Finishing Strong

During a conversation with a friend the other day we were joking with each other that we were in the “Second Half.” (Of course, he’s further into the second half than I am!)

As I thought about this, I began reflecting on some men that I know who are even further into the second half. In fact, they are well into the fourth quarter. But they are still in the game, fighting the good fight.

One of these men is Dean. Dean is in his eighties, still working full-time and more excited about his ministry now than he has ever been. Last year he sat in on a class I taught because (in his words), “I have so much to learn.”

I hope when I am in my eighties I still have the passion to serve and the desire to learn.

Another man I think of is Foy. He was in a small group leadership training program I was conducting a few years ago. One week we met in his home that he had lived in for 50+ years. During the refreshment time, I mentioned to him that I was always surprised to see people in his generation at a church that was intentionally focused on young people. I said, “I know the music must drive you crazy.” I had barely finished the sentence when Foy said, “But it’s not about me!”

I hope when I am Foy’s age I am still attending training sessions to equip me for a new ministry assignment.

I hope I will be able to say “It’s not about me” when the style of worship doesn’t line up with my personal preferences but is having a huge impact on others.

Dean and Foy are well into the Second Half. They have chosen to Finish Strong.

May their tribe increase!


"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."

The View from the Summit - Part Six

The Land Between
Jeff Manion

The space in our lives that we most resent is the very soil where God wants to produce the fruit we most desperately need.

Leaders move people from Here to There. But what happens between Here and There?

The Israelites were moving from Egypt to the Promised Land, but there was a lot of time “between.” They were out of slavery, but not yet in the promised land.

The land between is fertile soil. It is fertile for:

A. Complaint. Complaining about condition vs complaining against God, which is the equivalent of cosmic treason.

B. Meltdown. “The burden is too heavy; I can’t carry it anymore.” All spiritual leaders experience this. In Numbers 11 we see the honest prayer of a great spiritual leader. Moses cries out to God:

"Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers'? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, 'Give us meat that we may eat! I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness."

C. God’s Provision. God provides leaders to team up with us. In Number 11:16, God hears Moses plea and provides him some help:

The LORD therefore said to Moses, "Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone.”

D. God’s Discipline. Discipline is inflicting pain for a redemptive purpose. The Israelites had been complaining about manna and wanted some meat to eat. So God answered their prayer.

It’s actually humorous because He tells them that they will have meat, meat, and more meat. So much meat that they will become sick of it! He actually uses this to teach the Israelites a lesson.

“Therefore the LORD will give you meat and you shall eat. 'You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"'"

E. Transformational Growth. The land between was intended to transform the people of Israel and get them ready for the Promised Land. They needed to learn to trust God, to pray, and to depend on Him.

Transformational growth doesn’t happen automatically. It is here that we learn about the sufficiency of God.

"The LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD'S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not." "

When we are in between Here and There, our heart is in danger. We have left the known and have not yet arrived in the promised land. In the land between, a choice has to be made: Growth or Death.

Complaint shows up without an invitation and resists eviction. We deter complaint by inviting trust in. Trust evicts complaint.

Are you in between? Are you in a place that is uncomfortable?

The space in my life that I most resent is the very soil where God wants to produce the fruit I most desperately need.

The View from the Summit - Part Five

You don't have to talk to me for very long before you realize that Andy Stanley is one of my favorite leadership authors. So, I was particularly excited to see that he was on the faculty of this year's Leadership Summit.

My thoughts about Andy were affirmed when Bill Hybels introduced him by saying that "Andy's success has not gone to his head or his heart."

The Upside of Tension

Myth: "Great leaders with mature organizations will resolve all the problems and eliminate tension."

Fact: "Some tensions are never resolved and some problems are never solved. The key is to leverage the dynamics in a way that creates progress. We need to manage pressure and tension in a way that results in progress."

I. Every organization has problems that shouldn't be solved and tensions that shouldn't be resolved.

A. What's more important? Examples: effectiveness or efficiency? responsiveness or profitability? academic rigor or relevance? Evangelism or Discipleship?

B. If you "resolve" any of those tensions, you will create a new tension.

C. If you resolve any of those tensions, you create a barrier to progress.

D. Progress depends not on the resolution of those tensions but on the successful management of those tensions.

II. To distinguish between problems to solve and tensions to manage, ask the following questions:

• Does the problem or tension keep resurfacing?
• Are there mature advocates on both sides?
• Are the two sides really interdependent?

Example of a tension in a Biblically Functioning Church: Is our primary role as a Church to create mature believers or is it to keep it attractive and safe for non-believers?

III. The role of leadership is to leverage the tension to the benefit of your organization.

A. Identify the tensions to be managed in your organization.

B. Create terminology for a 3rd category: "Tensions we have to manage."

C. Inform your core. Make sure the key players understand the fact that this is not ever going away!

D. Continually give value to both sides.

E. Don't weigh in too heavily based on your personal preferences. A leader's opinion/personality will accidentally take things off the table. As leaders we need to understand the upside of the opposite side and understand the downside of your side.

