Summit eBook - Willow Creek Association

August 9-10, 2012

Summit Summary by Tim Peters

Your are holding a summary for pioneering leaders and visionaries who are serious about leading better...

LEAD WHERE YOU ARE Anyone who attended the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit will tell you it was a fantastic event. Great for any leader of any community or organization, the summit was overflowing with tips and lessons on providing the best possible leadership. The information was so valuable we decided to package and share it with you in this eBook. Inside these pages you will find thoughts and insights from some of the world’s top leaders. These experienced and respected leaders come from diverse backgrounds and adhere to different philosophies. But they all share one important trait: They’ve responded to the call to leadership and excelled at guiding others toward achieving a common goal. All these leaders were featured speakers at The Global Leadership Summit. Their reflections, stories and wisdoms are summarized for you here by various contributors who attended their sessions. We hope this content encourages and inspires you in your leadership endeavors as much as it has inspired us.

THE GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

The Global Leadership Summit exists to transform Christian leaders around the world with an injection of vision, skill development, and inspiration for the sake of the local church. Leadership is critical to church vitality. A church's effectiveness in pursuing its mission is largely dependent on the character, devotion, and skill of its leadership core—which can be formal or informal, staff or volunteer, clergy and laity. The influence and impact of the church is felt most fully when Christcentered leaders are at the forefront of establishing and growing well-led local churches and organizations.

WILLOW CREEK ASSOCIATION Founded in 1992, Willow Creek Association (WCA) is a not-for-profit Christian organization that exists to maximize the transformative power of the local church. Our vision is to see every local church reach its full redemptive potential—becoming an unbridled conduit for the transforming power of Jesus Christ. In short, we provide vision, inspiration, connection, tools, training, resources, and venues for church leaders like you to learn from and support one another.

CONTENTS OPENING SESSION.................................................................................................................5 NO HIGHER HONOR: A LIFE OF LEADERSHIP.........................................................................8 GREAT BY CHOICE ................................................................................................................10 AGAINST APATHY ................................................................................................................12 HALF THE SKY: LEADERSHIP IN THE FACE OF OPPRESSION ..............................................16 THE STRONGEST LINK .........................................................................................................21 THE ADVANTAGE: WHY ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH TRUMPS EVERYTHING ELSE .............24 GETTING TO YES: NEGOTIATING CONFLICT ........................................................................27 COURAGE TO ACT .................................................................................................................29 LEADING THROUGH THE ANGUISH OF TOUGH DECISIONS..................................................32 CHANGING THE ODDS ..........................................................................................................35 A LEADER OF ........................................................................................................................41 UNIMAGINABLE INFLUENCE................................................................................................41 CLOSING SESSION ...............................................................................................................43 TIM PETERS .........................................................................................................................47 RESOLUTE CREATIVE ...........................................................................................................47

Session 1

OPENING SESSION BILL HYBELS

FOUNDER AND SENIOR PASTOR, WILLOW CREEK COMMUNITY CHURCH Community Impact Recently, Bill Hybels received a brochure from a local church just starting up that required him to think about how his community has changed over the years. The brochure clearly

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Remember, you are the most difficult person you will ever lead.

communicated why the new church existed. Bill thoughtfully wondered if the people in his community still knew why Willow Creek existed as a church.

Do the people in your community know why you exist as church? Are people aware you exist at all? In Luke 8, Jesus communicates to a great crowd about a sower who throws seed on various forms of soil. Of the seed, 75% fall on forms of soil that did not produce fruit. But some the seed fell on good soil and produced fruit.

How do you overcome the 75% rejection ratio? Sow more seeds. Your whole organization takes it seed-sowing behaviors from the seed-sowing behaviors of the leader. At Willow Creek Church, they encourage staff members to be incessant tinkerers. Incessant tinkerers are leaders who constantly tinker with their ministry to ensure they are sowing more seed.

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As a leader you must remain curious, and stay courageous and experimental. A leader who tinkers with his craft will become better with his craft. And when leaders become better, everyone wins. Remember, you are the most difficult person you will ever lead.

The 6×6 Concept Want to be more focused and productive? Follow The 6×6 Concept. Identify 6 areas to focus on for 6 weeks. Ensure these 6 areas will push your organization forward. After the 6 areas are identified, eliminate second-tier challenges and projects. Keep in mind you cannot sprint for 6 months. But you can sprint for 6 weeks. Work hard on accomplishing the 6 focus areas over a 6-week period. Schedule your time and calendar around 6 challenges and focus areas. The 6×6 Concept allows you to remain focused and fired up. Following the concept helps you stay on target with your execution. Remember, God did not make you a leader to respond to stuff, everyday. He made you a leader to move stuff ahead, everyday.

How can you push your organization forward over the next six weeks?

Succession Planning Bill is now 60 years old. Willow Creek is addressing his transition from the senior leadership role. Every church should properly address the succession of leaders. Two ways to execute a succession plan: 1. Plan Do not avoid the obvious. Create a plan of succession. Ask the right questions in the planning process: • Whose job is it to find the replacement for the senior leader? • What is the time frame of transition? • How will the church honor the senior leader of the organization? • What role will the senior leader play after succession? 2. Search First, seek out a successor internally. Then, if needed, seek a successor externally. Once a successor is in place, the senior leader must increase their responsibility. Do not rush the process.

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Vision and Leadership When is the vision of a leader and organization most vulnerable: beginning, middle or end? Visions are extremely vulnerable, not in the beginning or end, but in the middle. Why? Because you have energy in the beginning and you have a renewed energy as you see the end. Vision casting is critical while your vision rests in the middle of the vision cycle. This concept holds true in life, leadership and ministry. While leading in the “middle” of your leadership cycle, it is of the highest necessity to spend unhurried time with God. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Tim Peters // timpeters.org // @timrpeters

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Session 2

NO HIGHER HONOR: A LIFE OF LEADERSHIP CONDOLEEZZA RICE

FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF SATE Highlights • • • • • • • • • • • •

During troubling times pray, hope and work hard. After struggle comes relief, and after Friday comes a Sunday. It is a privilege to struggle. Out of struggle comes victory (Romans 5). Every life is worthy. Therefore, every life is capable of greatness. No one is condemned forever into the circumstances from which they were born. Delivering compassion is the work of people who believe that every life is worthy. There is a lot that government can do, but it cannot deliver compassion. Compassion is the work that Christians were intended to do. Together we can make a difference to make the world, not as it is, but as it should be. How can we help those who are weak? By helping others see their own leadership qualities and potential. It does not matter where you came from. It matters where you are going. When you’re in positions of authority, you Delivering compassion is the need truth tellers around you. work of people who believe Your calling is defined by your DNA.

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that every life is worthy.

