GLS 2009 Part 1 The simple things by Bill Hybels is the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek

Community Church in South Barrington, IL, and the chairman of the board for the Willow Creek Association. He convened The Leadership Summit in 1995, following a God-given prompting to help raise and develop the spiritual gift of leadership for the local church. Both visionary and passionate about seeing every local church reach its full God-given potential, he speaks around the world on strategic issues to Christian leaders and is a best-selling author of more than 20 books, including Courageous Leadership and Axiom: The Language of Leadership. Story of Naaman

The OT book of 2 Kings tells the story of a military leader from Syria. They went from one military conquest to the next. He was the rock star military leader of the day. He got a certain death sentence: leprosy. He goes to a prophet to seek help and got instructions to dip into the water of the Jordan River seven times. He was offended. His soldiers reminded him that if the prophet had asked him to do something great that would have required great effort and achievement, he would have done it. He was a great man who had done great things in great ways. The prophet had asked him to do something very simple. He was told to do something simple and to see what God would do. When he did it, he was healed perfectly healthy, perfectly whole. He said: Theres no other God but the God of Israel. The great temptation for some of us is to think that we have to set our minds to go out and do some great thing. Launch some new idea. Double or triple our size. Go global with our local thing. But we should do simple things, every day.

Simple Things We Should Consider Doing 1 Consider establishing a time and place where you will meet personally with God every day.

So often what gets compromised in our doing great things for God is our meeting with God. In Ephesians 6, Paul asked for prayer to fearlessly proclaim what he needed to proclaim while he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. Leaders need something fresh from God every day. When you establish a meeting time and place, theres some days the fireworks wont happen, and day when the words will seem just like word on a page.

But if you are in the routine of it, God will speak to you. Its a simple thing, really.

2 Commit to reading good books at least 30 minutes a day.

Steve Sample said, I challenge you leaders to read something substantial 30 minutes a day for the rest of your life. Its a very simple thing. Bill has read hundreds of books since that have helped him along the way.

3 Review your replenishment strategy

Romans 8:6 if you are filled with the Spirit you will be filled with peace. Is your bucket too depleted? Instead of doing something big, maybe you should do something simple Are you on a net gain or in depletion mode? God will show you what to do.

4 Decide to say yes to God every time His Spirit prompts you to do something.

This is advance decision making. It means you saying yes, then asking God what the question is. You dont have to understand it, just test it against the Gospel and just say yes. Some of the most fruit-bearing events Ive ever been a part of came out of saying yes to God even I had no idea where they are going.

Other Decisions

Maybe its deciding what your key seats are. Maybe its forgiving someone. Maybe its reconciliation. Maybe its time to stop complaining about the lack of resources and equipping people with what you have. Maybe its time be innovative. Maybe its time to consider a simple way to serve the poor.

The Simple Things

Its often in the doing of the certain number of simple things that leaders build into their lives that often, over the years, compounds and increases their effectiveness, influence, and impact as a leader. These simple things are the building blocks of God doing the great thing through us some day. When we do the simple things, God takes responsbiilty for the big things.

Your Life Matters

Your life matters.

This isnt the pre-game, this is THE game. You have one life to live full-on for God. You have one life to develop your leadership to the fullest potential. You have this life to do something that will last for eternity. I only have today to fight for God and for His plan and purposes. I will fight hard. Its a personal decision we all have to arrive at. What are you going ot live for? What will you lay it down for? What race are you running? The curious thing God does when we all gather together and submit ourselves to the One, true Leader, Jesus Christ, and the combustible energy that happens when we are together is unlike anything else. Theres a challenge we, as leaders, offer to each other. We are building His church, for His glory through His power.

Do some simple things that will compound over the weeks and months ahead who knows what God will do.

