John Maxwell on Simplicity and Influence

• An educator takes something simple and makes it complicated.  A communicator takes something complicated and makes it simple.
• It’s not easy to be simple but it is effective.

3 Steps to Getting Simple

• 1. Simplistic — Shallow and Fast
  • i.e. “Leadership is position.” – The idea is simple but also shallow.
• 2. Complex — Deep and Slow
  • i.e.  In John’s first church board meeting as a pastor he discovered that leadership was more than position when one board member controlled the meeting.  This board member held all the influence.
• 3. Simple — Deep and Fast
  • i.e. “Leadership is influence.”

Ryan’s Reflection:  This process is a great fit for anyone working to articulate an idea.  Whether it be the main point for a sermon, the pitch for a new method, or a leadership development principle to share with the team, moving from simplistic to simple will make an idea both stronger and more memorable.

4 Ways to Earn Influence

• 1. Add value to people every day
• 2. Subtract your leadership land mines (aka weaknesses)
• 3. Multiply your strengths by developing them
• 4. Divide your weaknesses by delegation

Ryan’s Reflection:  Number 1 stands out to me as one to focus on the most.  For people who find themselves driven by their own tasks, taking time to invest in the work of others can feel like a real stretch.  To do so, we must prioritize the success of the organization over the success of ourselves.

Henry Cloud on Boundaries for Leaders

3 Boundaries Leaders Need

• 1. Necessary Endings:   When a leader gives up hope that something or someone unsuccessful is going to work.
  • Sometimes organizations need to have a funeral and let go of meaningful things from the past
• 2. Focused Attention:   Great leaders keep everyone focused on what is important, shut everything else out, and help them remember it.
  • Great leaders lead people in ways that their brains can actually follow them.
• 3. Relationships:   Stress levels in crisis situations drop tremendously when people are going through them with friends.
  • Leaders: Create structures where your team members get connections with you and others on their team to go through difficult situations together.

Ryan’s Reflection:  It seems to me that a leader working to create change should focus on these three boundaries in reverse order.  He or she should begin by building strong relationships with and between teammates.  Next, he or she should draw focused attention around a common vision.  Finally, with this sense of purpose, he or she can begin making strategic decisions for necessary endings of certain aspects of the organization that do not support the vision.

Which of these ideas most stands out to you?  What reflection would you write for yourself on these notes?

Coach K on Communication and Managing Egos

• Leaders create a culture of success in which every job is important.  Coach K never delegates, only empowers.
• The most important part of leadership is communication.
• Rule on the U.S. Olympic Team:  Always make eye contact when we’re talking with each other.
• In order to have trust on a team,  you must always tell the truth and expect the truth.
• Everyone said his first U.S. Olympic Team players were too egotistical to play together.  Coach K told them to bring their egos with them.  But to turn their personal egos into a collective team ego.
• Rules do not lead and they are not owned by the people who are given them.  Standards are owned by a team and allow team members to hold each other accountable.
• Coach K held a meeting with a team to develop standards.  He did not create the standards for them.  He asked them what standards they wanted to hold each other accountable to.  Team members created and enforced the standards for themselves.

Condoleezza Rice on Leading in Complexity and Finding Balance

• In the midst of complexity, ask, “What is the one thing I can do to change the direction of this conversation, negotiation, or situation?”
• To create energy and positivity during difficult situations, help people see times in the past when great things came out of difficult situations.
• The first thing a leader can do to make a difference: Be right with yourself. And be right with God.  Without that core of integrity, people will see through you.
• No matter your role, it is important to take breaks.  Condoleezza takes an intentional break on Sundays.
• If you don’t take care of yourself, you cannot take care of the people you lead.
• You must put balance and rest on your schedule.
• Condoleezza watched her grandmother find peace in any situation based on the idea of “God’s will be done.”
• On finding peace:  Leaders say, “Don’t just stand there, do something.”  Sometimes a leader has to say to self, “Don’t do something, just stand there.”