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Ministry Application •

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Pastors will inevitably experience hard and troubling times. During these times pray and hope. Remember, struggling is a privilege and better days are ahead. What are you doing to fight through tough times and avoid burnout? Bringing compassion and hope to the world is not the role of government. Delivering compassion to those in need and hurting is the responsibility of the Church. How is your church delivering compassion locally and globally? In a moment of tough leadership, Condoleezza Rice literally stood up to Vladimir Putin. Leadership requires courage and boldness. What trials do you need to stand up to? Leadership is helping others find their potential. How does your church equip and empower leaders?

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Session 3

GREAT BY CHOICE JIM COLLINS

NATIONALLY ACCLAIMED BUSINESS THINKER AND AUTHOR Three Distinctive Leadership Behaviors to Thrive in Times of Uncertainty Why do certain leaders and organizations thrive and grow in times of uncertainty?

#1 – Fanatical Discipline

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Greatness is not primarily a function of circumstances. Greatness is a matter of conscious choice and discipline.

Example: 20-Mile March Concept It is noted in history that two men were challenged to walk across America. Both accepted the challenge, but approached the challenge differently. Man #1 decided to walk 20 miles everyday, no matter the conditions. Man #2 decided to walk as many miles as he was able, depending on the conditions. If the weather was cold and wet, Man #1 would endure the walk and Man #2 would rest. Who walked across America faster? You guessed it, Man #1. This illustrates the idea of Fanatic Discipline. Fanatic Discipline is about having a plan or schedule and responding to the variables even if they set you back. Fanatic Discipline calls for organizations and leaders to manage well in good times so they can manage well in bad times.

“The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency. Consistency is the hallmark of success.”

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What is your 20-mile march? Every church will benefit from identifying a 20-mile march. Being disciplined to a certain project or ministry turns good intentions into results.

#2 – Empirical Creativity The idea of Empirical Creativity is to blend creativity with discipline—not, increasing innovation without discipline. Creativity is natural, discipline is not. The key is to identify what factors are blocking creativity. Everybody is creative. Creativity is natural. If you are breathing, you are creative. Your goal is to have your discipline elevate your creativity—not eliminate it. Creativity allows you to stimulate growth by creating new methods and processes.

#3 – Productive Paranoia It is what you do before bad times. It is how

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It is impossible to have a meaningful life without doing meaningful work with people you love doing it with.

you manage the good times. The greatest danger is being successful without knowing why. Preserve the core to stimulate progress by changing processes. That means: In one hand, you hold and preserve core beliefs. The other hand you keep open to new practices and processes. As leaders, are we responsible for our performance? Is it a matter of what we do or what happens to us?

Greatness is a matter of conscience choice and discipline.

What makes a great organization “great”? • • •

Superior Performance Based on Mission. Are you generating results based on your mission? Distinctive Impact. What would happen if your church disappeared? Achieve Lasting Endurance Beyond Any One Leader. Will your organization still be great when you are gone?

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Session 4

AGAINST APATHY MARC KEILBURGER

CO-FOUNDER, FREE THE CHILDREN; CO-FOUNDER AND CO-CEO, ME TO WE, TORONTO, ONTARIO Author and co-founder of The A-21 Campaign Christine Caine interviewed Marc Keilburger. The following is a transcript of that interview. You started tackling environmental issues when you were 13. Your brother began addressing social justice issues when he was 12. What took you so long? My brother picked up an article about a Pakistani boy his age who had been sold into slavery who eventually made it back home. And after he had been reunited with his family, the people who had initially bought him killed him. So my brother enlisted his

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The world needs your kids, don’t undervalue them. Every young person has a gift, help them find it.

classmates, and they started a club. And we haven't looked back since. What started with 12-year olds now has become hundreds of people in over a dozen countries. We have 4,000 schools and churches, mostly in Canada. We've learned so many lessons. We work both internationally and domestically. We build schools and provide kids an education. We started to build schools in Africa and Latin America. And we had a problem that girls weren't attending them. We found out it was because they had to get

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water for their village. That's the number-one reason girls don't attend school in subSaharan Africa. And then we had another problem that kids were getting sick. So we needed to provide basic health care. Then we had a big problem. People were becoming aid dependent on us. And that was a big problem, so we needed to empower women in the community with micro credit and micro loans. So now we have an adopt-a-village model where they don't need us after five years. The other part of what we do is we empower people right here at home. And we start in kindergarten. We have a lot of campaigns. One of my favorites is "Vow of silence." It's no phone talking, Facebook, Twitter, etc., to be a voice for the children who have no voice. It's a favorite of parents. You went to Harvard and Oxford. You were a Rhodes scholar. How did you walk away from the traditional role of going to the corporate sector? Somebody asked me a question. It was a defining question: "What type of legacy do you want to leave?" We ask that question a lot later in life, but we need to start asking it to young people. How do you stop your organization from becoming a bureaucratic mess and keep the passion? What we have learned is that it is so critical to do this in a way that is very tangible. One time a gentleman sat next to me on a plane from China. He started talking and telling me how much he loved money and how much money he was making in China. And he asked us what we did, and I sheepishly told him we were in the nonprofit sector. And he didn't really understand. We don't sell anything tangible. We sell hope. And so we've come up with some ways we do it. It's a culture of: • Listening • Community • Meaning • Gratitude • Legacy That is what we sell. That's what we need to package. That's what we need to communicate.

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Now, you and Craig co-lead. I know there are a lot of people who are considering that. Why did you do it? Two leaders are better than one. Some people are concerned with creating a two-headed monster. How have you avoided that? Communication and alignment. You have to be in agreement on where you're going, and you have to keep communicating. Organizations fail to scale because senior leadership under-communicates by a factor of 10. But can you be 100% aligned? No, but you can be 95%. And so what do you do? Arm-wrestle. We defer on areas of expertise as necessary. So for those of you in youth ministry, I can't tell you how important this is. When we started this, the least cool things were taking part in glee club and changing the world. Those are now the two coolest things. We started this thing called We Day. It launches a year of action for social change. You can't buy a ticket. You earn it through service. We Day is more than a one-year event. It launches a series of actions that benefit the global community. How do you make sure We Day is a catalyst for further growth? We work with schools and they commit to a year of education on this. Do you really believe kids can make a difference? Every young person has a gift. Every kid can make a difference. We need to help them find what they are good at. You take their gift, add it to an issue they are passionate about, and we end up with a better world. The formula is:

Gift + Issue = Better World If their gift is hockey and they're passionate about homelessness, you get a hockey tournament to benefit the homeless. Opening Session