Bono, the Church... three years later

Bono is the lead singer of Irish rock band U2, which has sold more than 140 million albums and won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys. A well-known activist in the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa, he co-founded DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) in 2002, The One Campaign in 2004, and Product (RED) in 2006, and was named TIMEs Person of the Year for 2005. Interviewed for the Summit in 2006, he challenged church leaders to mobilize against the ravages of global AIDS and poverty. Be a part of the continuing story, as Bono talks in an exclusive video about the churchs inspiring response and about his continuing life journey as a single issue protagonist.

JFK lead and the world followed. Putting the man on the moon proved what American innovation and technology was capable of. The problems we can fix, we should. What is possible when the church unites to solve a global crisis? Only love can leave such a mark.

How is the church doing?

Since the last time Bill and Bono met, the church has done incredible things. I thought the church was the sleeping giant but I didnt know it could run that fast! Its an offense to Christ or any concept of truth and justice that we arent reaching out to help people in need. The church is in the lead, not in the rear. 41 million bed nets were distributed malaria deaths are down. In some places Rwanda is sending back drugs! Had the church not woken up on the issue of AIDS we would not have 2 million Africans on anti-viral drugs.

Loving our (global) Neighbor

The concept of our neighbor has changed. Its not advice, its a command. In the global community, Africa is just down the street. Can we enjoy the benefit of globalization without taking some of the responsibility? They are our neighbor. Eaglebook Community Church in Minnesota has woken up to the call to do something globally. A mark of maturity is when people give out of what they have. Were going to be asked what we did for the least of these.

Where the Streets Have No Name

Bono wrote the lyrics for the song Where the Streets Have No Name in Ethiopia about people in Africa. He says when he sings it, it changes him and he feels God walk through the room. Sometimes you dont know what youre singing. As smart as somebody can be, intuition is greater than intellect. Our best work is done when we have no idea what we are doing. Whittier Area Community Church got it too, gave $518,000! Jesus has created the church to exist for the world. Why did it take a rock star to tell us that?

On The Economic Situation

Its funny that we cant find money to save hundreds of thousands of lives in Africa but we can find $700 million to save our economy. That says that in a crisis, we can find the money when we need it Doing so shows we believe somebody begging for their lives is not in crisis.

On Church

On church attendance: I go where the life is. What I find hard to take is lifeless ceremony and I see that a lot in churches. He wants to go where he finds honesty and humanity. A place where everyone is welcome. When you make a sermon, people dont want things to be too complicated, they want you to be honest. They want a spirit of humility. We need to stand for poverty. Its not charity its justice and equality.

Grace

The church tends to separate itself from people and pick the divisive issues. Thats not grace. We would be much better served if we stood for things instead of against things. Grace is defying the thing that is uncommon. Whenever I see grace, I am moved. When you see the grace of how people behave in dire circumstances you will be moved.

On Giving Up

He considered giving up. We should never think things are dependent on us. Its hard, there will always be resistance. Theres resistance on the journey to equality. Where have you drawn the line?

Where does your sphere of empathy end? Everyone is created EQUAL in the eyes of God. Indifference is an enemy to the greatest of possibilities.

Bill Hybels Challenge to Leaders Jesus spoke with blinding clarity about the issue of our relationship with under-resourced people (Matthew 25).

He said, I was hungry naked sick in prison Some of the people responded by saying, we never saw you in those situations. He replied, when you did it to the least of these, you did it to me Others said, if we would have seen YOU He replied, you wouldnt have done it for me. Theres a lot of things weve got to get better at in leadership. If we neglect using our leadership positions to serve the poor in some way, we will stand accountable before Christ some day. I get no joy out of saying this because I feel the weight of it every day

What Bono has done is asked everybody of every faith who leads anything to do something.

I have a deep-seated trust in the sovereign wisdom of the Holy Spirit. If people get this on their radar screen, God will show them how to do it and finding out what their part is.

No one is exempt from taking responsibility in this great challenge.

What is the right thing to do? If youre not engaged, get engaged. You will want to stand before the One with nail pierced hands and say, I made the grace you made available to me available to the poor Some of us will be called to life-saving acts of compassion. Others will create jobs and opportunity for long-term solutions. God will guide you. This is something that in our lifetime could be ended.

