From Seth Godin:
What do you want to be doing 100 days from now?
What change do you seek to be making? With which skills? Surrounded by which people?
For that to happen, day 99 will need to different from today.
And so will day 98.
In fact, so will tomorrow.
If we keep focusing on ‘what’s next’ we might never get around to doing the work we need to do to get us to day 100.
A periodic visit to the 100 Acre Wood. Here’s the backstory.
A continuing discussion coming from 3 different conversations with 3 different pastors over the course of 3 different days, but all having the same question:
Q: How do you put together a team of leaders to guide a church through a new ministry initiative or project?
Pat MacMillan, author of The Performance Factor, and Seth Godin, author of Tribes, have been a great resource for me in working with church teams. Here is the second of several posts on the topic.
The first characteristic was a common purpose.
Every team member is clear about his or her particular role, as well as those of other team members. Roles are about how we design, divide, and deploy the work of the team. While the concept is compellingly logical, many teams find it very challenging to implement in practice. When they get it right, though, team members discover that making their combination more effective and leveraging their collective efforts is an important part to synergistic results.
Broadly speaking, there are three types of team roles:
Role Design Criteria
A: Defining the common purpose of the team is the first step of creating a team; that common purpose is the reason for cooperation. Following that, the church must develop an appropriate division of labor and create clear roles for team members. This is the strategy for cooperation.
How do you put together a team of leaders to guide a church through a new ministry initiative or project?
3 different conversations with 3 different pastors over the course of 3 different days, but all having the same question!
As with all great questions, the answer begins with another question. One of the first I would ask is Why does this group exist? How that question is answered will determine, to a great measure, the success of the team. Pat MacMillan, author of The Performance Factor, and Seth Godin, author of Tribes, have been a great resource for me in working with church leadership teams.
The power of a team flows out of each team member’s alignment to its purpose. The task of any team is to accomplish an objective and to do so at exceptional levels of performance. Teams are not ends in themselves, but rather a means to an end.
The power of teamwork flows out of alignment between the interests of individual team members and the mission of the team. MacMillan found that to achieve such alignment, team members must see the task as:
So you want to put together a leadership team for a specific project?
NEWS FLASH: There really is an “I” in team – if the individual members aren’t committed to a clear, common, and compelling task as individuals first, then you really won’t have much of a team.
So, the first answer to the question above?
A: First, the church needs to have a clear understanding of what the team is expected to accomplish. That clear purpose will serve as a guide to seeking individuals who will bring their collective wisdom together to form, over time, a team to accomplish the task.
inspired by and adapted from The Performance Factor by Pat MacMillan and Tribes by Seth Godin
…to make a change happen.
A presentation is a precious opportunity. It’s a powerful arrangement…one speaker, an attentive audience, all in their seats, all paying attention (at least at first). – Seth Godin
Don’t waste it.
courtesy of Justin S. Campbell
The purpose of a presentation is to change minds.
But if you really want to make a change, to move from informing someone to influencing them, ask yourself these two questions:
The answers can range from simple to subtle to dramatic.
Once you have the answers, though, dive into it with all you’ve got.
Every element of your presentation – the room, the attendees, the length, the tone, any visual elements, the technology – exists for just one reason: to make it more likely that you will achieve the change you seek. If an element doesn’t do that, replace it with something that does, or throw it out.
If you fail to make a change, you’ve failed. If you do make change, you’ve opened the possibility you’ll be responsible for a bad decision or part of a project that doesn’t work. No wonder it’s frightening and far easier to just do a lousy presentation. – Seth Godin
inspired by Seth Godin, Bert Decker, Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, and Andy Stanley
A learning curve is a graphical representation of the increase of learning (vertical axis) with experience (horizontal axis).
When we encounter a “steep learning curve” we face an uphill struggle to learn new ideas, practices, systems, etc. The goal is survival and ultimately, to be at a better place at some point in the future.
You know – the best in the world.
Anyone who is going to hire you, buy from you, recommend you, vote for you, or do what you want them to do is going to wonder if you’re the best choice. –Seth Godin
If you’re not going to put in the best effort, why bother?
Your learning curve should always be up and to the right – if it’s not, you’ve come to the edge of a cliff…
The first step to becoming extraordinary is simply to stop being ordinary.
