In yesterday’s post I shared some key leadership lessons I’ve learned in my seven years at Seacoast Church. Here are a few more to add to that list.
- LESSON #4 – Dream Big and then Dream Bigger. Before I came to Seacoast I felt like I had a big vision for how God wanted to use my life. But being in this environment for this long has expanded my thinking far beyond what I ever imagined. I will never forget the first Management team meeting I attended where Pastor Greg talked about his vision. Everyone in the room acted like it was normal, but for me it was mind blowing and way beyond my comprehension. In fact, it was “seemingly impossible”. But I’ve watched God provide again and again in miraculous ways all because Greg and the Seacoast staff believe God for the impossible. Every weekend at the end of every service, at all 13 campuses the Campus Pastor closes the service by reading Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Greg and the staff at Seacoast believe this to the core and as a result have witnessed the reality of this promise on a regular basis.
- LESSON #5 – Failure is a necessity for success. When other churches come to learn from Seacoast it seems that we share more stories about what we’ve done wrong than what we’ve done right. The willingness to try and fail has lead to a great deal of wisdom and positive outcomes. I’ve learned that the strongest successes are built on a series of failures. Failure processed correctly produces greater wisdom than easy success. Don’t allow a fear of failure cause you to miss the opportunity to learn, grow and increase your understanding. Unfortunately many leader are embarrassed and try to hide from or cover up failure rather than allowing the organization to learn from it.
- LESSON #6 – Be willing to change. Okay, Greg will correct me on this one because he says, “We don’t change anything at Seacoast, we only make adjustments.” But the adjustments I’ve observed over the years are what has kept Seacoast relevant, growing and life giving. Some of the changes work, some don’t…but remember failure is a necessity for success. All of us here will admit that sometimes we change too much, too fast, too clumsy BUT we change in order to stay relevant and continually reach people with the Gospel.
Recommendation: Don’t wait until you leave your organization to learn positive lessons from it. Make your own list today!