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How do you raise up and engage children? You hear that kids are so selfish; that they just want to accumulate stuff, etc. You have to take them out of their comfort zone. We bring 3,000 kids a year to our locations worldwide to build schools. Girls 14-17 are the biggest demographic for us. We know it's been a successful trip when we fly back through London and they make two phone calls. The first to their parents to thank them. The second to their boyfriend to dump them. We take them out of their comfort zone. Every generation has its own complexity to navigate when it comes to leadership. What do you see as the challenge for this next generation? There are a billion young people in the world, more than at any other time in history. And 9 out of 10 of them live in developing countries. You have to engage them now, before they turn 18. We can't wait for them to grow up. What role does faith play in your own journey? We grew up Catholic and were very involved in church. And they used to say, if someone is hungry, feed them. If they're sick, clothe them. But we didn't understand this. You have to implement it and show them. One of the women who had a profound impact on us was Mother Theresa. We met her when we were much younger. She was a quintessential social entrepreneur. She had a budget of millions. Thousands of people worked for her. She looked into our eyes and said, "We can do no great things. We can do small things with great love." .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Will Johnston // willfjohnston.com // @willjohnston

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Session 5

HALF THE SKY: LEADERSHIP IN THE FACE OF OPPRESSION SHERYL WUDUNN

BEST-SELLING AUTHOR; PULITZER PRIZE WINNER; BUSINESS EXECUTIVE Transforming a Village There was a girl in a province in central China. She lived two hours away from the nearest road. She lived in a hut without electricity, running water, a television, etc. She shared this great

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The greatest moral challenge of the century is gender inequity.

place with a very large pig. She was entering the sixth grade and had been paying her school fees. $13/year. They said, “It's getting too expensive. You're going to spend the rest of your life in the rice paddies and the house. We don't need to waste our money on you.” We wrote about this in The New York Times, and we starting getting donations. We

gave the money to the school principal. So she came back to school and finished the sixth grade. And the principal came back and told us all the great things he had been able to do, so we called the donor who gave $10,000 and gave a progress report on the school. He said, "I didn't give $10,000. I gave $100." So we did a bit of investigation and realized there had been a bank error in their favor. We called up the bank and asked if they were going to ask for the money back... Of course not.

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So the girl, Di Mun Ju, got a good job, sent money back home, and her parents were able to buy a nicer house. Her girlfriends who had benefitted did the same. The village was transformed.

Our Greatest Moral Challenge The greatest moral challenge of the century is gender inequity. In rural areas in China and Africa, it's not your IQ level but your chromosomes that determine how far you go in life. In the 19th century it was slavery. In the 20th it was totalitarianism. In the 21st century it was gender inequity. So, am I exaggerating? Let me ask you a question. How many of you think there are more men in the world? Women? In fact, it's men. This is certainly true in the US and Europe. In the rest of the world, that is not the case. There are anywhere between 60 million and 100 million missing females in the current population. That is how big of a moral challenge this is. Why is this? Scarce resources. When there isn't enough food to go around, they won't feed the girls. In India, male and female babies have the same mortality rate. From 1-5 boys get vaccinations, better medical care, and so girls die at a higher rate.

Empowering Women with Education So the second tenet of Half the Sky, let's put aside the morality of it, one of the most effective ways to raise the standard of living of people around the world is education and jobs for women. Women and girls aren't the problem. They are the solution. Three problems education can help solve: 1. Overpopulation – If you educate girls, they have fewer children. 2. Poverty – People who live on 1 or 2 dollars a day tend to spend money very poorly. Men who control this much money spend 20% of their income on prostitutes, alcohol, etc. That money invested into education would do wonders. 3. Natural resources – Women are an important economic resource. What are some of the specific issues we face? Sex trafficking. We call it sex trafficking, but let me explain what it really is. A 9- to 11year-old girl in Cambodia is kidnapped, taken to a brothel, forced to work seven days a week, and often not fed enough. That's called slavery.

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We intellectually understood this, but we didn't feel it until we met Lonpras, a girl whose eye was gouged out by a brothel owner for not working when she didn't feel good. At the height of the slave trade, around 10,000 slaves were transported each year. Now, it's 800,000 per year. The other thing is that if you look at the time of slavery, the value of a slave was very high. It was around $40k in today's dollars. The women who are sex slaves now are valued at $150-250. That means that at this price, the girls are disposable. That's why the brothel owner could gouge out Lonpras' eye. And it's not just a problem way out there in Cambodia. It's happening here in the U.S. It's happening a little differently. Maybe it's a runaway who's prostituted by a pimp, but it's a very similar problem. And there's trafficking via kidnapping here as well. The other challenge I want to talk to you about is maternal mortality. That accounts for a lot of the 60-100 million missing females. Here the birth of a child is a glorious event. That's not the case in much of the world. 1 in 7 women in Niger are expected to die in childbirth. It doesn't take any special technology. It just takes political will that most places don't have.

Finding Solutions, Overcoming Obstacles I've talked a lot about some of the challenges, but there are solutions. One of the ways is microfinance. I'm sure you've heard about microlending, but I want to talk a little bit about microsavings. Guretti lives in Burundi with her husband in a hut with their children. The practice in Burundi is that Guretti cannot leave her country without the consent of her husband, and she cannot touch cash. So when she wants to go shopping she has to get her husband to go with her to the market. Guretti heard about this program that Care International had been running and wanted to participate, but her husband said no. So she snuck out. Each person brought a dime to the village and together the people involved decide who the money will go to that month. She got it that month and planted potatoes and sold them for $7. She paid back the $2.50 and spent the rest of the money to start a banana beer business. It sold well and so when her husband got malaria, she was able to pay the hospital bill. Microfinance can work. Let me share with you the story of Mahabuba. She is a woman who has what is called a fistula, which happens when you have obstructed labor which rips your bladder so you can't control your waste. She was married off against her will, got pregnant against her

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will, and ran off to the bush to have her baby. The baby died, and she got a fistula, so she stank. The village thought she was cursed, so they put her in a hut at the edge of the village and ripped the door off so the hyenas would get her. She got a stick and fought them off that night. She hobbled to a missionary in the next village who helped her. Mahabuba is now a nurse helping thousands of women with their fistula operations. You can see how women are part of the solution when they were once victims. But let me come back to education. It's really important. Let me tell you the story of Beatrice. She really wanted to go to school, but her parents didn't want to pay the bills or couldn't pay the bills. Heifer International sent a goat to the family and the goat had twins. Before long the family had money to send her to school. She did very well and became the first person from her village to get a scholarship to come to the U.S. to study. Three years ago she graduated from Connecticut College. She said, "I am the luckiest girl alive because of a goat." So I'm giving this talk and this woman raised her hand and said, "My daughter was a roommate with Beatrice, and she really is amazing." And then another time I met a woman who said, "I was at the church that made the donation to buy them the goat." And then I was talking with Jeffrey Sachs, author of the Millennium Development Goals, and he said, "Oh, yes, Beatrice was my intern." You can see the cycle. Bangladesh began educating girls and became a decent place to be. Pakistan didn't and they aren't such a great place. Now, I have to be honest, it really is hard to help people. Much development aid money is wasted. We're learning. People are learning how to make things better and improve the giving of aid. But we have to create sustainable models and teach people to fish, not just give them a fish. Unfortunately some of the most effective ways of helping people are not the sexiest. How many of you have heard of deworming? It's not as sexy as having a school that says "Women of Philanthropy School of Tanzania," but deworming is much more important and effective than just building a school. Worms make kids not be alert and not pay attention. If everyone contributes a little bit and is a part of the movement, it will bring about change.

