Month: May 2017

Keeping the Refugees Fed, a Growing Need

Posted on May 31, 2017 by - Stories

The sun is fierce. It feels like it could be up to 110 degrees out. Thousands of people have gathered at the food-distribution point in Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in northern Uganda. Some wait with their families, some with their infants tied to their back with a shawl; men, women, old and young. They’re living in one of the largest refugee settlements in the world right now. And they’ve been waiting eagerly for the monthly distribution.

Sixteen-year-old Helen has been waiting for a few hours now. While hundreds of other refugees are standing in separate queues according to their family size of two, four, five and so on, waiting for their turn to get their IDs checked. Helen is given special treatment. She is taken aside from the long queue, her ID and her food ration card verified quickly, and is made to stand in the line meant for family size, two.

Helen is just one among many hundreds of unaccompanied and separated children at the settlement who are given this special treatment at the food distribution point. At all the points, World Vision child-protection volunteers, identify unaccompanied and separated children, and help them go through the process of receiving their share of the monthly rations. According to reports by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), children make up the highest percentage of new arrivals, almost 68%.

Despite the piercing, harsh heat of the sun, Helen looks cheerful most of the time, smiling and laughing with the others around her. Helen and her sister arrived in Uganda last September. Their mother passed away, and her father works as a driver for a local NGO back in Juba, South Sudan.

“The fighting became severe and there were gunshots and killings everywhere,” Helen says. “So father sent us away asking us to flee to Uganda. He had to stay back because of work.”

Helen and her sister Christine, 15, now live at the camp together.

Like the hundreds of thousands of other refugees, the sisters rely completely on the monthly rations provided by World Vision in partnership with the World Food Program (WFP). Every month, each person receives 26 pounds of grains, about 5 pounds of beans, about 25 pounds of corn, some oil, and some salt.

However, “this lasts only for around three weeks,” says Helen. “We save up some of the maize and manage the rest of the days by eating porridge made with the maize,” she adds.

A few of the refugees who managed to bring some money with them buy vegetables or fruits from the local markets, if and when they can find them. However, for a majority of them, the ration they receive from World Vision each month is the only food they will eat for the entire month.

“I love cooking and eating meat. Back in South Sudan we used to eat meat quite often. Now we don’t have money to buy. The last time we ate meat was for Christmas,” Christine says.

World Vision, as part of its Child Protection interventions, also tries to find a caregiver for unaccompanied and separated children. The caregivers do not keep the children in their homes with their families. But they usually live in close proximity to the children. This ensures that young girls like Helen and Christine are protected and safe. While Helen’s caregiver cooks for the girls sometimes, Helen manages most of the cooking at home, with Christine’s help. Both of them study in primary class 6, at the primary school facility in Bidi Bidi.

Helen likes taking care of people, so she has dreams of becoming a nurse, while Christine is determined that she will become a businesswoman someday.

As of February 2017, World Vision in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), distributed food supplies to 546,800 South Sudanese refugees in Adjumani, Arua, Yumbe, Koboko and Moyo districts in the West Nile region of Uganda. In addition, World Vision partners with WFP and the U.N. Refugee Agency to distribute high-energy biscuits to new arrivals at the border-entry points. We have served more than 272,206 hot meals since December 2016, at the refugee reception center.

However, despite the massive need, financial resources are running thin and the crisis is chronically underfunded. Uganda, which has been very open to receiving and taking care of the refugees is “at a breaking point,” said the U.N.’s high commissioner for refugees in a news story recently.

How can I help the hunger crisis in Africa?

Your church can give to help fight the hunger crisis in East Africa. Because of grants, your gift will have 7x the impact!

Fisherman Uses His Talents to Be a Positive Influence on Under-Resourced Students

Posted on May 31, 2017 by - Africa, Because of the GLS, Education, Influence, Stories

Our hope is that everyone leaves The Global Leadership Summit knowing they can use their leadership skills and influence to make the world a better place.

And we believe influence comes in all shapes and sizes, whether you’re the CEO of a global company, a pastor of a local church, a teacher at a rural school…or even a fisherman.

After the 2016 GLS in Umhlanga, South Africa, one of the attendees was inspired by a talk about the talents God has given us, and began using those talents to honor Him.

