Posts Tagged ‘leader’
how a conference can change your life
With so many conferences in the world, I’m often asked which one to go to.
After attending a few conferences, some people begin to discover the value of these gatherings extend beyond the keynote talks and seminar lectures. What’s even more life-changing are the people you meet and the conversations you have.
At the Verge conference in Austin last week, I met Ryan Rice, who is now church planting in Phoenix. Ryan explained how life-changing the one-time-only Innovation3 Gathering was. Watch this video of Ryan Rice telling how that conference changed his life:
Next week, I’ll point you to 2 conferences especially configured so there’s intentional structured time for attendees to engage in more conversations and not only listening to talks.
How to find a mentor for yourself
Where have all the mentors gone? It saddened me to hear that Kyle Reed asked a dozen people to be his mentor, and to be turned down and rejected. What’s up with that?
Watch this interview to hear what Kyle wants to do to change this situation:
Kyle (on twitter @kylelreed) may very well be right, if a young person can’t find a mentor in their church for the Kingdom of God, they’ll find one elsewhere outside the church. So, add your comment below and get this conversation going!
How much leadership can a person have?
Swimming in a sea of leadership books, blogs, and programs, I’m frankly quite conflicted about what exactly is leadership. Sure there are a ton of aspects to developing and being a leader: skills, competency, character, knowledge, attitude, chemistry, discipline, passion, vision, relating, motivating, persuading, deciding, planning, ad nauseum.
In the pithy words of John Maxwell, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”
Very good. Everyone has influence. Everyone can impact and influence another person or even a group of people, for good or for bad. But does that mean everyone can be a leader? Can anyone be the leader of a company or organization? Who should be the leader of a group if everyone can be a leader? (cf. “Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super, no one will be.” from The Incredibles)
So what the majority of the books and blogs and programs are not talking about leadership as merely influence. The leadership gurus are implicitly talking about another layer of leadership. Leadership is much more than being faithful, available, and teachable; much more than knowing your weaknesses, pain, or strengths.
The term that’s been suggested to me is: leadership capacity.
So while everyone has influence, each person has a different amount of leadership capacity. That capacity can grow, thus be developed. And some are naturally (and/or supernaturally) gifted with more leadership capacity right out of the womb. A leadership gift is a higher capacity. This means that a person who isn’t a gifted leader will probably not develop more leadership capacity than someone who is gifted.
The better question is: How much leadership capacity does a person have? How do you measure it?
Thank you Sabastian for a conversation that really cleared the air for me.
Talk with James Choung next Tuesday 8/18
// [update] the talkcast was recorded and you can listen to it at the L2 Foundation blog >> //
I’ll be hosting a talkcast with a very special guest, James Choung, next Tuesday 8/18, at 3:00pm Pacific / 6:00pm Eastern.
On the talkcast, we’ll be talking about how to develop leaders among the next generation of Asian Americans: the opportunities, the challenges, and their incredible potential. A talkcast is like a call-in talk show, and so much more — you can listen on the web, talk on the show, or type in the chat room!
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