Which of these insights stands out to you most?  I’d love to hear your thoughts below!

Read notes from Andy Stanley’s session here.

• With growth and expansion comes complexity.  There is no way to avoid it.
• Organizational clarity is the most important thing.  Complexity is the enemy of clarity.
• On the high growth stage of North Point:  ”If I wasn’t carefully, I was going to succumb to the complexity and lose the clarity that had moved our organization forward.”
• Growth creates complexity which requires simplicity.
• Andy wrote 3 questions on a napkin over 10 years ago and continues to ask them today…

1. WHAT ARE WE DOING?

• There is extreme clarity when you can boil down someone’s role down to one thing.
• Even the bellman of the Ritz-Carlton have a clear vision statement:   We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.
• Steve Jobs created clarity upon reentering a complex Apple organization:  We are going to build easy-to-use computers.
• Without clear articulation of what you are doing,  the mist in your mind will eventually become a fog in your organization.

2. WHY ARE WE DOING IT?

• It is important to clarify your organization’s source of inspiration and passion.
• What would your community, country, or world look like if you didn’t exist?
• If you are not sure, work to find out what drove the founders to begin your organization.
• If you do not have this answered, the work of everyone in your organization will simply become a job.

3. WHERE DO I FIT IN?

• What is it that only you can do?  Find your critical role, unique contribution, or core responsibility.
• Create one sentence job descriptions to provide focus for yourself and everyone around you.
• Andy’s one-sentence job description for himself:   To inspire our staff and congregations to be fully engaged in our mission and strategy.
• Andy’s assistant’s one sentence job description:   To keep Andy’s path clear of nonessential tasks and decisions so that he can do what only he can do.

Whether you were there or you’re just reading along, I’d love to hear what stuck with you!  Which of these or other points most impacted your leadership?

The offices of most church leaders are lined with bookshelves, reflective of the idea that leaders are readers. We love discovering new ideas and dreaming of what they could do for our churches. I am concerned, however, that the majority of those ideas never leave the written page to be implemented within our organizations.

I have met many successful leaders who were well-read. I have also met many struggling leaders who were equally well-read. There is no simple correlation between readership and successful leadership.

Leaders are readers. But readers are not leaders. And reading valuable ideas without applying them for change is only entertainment, not development.

If you have been dissatisfied by your church’s progress for more than three years, the solution you need is probably not in the next book. You can look there. And you will probably get excited about a few new concepts. You might even buy a copy for everyone on your staff. But the progress of a church is an issue of leadership, not readership. One more book will not improve the first.

We actually communicate a similar concept to our church members. We tell them, “You need to do more than just come and listen. You need to apply these principles to the details of your life.” The same is true of the information we read in leadership books. Rather than simply read great ideas, we must strategically apply and implement them throughout the organizations we lead. Instead of closing one book just to open another, we should pause to develop plans that turn ideas into actions.

I suggest a 90-day test with anything we read. 90 days from the completion of a book, we should be able to easily answer the following question: How is my church, leadership, or personal life different because of the book I just read? Try me on this. Put the question on your calendar the next time you finish a book. Set a reminder in your phone to put it back in front of you. In 90 days, you’ll find your answer either convicting or rewarding. And eventually you’ll find your reading truly impacting your leading.

Here are some questions to help turn the ideas you read into the actions you lead:
What did I read that was new to me?
What does my church need the most right now?
What would need to change to turn these ideas into a reality?
Who would be affected?
Who needs to be involved in this?
When can we start this?
What first step can I take in the next 14 days?

RYAN: Stuck in a Funk has been in the works for a couple of years. What inspired you to write it?

TONY: Well, not to over-spiritualize it, but I really do believe God called me to this mission. From the very beginning of my walk with Christ, I was captivated by the story of the early church…particularly in the Book of Acts. God put something in me to help the local church fulfill its mission. I want the Church to have impact in people’s lives. People need Jesus. It’s what drives me to help churches get unstuck. This book is an outgrowth of that passion and personal mission.

