Leadership Quotes to Ponder

• Vision is the currency that purchases the buy-in of leaders.

• Become pre-occupied with those you haven't reached as opposed to those you are trying to keep.

• Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

• When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near.

• Vision begins with a burden.

• A leader is a dealer in hope.

• Lead with courage, because there is much at stake.
  

• Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.

• The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
  

• Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
  

What do you think?

Making Waves

Our Children's Ministry Director recently gave me an article to read about change. Creating healthy change is a big part of leadership. Environments of change should not be "change for the sake of change, but change for the sake of progress." This article by Larry Shallenberger highlights some important steps to consider when going down the path toward change.

Brain Waves

Effective change begins in the mind of the leader. It is important to carefully analyze the change you are thinking about instituting. This analyzing should include considering the dynamics that will come into play in your situation. So, be sure to start with this question - what do I hope to accomplish through this change?

Sound Waves

Now that you are clear and the why's of your change begin to think about how you will communicate this change. Shallenberger says, "Lasting change always starts with the invisible and progresses to the visible. Change minds before structures." So, the second question is - can you make a compelling case for your change in two sentences?

Light Waves

Once you have communicated the change and the reason for this change you are ready for implementation. In most cases, if the reasons are communicated clearly and in a compelling way this step should not be to difficult. The important thing to remember here is to execute with excellence. So, the third question is - what do we need to do to launch this change with 

excellence? It is during this wave that you can go to great lengths to build trust with your team. Trust from your team will come as you communicate with them and get them the needed resources to help with the launch of the change.

Shock Waves

Harvard Business Professor Leonard Schlesinger says this, "By accomplishing anything of value, a whole segment of the population will not appreciate what you are doing." So when the waves come - how should we respond to criticism? 

• Listen Graciously
• Honor this person for having the courage to come and confront you
• Lead with Strength

If you are convinced that this change is right for your organization, be careful not to shrink back when criticized. Nothing creates confusion faster than a wavering leader. Remain steady and have the courage to continue implementing your change.

Change is a part of life. Organizations that are unwilling to change soon become ineffective. So, be willing to make waves for the sake of moving forward.

Story of Influence

In 1986, something remarkable happened in the little town of Conyers, Georgia. High School officials there discovered that one of their basketball players - who had played forty-five seconds in the first of the school's five post-season games - had actually been scholastically ineligible. They discovered this after the championship game was history. What did they do in response? Had they just swept it under the rug, no one would have noticed. The studenthad only appeared once for forty-five seconds! It was not that big of a deal. But that's not how they saw it. They returned the state championship trophy they had won just three weeks before. They could have kept quiet and kept the trophy, but they had too much moral intelligence to do that.

To their credit, the team and the town, althought they were sad, stood behind the school's decision. The coach said, "We didn't know he was ineligible at the time...but you've got to do what's honest and right and what the rules say. I told the team that people forget the scores of games; they don't forget what you're made of."

This is an amazing story of integrity. Integrity in leadership is critical for the credibility of the leader.

So, here's a few lessons for our leadership from this story:

1. 90% of our leadership life is about our character.

2. The invisible trumps the visible. The inside should always come first.

3. From our being as leaders flows our doing.

4. Small compromises by leaders can go unnoticed for a period of time but eventually these compromises will have a negative impact on the leader's influence.

So, integrity in our leadership should never be compromised!!