It begins?
I've served in various leadership roles on and off for a lot of years. More on than off. I've served in church vocational leadership for over 12 years. Prior to that I led in the corporate world for many years. I'm now the Executive Pastor (XP) at New Hope Christian Church. You'd think I'd have it all figured out by now.
I'm giggling as I write that. Seriously. Laughing out loud.
One of my favorite quotes said often by our Senior Pastor, Scott Greer, is this. "The larger the island of knowledge, the greater the shoreline of wonder." The more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know. The more I know about leadership, the more I realize I have to learn about leadership.
I like this quote too. "Leaders are learners and learners are leaders." I can't cite an author. Various forms of that quote have been around for years. Like this one from President John F. Kennedy, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
Here's another quote. "Everything rises and falls on leadership." There's a story behind the circumstances where I heard that quote a lot. A story for another day.
Regarding leadership, there are three things I know.
1. While it can be hard to define what constitutes a good leader, I know a good leader when I see one. Without a doubt. It's always so obvious to me.
2. While some leaders are natural leaders and might even have the gift of leadership, all leaders can work to improve their leadership skills.
3. I know I'm not a natural leader; I know I have a lot to learn about leadership. It follows that I need to grow as a leader.
Even though the picture I chose for this blog post has a coffee mug with the word "Begin" on it, I'm not beginning my leadership journey, I'm continuing it. It probably started back in middle school when I was chosen to lead some school club (probably because no one else wanted to do it). What I'm beginning is writing about my leadership journey. I think writing about it will help me grow and help me process. And maybe help someone else on their leadership journey as well.
So begins the documentation of my journey in leadership.
Training/Growth/Learning.
One of the things I'll write about is any leadership training I receive. Books about leadership that I read. Lessons about leadership I learn that cause me to grow in this area. Hopefully by writing about them, someone who is reading this can also learn and then we have both benefited.
I've recently completed an online self-paced study by John Maxwell call The 15 Laws of Growth. John is an internationally known author, speaker, leader. He writes and speaks on leadership. He coaches leaders. He's known as an expert in leadership.
When I thought about the next phase in my leadership development, it was natural that I would go to a John Maxwell study. Coincidentally, access to this online course showed up in my email. But then, I don't believe in coincidences. I decided to take advantage of it. I enjoyed it and found it beneficial. I'll spend the next few weeks writing about what I learned. And what I am learning. And how I'm applying what I learn.
While the study was technically on the subject of "growth," it was really about leadership. Hopefully you'll see the connection soon enough. In fact, I'd recommend that if you're interested you go directly to the source.
In this first blog post on leadership, I'll talk about what I learned in the course regarding the first of The 15 Laws of Growth, The Law of Intentionality. Let's grow together.
The Law of Intentionality
Some summary statements of the session I watched on this first Law of Growth, The Law of Intentionality:
Growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow is going to get better. (Note: I've heard it said that if you're not progressing, you're regressing. Personal growth is important.)
A question - what am I doing to develop myself? Intentionally. (Note: I think we should all ask that question.) I cannot give what I do not have.
Quote - "The secret to any success that I have is personal growth in my life." John Maxwell (Note: John is very successful. His books have sold millions of copies.)
A question - what am I doing to develop others? (Note: I think a key attribute of a good leader is that person's ability to and success at developing others.)
"You cannot develop your people unless you're intentional. Do you have a plan for personal growth in your life?" Curt Kampmeier (Note: As a leader, I have a goal to develop those that I lead. I have a desire to develop those that I lead.)
If you're going to grow, you have to be intentional. It's not automatic. I need an intentional growth plan.
My Intentional Growth Plan
As part of the first session of this course, the personal application assignment was to develop an intentional growth plan. The course gave a framework to help get me started. Do you want to grow also? Try this.
Here's my intentional growth plan.
Make a commitment to intentionally grow. (OK, check. I hereby make this commitment. David Smith. Signed May 27, 2020.)
Make that commitment public. (OK, check. I'm blogging about it. It's out there in cyberspace. It's public.)
Identify the areas you want to grow personally. At least two, no more than five. Choose and area of choice and and area of skill at minimum. (I'll list those below.)
Invest one hour a day in those areas. In that hour, include such activities as preparation, practice and reflection. (OK, check. I'll intentionally schedule that time into my calendar.)
Invest one hour a week on reflection and writing about what I'm learning. (OK, one of my areas of growth is leadership. My plan is to write once week and share what I'm learning about leadership. I might blog about some of the other areas as well, or I might just write personally. That remains to be seen.)
Share your growth with someone. (OK, that should be accomplished through the blog.)
And that's the plan. Now, time to implement it.
Here are my chosen areas of growth.
Leadership.
The Role of Executive Pastor (XP).
Apologetics.
Spiritual Disciplines
Discipleship
Ok...here I go...
If you're reading this, pray for me. Traditionally I'm good at starting stuff but not finishing it.
The journey continues...one step at a time.
Note: Blog entries in this specific category are about my journey in leadership. Writing about my journey in leadership helps me to grow as a leader. Maybe it will help someone else on their leadership journey as well.
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