Month: December 2021

How Should Leaders Respond to the Burnout Epidemic?

Posted on December 30, 2021 by - Articles, Leading Others, Managing People, People Operations, Productivity, Resilience, Wellness

Global business concept. Network of business.

As the world emerges from the COVID pandemic in the midst of the “great resignation,” leaders everywhere are asking new questions about the nature of work:

  • Where do we work?
  • When do we work?
  • And…For how long?

Juliet Funt is the founder and CEO of the Juliet Funt Group, which specializes in helping companies become more effective and efficient by freeing their employees from unnecessary busywork and helping everyone to cultivate “a minute to think.” In a recent conversation with the Global Leadership Network, Juliet talked about employee burnout: how to recognize it, how it happens, and what leaders can do about it.

 

What is Burnout?

Burnout, Juliet says, often begins with some kind of crisis with employees who genuinely want to step up and help. “There’s an emergency for your company—we don’t know what’s going to happen with revenue, there’s a giant pandemic—so we all go in with the right motives which is we’re going to do what we have to do to be stellar workers and we all did it,” said Juliet. “Then there’s this moment where you’re stuck because now this is ‘just the way we work.’”

I’m really a bit frightened and concerned about the long-term ramifications of pushing this hard.

“The way we work” now includes expanded hours and thin boundaries, all of which can eventually have negative effects on employees. “I’m really a bit frightened and concerned about the long-term ramifications of pushing this hard,” Juliet says, adding that many studies are reinforcing her concerns. “Indeed says 52% of us are officially burnt out. Bloomberg says the workday is two and a half hours longer than it was before. A new one just came out with Monster that was really fascinating: they only had a sample size of 700 people, but 95% of the 700 that they interviewed said that they were thinking of leaving their current job.”

 

In light of this burnout epidemic, how should leaders respond?

Juliet says that first, we should all receive some kind of “medal of honor” for pushing through this season, but after that, leaders should take a hard look at the situation and consider it may be time to make significant changes.

We must find a way to stop this and let people recuperate right now.

“I just can’t believe that everybody is still standing,” said Juliet. “There is this dogged, amazing ability for people to be returning to their desk with 18 months of babies on laps and 7AM to 7PM Zoom calls. It’s phenomenal to me that we’re showing up. I’m concerned about the valor that is causing us to continue to push. We need to make sure that enough recuperation gets in there fast enough to save people from eventual burnout. There should just be a loving slap across the face to say, ‘We must find a way to stop this and let people recuperate right now.’ I think it’s going to require purposeful conversation to unwrite the new norms of COVID to say, ‘OK if we’re going back to the office does that mean that work can start at 9. Does that mean that we no longer do the 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM Zoom calls before we come in?’ I want everybody to be having intensely proactive conversations about rewriting right now.”

 

Questions for Reflection:
  • How has COVID impacted the culture of your organization? Have working hours expanded? Are employees giving more?
  • As your organization emerges from COVID, what purposeful conversations might you need to have to prevent potential burnout from your team?

 

Check out the full conversation with Juliet Funt here.

There is Still Time to Donate Before the End of the Year

Posted on December 28, 2021 by - Because of the GLS, News & Updates, The Global Leadership Summit

New Year Clock Time Countdown
When you give to the Global Leadership Network, people all over the world are…

 

reminded their leadership matters and they have influence.

called out in the best way with fresh motivation and insight.

stretched in areas they want to improve in order to thrive.

rediscovering their sense of purpose.

finding strength to face a challenge to go out and make courageous, valuable decisions that ultimately create the positive change they long to see become a reality.

What’s the BEST that can happen?

With your help, the BEST can happen as people become equipped and encouraged in their leadership to make a positive difference in their communities, churches, businesses, schools, hospitals, prisons, governments, nonprofits and more.

It’s your last chance to give in 2021.
Be part of the impact in 2022 with your gift today!
Donate Before Midnight on December 31 >> 

2 Ways Leaders Create Environments Where Dreams Flourish

Posted on December 23, 2021 by - Articles, Church, Leading Others, Process, Vision

People coming together for unity.

