Who you inviting to your dinner table?

Okay, you've got 7 spots at your dinner table. You can't invite family. Invitees have to be alive. And has to be people you've never met. Who's getting the invites? Here's my seven:

1. Nelson Mandela

2. Richard Branson

3. John Lasseter (Pixar)

4. Denzel Washington

5. Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs)

6. Melinda Gates

7. Jim Nantz (CBS Sports Host)

Here's the seven for my assistant Michelle Hoeft, who is 24 and a recent graduate from Univ of Nebraska:

1. Malcolm Shabazz (Malcolm X grandson)

2. Michelle Obama

3. J.K. Rowling

4. Anne Moody (Civil Rights Activist)

5. Zach Galifianakis

6. Sister Mary Prema (Missionaries of Charity)

7. Eminem

 

Who's at your dinner table?

What's your junction, dysfunction??

So it's time as leaders we all realize we have dysfunctions. Every single leader I know has them. Including me. And reality is, every team has dysfunctions. All teams. Every single one of them. Including our Catalyst team.

And you know what? It's OK.

Realizing and embracing that you have dysfunctions is the first step to overcoming them.

In order to work on the dysfunctions you have, you must identify what they are. And for the last couple of weeks, our Catalyst team has been trying to identify our biggest dysfunctions as a team, and start to work on how we deal with them and ultimately get rid of them.

So, in full disclosure, I thought I would identify a few dysfunctions I have, and a few for our team, that we are working on.

Here's the top 3 dysfunctions I have as a leader:

1. Too intense. Expect everyone else on the team to have the same intensity I do.

2. Don't take time to celebrate the wins, and focus more on the problems and "losses," instead of the wins.

3. Wait too long to address issues or problems, vs. dealing with them immediately.

Here's the top 3 dysfunctions we have as a team:

1. Lack of communication. We tend to forget to share information that is important for others to know in order to do their job well.

2. Silos. Even on small teams (we have 12-15 folks on our team depending on the time of the year) silos and cliques can become a problem. You have to fight against this.

3. Unclear lines of responsibilities. Our team has a can do attitude and a constant willingness to jump in and get things done wherever an whenever needed, but we always are aware of the challenge with "who's ultimately responsible for that?" It's a constant challenge and dysfunction we deal with.

How about you? What are your dysfunctions as a leader, and what dysfunctions do the teams you lead or are on struggle with?

Quick to Listen and slow to speak

Heard a great sermon yesterday from Kevin Myers at 12Stone Church. Talking about anger. Kevin reminded us of one of the most simple yet powerful verses in all of Scripture. From James.

"But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger." James 1:19. Quick to listen, Slow to speak, Slow to anger. Quick, slow, slow. And then James goes onto to write in verse 20... "for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." Yeah, convicting.

Man, how often I get that one wrong. I'm usually quick to speak, quick to get angry, and slow to listen. The complete opposite.

As leaders, we have to model this idea of "Quick, Slow, Slow" in the correct way for our teams and staff members.

And this means quick to listen to their ideas, even if you are confident that your idea is correct. This means letting them talk in a meeting, and letting them voice their frustrations, without you jumping in.

This means I'm slow to send a text that could be divisive. This means I'm slow to send an email that is filled with hateful comments and painful words. This means that I wait to make that phone call until I've had a chance to listen. This means that I always take a few minutes to cool down before responding.

I'll admit, I struggle with this. I always want to solve the issue by speaking up, vs. being the first to listen up.

And this is applicable in all facets of life, including family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc. So let's try and model this idea of quickly listening, slowly responding, and slowly becoming angry.

Interview with Matt Chandler

The most recent Catalyst Podcast episode features an interview with Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church. In the interview, Matt talks about family, cancer, his perspective on Heaven, priorities, and a number of other topics.

You can listen here, or better yet, subscribe for FREE and download on itunes.

Also, the previous podcast episode features a conversation between Tim Keller and Gabe Lyons, so make sure and download that episode as well!

Ten things that help me do my job better

A few items that are essential in my day-to-day role. Not in any particular order: 1. Apple Macbook Pro- functional, durable, sleek, and syncs with all my other items.

2. Evernote- it's an incredible program. At first it can be intimidating, but stay with it. Will help you keep track of stuff in a whole new way.

3. Moleskine Notebook- a must.

4. "To Do" draft email- I have a very simple "filing" system for ideas and To Do items- everything is either captured in Evernote, in my moleskine, or in a "To Do List" draft email in my inbox. Those three places.... that's it. No sticky notes or tear out pages or writing on my hand.

5. iPhone- I rate it way higher on the importance scale than having an iPad.

6. Pulse News app- a great app for my iPad. I use it every day.

7. Google Reader- a must for keeping up with everyone's blogs

8. Skype and video call recorder- the video call recorder feature allows me to record my Skype video calls and then post to a website or just have for future reference.

