the trenches of the early years of planting. Sessions will be held one Saturday a month for six months.  Planters are encouraged to bring their wives and as many of their launch team members as possible.  For more information please drop me an email at macl@launchchurches.com or maclakeonline@gmail.com