Leaders have inordinate power to create life-giving environments where dreamers and their dreams can flourish. We also have the terrible power to create life-killing environments where dreamers are discouraged and their dreams are crushed. In my book, The Hospitable Leader: Create Environments Where People and Dreams Flourish, I wrote at length about how hospitable leaders are hospitable to people and their dreams.

Those you lead will flourish as you help them accomplish their dreams.

The famous statement of Jesus in the Gospel of John (chapter 10 verse 10) is one of the most important utterances on hospitable leadership ever offered. Jesus contrasted good and bad leaders with good and bad shepherds–describing himself as The Good Shepherd who gives “more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” He contrasted His practice of this life-giving, dream-inspiring leadership, with the life-stealing, dream-killing leaders who are like thieves who “steal, kill and destroy.”

No matter where you lead, whether in the church or business, those you lead will flourish as you help them accomplish their dreams. As hospitable leaders, we must inspire the people we serve to more and better life than they even dreamed of.

Here are two ways hospitable leaders can empower dreamers and their dreams:

1. Make it about them and their dreams.

History is littered with leaders who appeared to believe that the primary purpose of their leader power was to make their own dreams come true. Of course, leaders must have dreams, and the bigger the better. But I submit that a central emphasis of our dream must be to serve the dreams of the people we lead. We must be able to focus on the goals of the entity we are leading–a company, a family, a football team, a church–while focusing on the dreams of the individuals in it at the same time.

“When the men saw my state, they returned my devotion, for they knew I would burst my heart for them.”

My definition of a moral leader is someone who “inspires, influences and empowers others to self-actualization and the accomplishment of mission.” That’s pretty standard leadership jargon unless you’re laser focused on the juxtaposition of “self-actualization” and “the accomplishment of mission.” Self-actualization here refers to the dreams of those we lead. Accomplishment of mission refers to the dream of the thing we are leading. My experience is that the default position of many leaders is to go all in for the accomplishment of mission, far too often at the expense of the self-actualization of those who people the organization. I believe we can and must do both. I frequently tell my congregation that I get up every day to do everything in my power to help them see their God inspired dreams come true while inviting them to fully engage the mission of our local church. It’s amazing how people respond to a leader who they know is hospitable to their dreams.

Steven Pressfield uses powerful leadership language in his historical novel about Alexander the Great. Alexander explained that what made his army so wildly successful was the heart of the individual soldier and each soldier’s will to fight. His soldiers’ hearts were forged–and their wills inspired–in response to Alexander’s passionate leadership. He poignantly describes how the first time he led men into battle, “I was so overcome I could not stay myself from weeping… I was moved by the sight of them in such brilliant order, by their scars and their silence, the weathered creasing of their faces. When the men saw my state, they returned my devotion, for they knew I would burst my heart for them.”

I love this picture. Alexander’s men marched into victorious battle again and again in response to a leader they knew would “burst (his) heart” for them. As a leader I want people to hear my voice and passionately and willingly follow me because they know I am not just leading them to fulfill my God-given dreams. My heart bursts for them. I want to lead them to more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

2. Don’t make it ONLY about them and their dreams.

To be hospitable to people’s dreams does not mean that we are focused only on their dreams, and it certainly does not mean that we are encouraging people to focus only on their dreams either. One of the greatest gifts we can give our followers is the opportunity to dream in an environment that is not just about them. Jesus promised more and better life than ever dreamed of in a much larger context than the dreams of any one person. He wanted us to see our dreams, in light of His dreams for the world. We can lead people to a fully actualized life when we provoke them to dream the dreams God dreams for them in alignment with His dreams for the world.

We can extrapolate infinitely practical principles from this larger concept; dreamers need to feel connected to a great mission. They need to know that life is about more than just them. David Brooks wrote “life is essentially a moral drama, not a hedonistic one.” I would say that leaders best serve people when we engage them in a great moral cause.

Leaders best serve people when we engage them in a great moral cause.

