As high school students, Kody and Kyler McCormick realized their dream of starting an adventure filmmaking company—The Outbound Life. Be inspired by their story and discover how attending The Global Leadership Summit provided them with vision, tools and networking to help them pursue their God-given dream.
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Jason Jaggard describes two practices that he uses to help leaders increase their capacity for innovation.
Brad Lomenick identifies the key practices necessary for older and younger team members to work well together.
Get free, instant access to GLS Podcast Episode Show Notes. Leverage episode summaries, key takeaways, reflection questions, resources mentioned, related links and applicable downloads, including Show Notes PDF and Episode Audio File (MP3).
At its core, leadership is influence. It is not simply possessing a position or title. John C. Maxwell developed The Five Levels of Leadership to help people understand the journey a leader takes over time. As leaders progress through the levels, they grow their leadership capabilities. In this episode, Jeff Lockyer and John dig into each of the five levels, helping listeners understand the progression of leadership growth and the practical steps necessary to increase their leadership impact.
Peter Drucker
Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 by John C. Maxwell
The United Nations
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
Jim Collins
Jim Collins’ “People on the Bus” concept
I clearly remember the Sunday I decided I would attend The Global Leadership Summit. I was sitting in church, and the guy up front was talking about the event. He said, “Lead where you are. Whether you lead a company, or you’re a pastor, or a mom raising kiddos, you are leading in one capacity or another.”
His words struck a strong chord. I realized even “just a mom” could attend and benefit from the experience. After all, I was a leader in my home, instilling growth, encouragement and life skills into my child. I too am a leader in that capacity! And I had never thought of it that way. So I gladly attended my first Summit, and it shook me to my core. I have since made the Summit a priority, missing only one year. I am forever indebted to the Summit for its impact on my life, the doors it has opened, and the person I continue to be molded into as a result of being a part of the Summit.
One of my biggest takeaways was from my Summit experience in 2013 when one of the speakers quoted Joshua 1:9.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
The verse was structured around the topic of vision, not letting fear get in the way of great leadership, and the courage it takes to finish strong. This was a game changer for me. I suddenly realized I was living my life and making daily decisions and/or avoiding or giving up on things based on my fears and inadequacies. But now I no longer had a “free pass” to live that way. I could no longer accept “status quo,” or living life the “easy” way. No longer would my fears or inadequacies be an excuse, but instead, may be a reason to push forward.
The most surprising thing God has taught me is never to underestimate what God can do in your life if you allow Him to lead. I have also learned never to underestimate my own potential in what God can do through me if I just trust Him. So many times, we try to put God in a box with limitations and God wants to bust out, and asks that we allow Him to be the artist in the tapestry of our life. God can write a much better story in our lives than we could ever script, and we must trust God’s story writing abilities.
I realized God was calling me into His story through my leadership with the Parent Teacher Association.
My prayer has always been that God’s love will permeate through my community. That Lockwood, Montana will be a unified community that comes to know Christ and love Him with everything they have.
When I started attending PTA meetings at my son’s school, there was a tug on my heart. The PTA was struggling to raise funds to get a playground back into our community. The need was real. Lockwood is a small community next to the largest city in Montana. It is a close-knit community, with a small town feel. But there were no good places for families to gather or kids to play. Our 20-year-old playground was in poor condition that had to be torn down due to liability and insurance issues.
I saw a need. There was a void in our community, and I knew changes needed to be made.
With the help of a good friend, who had done a lot of fundraising, we recognized the need to form a committee with the intention of getting the job done. Coming off my second Summit experience, I was ready to serve. I was ready to LEAD!
I had never done anything like this in my life and I knew the task would be daunting. So I prayed a lot about it, and God really worked on my heart. God revealed that this would be more than a community project facilitated by the PTA. It was much more than a playground to Him and He would use it for His glory.
The people aspect of the project ignited a passion in me, allowing me to commit almost two years of my life, and have fun while doing it! We formed a subcommittee within the PTA, and got to work bringing an all-inclusive play area to our community. What a joy and honor to be a part of it!
A work in progress
Almost two years into the project, we were almost finished when our team hit a low I truly didn’t know if we could survive. Tensions and emotions were high, we were self-destructing, likely due to the stress/pressure and time away from our families the project required. It was beginning to take its toll on our team. I personally was at my lowest at this point, hurt and broken by some of the things that were going on and being said.
