Don’t be afraid of growth you cannot understand. It’s messier, harder to contain, even uncomfortable at times, but it also keeps leaders energized, maintains momentum, and helps spur exponential growth.
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Chad Rowland is my co-pastor. Some day I may write more about that, but, basically as the title indicates, it means we share leadership responsibilities at Grace Community Church. Chad is younger, more into creative arts, and more relational than me, so he balances well with my strategic wiring. I was delighted when Chad chose to answer my ten leadership questions. (Honestly, it helped me know he actually reads my blog!)
Lantz Howard just became a new dad. Check out some great baby pictures on his blog. Lantz is also a frequent Twitter friend (You can follow him HERE) and today I’m featuring his 10 question leadership interview. Lantz is a youth and family minister. I’m impressed with what I see in Lantz and you’ll be impressed with his answers.
I once wrote that growth covers over a multitude of problems. (Read that post HERE.) I know many organizations and people that mistakenly believe for a time (before it catches up with them) that busyness means things are moving in the right direction. That may or may not be true, but success always depends more on the type of activity than on the quantity of activity.
I love to challenge ideas; even my own. I have to be careful how I challenge them, but I think the best ideas have undergone serious critical thinking prior to introduction.
While I do not know Dave Baldwin personally, I have grown to have tremendous respect for him as a leader. Whenever Dave comments on one of my posts, his response is thoughtful and helpful. He is apparently the type leader I would want on my team or one whose team I would want to serve. You can follow Dave on Twitter HERE.
Patricia Zell is a frequent commenter on my blog. I especially appreciate those who take the time not only to read the posts I write, but participate in the discussion of them. Patricia and I have commented back and forth before about her role as a teacher. She made comments, such as, “I’m not necessarily a leader, but as a teacher…”, to which I always reply something such as, “That sounds like a leader to me.” If we believe that leadership is about influence, then teachers are some of the most influential leaders we have. They certainly impact our society in a powerful way. In my life, some of my biggest influencers have been teachers. You can follow Patricia on Twitter HERE.
That’s how we planted a church. We looked for people who were influencers within a circle of friends to find a core of people to start our church and we invested in them and released them to lead in the church. We continue to invest in influencer type people that come to our church to lead our ministry. I have personally looked for influencer type people to add to our staff.
I’m curious what you do with anonymous criticism. I don’t really have a policy and I feel I must establish one. I realize that growth in any organization and just being in a position of leadership welcomes critics. The debate I’ve always heard, however, is what to do with anonymous criticism. I don’t appreciate critics who want sign their name, but since it’s part of leadership, here’s how I currently react:
I love creativity. When we started Grace Community Church, we surrounded ourselves with highly creative minds and allowed them to dream big dreams. One thing I realized early in the life of the church, however, is that creative people are more difficult to lead.