Our mission statement at The Life Christian Church attempts to capture the synergistic possibilities of inspiring an individual’s dreams in the larger context of an organizational mission to do good in the world at large: “to inspire people to the life God dreams for them as we spread His love in ever-widening circles.” I want to inspire people to pursue their dreams with a larger moral mission firmly in mind

Part of what great leaders do is invite people to an adventure that subsumes their potentially self-centered, small lives, in a cause greater than self. Great leaders are always issuing invitations to a great adventure, I believe, but people often don’t know that’s what they want. They may have limited dreams, or dreams that are only about themselves, if they have any dreams at all. We must help people uncover their dreams, encourage their dreams, and provoke them to dream in line with God’s good dreams for this broken world.

This may sound all too esoteric and ethereal, but I believe every leader can get in on this. Each of us can ask how what we are leading is advancing good. We can pay great attention to the good dreams in the people we lead. And we can accept responsibility to create environments where these people and their dreams can flourish in a way that helps make this a better world.

 

“More and better life”: John 10:10 MSG

“Steal and kill and destroy”: John 10:10 MSG

“I was so overcome”: Steven Pressfield, The Virtues of War (New York: Bantam, 2004).

“Life is essentially”: David Brookes, The Road to Character (New York: Random House, 2015) p. 262

Don’t Count Your Critics, Weigh Them

Posted on December 16, 2021 by - Articles, Character, Emotional Intelligence, Leading Yourself, Learning Agility, Women Leaders, Women Leaders - Leading Yourself

Leading change is not easy, nor should it be taken lightly. Change is emotional and stressful.   

Whenever I get asked how to handle critics, I always remember this phrase:

Don’t count your critics, weigh them.

If you do anything, especially in today’s culture, you’re going to get criticized. There are a million different reasons people criticize.

      1. There’s a lot of people who are going to criticize you out of envy—they are too afraid to make a mistake, so they are going to criticize to make you feel bad to somehow feel better about their passivity and their fears.
      2. There’s a lot of people who are going to criticize you because they have a need to be better than you, or they feel a need to know more than you. So, they’re going to criticize and try to make themselves look better.
      3. Another reason people criticize is ideology, philosophy, or theology—they might have different worldviews than you do.

Jesus said this, and I’m going to paraphrase: “Whoa to you when you’re not getting criticized.”

What he actually said is, “Whoa to you when all men speak well of you.” That’s the flip side way of saying criticize.

Make sure you’re getting criticized by the right people.

If you’re making everybody happy, then you’ve got some serious problems. What if you’re making the control freaks happy? What if you’re making the irresponsible happy? What if you’re making entitled people, narcissists, gas lighters, and toxic people happy by appeasing all toxic stuff they do? You don’t want that.

Once you start to do anything that is loving, responsible, honest, forward moving, accountable, and results oriented—which also means you are going to have to have hard conversations and say no to people who aren’t performing—you will get criticized.

Make sure you’re getting criticized by the right people.

Make sure you’re making the right people angry. That’s a good way to know you’re doing a good job. Then make sure you’re not getting criticized by the good people—the people that you would want to please for good reasons.

Now, you will get criticized because you’re not perfect. But here’s the thing, when you get criticism from people that you respect and are for you and not against you, run towards it. Say to them, give me a gift. David said in the Psalms, when a righteous man strikes him, he will consider it a gift when he gets rebuked. That’s the attitude we must have toward the right people.

With Your Help, We’re Asking, What’s the BEST that Can Happen?

Posted on December 15, 2021 by - Because of the GLS, News & Updates, Stories, The Global Leadership Summit

Attendee at GLS19

Michelle Poler

At The Global Leadership Summit last August, Michelle Poler asked this question about facing a fear or a new opportunity: What’s the BEST that can happen?

What a compelling, yet simple question. And it applies to almost every area of your life.

Instead of asking, “What’s the worst that could happen?” and going down a train of thought of doom, you can switch your mindset toward the best possible outcome, reframing your vision for the future.

At the Global Leadership Network, we are passionate about the positive difference you make through your influence. It is this passion that drives us forward on a mission to ignite transformation globally. It is what keeps us asking the question, “What is the BEST that can happen?”

We invite you into our vision for the future!