It was then God truly did something amazing. I went to the Summit and John Maxwell, one of the faculty members, asked, “As a leader, are you adding value to people? Or are you waiting for people to add value to you?” Later, he said, “People have uphill hopes, but have downhill habits.” This knocked me off my feet.
At that moment, I had a heart-breaking revelation and realized I had been putting myself above those on my team whom I loved dearly. I had been selfish, and had hurt people by my actions and it rocked me to the core. I was convicted. God later revealed a passage of love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 as the way to approach our team. Now keep in mind, this was a risk in itself as this was not a Christian-sanctioned meeting, but a PTA subcommittee. However, through this passage, I witnessed God moving in a way that was humbling. I saw hearts soften. God used the Summit to turn our team around, add value to one another, and salvage many broken relationships. As a result, we were able to see our project through to completion.
The finished park!
When I most wanted to give up, crumble and let go, when I had lost sight of what true leadership meant, almost costing us everything, God showed up in a mighty way that makes me smile every time I think about it. There is no doubt in my mind God did something very special that day, as I witnessed the healing power of His word, truth and love.
Even if you don’t think the Summit is for you, give it a shot. God has a way of meeting us where we are and encouraging us through our fears. When we place our total trust in Him, forgetting our fears or “what-if’s,” I guarantee, He will do something amazing.
This conference will rock your world, challenge you to face the status quo, and give you the tools to make a difference, at whatever capacity you lead. Don’t let another year go by wondering if you should attend The Global Leadership Summit. LEAD WHERE YOU ARE today!
Collaboration is crucial, and I believe a required component of leadership, in today’s culture.
Great leaders and great organizations partner well with others. But collaborative partnerships are not always easy. They can either result in true synergy or in ultimate failure.
Collaborative partnerships are built on the premise that someone else, besides you or your organization, can also contribute to the greater good. It moves the attention toward others and off of you.
We all know people who make themselves the center of the story and continually talk about themselves. These people think the world revolves around them. They are constantly worried about how things will affect them personally. They pretend to be interested in others, but are really only concerned with furthering their career or pushing their own agenda.
Spoiler alert… It’s not about you. Really. It’s not.
1) Partnerships allow you to share risk and reward. Creating less downside, and potentially way more upside always make sense.
2) Partnerships create innovation, breakthrough and discovery. Working with others allows for input from outside your “normal” circle of staff or key team members.
3) Partnerships can be more difficult for ministries and churches. Partnerships are very common in the business world, but for some reason, in the not-for-profit world it can be difficult to work together. When ministries and churches partner well, it can be revolutionary.
4) Partnerships expedite the mission. If our organizations truly wish to achieve our mission with the greatest velocity possible, we have to work with others. Achieving our vision and mission is much more possible when we work together.
5) Partnerships start with a deep knowledge of the other. Know your partners well before entering into one.
6) Partnerships involve transparency. Authenticity and honesty make for long-term impact.
7) The best partnerships build strength upon strength. Build partnerships on each other’s strengths, not necessarily on trying to improve a weakness.
8) Partnerships require fences. Many times we don’t take time to spell out all the details of a partnership in full disclosure. It is crucial to put everything on paper, in an agreement, and make sure all the details are spelled out.
9) Partnerships build bridges not walls. Collaboration and true partnership most often occur because you’re committed to it. You’re willing to build a bridge, walk over it, meet someone on the other side and then walk them back across, hand-in-hand. Your commitment to that will fuel others’ willingness to buy into it.
My advice: Start by being generous. Combat your tendency to think that you own the vision, mission and methods. Remember that not everything is about you—especially with money or possessions. When you sense in your leadership a strong pull toward hoarding, just intentionally be more generous than normal.
A great partnership will focus on giving, not getting. The result will be an exponential ability to achieve your most important goals.
Sharing stories one-to-one builds trust and connection.
Be a student, not a critic.
Dr. Vijay Govindarajan unpacks his innovation equation, describing the most effective way to execute an innovation strategy.
Dr. Vijay Govindarajan unpacks his innovation equation, describing the most effective way to execute an innovation strategy.
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