Eyewitness to Power Editor-at-large at U.S. News & World Report and political analyst for CNN and PBS, David Gergen has served as a White House adviser to four presidents; Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. He is also a professor at Harvards School of Public Leadership. An active participant in American national life for 30 years, Gergen has a lifetime of experience in observing and participating in high-capacity leadership, which hes distilled into seven vital elements needed for future leaders. The author of Eyewitness to Power, he firmly believes that by identifying the traits of other leaders (and learning from their mistakes), we can increase our own effectiveness and leadership potential.

One of Davids areas of expertise is the study of leadership. He teaches leadership at Harvard.

On Leadership Development

Leadership is a journey. Each one of us has to take our own path, and get there our own way. There are people that can help us get there mentors, teachers, friends. These people introduce us to the literature of leadership. A teacher of leadership cannot produce a leader. What you can do is make people aware of the principles of leadership and introduce them to role models they can fashion themselves after. Especially with church leaders, if you are in leadership its not a question of teaching people, but creating a culture where people are encouraged to serve and lead each other. The proudest moment for him is not what students learn but what they do. Leaders have to get better at leading. If you are born with it or not, you have to get better at it. Be a reflective practitioner. Reflective practice means that where you really learn leadership is in the arena of doing it and continually reading, learning, etc. Not every reader is a leader. But every leader is a reader. Its the combination of doing, reading and reflecting on the two. General Patraeus has soldiers reflect on what happened what they did right, what they did wrong, etc. Leaders can be so activistic that they dont reflect, journal, write, discuss, etc. Its easy to confuse motion with progress. Best leaders choose their big goals and go after them relentlessly, with a lot of feedback. Peter Drucker wrote The Effective Executive and teaches at the beginning of the year to write down what you hope to accomplish and how you hope to get there, and go back and review. Hold yourself accountable. One of the easiest things to do is fool yourself and be self-justifying and defensive. You have to be willing to wrestle, like Jacob. If things go right, question what the contributing factors were.

If something goes wrong, admit how it went wrong and why you did what you did. When youre down on the dance floor dancing its important to go to the balcony and look down. Observe the dances going on. The moments out allow you to see things more clearly.

Strengths of Presidents He Served Under

Nixon: best strategist. Could look into the future and see how history was going to unfold and had a gift at bending the future. Someone who can look farther back can see father ahead. Understanding your past helps you envision what the future will be. Ford: most descent. You didnt have to keep your back to the wall. The saying goes nice guys finish last, but in todays society weve come to prize people who are descent. Ford looks better and better through the review mirror of history. Reagan: contagious optimism. If youre around leaders who always believe you can get higher, who can encourage it makes the effort exciting. Theres a sense you are building something. He and the WWII generation had a sense of humor. People who can laugh together can pray together and do a lot of things to build a sense of team. Clinton: his resilience. Got knocked down a lot in life, but was always willing to get back up.

Weaknesses

Nixon: his dark side. You have to understand the struggle he had people who appealed to his right side and those who appeal to his dark side. He could not control his demons. He was the author of his own tragedy. Ford: too naive. Politics is a rough sport, school of hard knocks. Reagan: detachment. You always have to keep your hands on the wheel, and sometimes he gave the wheel to others. When he had a good team around him, things were great things went off track when he didnt have a right team around him. You can trust to the point of detachment. Inspect is as important as respect. You have to keep your eye on whats going on and not turn it over to other people. Clinton: cracks in his character. He was earnestly working through the flaws in his character. He made mistakes. The worst mistake was not the relationship with Monica Lewinsky it was his failure to come forward and ask for forgiveness. If youre straight with people, theyll forgive you.

Great leaders carry with them great flaws.

Maturity is all about trying to come to grip with your flaws. Self-awareness is important. Youve got to admit to yourself you have a dark side. The challenge is to integrate the two so you have an authentic, integrated person.

How do you come to grips with your flaws?