With your help, the BEST can happen as people become equipped and encouraged in their leadership to make a positive difference in their communities, churches, businesses, schools, hospitals, prisons, governments, nonprofits and more!

“God called us as a church community to ignite transformation for not just the girls we saw around us, but for girls whose names we would not know. We knew if we did something to end child marriage, it would ignite transformation not just in our generation, but for generations to come.” - Flood Church founder, Sean Kampondni, Malawi  

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What happens when people experience the impact of The Global Leadership Summit and our high-impact year-round leadership events?

    • They are reminded their leadership matters and they have influence.
    • They are called out in the best way with fresh motivation and insight.
    • They are stretched in areas they want to improve in order to thrive.
    • They rediscover their sense of purpose.
    • They leave with a challenge to go out and make courageous, valuable decisions that ultimately create the positive change they long to see become a reality.

As you consider your donation to the Global Leadership Network today ask yourself, What’s the BEST that could happen? 

Join the Movement >> 

JUST IN: Andy, Vanessa, & Johnny to be at GLS22

Posted on December 14, 2021 by - News & Updates

GLS22 is here

Need something to look forward to in 2022?

How about this…

The Global Leadership Summit on August 4-5— the premier leadership event of the year— brings you two-days of rich learning, new ideas, fresh perspective, and inspiring stories from 15+ leading experts spanning a wide range of fields and backgrounds.

Get a sneak preview of who you can expect at #GLS22!

 

Vanessa Van Edwards
  • Lead Behavioral Investigator at Science of People
  • 36M+ reach via YouTube and viral TED Talk
  • National best-selling author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People
  • Leads corporate training for companies including Google, Dove, Microsoft & Comcast
  • Research featured in Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNN, CBS, and more

 

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.
  • President & CEO at SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management
  • Leadership influences 300,000+ members in 165+ countries impacting 110M+ workers
  • Frequently invited to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues
  • Chair of the President’s Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities
  • Authors the weekly column, “Ask HR,” in USA Today
  • Author of Reset: A Leader’s Guide to Work in the Age of Upheaval

 

Andy Stanley
  • Founder & Pastor of North Point Ministries
  • Leads network of 130 churches serving 185,000 people weekly
  • 10M+ monthly reach via messages, YouTube videos, and podcasts
  • Author of 20+ Books, including his 2022 release, Not In It to Win it
  • Named one of the most influential pastors in America by Outreach Magazine

 

Now’s the time to get tickets!

The early bird rate gets you $50 off the regular rate, so now is a great time to get your tickets for The Global Leadership Summit coming up in August 2022!*

Get $50 Off »

Attention: Additional faculty will be announced in the new year! Subscribe to Leadership Now to stay up to date on the latest news from the Global Leadership Network.

 

 


*Pricing to attend The Global Leadership Summit in the U.S. starts at $179 to attend at a local host site venue and $249 to attend LIVE in South Barrington, Il, with early bird rates through June 15, 2022. Regular pricing is $229 to attend at a local host site venue and $289 to attend LIVE in South Barrington, Il. Guests from other countries please contact your local GLS or GLN office for details about dates and locations near you. Additional faculty speaking at The Global Leadership Summit in August 2022 will be announced at The Global Leadership Summit: Special Edition event on February 24, 2022.

Leading Through the Complexity of Pain, Uncertainty and Chaos

Posted on December 14, 2021 by - Articles, Change Management, Complex Thinking, Conflict Management, Leading Others, Leading Yourself, Resilience, The Global Leadership Summit

There is one thing all leaders have in common—especially now. What is it? Complex problems and difficult challenges—burnout, broken relationships, a divided culture, seemingly endless conflicts, emotionally exhausted teams and an undefined path ahead. Do you resonate? You’re not alone.

In Craig Groeschel’s recent top-rated talk at The Global Leadership Summit last August about expanding your leadership capacity, he described how there comes a point in your leadership when you must grow and change in order to move forward through these challenges and have a greater impact.

Craig Groeschel GLS21 PUC Thumbnail SE22 Bogo

 

 

He described the season we’re in as “PUC”, which stands for Pain, Uncertainty and Chaos. As we grow in our capacity to handle PUC, we grow as leaders. Here are a few key points from his talk that continue to ring true as great reminders of how to lead through the complexity of today.

