Category: Leadership
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You won’t believe what happened
It happened again. They did something irresponsible. Rude. Lazy. They were wrong. You are right. You can feel it. We’ve all felt it. The anger. The tension in the chest. The laser-like focus. The words you’re going to say running through your mind. The list of how they’re wrong. Now what? What feels good is…
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Is vision a filter or a frame?
As I research senior leadership teams in higher education who have led successful, adaptive change, one thing that stands out is the strength of the vision the leader sets and the commitment of the team to pursue that vision together. The shared vision and mission motivate the team towards unity and excellence. But that’s not…
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Freedom from fake work
When I ask my son to clean up at night, he’ll sometimes start putting toys into the bin at a snail’s pace. Then, when I ask him to speed up, the motions turn frantic, but the toys keep hitting the bin at the same rate. Lots more movement. Nothing extra to show for it. Sometimes…
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On doing the impossible and listening to critics
A Chinese Proverb… From a free download (279 Days to Overnight Success).
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The attitude of leadership
People often talk about “leadership as influence.” If people are following you, you’re leading. But it’s less often that we talk about whether we’re worth following. Brad Lomenick wrote recently about the call to leaders in Philippians 2: Starting with verse 2: “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same…
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Leadership is influence
Was reading a post (part of a great series) by Jordan over at worshiptrench where he said this: “If they cannot influence others, by definition they are not a leader. The world needs facilitators, too. Just don’t put a facilitator where there needs to be a leader.” Such a great reminder. We’re about to go…
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Teamwork means unity (or, boats don’t get anywhere if you’re paddling in 12 different directions)
“The successful company is not the one with the most brains, but the most brains acting in concert.” – Peter Drucker The success of a team depends on unity and common direction. And that unity and common direction comes from intentional communication, building relationships, listening, sharing stories, and spending time together. It’s not easy work,…
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Mentors needed
Ben Arment talks about mentoring, pointing out that most of the time, an apprentice asks a leader to mentor him/her. But maybe, there’s a better (and more Biblical) way. He writes… Paul talked about the relationship between spiritual mentors and apprentices in 2 Corinthians 12:14 – “For the children ought not to lay up for…
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Leaders see the good
Some people have a gift for seeing what needs to be improved in an organization or group. I tend to see ways to change things fairly quickly. But one thing I’m learning is that the best leaders are also great encouragers. They can see the strengths of others and draw them out. They cast a…
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Simple wins.
In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz writes that too many choices can actually be a bad thing. Let’s say Ted to buy a new television. He walks into his local Buy More and is confronted not with two or three tvs, but with a wall of options. Now, he knew he wanted a new…
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Linkage: Distractions, unreal suits, and leadership
The distracted life – “Kevin….chill out. When it comes to listening, really listening….you can’t be demanding.” And I immediately thought, “Oh…good lesson #1. Listening requires patience. Chill Out Kevin. Wait on God.” WIRED on why Iron Man’s suit wouldn’t work in real life (or WIRED – ruining superhero movies since 1993) A Leader’s Legacy by…
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Starbucks – refreshing the “original” third place
You know the story. Visionary leader builds a revolutionary brand. Visionary leader steps away and hands it off. Brand falters. Said leader steps back in to turn things around. The first big changes are taking place since Howard Schultz stepped back into the head spot at Starbucks, and honestly, I’m excited to see if and…
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Pieces of paper can’t tell the whole story
Today’s been an organization day in Sampson world. I’ve spent the morning sorting through piles of papers that have accumulated over the past few months as well as scanning some older files I want to keep around. One folder I ran across was filled with church plant proposals from different church planters I’ve met with.…
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Learning from other pastors…
David Fitch (author of The Great Giveaway) writes about the things he wished he’d done more of during the past few years as a missonal pastor. I found them enlightening and encouraging. The first three are below. Click through to his blog at the end to read the rest… Over the past several years of…
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Not in it for the money
Here’s a nice piece of wisdom Seth Godin wrote a while back: Seth’s Blog: Doing it for free: “Woz wasn’t looking to make a lot of money when he invented the Apple computer, and Nolan Bushnell certainly didn’t imagine he was creating the video game industry when he invented Pong. Cory and the rest of…
Jon Sampson 