F. Don't allow strong personalities to win the day. I need passionate people who will champion their side and mature people who will recognize the reality of needing to live with tensions.

G. Don't think in terms of balance. Think in terms of rhythm. In the rhythm of an organization's life there will be times to lean heavily and times to lean away. Make the call under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

As a leader, one of the most valuable things you can do for your organization is differentiate between tensions your organization will always need to manage vs. problems that need to be solved.

The View from the Summit - Part Four

When Leaders Fall - Adam Hamilton

Leaders seem to be particularly susceptible to temptations that when acted on lead to personal derailment. I have previously posted comments about the road to derailment. Hamilton's talk was focused on derailment due to temptations in the area of improper relationships and sexual misconduct.

Why are leaders so susceptible?

• We are wired for reproduction.
• We have a deep desire for intimacy and companionship.
• We have a inherent sin drive that can lead to self-destruction.
• Leaders are attractive to others.
• When we are empty, we are vulnerable.

"The moment of the maybe" when we begin to play with an idea in our mind. While it may be natural to find others attractive, we should never communicate those thoughts.

"There is a short distance between communicating feelings and acting on them."

Five R's for Resisting Temptation:

1. Remember who you are: Lord I belong to you.
2. Recognize the consequences of your actions: How will you feel after?
3. Rededicate yourself to God: Stop, Drop, and Pray.
4. Reveal your struggle to a trusted friend.
5. Remove yourself from the situation.

In his book The Next Generation Leader, Andy Stanley poses two important questions for dealing with temptations:

• "What little thing in your life has the potential to become a big thing?"
• "Who other than you knows about it?"

We need to practice James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. "

As leaders we have a target on our back. Opponents would love to see us fall, and the Enemy would love to remove us from our places of influence.

Wise leaders will heed the warnings and proactively place firm boundaries into their lives.

The View from the Summit - Part Three

Tony Dungy was interviewed by Jimmy Mellado. These are the highlights of that interview.

Influences on his leadership philosophy. He was greatly influenced by his father who was a professor. His father described his job as "helping students get A's."

The next influence was Coach Chuck Noll who told him that his only job as a coach was to "help players play better."

Thus, "the job of any leader is to help those you lead get better."

As he discussed this, I was reminded of lessons I learned from my own father. When I first became a manager my dad told me that my job was to create an environment where people could perform. A few years later I began teaching part-time and my dad told me that my primary task as a teacher was to create an environment where students could learn.

Living with life balance. "We are going to win, but can't make football your life." He modeled balance for his staff and his team. The facility was open to families and he often had his children at practices and meetings.

• Be efficient; get work done.


• Don't mistake hours for productivity.


• Don't feel guilty about going home.

Mentoring. "We have to be available to mentor. A 30 second conversation with a mentor can change your life. Everybody should have a Paul and a Timothy in their life."

What does mentoring look like? "Learn about the mentee and develop the relationship. The informal part is so much more important than the formal part."

"The biggest thrill you get is watching people come in and develop."

What type of person do you look for? "The Lord puts people in your path. We need to be intentional about reaching out to young people in our community." Dungy feels a calling from the Lord to reach junior/senior high school kids.

Dungy's Mom and Dad were his first mentors. "All the people in his life led him to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the best mentor/leader I have ever been involved with."

"What would it profit to win the Super Bowl but not know Jesus?"

The View from the Summit - Part Two

Session 2: Jim Collins author of Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall.

“Greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”

Series of Stages in Failure:

Great -->Good -->Mediocre -->Bad -->Irrelevant -->Gone

There's an analogy between sick organizations and people who have cancer. Both are already sick on the inside, but still look strong on the outside. The disease may be well advanced before any signs of its presence become obvious.

Stage 1: Hubris born of success: Outrageous arrogance that inflicts suffering on the innocent.

Stage 2: Undisciplined pursuit of more that allows growth to exceed capacity.

Stage 3: Denial of risk & peril: warning signs are denied and a culture of denial takes hold.

Stage 4: Grasping for salvation:

Stage 5: Capitulation: It’s over; capital is squandered.

As Collins was discussing the stages of organizational decline, I couldn't help but think of the parallels with individual derailment.

Stage I: Failure of Self-Awareness
Leaders on the road to derailment have an acute lack of self-awareness. Knowing ourselves and our inner thoughts informs us of the needs, desires, hopes and moods of others that we might respond appropriately.

This self-awareness parallels emotional intelligence. It involves empathy, consideration and attentiveness to employees' interests. Derailing leaders seem oblivious to how their behavior impacts others and the resulting failure to build a strong alignment alliance. They have huge blindspots and can’t see beyond their own understanding of their personal truth.

Stage II: Hubris: Pride before the Fall
Power provides one of the most revealing tests of a person’s character. While a failure of character manifests itself in many ways, arrogance stands as the most self-destructive.

Just as humility seems to be at the epicenter of leadership effectiveness, arrogance is commonly at the root of a leader’s undoing. Arrogance is the "mother of all derailers."