We have to be realistic enough to know most people wont conquer their flaws. Make sure you are aware of your flaws so they dont hurt you or others.

How do you bring alignment between your private behavior and public life?

People who can be great leaders oftentimes have very messy private lives. Martin Luther King was one of the great moral leaders of the 20th century. He helped lift our moral sight, yet he had a very chaotic private life. He worked hard to bring his private life under control he knew he was a sinner. Nelson Mandella said get up every morning and try to do better We should be more forgiving and less invasive about peoples private lives. We should be very demanding of their public lives.

Leadership does not have to be lonely.

The day of the Lone Ranger as a leader are over. Leaders today get the best results when they have great teams, and build a team of leaders. Your role as a leader is to have team of leaders. The world is increasingly complex and you, the leader, have to work with many other groups and many other leaders. Leaders need to learn how to partner and collaborate. We build things together. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Patty Stonesifer

Importance of symbolism

Leadership is working with others in the pursuit of shared goals. In old times, leadership was command. Today its about persuasion. Leadership is about trust and communication. You communicate by how you role model. Symbols matter to people. Your brand. The V for victory with Churchill gave people hope and inspiration. Ghandi gave up the clothing of the law and went with the lion cloth to communicate his simplicity. Mandella was seen in prison garb, but was one of the greatest leaders of our time. Reagans horse we have a Marlboro man image in our culture and Reagan said theres nothing greater for the inside of the man than the outside of a horse.

Communications + Leadership

Speeches take place in a situation, not a vacuum. Who the speaker speaks as loudly as what he says. We are bombarded with words.

The demand is to figure out who we are going to listen to in the midst of the chaos. Your willingness to listen depends on trust. You trust they are being real, authentic, and that they know what they are talking about. You look for people who can explain things in a way thats clear and simple. The person who first understood public speaking was Aristotle, his book about rhetoric. Theres three elements to a good speech: 1) Ethos the personality, authenticity, believability of the speaker. 2) Logos logic of the speech. 3) Pathos the emotion. You want to appeal to someones reasoning power and their emotional grip on something. Whoever is communicating needs a rhythm. A speech shouldnt be more than 15-20 minutes. 1/4 of the audience cant keep up after 30 minutes. Your ethos should be established up front let people know who you are. Logos needs to be the body of your message Pathos needs to be the emotional call to action, not just an appeal. Inspire people. The best preachers bring the argument and the emotional appeal that inspires us.

On Personal Habits of Leaders

Self-discipline is like self-awareness. The best leaders have regular habits. Its important to be physically fit. People who let themselves get flabby often let their minds get flabby. Leadership is physically demanding, you need endurance. You need to build time into your day to reflect. You need to build time into your day to spend time with the people you love. People who are in loving relationships at age 50 tend to live a lot longer and be a lot happier in life.

What do you hope is going to happen in you and to you when you go to church?

Church should be a place where one can find inner-peace. Not about them, but something larger. Likes to learn something from the pastor or the readings. He wants to not only hear the words but read them, and study their context. Many of the young people today care deeply about social change. Many of them are on a spiritual journey. This generation is on a search for their spiritual well-being. Whatever their faith may be, spirituality is important for the foundation of their leadership. It helps you find your moral compass. Youve got a true north. Going to church is where you nourish it. Its important to have good anchors in life.

Our ego can get so inflated that you become arrogant and think that the rules dont apply to you. You can fly too close to the sun. Faith, family and friends are good anchors they remind you there are things bigger than you that you dont hold it in your own hands. You are one of many part of a grander scheme. If you want to change the world, be the change you want to see in the world. Each of us has warmed our hands around a fire and our role is to bring a log to that fire and keep it going to others

Thinking forward : AID VS TRADE

Andrew Rugasira is the Founder and CEO of Good African Coffee, an African-based social enterprise that brings quality coffees to the global market. Prior to founding Good African Coffee, Andrew was the CEO of VR Promotions, Ltd., Ugandas leading promotions and events management company, which was featured in president Bill Clintons 1998 tour of Africa. Andrew was nominated the Young Global Leader 2007 by the World Economic Forum and remains an established leader in economic development. He graduated with honors from the University of London, and lives in Kampala, Uganda, with his wife Jacqueline and their children.

