RightNow Conference: George Barna

Spent the weekend at the RightNow conference in Dallas. In the following days, I'm going to be posting some of my notes from the weekend.

Thursday night George Barna presented church leaders with a talk about his latest book in which he spoke with 30 of the nations prominent and famous leaders, from Mike Huckabee to Lou Holtz. Following are 6 leadership checkpoints that he learned.

Leadership checkpoint #1

~Leaders can strategically change reality, but they cannot intentionally change people.

The point here is that we can create a compelling environment, we can set up circumstances to promote change in people, but we can't do anything to actually make the person change. The desire for change must come from within.

~Nobody is the "complete leadership package." It's important to work in a leadership team

None of us is as smart as all of us - Ken Blanchard
The best leadership teams are small in number, know each other well, have established an environment of trust, share vision, values, and passion, are vulnerable and communicate well with each other, and most importantly empower people to achieve the vision of the organization.

~One of the most under-valued and least common skills among leaders is listening.

You cannot listen effectively if you aren't willing to have your mind changed - Ken Blanchard
You never learn anything by talking - Lou Holtz
Good leaders aren't afraid to listen. They always want to learn, always want to grow, aren't afraid of change

~Leaders must master conflict and confrontation.

Good leaders aren't afraid of conflict and in fact, sometimes inspire conflict by the way they lead. Good leaders cause conflict because of their passionate pursuit of truth. Anytime truth is sought, those who believe the lie are going to be at odds with it.

~Success is helping people achieve their potential.

You can't change people; you can only help them achieve what they are capable of.

~You get what you measure.

We must learn how to measure things the right way. Not all measuring systems are objective. We must learn how to measure the subjective things. For ex. if we measure church success by large buildings, large crowds, or number of programs, that's what we'll get. If we measure quality of discipleship we may struggle to accurately measure it, but we'll get better disciples.

~Do not accept a leadership position unless you're ready to pay a stiff price. The more significant the outcome you seek to achieve, the more substantial the price you can expect to pay.

Leaders can expect to suffer for their convictions, but they never shy away from pressure or criticism. You really do get what you pay for.

Barna is incredibly thorough in his presentation. Often dry and occasionally so thorough as to be boring, he still presented a great talk with grace and poise. Made me reconsider my role as a leader and how I carry myself. Also made me think about the price I must pay to lead well. I pray that I always lead well and that God is honored in what I do.