“What’s In It For Me?” I know some of you will think, "Why would I want to be involved with this? What's in it for me?" There are very few things in life that actually can change your level of happiness. Opening Session

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A woman who was an aid worker in Darfur and was strong, who hadn't broken down while in Africa, but when she got back to the States

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With great fortune comes great responsibility.

and saw a bird feeder, she broke down. She realized how fortunate she was to be born in a place that not only has enough money to feed and clothe people but to make sure wild birds don't go hungry. With great fortune comes great responsibility.

Here's the cause, join the movement, feel happier, live longer, and help save the world. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Will Johnston // willfjohnston.com // @whilljohnston

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Session 6

THE STRONGEST LINK CRAIG GROESCHEL

FOUNDER AND SENIOR PASTOR, LIFECHURCH.TV Bridging the Generation Gap I am here today because of the men and women who have gone before me and invested in me. A simple acknowledgment of something we can all claim but need to remember.

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Don’t fear or judge the next generation. Just believe in them.

For a short season, I stand in the middle between an older and younger generation. Some may say, “How do I know which generation I am?” I say if you have to ask you are probably in the older generation.

Work to Create Leaders When I turned 40, a weird thing happened. I started to ask if the best years of my ministry were behind me. Many wonder if they can still engage and make a difference. If you’re not dead, you’re not done! I’d even say that your best days are before you if you take your maturity and invest in those that come behind you. You don’t just delegate tasks to the next generation. If you do, you’ll create followers, people who do what they’re told. Delegate authority because then your create leaders. Embrace the season you are in. The younger generation can smell a fake from a million miles away. Authenticity trumps cool every single time. You can be a spiritual father, a coach and a mentor to those who come behind you.

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Show Honor, Not Entitlement We protected the younger generation. “Put on your helmet and knee pads to go to the potty.” The problem with the younger generation is because you feel entitled, you overestimate what you can do in the short run. My mentor told me I’d often overestimate what I could do in the short run but I’d underestimate what I can do in the long run in a life of faithful service. When a generation feels entitled they don’t show honor and it hurts the older generation. I believe we don’t show honor to our generations because we don’t show honor to God. When we honor God, we more naturally show honor to those around us. Honor believes the best. Dishonor believes the worst. Honor builds up. Respect is earned but honor is given. By ascribing honor to others, they can become more honorable.

Three Ways to Help Generations Work Together If you ever want to be over, you need to learn to be under with integrity. For generations to work together it must be intentional. Here are some practical suggestions: 1. Create ongoing feedback loops with those who are older and younger. Before I teach I sit before those who are much younger and older to go over my message. I want to know from those different perspectives how my message could better speak into their lives. 2. Create specific mentoring moments. I ask the leaders of our church to find me the sharpest 18 to 24-year-olds so I can mentor them. And I sit before some of the smartest leaders in the country to learn. Ask someone older to mentor you. But don’t try to copy them, learn how they think. Find out what they’re reading, what they would do in a situation, how can I interact better, etc. 3. Create opportunities for specific leadership development. Send a resounding message that you are a leader that values the next generation. Do this by creating leadership opportunities.

Stand Together, Make a Difference Craig ended his session at The Global Leadership Summit by honoring all those who went before him and sacrificed: his parents, his pastor, Bill Hybels. They believed in him, they challenged him, they stood by him.

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It is my great desire to do the same for those that come behind me. I will give my life for you like the leaders who believed in me. You are the most cause-minded and causedriven generation in history. You don’t want a job, you want a calling. You don’t just want money, you want to make a difference. When you look at injustice you say, “No! Not on my watch!” I honestly believe you can do more than my generation if you humble yourself and learn from those who went before you. Let us stand together for the glory of God. Amen. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Mark Sanborn // marksanborn.com // @mark_sanborn

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Session 7

THE ADVANTAGE: WHY ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH TRUMPS EVERYTHING ELSE PATRICK LENCIONI

FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, THE TABLE GROUP; BEST SELLING AUTHOR The Benefits of Organizational Health Organization health is the single greatest competitive advantage in business. It is virtually free and accessibly to any leader that wants it. Yet it remains virtually untapped. Most leaders haven’t been trained in it. They often feel it’s hard to measure or doesn’t feel complex enough.

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Organization health is the single greatest competitive advantage in business.

When Southwest Airlines was asked why competitors don’t copy their organizational health practices, the CEO responded by saying that other companies think it’s beneath them.

Two Qualities Needed to Maximize Success 1. Smarts (financing strategy, technology, marketing, intellectual sciences) • This quality currently gets 98% of attention, but it should be closer to 50%. • It is almost impossible to distinguish your company based solely on smarts. • I’ve never found a company where the executives weren’t intelligent.

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In fact, they usually have more than enough domain knowledge and expertise.

2. Health (minimal politics, minimal confusion, high morale, high productivity, low turnover) • The five aspects listed above allow you to leverage the intelligence of your entire company. Not just its leaders.

Four Disciplines of Organizational Health 1. Build • • • • •

a Cohesive Leadership Team Results Accountability Commitment Conflict Trust

2. Create Clarity • Intellectually aligned • Mission statements (most don’t work) • Ask six critical questions: º Why do we exist? (core purpose) º How do we behave? º What do we actually do? º Who will we succeed? º What is most important, right now? (rally cry) º Who must do what? If we can answer these six questions, we create clarity in our organizations. They pave the way for empowerment in its truest sense of the word. 3. Over-Communicate Clarity • If your staff can’t do a good imitation of you when you’re not around, you’re not communicating enough. • Don’t be the husband that fails to tell his wife he loves her because, “I already told you that when we got married.” 4. Reinforce Clarity • Corporate decisions should constantly reinforce core values. • Don’t punish people for trying to carry these out. • You can correct and redirect, but people shouldn’t be afraid to make decisions. • Make hard decisions to let people go (employee or customer) if they aren’t a good fit.