9. Steady dose of music, podcasts, and video talks- itunes is a must, both for music as well as podcasts and free content. I also spend a ton of time watching video talks from the TED Conference, as well as hanging out on YouTube looking for fun elements.

10. Creative Boards- I currently have 7 creative boards in my office. I use these for everything from programming to planning to idea development.

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Young Influencers List, April edition

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Here you go, the April edition of the Young Influencers List. You can see all the past editions here. 1. Spencer Dusebout- teenage founder of Hands 4 Others, a movement of young people helping others around the world.

2. Elias Dummer- lead singer and frontman for the rising band City Harmonic out of Canada.

3. Carl Lentz- co-pastor of Hillsong Church NYC.

4. Sarah Hill- youth pastor of Bethany Hamilton, portrayed by Carrie Underwood in Soul Surfer movie.

5. Joshua Symonette- former pro football player, and now leadership coach and maven.

6. Kevin Queen- teaching pastor at 12Stone Church, and directional leader of Hamilton Mill campus.

Have recommendations for future editions of the Young Influencers List? Leave in the comments below.

Interview with Jo Saxton

Had the chance to catch up with Jo Saxton recently. Jo is an author, speaker, and director of 3DM, a movement/organization helping churches develop a discipling and missional way of being the church. Originally from the UK, Jo was a college pastor at St. Thomas Church, Sheffield, planting congregations amongst college students and young adults. Since moving to the U.S. six years ago, Jo has served on church teams discipling young leaders and planting missional communities ranging from the suburbs to the inner city. Jo is the author of Real God, Real Life that released in 2010. She's married to Chris, a Lutheran pastor and they have two amazing daughters, Tia and Zoe. They live in Southern California.

I consider Jo to be one of the leading voices when it comes to missional leadership and discipleship, and she brings a unique perspective towards missional community because of growing up in the UK.

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A few links of interest

- Recent Catalyst Podcast includes a conversation between Tim Keller and Gabe Lyons. You'll want to check it out. - Do yourself a favor and go see the new Soul Surfer film that features the story of Bethany Hamilton, starring Carrie Underwood, Dennis Quaid, and Helen Hunt.

- 5 weeks until Catalyst in Dallas! Can't wait. If you are planning to attend, make sure and register this week. And you can use rate code FOB to save an additional 15% off your ticket price.

- Current reading list includes: Today We are Rich from Tim Sanders; Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me from Ian Cron (advanced copy... doesn't release until June); Poke the Box from Seth Godin, and re-reading Five Dysfunctions of a Team from Patrick Lencioni

- Good article on how to reach Generation Z, those born between 1992 and 2010.

- Check out this great TED Talk from Morgan Spurlock;

The evolution of communication

Communication happens all the time, and has happened for a long time. Literally since the beginning of time. My take in terms of the advancement over time of the way we communicate. 1. Face to Face (verbal and non-verbal)

2. Written

3. Print

4. Phone

5. Radio

6. TV

7. Fax

8. Computer

9. Internet

10. Smart Phone (texting)

6 out of the 10 have been created in the last 100 years. What am I missing? What's next? Person to person without being face to face and through no device?? Telepathy?

Craig Groeschel is WEIRD

yep, that's right. I said it. And I can back it up!!

Craig Groeschel believes weird is good, and he's got a new book to prove it. The brand new book is entitled Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working. I've gotten to know Craig over the last several years and consider him a great friend. And I can tell you, this book is one of my favorites.

In case you didn't know, Craig is the founding and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv, one of the most influential and innovative churches in the country, and around the world.

In the book, Craig gives advice and perspective on everything from debt overload to tech overload, and explains why normal isn't working anymore for so many Americans.

Do you want a meaningful life? Do you want to live a radical lifestyle? Then Craig's weird is for you- a different from what everyone else does weird with the goal of living according to God's grace and the truth of His Word. A Jesus kind of weird. "After all" he writes, "no one was weirder than Jesus."

Weird is good. And weird should be normal for us who call ourselves followers of Jesus.

I highly recommend this book! Buy it today.

Craig will be speaking at Catalyst in Dallas on May 12-13, and at the next Catalyst One Day event in Houston on August 25.

How High is Your EQ?

Measuring your IQ has been a standard for years and years. We determine how "smart" someone is by their IQ score. How about your EQ? Your emotional quotient. Your level of emotional intelligence. Your ability to read people, connect relationally, create long term friendships and relationships, etc.

Why is it that some folks just seem to have that sixth sense when it comes to connecting with people? Why is it that the one staff person can always talk the cranky accounting person into approving the difficult invoice that no one else can get pushed through? Certain folks seem to always get a yes, when you've tried and tried and get nothing more than a no.