Here are five suggestions to help you:
The world will notice.
inspired by and adapted from The Big Moo, edited by Seth Godin
A few thoughts from the intersection of Seth Godin, George Harrison, Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Seuss, and Todd Henry…
Auxano’s Founder and Team Leader, Will Mancini posed the following question in a morning text to our team:
The question is intended to be asked by our Navigators to the leaders they are connecting with in churches – but it’s also appropriate for leaders everywhere. Most leaders can immediately identify a barrier or roadblock that stands in their way of moving forward to better future. Many leaders also have some idea about how to break that barrier.
It begs another question: What are you waiting for?
That question was on my mind as I began my day’s reading, researching, curating, and editing – and over a period of a few hours, the following came together:
Excellence isn’t about working extra hard to do what you’re told. It’s about taking the initiative to do work you decide is worth doing. It’s a personal, urgent, this-is-my-calling way to do your job. Please stop waiting for a map. We reward those who draw maps, not those who follow them. – Seth Godin
Mapmakers are those who can effectively circumnavigate constraints in order to make things happen. We all deal with constraints, especially if we are working inside an organization. There will always be organizational charts, reporting structures, budgets, and defined career paths of some sort. The question isn’t whether constraints exist, but whether persist in finding our way around and through them.
Where in your life and work are you waiting for permission? Don’t anticipate that someone is going to hand you a map. You’ll probably have to make your own. The good news is that once you get moving, the terrain becomes more visible and navigable. It’s only when you’re standing still, unaware of what’s over the next hill, that the path of progress is opaque and frightening.
Say yes, then figure it out along the way.
– Todd Henry, Die Empty
A quote often wrongly attributed to The Cheshire Cat:
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. – George Harrison, from his song “Any Road”
The actual conversation between Alice and The Cheshire Cate:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
And, from everyone’s favorite graduation gift book,
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…
– Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
A closing challenge from Todd Henry:
When you look back on your life, the moments you will be most proud of will likely be the ones where you stepped out of your comfort zone in the pursuit of something you believed in. Don’t allow the lull of comfort to keep you trapped in a place of complacency and subpar engagement.
inspired by, and adapted from, Todd Henry’s Die Empty
with a little help from Dr. Seuss, Seth Godin, George Harrison, and Lewis Carroll
Making a “Best of” list is always hard – it’s a very subjective process, driven by my personal tastes, professional needs, and plain curiosity.
I’ve always been a voracious reader – a cherished habit passed down to me by my late father. In the past year, though, I’ve been able to ramp it up considerably because of my role as Vision Room Curator.
It’s not only a pleasure to read, it’s part of my job description – how cool is that?
Even so, it’s also hard to narrow it a “Best of” list down: in 2012, my reading included:
I also perused dozens of bookstores on my travels, writing down 63 titles for future review and/or acquisition. There are also a lot of late releases just coming out that I don’t have time to take a look at – yet. Be that as it may, here is my list of my 12 favorite books published in 2012.
Guest Experiences for ChurchWorld is my passion, and this book by Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine will provide churches a “go-to” manual for years to come
Andy Stanley and Northpoint Ministries have a solid model that all churches would do well to study – not to duplicate, but to understand how to impact your community for Christ.
Tim Keller delivers a textbook for doing church; possibly the most important church theology/leadership/practical book in a decade
Patrick Lencioni captures the concept of clarity (he uses the phrase “organizational health”) like no business thinker today
Seth Godin’s most recent book is probably the most challenging personal one I’ve read – and that’s saying a lot!
Joey Bonifacio writes in a simple, profound way about the importance of “connecting” in relationships that lead to discipleship
Rob Wegner and Jack Magruder in a quiet, unassuming way, illustrate how Granger Community Church is transforming into a community of believers reaching their community – and the world.
Paul Smith delivers a powerful tool to enhance the leader’s skill in storytelling.
John Edson delivers a stunningly designed book that challenges the reader to understand and utilize Apple’s principles of design
Church mergers (and closings) are going to be a huge event in the next decade; Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird give an excellent resource on how to survive and thrive throughout the process.
Susan Cain writes the book I’ve been waiting for over 30 years – because I am an introvert leader.
Sarah Miller Caldicott delivers a powerful primer for collaborative teamwork.