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A closer look at a few of these critical questions: Why do we exist? • • •

Every organization has to know why it is there. This can be different than what you do. Southwest: “Democratizing travel in America.” Human beings should be able to travel, even if they don’t have a lot of money. Defining this is more than just something you put on a wall or a t-shirt. It has to affect decisions.

How do we behave? • Value statements are usually pretty generic, and cover just about everything. • Need to get this down to the one or two (maybe three) key things. • Have to avoid confusing them with other values. • Not aspirational values. One of Enron’s core values was integrity. • A core value is something you are willing to stand up for even if you get punished (may not benefit you financially). • Southwest’s value is sense of humor (“fun loving spirit”). When someone asks them to violate a core value, Southwest famously responded, “We’ll miss you.” • Don’t sell your soul. One test is if you can make a decision based on a core value even if you know it won’t benefit you financially. • Note: You can take a core value too far, but when this happens redirect rather than focus on harsh punishment. • Not permission to play standards. These are minimum standards. If you’re going to work here, you should believe…, you shouldn’t cheat on your taxes, etc. How will we succeed? What is the most actionable definition of strategy? It is this: The myriad of intentional decisions you make that give you a chance to succeed and differentiate yourself from your competitors. This then means that every decision you make can be viewed through this lens. What are your 2-3 strategic anchors? One day organizational health may be the standard. Until then, this is a huge opportunity for competitive advantage. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Kent Shaffer // churchrelevance.com // @kentshaffer

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Session 8

GETTING TO YES: NEGOTIATING CONFLICT WILLIAM URY

CO-FOUNDER AND SENIOR FELLOW, HARVARD UNIVERSITY'S PROGRAM ON NEGOTIATION Life Is Negotiation I’ve devoted my life to understanding how we resolve our deepest differences. Think about how much time you spend

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When angry you will make the best speech you will ever regret. We are our own obstacles.

negotiating in back-and-forth communication. We negotiate from the time we get up until we go to bed at night. We may not think of it as negotiation, but that’s what we do.

What is the greatest obstacle to success in negotiation? When angry you will make the best speech you will ever regret. We are our own obstacles. One of the greatest powers we have in a negotiation is the power to NOT react.

Five Keys to Successful Negotiation 1. Focus on people, and their underlying needs.

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Separate people from the problem. Then you can be soft on the person and hard on the problem. Giving people basic human respect costs you nothing but means a lot to the other person in the negotiation. 2. Focus on interests, not positions. Always ask the question "Why?" Understand the why behind the what. Think of a position as what you say you want, but an interest as what you need. Ury used the story of the sisters arguing over an orange. They each wanted the orange (position) but had different interests: one wanted juice and the other rind for baking. Understanding interests allowed them to both fulfill their desires. 3. Create multiple options. Go beyond single solutions. The more options you can identify, the greater the chance for a successful outcome. 4. Identify criteria Insist that the result be based on objective criteria. 5. Use BATNA: Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. This is your walk-away alternative. No deal is better than a bad deal. Often people reach an agreement that is bad for them. This is different from a bottom line, which is an either/or that means you haven’t considered alternatives for satisfying your interests other than win/lose. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Mark Sanborn // marksanborn.com // @mark_sandborn

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Session 9

COURAGE TO ACT PRANITHA TIMOTHY

DIRECTOR OF AFTERCARE, INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION, CHENNAI, INDIA Gary Haugen: Why Leaders Lead Leaders lead out of who they are on the inside. Gloriously or tragically, you and I are going to end up leading out of who we are on the inside.

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I heard God's call to be a light to the nations, to establish justice on earth, for those who are in captivity and darkness.

Pranitha Timothy rescues people out of literal slavery. She has led more than 50 slave rescue operations with the Indian authorities and rescued nearly 4,000 people from slavery. That's nearly 4,000 men, women and children that Pranitha knows by name. Over and over again, she has stood up in court to expose these very violent criminals, and by the word of her testimony, justice comes, and she walks with those who are former slaves. This work that she does is dangerous. Every time she says goodbye to her family and goes on a rescue operation, she doesn't really know if she's going to come back. What does it take to be a leader with that kind of strength and courage on the inside? There's no one I'd rather have us learn from than my friend, colleague and most humble hero, Pranitha Timothy…

Pranitha Timothy: A Beautiful Mission I know that the restoration of people is not easy. Two Americans have changed the course of my life. One day at the end of my social work master’s while sitting in a chapel, I was

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crying and asking God what to do with my life. The chapel speaker was reading Isaiah 42, and I clearly heard God telling me this is what I was to do with my life. 1 Here

is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.

2 He

will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.

3 A

bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

4 He

will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.

What a beautiful mission. I heard God's call to be a light to the nations, to establish justice on earth for those who are in captivity and darkness. Weeks later I was diagnosed with a brain tumor that was choking my nerves. I had lost 60% of the strength in my muscles. I had surgery but I could no longer speak. I went back to Isaiah 42, which says, "He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets." I could not cry out, but I began working faithfully. After two years, God gave me this voice, feeble but powerful in his hands. It's been 15 years. In my job I travel to the most dangerous parts of my own country. But this physical pain has never left me. It reminds me that God's grace is sufficient for me. But the restoring of my voice was not the greatest miracle I have seen, it was His renewal of my heart. Growing up, my parents were missionaries, and I swore I would never become a Christian. I hated Christ for separating me from my family and making me grow up in boarding schools. I had no morality. I was self-destructive through my addictions. My nickname in college was CC, cold and calculated. I was eventually expelled from college for my behavior. I had reached a place where nothing good could come out of me. I realized in my brokenness that my only hope was the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. I knew that I needed his power to overcome the darkness. At last, I embraced it. The prophet writes, "God took this heart of stone and gave me the heart of flesh." Today I am able to feel emotion. My calling is my response to the freedom I have in Christ.

God has transformed my heart through three truths: 1. We are called to serve.