He realized the one talent he could share was fishing, and asked God to allow him to use his talent to influence those around him in a positive way.

So he put some ideas together and went to the Missions & Justice team at Grace Family Church in Umhlanga, the GLS host site, to discuss starting a fishing class for one of the under-resourced schools they’re is involved in.

It wasn’t long before he started teaching at Malvern Children’s Home, giving boys of all ages the opportunity to learn how to fish, while being a positive figure of encouragement in their lives.

Within the first week, one of the boys, who had formerly refused to attend school, decided to go because he wanted to be allowed to attend the weekly fishing class. It’s exciting to watch how the boys are enjoying getting their hands dirty while learning a helpful skill, and building community.

 

What talents has God blessed you with? How could you use those talents to positively influence the community around you?

 

CEO Ushers Guests to Swaziland GLS, Journalist is Blown Away By His Servant’s Heart

Posted on May 29, 2017 by - Africa, Because of the GLS, Business, Church & Faith-Based, Culture, Stories

Volunteer teams at The Global Leadership Summit are known for excellent service, but the team serving at the GLS in Swaziland, Africa shocked this journalist.

When newspaper reporter Jan Sithole attended the GLS at Emafini, he was met in the parking area by a volunteer with an umbrella branded with the GLS logo. He was there to escort guests into the building and shade them from the blistering sun. Jan recognized the volunteer—he is the CEO of a corporation in Swaziland. Why would a man of his stature be volunteering in a parking lot?

Jan asked the CEO why he was parking cars instead of taking his place in the front row inside the auditorium.

What he said blew the reporter’s mind.

He said serving others was the most important aspect of leadership.

In a local Swazi newspaper, Sithole shared his GLS experience:

The program started without a minute’s delay with powerful live music by a band, which I was later informed was a collaboration between some international artists and Swazi instrumentalists and musicians. […] The entertainment line-up was excellent and I think it was necessary because what followed after was strictly business, hard-hitting leadership lessons, some of which were hard to swallow. […] I enjoyed it immensely!

The Summit was the first of its kind and I left with an experience I will never forget. If we can organize an international event this good, then I think Swaziland is ready to host some of the major UN meetings.

I must commend everyone who organized the event and for keeping the time to the minute. After each day, all the attendees were escorted to their cars by a volunteer carrying an umbrella. When the conference ended, lines were opened up for the next year, and within an hour, next year’s conference had already been booked by 50 percent.

I wish that the Executive, Legislative, the Judiciary pastors, King’s advisors, labor leaders had attended too. […] It’s time to step it up!

If we can organize an international event this good, then I think Swaziland is ready to host some of the major UN meetings.

Jan was one of those who stood in line to register for next year’s GLS in Swaziland.

Gary Schwammlein, president of Willow Creek Association, has attended hundreds of GLS events across the U.S. and the world. But the event that stands out above others, even in the U.S., is the GLS he attended in Swaziland, Africa.

“I have never before seen a team rise to such a level like the team does in Swaziland,” said Gary. “Their level of servanthood goes above and beyond.”

The GLS in Swaziland is scheduled again this year, and we’re excited about the potential to bring more leaders from various government sectors like Jan mentioned above.

Thank you for your prayers and support in allowing the GLS to be in places like Swaziland to equip and encourage leaders to create a better world.

3 Kinds of Feedback that Add Value

Posted on May 29, 2017 by - Articles, Communication, Leading Others, Performance Management, Supervising People, Team Building

Juan has transformed the business. Numbers are up. People are engaged and empowered. Juan is everyone’s hero. Yet he is having an increasingly hard time getting out of bed each morning.

Shaynee’s annual review was glowing: “You’re doing a great job! Keep it up! We’re so glad you are here.” So why did it leave her feeling disappointed and restless?

Kelly has been with the team for six months. Everyone smiles, says hello, please and thank you. It is the nicest place she has ever worked. Yet Kelly feels uneasy: “Am I doing okay? They haven’t fired me yet, so I guess I’m doing okay?”

We usually associate “feedback” with addressing performance problems, so why are Kelly, Juan and Shaynee—model team members, all—left with more unease than engagement?

