Dr Paul Allen

Image via Wikipedia WHY DO LEADERS EXIST?  This is perhaps one of the most simple yet profound questions we can ask about leadership. But until we answer this foundational question, leadership tips and techniques won’t make much sense. My answer to the question is this:  LEADERS EXIST TO CREATE A SHIFT IN REALITY . SHIFT THE DRIFT  Without leaders, things drift along. Every stream has a current. Throw a twig or a piece of paper into the water, and it will drift with the flow. This is natural. It is simply the way things work. Organizations and churches are similar to streams. They too have a flow. That flow is the organization’s culture. When people enter into that culture, they usually move along with the current. It is called “the drift.” Do you want to know what the drift is in your organization? Ask, “What are people saying about [fill in the blank]?” For example, I used to have a colleague that no one respected. You could often hear his peers and subordinates say th...

Image via Wikipedia WHY DO LEADERS EXIST?  This is perhaps one of the most simple yet profound questions we can ask about leadership. But until we answer this foundational question, leadership tips and techniques won’t make much sense. My answer to the question is this:  LEADERS EXIST TO CREATE A SHIFT IN REALITY . SHIFT THE DRIFT  Without leaders, things drift along. Every stream has a current. Throw a twig or a piece of paper into the water, and it will drift with the flow. This is natural. It is simply the way things work. Organizations and churches are similar to streams. They too have a flow. That flow is the organization’s culture. When people enter into that culture, they usually move along with the current. It is called “the drift.” Do you want to know what the drift is in your organization? Ask, “What are people saying about [fill in the blank]?” For example, I used to have a colleague that no one respected. You could often hear his peers and subordinates say th...

Image via Wikipedia In the opening session of the 2010 Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit , Bill Hybels went back to the basics and asked:  "What do leaders do?"  "What are the fundamentals of leadership ?"  Rather than delve into new leadership territory, Hybels decided to go back to the drawing board of leadership and give us some new insights on the basics of leadership. Hybels, who is a brilliant student of leadership went on to give the following four answers to those questions: 1. Leaders Move People From Here To There. This is not just about the vision -thing.  I used to think the first step for any leader is to cast a vision.  Years of experience have shown me that is not the case because even after casting the most compelling vision some people will respond, "Bill, we really like here better than there."   The first step play is not to make "there" sound phenomenal, the first play is to make "here" sound horrific and into...

Andy Stanley wrapped up day one of the 2010 Leadership Summit. Here are some of the highlights from his talk: “Every organization has problems that shouldn’t be solved and tensions that shouldn’t be resolved.” “If you resolve some tensions, it’ll lead to other tensions.” “Progress doesn’t depend on the resolution of tensions but on the management of those tensions.” “If it’s a problem that keeps resurfacing, it’s a tension to be managed.” “The role of leadership is to leverage the tension for the benefit of the organization.” “Often times the right person doesn’t win the argument, but someone wins the argument.” “Certain tensions are the key to progress.” for leaders… “Continually give value to both sides, and don’t weigh in too heavily with your personal biases.” “Don’t allow strong personalities to win the day.” “Don’t think in terms of balance – think in terms of rhythm. “As a leader, never try to be fair.”

Image via Wikipedia These are the key thoughts from  Dan Pink’s  session at the Leadership Summit that grabbed my attention. Dan is the author of  Drive , a book I’ve highlighted  here  and  here  in recent weeks. “If-then rewards work really well for simple tasks. However, they don’t work very well for more complicated creative tasks.” “One of the problems that we have in our organizations is that we make the wrong assumptions about people.” “One of the false assumptions is that people are machines.” Another false assumption is that “human begins are blobs.” “Our nature is to be active and engaged.” People need: autonomy, mastery and purpose “Management wasn’t delivered to us from God.” “Management is a technology designed to get compliance.” “We want engagement. Management doesn’t lead to engagement. Self-direction leads to engagement.” “Give people autonomy over their time, team, task and technique. That leads to engagement.” “Making pro...