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God showed me very early in my work with IJM that I am no hero. Time and time again I have heard stories of slaves who cried out to a God they did not know, and He sent our team. I know I cannot do anything without God, but being humble does not mean God will not require anything of me that requires great strength. 2. This life belongs to God. The proper source of strength and courage is not willful determination but to remember that my life is God's and my strength is his. A few years ago my colleagues discovered this rice mill where dozens were enslaved by a cruel owner who beat them. When we worked with the government to plan a rescue operation, someone tipped him off and he drove them away in a truck. It was no hero's entry. We arrived and no one was there. The IJM surveillance team went out praying for a miracle that only God could bring. Truly by the hand of God they located the truck 14 miles away. We thought it was over, but the authorities insisted they go back to the rice mill to identify their belongings. The laborers knew the owners would kill them. Sure enough, when we drove into the rice mill we were surrounded by a mob waiting to attack us. The women and children began crying. They were afraid they would die. They took away the keys and surrounded us. All we could do was pray. It is in these moments we must believe our lives are not alone. I can tell you what happened next. God confused the crowd. And after a four-hour siege, the mob cleared a path and allowed us to leave. We were safe, the laborers were save, and we were able to bring laborers out of slavery into new lives of freedom. There have been many times like this when my life was in jeopardy and thought I would never see my family again, but I remember that my life is not my own. 3. God is good. It would be easy for me to tell you only of the victories, the stories that end in the way I hope they would. But our faith must encompass a God who is good even when what we see in the world is not good. When we see the lasting scars, when we see the pain that humans inflict on one another. When laborers are hidden away so we could not find them. When former slaves succumb to illness. Our belief that God is good underpins all of our rescue work and brings us hope that God can transform even the most hopeless cases. We know our God is powerful to do anything. We know he is good. So we have hope. We are still working with the people we rescued from the rice mill. Their lives are no longer perfect. This girl who was once cold and calculating was able to help rescue them. God hears the cries of our heart because he is a God who is good. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:


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Session 10

LEADING THROUGH THE ANGUISH OF TOUGH DECISIONS MARIO VEGA

SENIOR PASTOR, MISIÓN CRISTIANA ELIM, EL SALVADOR Mario Vega, the Senior Pastor of Misión Cristiana Elim in El Salvador (a church with over 73,000 attendees), took the audience through 1 Samuel 15 to look at a biblical example of leading through tough decisions.

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You will never regret doing what is just and walking in integrity.

Historical Context At this time, the people of the Middle East were transitioning to powerful monarchies. However, Israel remained tribal chiefdoms and this fragmentation led them to be vulnerable to their neighbors. Previously, they relied on God. But worry led them to decide they needed a king and a powerful army.

Saul’s First Slip King Saul was a humble and unassuming person in his early years. Quickly endearing himself to Samuel the prophet. Samuel was extremely proud of Saul and his king, but on one occasion Saul deliberately disobeyed the decree of the Lord. He was greedy and stole cattle. When he was called out, he tried covering it up by saying it was an offering. God was not interested in sacrifice but obedience.

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Just the Tip of the Iceberg Because of this failure, God no longer viewed Saul as one certified to be King. Some may think that God was too hard for rejecting Saul over a single act of disobedience. But when a person engages in dishonest living, they reveal their lack of character. It was just the tip of the iceberg and revealed his selfish ambition. Saul’s lifestyle of disobedience after that showed that God had not been too harsh in rejecting Saul. He grew violent and abused his power. This lead Saul to mass murder temple priests and even attempt to murder his own son. He pursued David with an obsession.

Integrity of Character Those that allow themselves room for moral failure, open the door for further failure to come. Charisma and skills were not enough to keep Saul on the throne of Israel. Integrity of character was far more important. Saul had showed the world his lack of character. And it was very painful for Samuel to accept the fact that God had rejected Saul as king. He spent the entire night crying for Saul. His love for Saul ran deep, and he was deeply grieved that God had disqualified him. This brought Samuel to an ethical crossroads. Samuel would now have to choose between his love for God and his love for Saul. In other words, his loyalty to values and loyalty to his friendship.

Four Phases of Handling Moral Failure of Leadership 1. Denial Samuel’s pain was so deep that he couldn’t accept the truth. He couldn’t accept that Saul would no longer be king. Doing something that seemed so small caused him to lose everything. Samuel expected God to change his decision, but God’s decision was final. The sun went down and the anguish was uncontrollable. He was forced to confront the new reality, entering the second phase of this difficult process. 2. Depression His love for Saul couldn’t blind him to the reality. Saul was not who he thought he was. He lacked a healthy fear of God, and the evidence was undeniable. There was no turning back. This daunting reality led him to a deep, deep depression. Samuel walked the dark hours of the night searching for an alternative, one that would not involve firing Saul. However, there were no other options. It was clear that Saul would no longer be King. At about midnight, Samuel entered into the third phase of this difficult decision-making process. 3. Acceptance

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Samuel finally accepted that Saul would no longer be king. This made him feel alone and desolate. If Saul would no longer be King, then who would be? If Samuel was God’s prophet, then it would be his responsibility to anoint the other. An action that would certainly alienate his good friend Saul. Was this a contradiction? Wasn’t he the one that publicly appointed Saul in the first place? The light of the new day found Samuel still aching with new pain. This process would not be complete until he would hear the voice of God saying, “How long will you grieve over Saul as I have rejected him as the king of Israel. Fill your horn with oil and [go].” 4. Action It was time to go appoint a new King. It was not the time to look at the past but the future. The plans of God were still on course. It was time for action. The heart finds comfort with every new step of integrity. So Samuel went into action. He filled up his horn with oil. Dried his last tears. Moved forward to appoint a new king of Israel.

Making Defining Decisions Leaders are defined by the ongoing decisions they make. And leadership rises and falls on the decisions that are being made. Are you facing a difficult decision at this moment? Are you allowing your personal bias to influence your decision? Maybe you are going through your own dark night of grieving. It is difficult when you have to decide over people’s lives. These are decisions that you cannot delegate to any other person. Give yourself permission to grieve, hurt, cry, and walk through depression. All of this is normal. After all, you are human. But never give yourself permission to avoid doing what is right. And don’t give yourself permission to stay in the valley of depression. Lay your burden with God. Don’t stay stuck in your grieving. Look to the heavens, God has more in store with you. This is the best choice for everyone involved. It is the right decision for you as well. You will never regret doing what is just and walking in integrity. When the years pass by, they will reveal justice and integrity in your action. In light of these thoughts, be courageous, be strong, live with integrity. The Lord is with you. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Kent Shaffer // churchrelevance.com // @kentshaffer

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Session 11

CHANGING THE ODDS GEOFFREY CANADA

PRESIDENT AND CEO, HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE This follow is a transcript of an interview conducted with Geoffrey Canada at The Global Leadership Summit. You often use the word "contamination" to describe what's going on. Can you explain that?

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There is something about fighting for the right cause. You will be part of the process of getting towards victory even if it's not in your lifetime.

There are places in this country people would panic if their dog got loose. Hope is contagious, but so is despair. There are places where young people can't figure out how to make it without drugs and sex and violence. We've got to contaminate them with positive values. Some people have said you started some schools. But it's more than that. You can have a great school in a dying neighborhood and some kids might get out, but other kids will be left behind. You've got to change a neighborhood. We started with one block. Then we went to two blocks. Some people doubted us at first, but by the third block, they said, you know what, this thing may be possible.