What comes to mind when you hear the word Africa? We often think: poverty, disease, HIV/AIDS, death, conflict, genocide, etc. Thats one perspective that has been influenced by the narrative in the media all around us. To him, he thinks opportunity, entrepreneurs. The perspectives we hold influence the decisions we make and how we relate to people and churches in Africa. We need to deconstruct the narrative going around about Africa and how we perceive it.

Looking Back at History

Nov 15, 1884 Bismark called The Conference of Berlin. They decided how to regulate colonialism. It was the scramble for Africa. Communities were split, families were separated by the borders that we drawn. By 1902, 90% of African was under colonial law. They produced tea, coffee, cocoa they were not allowed to process, only export which had a dramatic impact on their economy. Africans are the best ones to solve their problems through hard work, production of quality products, etc. The people who were coming to offer help didnt look like them.

Integrity is being truthful about what you need to do to get out of a difficult situation. AID vs TRADE

There have been well-meaning but misguided advocates for aid. They believed they could bring about change by giving out hand-outs. Even when you to make your case for your vision, people will always stand in the way. There is no country in the world that has developed through handouts why is Africa different? We use trade as an engine for growth because its part of economic doctrine. Trade creates transformational impact for communities. Trade is the only succcessful way to bring economies out of poverty. Africa today only contributes 2% of the worlds trade goods. We often only see the problem, not the opportunities. We need to look at Africans as partners, trade opportunity, etc. We need to give marketshare, not pity. We need to change the conversation.

1 Aid is really not aid.

Between 1970-2000 Africa has received $400 Billon in aid from Africa Their GDP decreased as aid increased. Aid is not effective. Aid is not really aid. Its poorly structured. The country prioritizes what it will spend its money on. Its insincere. Its conditional we tell them what to do with it.

2 Aid undermines accountability.

Aid creates chronic dependence. So many countries seek donors for their budgets. It undermines integrity and dignity of recipient countries. We need to get people thinking about the impact of their compassion. How do the people receiving our compassion while maintaining their dignity?

We need to look at Africa as a people of consumers, great products, etc. Real partnerships can make sustained community transformation. The greatest help wont come from the outside, it will come as you empower people on the inside.

The best way to help Africa is with trade, not aid. Reconstruct the narrative in your mind that kindness is best expressed through a hand out. The greatest kindness you can give is to help people help themselves

A Leadership case Study: Jessica Jackley and Kiva Story Jessica Jackley is co-founder of Kiva.org, the worlds first peer-to-peer online microlending website. Kiva.org allows internet users to lend as little as $25 to entrepreneurs in the developing world, providing affordable capital to start or expand a small business. In just three years Kiva has helped raise over $61 million and connected thousands of people across 120 countries. A graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Jackleys work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and the Today Show. She brings a fresh perspective on the personal nature of giving and how new generation leaders can innovate through technology.

Kiva.org started in 2005 Kiva has lent and repaid over $84 million dollars in four years. Humans are fundamentally better than banks. Kiva is the first person-to-person web based internet lending service. Kiva.org will exceed $100 million dollars in loans by 2010. Over 200,000 people in 183 countries have received loans.

Early Days

Mom and dad were her greatest influence, convinced her she could do anything. Her brother was her partner in adventure. One of her heroines was Harriet the Spy part anthropologist, part explorer. Was in college when she attended her first Leadership Summit. Her and her father would do their own summits and decide on a theme for the year. She started to sense her call to combat injustice Learned two things that impacted her view of poverty 1 Jesus said the poor would always be with us. It scared her because she was always told people who are poor want something. 2 Jesus said what we do to the least of these we do for him. The fear was tempered by the idea that she could do something of significance with her life. The passion was vague and wasnt sure of her specific role. 5 years ago, she learned about microfinance. Microfinance is financial services for the poor. She learned the power of a small loan. She went to East Africa for 3 months to learn from entrepreneurs Many microfinance banks serve those who have no collateral to get a loan and dont have access to the same resources of the people aruund them. There are thousands of MFIs that are mission-driven, out there to alleviate poverty by not only giving people money but by empowering and training them. She got obsessed with the stories that came out of success. Its a privilege to hear the stories.