The only thing that we know for certain is that the future is uncertain.

    • Wherever there is uncertainty, there is always opportunity.
    • Because our world is uncertain, a good leader plans for unforeseen challenges. A great leader also plans for unexpected opportunities.
    • In uncertain times, leaders often have a goal to not fail. It’s a bad goal. The cost of inaction is almost always greater than the cost of a mistake.
    • If you wait until you’re 100% sure, you will most always be late.
    • What risk do you need to take?
    • Anything that grows will have a little bit of chaos.

Craig Groeschel

If you try to manage every little thing, you’ll get in the way of progress.

  • If we’re always controlling, we rob others of the chance to grow.
  • The best leaders don’t obsess about controlling outcomes. The best leaders obsess about empowering leaders.
  • The mark of great leadership isn’t measured by how much you control, but by the leaders you empower.
  • What do you need to let go of?

To check out Craig’s full GLS21 talk, subscribe to Leadership Now today! Subscribe >>

 

As a curious, give-back, growth-minded person with a vision for a better future, you know the change you want to see is only possible when you invest in your personal leadership growth.

At  The Global Leadership Summit: Special Edition, during a strategic point at the beginning of the new year, set aside valuable time to get refreshed, refocused and reenergized as you navigate the year ahead and lead at your best. Enjoy three rich hours of new leadership ideas and fresh perspectives from Craig Groeschel and others to help you do just that.

Get your tickets today at GlobalLeadership.org/Special Edition

 

Lives Turned Upside Down to Help Girls Trafficked in Thailand

Posted on December 13, 2021 by - Asia, Because of the GLS, Calling, Church & Faith-Based, Relationship with God, Servant Leadership, Stories, Youth

Girl standing on bridge looking out at city

After attending The Global Leadership Summit in 2017, Ryan and Ashley Lee’s lives were turned upside down as their passion to help girls caught in sex trafficking stirred in their hearts. “The Summit was a launching point for our service here in Chiang Mai, Thailand,” said Ryan. As a result, they decided to get involved in a big way, and spent 18 months in training and fundraising before they eventually moved their family from McKinney, Texas, to Thailand, where the sex trafficking industry is rampant.

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“Our hearts have always been with girls who are oppressed,” said Ashley. “We know that’s where God was calling us. We just knew that we wanted to come here and work with these women, specifically women in the bars who felt stuck.”

Statistics show that Bangkok, Thailand, is the number one destination in the world (prior to COVID-19) for travelers seeking sex tourism, surpassing London, Paris, and Rome. In fact, there were 33 million visitors in 2016, making up about 20% of GDP for sex tourism.

We really got to know the women and started falling in love with them.

“About a year ago we started bringing food packages to one of the red-light districts here in Chiang Mai, just meeting that basic need because of COVID shutdowns,” Ashley explained. “But as we did that, we really got to know the women and started falling in love with them and developing relationships, just learning about their lives and about them, many of whom are single mothers. They’re just trying to make ends meet or trying to make money to send back to their families.”

“When you know them, you find out they do not like what they do,” said Ryan. “They do not like being a number. They do not like lowering their self-esteem to let men touch them so they can sell more alcohol. We know the girls work out of a need to support themselves and their family but are very open to opportunities outside the bars if they can find them.”

They do not like being a number.

Out of the need they saw as they got to know these girls, Ryan and Ashley started a ministry called Illumin8, where they provide about 90 food packets every month to women and provide classes and training opportunities. “It’s a great open door to start a relationship and keep a relationship,” said Ashley. “Ryan also teaches personal finance and budgeting, and many women are interested in that. Then I teach English and baking. That’s one of my passions, and it’s been really fun to see the girls learning and blossoming.”

Both Ryan and Ashley are especially passionate about making disciples who make disciples as they build relationships and meet real needs. “Everything we do is built on discipleship through which the foundation is friendship,” said Ryan. “It’s not easy. We combat things like low self-esteem, drug and alcohol addiction, and we hear the girls say, ‘Why do you even come for me? Why do you do this? I’m not a good person.’