Feedback plays a central role in our professional and personal lives—it helps us stay motivated, feel secure, learn and grow. If we want to add value to people’s lives, we need to provide three kinds of feedback: Appreciation, Coaching, and Evaluation.

People need all three kinds of feedback—at different times, in different amounts and for different purposes.

Give Appreciation to let people know they are seen—that their efforts and hard work are noticed and matter to others.  Appreciation keeps us motivated and engaged.

Appreciation Mistake #1:  We think people know. We praise Juan’s fantastic outcomes, after all. But Juan can still be left feeling that nobody quite “gets” how much time, effort, ingenuity, resourcefulness and care he puts in day in and day out.  Genuine, specific appreciation of others efforts can go a long way in sustaining motivation and avoiding burnout.

Appreciation Mistake #2:  We think we add value when we improve things (or people). So we focus on what needs to change. But skipping the appreciation part can block others openness to coaching. Unless Juan knows he is respected, valued, even loved, it can be hard for him to hear what he could do even better—no matter how well intentioned or “right” the coaching might be.

Provide Coaching to help others learn and grow. Shaynee feels appreciated, but doesn’t feel challenged, or like anyone is investing in her future. So while Shaynee is pleased to get a positive evaluation, she is hungering for perspective on how she could be more effective in her role, as part of the team, or as a person.

Coaching Mistake #1:  We don’t offer coaching because we don’t realize they would actually welcome it, or because we don’t want to “interfere” or hurt their feelings or make them defensive.  Yet withholding coaching sometimes unintentionally communicates that we don’t care, and it cheats others out of the opportunity to learn and grow.

Coaching Mistake #2:  We don’t have open conversation about whether and how to best offer coaching to each other. Ask how you can best offer your thoughts to them when you see things that might be improved.

Offer Clear Evaluation to let people know where they stand against goals and expectations.

Evaluation Mistake #1:  We assume no news is good news. If there is a problem we would speak up. But Kelly feels uneasy because she can’t tell what the silence means. An evaluation conversation that let her know, “You’re right on track with what we were hoping you’d deliver” or even, “You’re a little behind where we thought you’d be six months in—here’s what we should do to get you up to speed.” Evaluation would help her know where she stands and how to run the race forward.

Evaluation Mistake #2: We jump to Coaching without offering Evaluation. “You should speak up more frequently in meetings” is likely a helpful suggestion, but without context, I’m not sure how big of an issue and how urgent of a change this should be. “You’re doing great. The one thing that would make you even more effective in this role is if you would….” helps me hear the feedback in right size.

How do you know how best to add value? Ask.

Which types of feedback are your people wanting more of? Where are they feeling stuck?

How can you come alongside them to make sure they have the types of information—Appreciation, Coaching, Evaluation—they need to learn, grow, and thrive?

These conversations enable you to add value to each of your team members in the ways they can best receive it and use it to fuel their engagement and growth.

A Single Summit Session Is Changing the Face of Tourism in Uganda

Posted on May 24, 2017 by - Africa, Because of the GLS, Business, Government, Stories

The GLS is expanding and gaining countrywide momentum in Uganda.

The stories we keep hearing are awe-inspiring. We are watching the GLS not only impact pastors and marketplace leaders, but government leaders as well. And the following ripple-effect story is no less powerful.

The GLS is changing the tourism sector of society to increase economic development across the country.

How do you change a country by building into the leadership of tourism?

Last year, there was demand to bring the GLS to the eastern part of the country, but they didn’t yet have a location to host it.

Betty Byanyima, the GLS team leader in Uganda, was looking for a location when she sought out a local hotel called Mbale Resort Hotel. She approached the hotel management and boldly asked if it would be possible to use their facility for free.

They said yes!

As a thank you, Betty offered to share one of the messages from the GLS with their hotel staff. She chose to share Horst Schulze’s GLS session on improving your customer service and hospitality.

The hotel held their own private, mini GLS training and listened to Horst’s inspiring message. They left that day motivated and passionate about the future of their hotel and immediately applied the lessons they learned from Horst.

In the following three months, the hotel received the first and only five star rating in the region.

They attribute their successful work on hospitality to what they learned from Horst Schulze.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Not only did the hotel gain public attention for their new 5-star status, but the government also took notice.