Nancy Duarte is not just a great writer – she knows how to deliver a great presentation from the first idea to the final applause.
Okay, it’s not 12 – but it is a baker’s dozen!
Let’s see – there’s still over 2 weeks left in 2012 – plenty of time to find a good book – what do you recommend?
Today kicks off an annual tradition: taking a look at why reading is important for leaders, hearing from leaders on reading, and announcing my version of the best books of 2012.
And there’s no better way to start it off with a little make that a lot of Seth Godin…
Yesterday I met our mailman at the door with a not too happy look on his face. In addition to the increased volume of holiday mail, he was straining to carry a large, heavy box – one I have been anticipating since mid-summer:
Seth Godin’s latest work, This Might Work, is a huge behemoth of a book weighing in at 15.4 pounds and measuring 15x11x3 inches. It contains Seth’s incomparable blog posts from 2006-2012, curated by his most avid follower, Bernadette Jiwa. Jiwa is an Australian writer and Seth’s only choice to undertake this Herculean task.
She succeeded.
Here is her choice for the opening page, from Seth’s blog on May 20, 2004:
Five years from now…
Assume that:
Hard drive space is free
Wifi like connections are everywhere
Connections speeds are 10 to 100 times faster
Everyone has a digital camera
Everyone carries a device that is sort of like a laptop, but cheap and tiny
The number of new products introduced every day is five times greater than now
Wal-Mart’s sales are three times as big
Any manufactured product that’s more than five years old in design sells at commodity pricing
The retirement age will be five years higher than it is now
Your current profession will either be gone or totally different
What then?
Classic Seth Godin…
Also in the package was Seth’s latest normal book, The Icarus Deception, due out on 12/31. Continuing with the theme he first introduced in Linchpin, Godin shows how we can thrive in an economy that rewards art, not compliance. He explains why true innovators focus on trust, remarkability, leadership, and stories that spread. And he makes a passionate argument for why you should be treating your work as art. A review will be coming soon!
In a few sentences above, this is why leaders read..
And why you should, too.
Next: Thomas Edison on Reading
Communication is about getting others to adopt your point of view, to help them understand why you’re excited (or sad, or optimistic or whatever else you are.) If all you want to do is create a file of facts and figures, then cancel the presentation and send in a report.
– Seth Godin
I’m headed to Atlanta GA today for the 2012 Worship Facilities Expo (WFX). I have been very fortunate and honored to have been a part of every WFX since it began in Nashville TN in 2005. Because WFX held two events in some years, this will be the 10th time I have made a presentation (or two – or three) at the event.
I would like to think I’ve come a long way in my communication style.
When I look back at that first presentation, I cringe. Not because of the topic or content – it was well received. I just remember it being a very dense verbal communication that was all one way – a classic data dump. Coupled with my rapid-fire delivery, (I was born in Nashville TN, but must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle set at 78 rpm. Note – anyone under 30 reading this will have to check Wikipedia for the scoop on that) I’m surprised the audience remained upright.
But they did (I actually have proof – two of the participants that day were on the leadership team at Alliance Bible Fellowship, and we started a conversation that day that eventually led the church to pick me and my company (at the time) for a $5.6 million dollar, multi-phase construction project that is in its third phase at this writing). But I digress.
Our brains have two sides – an emotional right side and a logical left side. When you show up to speak to an audience, you can be sure they are showing up with both sides of their brains ready to be engaged. If you aren’t aware of the way you talk, the way you dress, your body language, and by the way, your content, you may be tuned out by the second slide of your PowerPoint or Keynote or Prezi.
You can wreck a communication process with lousy logic or unsupported facts, but you can’t complete it without emotion. Logic is not enough.
According to Seth Godin, a home run presentation is easy to describe: You put up a slide. It triggers an emotional reaction in the audience. They sit up and want to know what you’re going to say that fits with that image. Then, if you do it right, every time they think of what you said, they’ll see that image (and vice versa).
A presentation isn’t an obligation – it’s a privilege.
If you’re in Atlanta attending WFX, drop in on one of my presentations Wednesday 9/19 at 11 AM (The Servant Blueprint) in A313 or 3 PM (Selling Change) in A314.
As Andy Stanly says, I’d love the chance to challenge your mind in order to change your life.
27gen.com 