Leadership
Facing the Challenge of Leading Up
Imagine yourself inside a crowded movie theater. You’ve got your popcorn and soft drink, and you’ve settled into your seat to enjoy a new thriller. After the movie starts, you munch happily away as the story takes off and begins to build. Then, about halfway through the movie, the tension mounts. The main character keeps…
Read MoreMoving Beyond the One-Man Show: Investing in the Right People
Last week I wrote in The Limits of a One-Man Show that a leader who doesn’t share his or her vision, influence, and momentum with others will see all three diminish over time. I learned that lesson at Hillham, and it’s one I’ve never forgotten. It is absolutely essential for any leader to find capable women…
Read MoreLeadership Lessons from Job
In my new book, Learning from the Giants, I write about what it would be like to spend time with several giants of the faith, to ask them questions and hear them share the lessons they learned from their life experiences. The following is an excerpt from my chapter on Job, whose full story is…
Read MoreThe Head and the Heart: Leaders Aim to Hit Both
Vision determines the direction of the team. When a leader communicates a vision clearly and contagiously, team members gain confidence because they know where they’re going and why it’s important to get there. Casting vision successfully requires both emotional and logical transference. What is needed to transfer a vision emotionally? 1. Credibility A leader’s actions…
Read MoreLearning Leadership by Wrestling Cats?
“I knew a man who grabbed a cat by the tail and learned forty percent more about cats than the man who didn’t.”~ Mark Twain Twain’s witticism carries some truth about leadership: 1) we learn leadership from being in close proximity to it, and 2) we learn leadership through memorable experiences. LEADERSHIP UP CLOSE In…
Read MoreWHY FOLLOW A DREAMER?
Many young, aspiring leaders have bold vision, exude passion, and abound with self-confidence—and yet no one follows them. Not only do they lack influence, people find them downright annoying. Consider the biblical character, Joseph. As a teenager, he dreamed of greatness and spoke nonstop to his eleven brothers about his grandiose vision of leading them…
Read MoreAbundance: A Generous Helping
What makes a person generous? The answer is abundance. However, we misunderstand abundance if we think of it in terms of “having a lot.” In fact, as Ken Stern of The Atlantic reported in March 2013: “One of the most surprising, and perhaps confounding, facts of charity in America is that the people who can…
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