How Kiva.org Works

Lenders are everyday people with the internet and a credit card. They can give small loans to entrepreneurs. Profiles of entrepreneurs are posted by the lending services in the countries. Lenders lend $25 or more over time and 100% of the money goes to the entrepreneur who pays it back (in about 9 months). Average loan needed is about $500. Average lender gives about $100. Payment rate is 98.5% Credit goes to the entrepreneurs and the microfinance enterprises that train them and set them up for success. Every part of the process is viewed differently in different cultures. They see it as money with purpose, with love and encouragement from other people who know their story and who are cheering them on. When they know they are connected to the outside world it changes for them.

Examples of Life-Change

Theres parents who can send their daughters to school. Or have enough money for their kids to have uniforms. Many changes in health better nutrition, access to medicine. Better living conditions mud hut to a home made of concrete and iron. One family saved enough money for a lock for their door.

Women in East Africa were proud to have sugar to put in their tea to be better hostesses to their guests. All are beautiful to see.

Evolution of Kiva.org

In March of 2005 she found 7 friends in Ghana, took their pictures and recorded their stories and appealed to friends and family for help. Began with 7 entrepreneurs and $3,000. Launched in Oct 05 Do $5 million a month, over $85 million in less than four years.

Leadership Issues

Kiva has a flat, decentralized leadership structure. When you start as friends, you see everyones contribution as being important and valuable. If you can perpetuate the culture it creates ownership people see value in what they do. Mutual respect develops when you know where everyone is coming from. A culture of trust and extreme teamwork. There are bosses over 40 staff and 100s of volunteers there is structure and good management, but when youre trust-based you get a lot more done. A lot of time is focused on creating tools for a broader community to create amazing things to do even greater good. Their iPhone app was developed by volunteers. If you believe in co-creation you have to give up control of your brand and who you are. We have a mission we always come back to the what (to connect people) the how (through lending), the why (for poverty alleviation). Mission sounds simple, but they make decisions against it all the time its their guide. If a company comes with lots of money and no humans behind it, void of connection, they turn the money down it would take away from their mission. Common purpose is the best way to build .

On Innovation

Innovation and entrepenurship are life-giving ideas. Entrepreneurs create new life and new ideas. if theres anywhere innovaiton should be present, it should be in the Church. Thats where life and revitalization should be coming from. The chuch should be the safest place to come with the what if ideas.

On Giving

Sacrificial giving is different than other giving because of the change that happens in the giver you want the giving to have thought and intention behind it.

Great poets show, they dont tell. Its not effective to TELL people why they should give SHOW them, give them the opportunity and they will.

Fears

Theres more to lose the bigger you get. Dont allow fear to stop you from taking bold chances. Dont be less nible or dynamic. Try new things, pioneer.

To Young Leaders

Just taking the first step is a big deal. You can talk about wanting to do something or having an idea, everything changes when you begin. Dont be afraid to start small. Biggest way to make a big impact is to start small. Just start. Get going. Youll learn more in the first few days of trying and experimenting than you will in the year before talking about it.

To More Experienced Leaders

Co-creating and collaboration create the best outcomes. A dream team could be leaders with experience with inexperienced leaders. No preconceived ideas of problems or solutions. Be open to each other.

Final Word to Leaders

What will really change the world is a change in mindset. When we believe in the potential of each other, you dont have to convince people to take actions that will solve problems and make things better. Microfinance gives dignity and respect while creating connections between people, breaking the false dichotomies between rich and poor.