“They want to know what drives us. And we want the girls to know they’re loved without condition and without judgment. We’re willing to walk with them towards a better life outside the bars. We see these girls as leaders of tomorrow. The general society overlooks them, but just as the great leaders of the Bible, God takes those who are sometimes pretty messed up to create the leaders of the Church tomorrow.”

We want the girls to know they’re loved without condition and without judgment.

Ryan and Ashley’s story is just one of hundreds of thousands of stories like it from people who have experienced the inspiration of The Global Leadership Summit over the years. Thanks to partners like Preston Trail Community Church for hosting the GLS where Ryan and Ashley attended for the first time, incredible stories like these are happening all over the world.

Interested in seeing what our events are all about? Join us at one of our upcoming events in 2022. Learn more at GlobalLeadership.org/Events.

Ep 96: Leadership Lessons from a Navy SEAL—Mark Divine & Trey McKnight

Posted on December 9, 2021 by - Leading Yourself, Learning Agility, Podcasts

Mark Divine and Trey McKnight on The Global Leadership Podcast

SUMMARY:

How can leaders learn to remain calm, think clearly, and act decisively in stressful situations? Author and former Navy SEAL, Mark Divine joins us to explain how special forces operators maintain focus and clarity in the highest-stress situations imaginable. He also shows how these simple techniques can benefit leaders in all environments and at all levels. By committing to growth at the character and soul level, leaders can unlock the “20x” potential of their teams and impact the world around them.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

“LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT” INCLUDES MUCH MORE THAN ACQUIRING MORE SKILLS. True transformational leadership development involves character and intuition, and often takes place at the level of the soul.

 

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT IS IMPACTED BY THE CONTEXT OF LEADERSHIP. Our world is now so complex that traditional leadership development models are insufficient. We need models that address the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Chaotic, and Ambiguous) nature of today’s world.

 

THE TEAM IS THE NEW LEADER. Leadership in today’s environment involves unlocking the potential of the team. A leader’s biases, fears, and character flaws can become the limiting factor of the team.

 

THE GOAL OF THE TEAM IS TO UNLOCK THE 20X POTENTIAL. Becoming more intuitive, fully-formed individuals, a team is able to increase its effectiveness and capacity by a factor of 20.

 

DEVELOPING YOUR OWN SET POINT IS CRITICAL. Before you know where you want to go—your purpose, or your mission—you need to know where you are right now. Discovering your true, unique purpose, and the things you stand for leads to clarity and alignment in your life’s mission.

 

TO FIND YOUR SET POINT, PRACTICE SLOWING DOWN. Quality inner work unlocks calling. Meditation, journaling, and visualization are powerful and helpful tools.

 

BE WILLING TO DE-CLUTTER YOUR LIFE. Clarity of purpose leads to being able to say “yes” to the right commitments, and “no” to others.

 

LIVE “ONE DAY, ONE LIFETIME.” Each day, you have the ability to choose to move towards your life’s purpose and calling, determine the most important thing you need to do for that day, and also to choose the most important training you can do to prepare yourself.

 

BUILD MENTAL TOUGHNESS WITH SIMPLE TOOLS. You can build mental toughness and resilience using four basic training tools: 1) “Box” breathing; 2) Learning to detect and block negative thoughts and emotional patterns; 3) User imagery and visualization; 4) Learn to set micro goals.

 

 

 

RELATED LINKS:

Global Leadership Network 

The Global Leadership Summit 

The Global Leadership Summit: Special Edition 

Trey McKnight 

Mark Divine 

Unbeatable 

SEALFit 

Liz Bohannon  

Vanessa Van Edwards on Sparking Conversations that Aren’t Boring

Posted on December 9, 2021 by - Communication, Confidence, Leading Yourself, Relational Intelligence, Videos, Women Leaders, Women Leaders - Leading Others

GLS20 Vanessa Van Edwards Faculty Spotlight Article Header

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Watch Vanessa Van Edwards show us how to spark conversation with new people and new groups with great conversation starter ideas that trigger the brain.