This comes back to your EQ level. High EQ leaders typically are persuaders. They tend to move into influential positions more quickly and stay there.

There's no question that the higher your level of influence, the more relational equity you need to have. Most notable leaders throughout history have high EQ scores.

High level deals require high level EQ. High level positions require high level EQ. High level opportunities usually require a leader with high EQ. To make it work you gotta be able to connect.

The greatest salespeople in the world have off the chart EQ scores. They can easily connect with you and ultimately make you feel so positive about a conversation or a product or service that you just can't help but say yes.

The dominant voice on Emotional Intelligence over the last several years has been Daniel Goleman. Goleman's book Emotional Intelligence: Why it can Matter More than IQ is the classic EQ book. I highly recommend it.

Remember to work on your EQ as much as your IQ. Find others around you who are incredible at reading people and connecting with people and learn from them. Ultimately, just remember that your EQ factor is just as important as your IQ factor.

Free e-book from Tony Morgan

Go immediately and download this FREE e-book from Tony Morgan. Catalyst has partnered with Tony to make this resource available for free to leaders.

The e-book is titled Developing a Theology of Leadership. It's a great source of inspiration and practical application on the why of leadership.

Thanks Tony for making this great resource available!

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7 end of week thoughts for Next Gen Leaders

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1. Learn it, relearn it, and then learn it again. Just because you are out of school doesn't mean you quit learning. Be a lifelong learner. 2. Being an expert is quickly fading in the current culture. Everyone is an expert these days because of technology and connectivity. Don't put your hope in being an expert, since now more than ever there is someone else who knows way more than you do.

3. We have to reclaim a sense of Biblical understanding, wisdom and practice. Our Biblical illiteracy as a generation is staggering, sobering and frustrating. Gotta get back in the Word. This starts with pastors and Christian leaders embracing and constantly teaching the Scripture.

4. Humility rules.No explanation needed.

5. As always, making it happen and "shipping" as Seth Godin says is still an incredibly fashionable attribute. If you can execute on a project... if you can get things done.... if you can take an assignment and drive it to completion.... You're still valued and incredibly needed.

6. Put the Xbox up, turn off facebook, get out a book (or your iPad), and start reading. Seriously.

7. Understand what you are FOR. Don't be defined by what you are against, but instead by what you are for.

Interview with best-selling author Tim Sanders

My good friend Tim Sanders has a brand new book out titled Today We Are Rich. This book really serves as a prequel to Tim's first and best-known book Love is the Killer App. This is a book about confidence, and in the book Tim talks about 7 key principles that he learned from his grandmother Billye regarding confidence, essentials he considers life lessons that he promised to her he would never forget.

I had the chance to talk with Tim about the new book, the incredible legacy of his grandmother Billye, some of the ways he's struggled with confidence over the years and how he overcame those areas, what key principles from the book are most important for young next generation leaders, and his favorite music picks right now.

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Also, Tim has made available an e-b00k with an extra couple of chapters for free on his website that you should definitely check out and download.

Thanks Tim!!

Catalyst is coming to Dallas!!

Catalyst is going to the BIG D, and I do mean Dallas!

I can't wait to be in Dallas on May 11-13 for our first ever multiple day Catalyst experience in Texas.

Catalyst Dallas is going to be an amazing time. 3,000 young leaders will converge on Bent Tree Bible Fellowship for an experience unlike any other.

Hear from leadership authorities including Andy Stanley, Matt Chandler, David Platt (author of Radical), Christine Caine, Donald Miller and Craig Groeschel , along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like hip hop legend Rev Run, best-selling author Scott Belsky, International Justice Mission founder Gary Haugen, long-time activist Dr. John Perkins, ESPY winner Scotty Smiley, and charity: water founder Scott Harrison.

Plus, Catalyst Labs will feature innovative thought leaders like Michael Hyatt, Mark Batterson, Scot McKnight, Bob Goff, Mike Foster, David Kinnaman, Samuel Rodriguez, Amena Brown, Esther Havens, Shaun King, Dino Rizzo, Gayle Haggard, Jon Acuff, Lecrae, Margaret Feinberg, Chris Seay, Bianca Juarez, Jo Saxton, Vicky Beeching, Eugene Cho, Tyler Merrick, and Jenny White.

Musical guests include Lecrae, Gungor, and others.

Here's the deal- if you plan on attending, please make sure you register by tomorrow. After tomorrow- Thursday, March 31st - tickets will be full price. Call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online.

You can use Rate Code FOB for an additional 15% discount off your ticket price.

Hope to see you there!

 

Step out of your comfort Zone

We all have our comfort zones. Your home. Your office. The seat in the back right on the last row at Church. A certain restaurant you always go to. The same songs over and over again. Might be a group of friends that has been the same since high school. That favorite uncle you always play golf with on Saturday morning.