What happened next created a ripple effect. Here’s why…

Uganda is attempting to combat poverty by boosting tourism to build their GDP. Tourism was once Uganda’s fourth largest earner in foreign exchange, but political instability and war brought it down.

Vice President of Uganda, and Members of the Tourism Board

With a recent stabilization in the political climate, the government has been focusing on building into tourism for the sake of overall economic development.

The Vice President of Uganda, Hon Edward Ssekandi, the Minister of State for Tourism, Hon. Kiwanda and the CEO of the Tourism Board, Mr. Steven Assiime attended the premier GLS event in Uganda.

 

As a result, the government’s Tourism Board started working with Betty and her GLS team.

This year, they are working together to host three events in various regions to train a number of hotels across Uganda. They hope by training the tourism sector of society in world-class leadership development, they will be able to increase economic development of the country over time.

Mbale Resort Hotel Staff

“We are really thankful to God for the doors he has opened for us,” Betty shares.

The team in Uganda created this video showing the impact of the GLS on their hotel team. Be inspired!

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Lead Yourself Well to Lead Others Better

Posted on May 22, 2017 by - Articles, Character, Church & Faith-Based, Emotional Intelligence, Leading Organizations, Learning Agility, Productivity

Leaders like to lead. It’s what we do. And when we say we like to lead, we usually mean we like to lead others, right?

But one of the truths that has become increasingly convicting for me in my journey as a leader is that if I can’t lead myself well, I will be ill-equipped to lead others and add value to them.

Part of the responsibility of leadership is understanding our influence on others. Leadership is only as strong as the leader. And that responsibility, if you’re grasping the weight of it, is the reason why your leadership journey must begin with leading yourself well.

We must learn how to lead ourselves well in order to truly add value to the people around us.

In my quest to learn what great self-leadership looks like, I found a framework for leadership development in one of the most fundamental elements of my faith—The Great Commandment. 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

And the second-greatest commandment:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31)

When Jesus asked us to love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength, he was essentially saying we should love God with all of ourselves—with everything in us. When he says love your neighbor as yourself, again the implication is to love with all of who you are.

Here’s the linchpin for us—when I consider my life as a leader, it means leading with all of who I am for the benefit of God and others.  Leadership requires all of me—my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. To not give all of me would be to shortchange God and others of what God has given me.

Extraordinary leaders learn to lead themselves first in these four dimensions. They develop the discipline to understand their motivations, to evaluate their emotional health on a continual basis, to manage their physical health and to nurture their soul.   With that in mind, here are four dimensions we need to attend to in order to lead ourselves well.

Four Dimensions for Self-Leadership

  1. Heart—Leading from your heart means leading with an understanding of who you are. Your heart is the center of your emotions, desires and wishes. We must understand what motivates and influences us before we can lead others from a sincere heart. We have the potential to understand others better when we first understand ourselves.
  2. Soul—The soul is the epicenter of morality, integrity, humility and servanthood. Leading from the soul is all about developing your character. Developing character produces qualities that cause others to have confidence to follow you as a leader. As you pursue growth in your character, be relentless about defining and developing the qualities that you want to be true of you.
  3. Mind—Your mind is the seat of intellectual activity. It is what enables you to deliberate, to process, to reflect, to ponder and to remember. The mind enables us to strategize and to make plans. Leaders are learners. You must commit to constant learning and be a fanatic about it. Read ferociously and surround yourself with people smarter than you.
  4. Strength—Your strength emerges as you develop discipline and consistency in your life. Those we lead and influence will be evaluating our actions because actions speak louder than intentions. Our leadership will be evaluated by what we do, not what we intend. Set goals and achieve them. Take initiative and follow through. Know your limits and always play to your strengths.

Self-leadership is the hard work behind the scenes that prepares you for great leadership. Understanding who you are, cultivating your character, committing to lifelong learning and developing discipline provide the framework for fostering the leadership of self.

The great irony of self-leadership is that as we grow more effective at leading ourselves, we become more self-less. Healthy self-leadership provides the perspective from which we become more other-centric rather than self-centered.

By tackling some of the challenges that tend to derail or distract us, we become better equipped to lead from our whole heart, soul, mind and strength for the glory of God and the good of others.

Portions of this post were excerpted from The 4 Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership by Jenni Catron.