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You start very young, with young parents who are pregnant, and you go all the way through. We've tried to figure out what is the least amount of money and time we can spend and change kids, and that's just not the way it works. If you raise a child, there is a no time in that child's life you don't need to be a great parent. You can't take it easy when they're three or four or take a vacation when they're nine. We've got to have programs that start at birth and get them through college. Let's get them young. Let's stay with these kids and guarantee they have a good education. Still, today in this country, that's not a vision. We've got to change that. So in addition to education, you offer medical services. What else? People are like, okay you start at birth and then move them through, but why all of this medical and dental and whatever. I used to make the argument that it helps them academically, but I got sick of it. I was like, what decent human being would let a kid grow up without good medical care? It's not exceptional. What's exceptional is that anyone in the United States wouldn't do this. How can people help in their communities? In many places a culture begins to take place, and you're trying to tell them to study and work hard, but they're getting 20 messages a day counteracting that. In these communities, that's not sufficient. You've got to change that culture. When you have reached 65-75% of that population, you've reached a tipping point. In these communities we are reaching, you've got to reach a tipping point. You've used the phrase "against all odds" to describe your story. What happened early in your life? I know there are people here and around the world who celebrate when people get out of these places. Geoff, you got out of the South Bronx, that's amazing! I watched my friends fall into traps that destroyed their lives. These places where young people are considered extraordinary if they make it out, I think as Christians we've got to confront the notion that we celebrate a kid makes it out. We need to change those odds. We need to give them the same chance as middle- and upper-middle-class kids.

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Who influenced you most as a young boy. My mother who is 82 is number one in this. She made sure I was going to read. But my grandmother who has passed away decided she was going to save my soul. She decided when I was 6 or 7 we had to talk. I was sitting around as a 6-year-old saying, "I don't get this God thing. If there's an all powerful God, how come I have to deal with all of this?" I had this grandmother who returned the lost money to the police station, and she'd say "Stealing is wrong." She knew this concept that most of us never really understand that there's integrity whether you'll get caught or not. She didn't talk to me like a kid, so we had these debates about God and Jesus. And that woman passed away before knowing she saved my soul. So when you asked who influenced me, you can talk about the academics and all of that, but that woman saved my soul. So you launched this experiment and you can tell us you saw all of these amazing results right away, right? My grandmother told me I can't lie. Failure, when nobody knows who you are, you can deal with that quietly and anonymously. When you're public, it's much harder. Here's half of the problem. I was upset because there were these people who weren't rooting for me. There were people saying, "I knew he couldn't do it." One of the most difficult things is to work really hard and fail, and not just fail but fail publicly. What you want to do is go and hide, scale down the vision, never take that chance again. Going out and saying, I failed, but I'm going to try twice as hard and I’m going to be successful, that's hard. You had to make some very challenging personnel decisions. You gave them an extra year. Do you regret that? It was a mistake. But I love people. I believe in redemption. I believe people get better. Here I think is the toughest part of my business, of our business. Sometimes you feel like you're working for the staff, when really my mission was the kids. The kids didn't have another year. They didn't get a second chance at this. The idea that I could wait for people to get better, was something I had to learn the hard way wasn't true. I'm still rooting for people, but it's different now. It's easy to let someone go who's lazy and disagreeable. It's hard when someone works hard and is trying. I think the way you build a powerful organization is you demand a level of excellence.

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You've faced pressure from influential donors. How did you handle that? I have to raise a lot of money. I know that. I didn't get into this business to raise money. People who like me like me less when I have to raise money. The donor is like the customer who is always right. You're sitting there trying to figure out where the line is, and there's a line. There's a line where the gift detracts from the work. So I'm sitting there with a person who says, "This is great, but you really have to focus on employment, and I have a lot of money to give you." In the end it would have destroyed my program if I had watered down the vision. Sometimes not taking the money is the smartest thing you can do. How has your leadership style changed over the years? My compassion has grown as I've understood how difficult these things are, but I also feel a stronger sense of urgency. I think we've lost our way. I don't think we can have another generation on a pipeline from cradle to prison. So I've gotten more impatient as well. Looking at these really tough problems, there's a tendency to say we can't do it. But when we want to do something, we get it done. We put another rover on Mars. It just means that as Americans we have not put our focus on it and decided this is our core mission. I've heard you speak on succession planning. Can you share about that? As life would happen, I went to school at Bowdoin with Ken (CEO of American Express). I go to Ken and ask, “What do you think about succession?” He said, "The day I walked into this job, there was a succession plan. This is a business. The company has to survive, but there is no intention, no matter how good I am for this company to be worse when I'm gone. There are two or three people in the line of succession who I pay a lot of money not to leave." So I went to my board and said, "I have to leave this organization when it's on its way up." There's this thought in the nonprofit world that it's "your" organization. This institution belongs to the young people who need an opportunity. No one on the board wants to come to you and stay, "Geoff, it's time to go." People start to whisper, but they don't want to tell you it's time to go. So as leaders, we have to tell them, "I'm planning to go, and I have already brought in people to replace me." You can't get great, talented people to replace you and not have an exit strategy, because then they start looking at you, like, "He's a little sick today." They have to know when you're leaving.

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And if we leave on the way down, the person who takes over is seen as worse because it wasn't as good. You can't wait until you're worn out and tired. I love my job, but I am preparing to leave in the next three years. Geoffrey, you have been doggedly pursuing this mission for a long time. What would you say about staying the course in the times of disappointment? I have been in the same job for 30 years. And I say, yes, it's nice to be on TV and all of that, but for most of that time no one knew who I was. We are but a moment in a path to victory. If you get to be celebrated, you have gotten more than most. Probably for hundreds of years there were people struggling and saying "one day" about slavery. Some people never see the reward in their lifetime, but they know they are right. There is something about fighting for the right cause. You will be part of the process of getting towards victory even if it's not in your lifetime. You know, you could always be a preacher... How does faith play a role in your life and work? My grandfather was a pastor. My grandmother was an ordained minister. My mother was one too. My wife just became an ordained minister. But I don't want to give you a flip answer because I grew up in the 60s, and I would be in church listening to my grandfather preaching and then walk out and there'd be drug addicts on the streets and kids growing up without parents. And I said, this isn't what Jesus had in mind. This is a con job. I was going through a rough patch my sophomore year in college, one of my twin sons died, my brother was killed in a car accident two months later, and I found out on my way home that my grandmother had cancer that was incurable. I went to my grandmother and I was angry. I said, "You're the most God-honoring person I know. How can you sit there and tell me you have faith?" She said, "Geoff, it's easy to have faith when everything is going great. The real test of faith is when you're faced with something that only your faith will keep you believing in God." I looked into her eyes and realized she wasn't kidding. I realized I had to step back because if there was something so powerful it could keep you through that, maybe I should give this faith thing a second chance. In the end, if you have faith, it will pull you through anything. My faith has gone 180 degrees from where it was before.