Whatever it is, we need to be leaders who take risks. And step out of our comfort zones. On a regular basis. This can be incredibly big life decisions, but many times it may just be a small decisions, or a small change in our usual routine, that can provide the momentum we need to consistently Step Out of our Comfort Zones.

Reality is, most of us by nature enjoy the same old routine, the luxury of the known, the safety of the convenient. Ultimately, it takes extra effort to step out, but if we're not risking and pushing ourselves out of the normal and routine, then we can't expect others around us who we lead to do the same.

Here are a few examples to get you thinking on how you can this week step out of your comfort zone.

1. attend a weekend service of a completely different religion than your own.

2. visit a local homeless shelter or soup ktichen.

3. walk somewhere instead of driving. Or ride a bike.

4. leave the TV off for one week straight.

5. read a book and download a song that you never would have before.

6. Call an old friend and get reacquainted.

7. Ask your neighbors how you can help them.

8. Take someone to lunch from your office who you've never had a conversation with before.

9. Go fishing, hunting, camping, or hiking. The key is outside.

10. Visit your local police station and fire department and take them food.

What are other simple ideas that help you step out of your comfort zone?

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Jack Dorsey and Dave Ramsey from Catalyst Backstage

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Here's a couple of great interviews from Catalyst Backstage, earlier this month at Catalyst West. Featuring Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter; Dave Ramsey, best-selling author, financial expert and national radio host, and Jon Acuff, acclaimed blogger and author of Stuff Christians Like and soon to release book Quitter.

Enjoy!

Watch live streaming video from catalystbackstage at livestream.com

Watch live streaming video from catalystbackstage at livestream.com

6 Warning signs of being too big for your britches

This post ties in directly to the previous post on Accountability. Having someone in our lives who will shoot straight with us is incredibly important. Many times as leaders we start losing a sense of reality and get "too big for your britches," as my grandmother used to say when I was growing up.

Here are a few warning signs of this potentially occurring for leaders. The pitfalls of becoming too much of a prima donna.

1. You feel like you need an entourage. Everywhere you go.

2. You're unreachable. You have so many systems and handlers in place to shield you from the outside world that not even your closest friends can get in touch with you.

3. The only people who get any time with you are those who you need something from or who you see as further up the ladder of success. Anyone "below" you gets pushed off to someone else.

4. You speak and give advice WAY more than you listen and ask questions.

5. You quit laughing consistently, especially at yourself.

6. There are certain jobs or projects that you feel are simply "below" you. You would be offended if someone asked you to do some of these tasks.

Any of these consistently showing up in your world? If so, I recommend you take a chill pill and lighten up!

Who are You Accountable to?

Leaders: Who are you accountable to? Who speaks truth into your life? Your spouse? Your best friend? Your boss? Your co-workers?

Who has the right to honestly tell you when you are wrong, and make sure you stay in touch with reality?

Do you have someone, or a group of people, who will challenge you, tell you when you are wrong, confront you on the tough issues, make your aware of areas where you might be missing the mark?

If not, figure this out. Quick. If you are surrounded by only yes people, you're probably unaware of things that could be jeopardizing your leadership.

We all have dysfunctions. Every leader does. But our healthy response to our own dysfunctions depends on how much we let others "in" and give them full access to pushing back and kicking us in the tail if we are off base.

For many leaders, the greatest threat to our influence is our tendency to read our own press clippings, and continually put a "wall" up around us that protects us from any kind of honest feedback.

Don't do this. Avoid the temptation to "remove" yourself from healthy accountability.

We need people around us who will tell us what we don't want to hear, when we don't want to hear it. Identify these people in your life, and give them full access to keeping you in check.

Motivation Matters

Watching VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) storm through their first 3 games in the NCAA Basketball Tournament reminded me just how important MOTIVATION is to each of us accomplishing the goals we have in front of us. Motivation Matters. Just ask the team members from VCU.

If you're not familiar with what happened, here's the short synopsis: when the 68 team field was first released last Sunday, March 13, VCU was one of the teams that every basketball pundit was convinced shouldn't have made the cut into the tournament. Not good enough, couldn't guard, no quality wins, competition wasn't good enough, weak conference, and on and on and on. Well, the VCU team took those stabs and cuts and harsh words to heart, with a pure motivation to prove everyone wrong. And now we look back one week later and see three wins in a row, all by more than 15 points in each game. Their magical run through the tournament continues into this week in the Sweet 16.

Motivation matters. It fuels us. Gives us the staying power, and the drive to overcome.

VCU felt like "it's us against the world" and they proved everyone wrong.

As leaders, we have to constantly be aware of the current motivation factors in place for our teams. Maybe for you it's "us against the world," or maybe it's simply trying to beat last month's #'s? Whatever the case, it's important that we put motivational triggers in place to fuel a sense of accomplishment and focus.

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