Arrogant leaders seem to eschew feedback that's beneficial to any leader. They become “truth-starved.”

Stage III: Missed Early Warning Signals
Like people who ignore blatant warning signals and cross railroads in front of a train, derailment signs are usually there, but not heeded.

Otherwise-talented leaders don't see the signals of subtle but persistent feedback about their inner state, or other's diminishing confidence in them.

Early warning signs should have jarred their attention to avoid the danger ahead. Instead, these distracted leaders barrel ahead toward the inevitable crash.

Stage IV: Rationalization
When it finally becomes apparent that a leader is losing his or her constituents' confidence, defenses are heightened. A siege mentality takes over, and the leader starts to rationalize.

In Stage IV the leader isolates himself and becomes increasing insulated from the information that could either fend off disaster greatly limit the damage.

The most damning consequence is that derailing leaders lie to themselves. Some may even believe, “I'm too important to fail.”

The derailing leader twists data to fit their world view. In an attempt to maintain psychological equilibrium, the derailing leader believes the lie, despite many warning signs.

Stage V: Derailment
Derailment is not inevitable, but without attention to development, it is probable. Just like the fall of mighty organizations, derailment is a process that proceeds in predictable stages.

Ignoring the early warning signs puts us in great peril.

As with organizational failure, the steps toward derailment are largely self-inflicted. Derailment is more the result of what a leader does to him or her self than it is what happens to them.

Are there subtle warning signs that you're ignoring?

Are you isolating yourself from feedback and loyal criticism?

Are you taking a step onto the path that leads to derailment?

Is your internal GPS system telling you to "make a safe and legal u-turn?"

Will you heed that inner voice?

The View from the Summit - Part One

Summit: "the highest point or part."

When you are at the summit, you have a different perspective. You can see farther and you can see the big picture unfolding. Like the coach who sits in the press box, you can see the plays unfolding. The view provides a perspective that the coach on the sidelines doesn’t have.

Last week I had the opportunity to go to the Summit: The Global Leadership Summit sponsored by Willow Creek Community Church. Being at the Summit, I have some new perspectives on leadership and I will be sharing those insights and my reflections with you.

Session 1: Bill Hybels

Leaders move people from Here to There.
There is a preferred future that releases passion. This is the promise on the other side and provides a purpose for the temporary, yet painful, discomfort of making deep change. The point of beginning for deep change is not to make there seem wonderful, but to make here sound awful.

The change process begins by creating a sense of urgency that will overcome the sources of complacency. The leader’s role is to create a sense of “Holy Discontent” with the current situation.

While going there may be risky, staying here is even more risky.

We can’t stay here!

It takes Fantastic People to move from Here to There.
The greatest joy of leadership is assembling a team of fantastic people. They have character, competence, chemistry and fantastic people fit the culture of the organization. When there is a fit, people flourish.

Mile Markers and Celebrations.
Deep change may take 18-36 months. Leaders need to keep people on the journey. There is excitement at the beginning of the journey and great anticipation as we approach the end, but in the middle people hope wains. The mean-time between here and there is mean. Vision leaks. People forget how bad the past was and cannot yet see the promise of the future.

Therefore, leaders need to generate, plan for, and celebrate short-terms wins that provide hope that we will get there.

Whispers from God.

We don’t get from here to there without hearing from God in the process

John 10:27: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

I hear from God primarily through his Word. But I also hear directly from His Spirit. He puts thoughts in my mind that are not my thoughts.

Do you think God speaks? If you felt God was transmitting to you, how concerned would you be about the quality of your antenna?

“The smartest moves I have ever made as a leader didn’t come from my own wisdom, but from whispers from God.”

Can you say: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:9)

Will you do everything in your power to hear and heed His voice?

The Books of Summer

One of my favorite movies of all time is For Love of the Game.

There's a line in the movie when Billy Chapel meets Jane. Her car has broken down on the highway as she was trying to get out of town. He asks her why she's getting out of town and she responds, "Because summer's over and I missed it."

I have had several summers in the past that I could describe with that quote. Not so this summer. It has been an easy and relaxing summer. We took several mini-vacations and even the pace at the university was less intense than summers past.

So, there has been an expanded opportunity to read. Here's the book list for the summer (Boldfaced titles are highly recommended!):

Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls, Noel Tichy & Warren Bennis

Miles From Nowhere, Nami Mun

David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, Chuck Swindoll

Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions and How to Keep it From Happening to You, Sydney Finkelstein, Jo Whitehead, & Andrew Campbell

Rescuing Ambition, David Harvey

Beach House, Jane Green

Raising Cole: A Father’s Story, Marc Pittman

Heart of the Matter, Emily Giffin

Losing the Promised Land: Elisha and the Kings of Judah, John MacArthur

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

What is God Really Like? Craig Groeschel, Editor

Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters, Timothy Keller

The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larsson

Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, Reggie McNeal

Leaders Who Last, Dave Kraft

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson

Yep. I read the Stieg Larsson trilogy. Perhaps the best thriller/spy novel books I have read in a long time.