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What one thing would you say to leaders? People are watching us all the time, and this issue of your moral compass, I believe if you're a leader in our business, you've got to bat 100%. You've always got to be on your game. Why is it that folks wait to get to be leaders before they decide to cheat on their wives, steal money or become abusive? I would challenge us all as leaders to get that moral compass right. Every time you have a leader who gains some notoriety who acts up, it causes all of these people on the fence to say, "I knew it wasn't true. They were lying." Get your moral compass right and you'll save not only yourself but a bunch of other people too. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:


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Session 12

A LEADER OF UNIMAGINABLE INFLUENCE JOHN ORTBERG

SENIOR PASTOR, MENLO PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND AUTHOR 12 Ways Jesus Has Influenced History John Ortberg provided around 100 facts about the influence Jesus has had on history. Here is just a small sample.

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We are stewards of a movement that has reshaped history more than any other.

1.

We are stewards of a movement that has reshaped history more than any other.

2.

Jesus is not just the greatest king among kings, but is the King of kings.

3.

Every world leader and king now has their birth and death marked in relation to Jesus’ birth.

4.

Things did not change by accident.

5.

Wherever you have an institution of self-giving for the lowly, whose recipients will never be able to repay, it probably has its roots in the movement started by Jesus.

6.

92% of all colleges and universities started before the Civil War were started in Christ’s name.

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7.

Jesus revolutionized the arts. Dante, Bach, Luther’s hymns, Mozart, all did their work to the glory of God. Modern musical notation is an invention of monks.

8.

Separation of church and state, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” This is perhaps the most influential political statement ever made. It had been assumed in the ancient world that religion was the prerogative of the ruler. Jesus separated the realms.

9.

Jesus changed how we think of human rights and dignity. The notion of individual rights, where did this come from? It was not self-evident in the ancient world. Today almost everyone says “I believe in a God of love.” Where did that come from? It was rare in the ancient world. Jesus brought a new way of thinking about God.

10. Jesus uniquely taught love your enemies. In the ancient world it was admired to help your friends, but harm your enemies. 11. The real question is not who was this man but who is this man? 12. His work is not done yet. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Matt Perman // whatsbestnext.com // @mattperman

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Session 13

CLOSING SESSION BILL HYBELS

FOUNDER AND SENIOR PASTOR, WILLOW CREEK COMMUNITY CHURCH Building the Local Church The local church is the hope of the world. I have said that a time or two, and I believe it to my toes. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Jesus is the one who is building the church, and it is not easily defeated.

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When we are invited into the great adventure of our Lord, we must line up our giftedness with his endeavor.

A Community of Faith For much of my life as a young person, I knew that at my very best I would only be minimally engaged in the church for the rest of my life. I would have described the church as “hopeless”. I would have kept people away out of a fear that the church would do harm. Then, from about the ages of 18 to 35, my thoughts about the church changed. I was hearing with new ears in a new classroom about this group of people who were once totally devoted to God; people who took their masks off and became open and vulnerable with each other.

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“Students,” Dr. B would ask, “Does Jesus Christ still redeem and restore people? Are the Scriptures still as sharp as a two-edged sword? If so, then why can’t there be such a community of faith in our city and our day?”

Being Seized By Vision Vision makes the present experience indefensible and propels people forward in sacrifice and joy. Where there is no vision, we know, the people perish. And the people are meant to have life, life to the full. Being seized by this vision, Bill’s deep commitment to its implementation meant leaving a lot behind to take a risk on a shaky experience. A journey from hopelessness to hope is rarely an easy one, and it is almost always a grander adventure than we know when we set out. Bill walked us through the nascent stages of Son City, which moved into the Willow Creek movie theater, which moved to 67 E. Algonquin Road, which became, for nine years, my home. This place—where I sit and type these words right now—this place became where I did much of my growing-up and more friendship-building as a teenage girl. The local church that is based on hope has become the real home for so many of us, the safe place for deep growth and doubt and friendship and love.

The Hope of the World In an airport in Puerto Rico, Bill saw two young boys who were fighting each other. He broke up the fight and eventually got on the plane to head home, and while he was on his way, he wondered endlessly what it was that would bring those young boys to a new place of life where the hate would be chased from their hearts and replaced with a kind of knowledge and love and acceptance. It wouldn’t come from a law being passed or a new program being implemented—the thing that was needed was the message of Jesus Christ. The thing that was needed was the local church. “If the local church is the hope of the world—if it is the steward of the best message ever spread—then each of its attenders really matters. Then organizational health really matters. Then finding and deploying spiritual gifts really matters. The hope of the world is at stake.”

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Will the local church, the hope of the world, be able to sustain itself to the end of time? Well, let’s go back to Matthew 16:18. What we need to remember is that it is Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, who is building his church. He knows it is the hope of the world—this does not depend on us. And what we can’t do here is knock off entirely, neglecting our gifts and leaving the work of God behind us. When we are invited into the great adventure of our Lord, we must line up our giftedness with his endeavor. .......................................................................................................................................................

Session summary by:

Laura Turner // loturner.com // @lauraortberg

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SPEAKERS GEOFFREY CANADA JIM COLLINS CRAIG GROESCHEL BILL HYBELS MARC KEILBURGER PATRICK LENCIONI

JOHN ORTBERG CONDOLEEZZA RICE PRANITHA TIMOTHY WILLIAM URY MARIO VEGA SHERYL WUDUNN

CONTRIBUTORS WILL JOHNSTON MATT PERMAN TIM PETERS

MARK SANBORN KENT SHAFFER LAURA TURNER

Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit www.willowcreek.com/summit

TIM PETERS

A ministry marketing and communications consultant, Tim is passionate about helping churches accelerate growth. He specializes in working with churches in marketing strategy and communications, vision clarity and guest experiences. Experiences Include: •

Communications Pastor at WoodsEdge Community Church; overseeing Church Marketing, Communications, Internet Presence, Worship Programming and Campaigns

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Consulted with First Baptist Church of Burleson, First Presbuterian Church of Houston, Lakepointe Church of Rockwall, Man in the Mirror, Halftime Solutions, The Mind of a Champion and several other non-profit and for-profit organizations.

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Featured author on MichaelHyatt.com, BigIsTheNewSmall.com, ChurchLeaders.com, TonyMorganLive.com, CatalystSpace.com, BenStroup.com, Pastors.com, WillowCreek.com, FaithVillage.com, Auxano Vision Room

RESOLUTE CREATIVE

Resolute is a highly educated group of Christian professionals, and bring you more than 40 years of combined experience in developing, launching and managing strategic Internet solutions for local and national church and non-profit organizations. Simply put, we help church leaders accelerate growth with digital strategies and solutions.

www.resolutecreative.com