RYAN: You suggest that one reason church plants are effective is because they have a simple structure. I imagine that many leaders of established churches would like to find a magic reset button. How can those leaders begin reducing complexity to get simple again?

TONY: I think you need to begin with the end in mind. Working through a process to clarify mission, vision, values and the church’s core discipleship strategy needs to be a priority. After that’s in place, the church is in a much better position to begin focusing on what’s most important now. That focus will force the church to consider everything it’s doing and how it is stewarding it’s resources–people, leadership, time, space, money, etc. Churches shouldn’t just start cutting programs. That’s a recipe for disaster.

RYAN: You encourage pastors to reach the next generation by giving greater opportunities to younger leaders. To reverse that, how can next generation leaders earn the respect of their older pastors?

TONY: If you want to earn respect, I think you first have to give respect. Young leaders need to acknowledge that though they have wisdom and perspective that may be unique, they don’t have experience. I’ll be honest — I had more answers when I was 25. Now that I have another 20 years of leadership experience under my belt, I learned that I know a lot less than I thought I did. I have a new sense of respect for those who have gone before me that I didn’t have when I was younger. Beyond that, young leaders also need to work hard and stay faithful. That includes staying faithful to your family/spouse, to Jesus, and to the mission God has called you to. In the end, character makes or breaks a leader’s influence and impact.

RYAN: The last part of Stuck In A Funk stresses the need for churches to prioritize messages and stop promoting everything at the same level. Which types of messages deserve the most attention?

TONY: Again, I’ll go back to my response regarding simple structure. You need to begin with clarity of purpose and vision. That will shape your communications priorities. With that, you need to acknowledge the fact that “fairness” will never lead to healthy communications. If you treat every message with the same weight, it will just create noise and cause confusion. We need to be more intentional about what gets communicated when and how. Part of that means we’re going to have to eliminate the competing messages from the various ministries, programs and events in our churches. We need to become one church with one message — helping people take their next steps toward Christ.

—–

Tony is the Chief Strategic Officer and founder of TonyMorganLive.com. He’s a consultant, leadership coach and writer who helps churches get unstuck and have a bigger impact.  Learn more about Tony and his work here.  You can also pick up a copy of Stuck In A Funk?.

[A big thank you to Bethany Dukes for providing the notes to Perry Noble's session!]

PERRY NOBLE || 1 SAMUEL 3

• After conferences, we go back to our churches with messy, tough systems.
• Kids just care that someone shows up for them.  They aren’t concerned with all the details that we may be frustrated by.
• Eli was messed up.  God uses messed up people. (3:1)
• God spoke to Samuel.  God wants to speak to children. (3:3)
• The voice of God must have sounded a lot like the voice of Eli to Samuel.  What if God wants to speak to a child through you this Sunday? (3:4)
• Samuel always went to Eli.  We should be just as available to children. (3:8)
• Eli did not become the voice of God but rather taught Samuel to hear Him on his own. (3:8)

BRAD LOMENICK || THE CATALYST LEADER

• Collaboration is now the norm, not the exception
• Brad’s hope is that the church would become known as the most collaborative industry in the nation.
• Collaboration requires us to focus on what we are collectively for rather than what we are individually against.
• You can snag a copy of Brad’s book, The Catalyst Leader, here.

DOUG FIELDS || WHY STUDENT MINISTRY MATTERS

• It’s one of the best bridges to the unchurched community.  Parents of teenagers are looking for resources to help them address new issues.
• It establishes a quality of adult leaders that is integral to the church.  It raises the bar for volunteering.
• It puts pressure on the rest of the church to stay culturally relevant as it works to engage teenagers.
• It develops the future leaders and talent the church will need.   Don’t treat students as the future.  Treat them as the present and empower them to serve.
• Check out Doug’s new book with Jonathan McKee, Should I Just Smash My Kid’s Phone?, here.

SHERRY SURRATT || JUST LEAD!

• Churches don’t need another program, they need a better strategy.
  
• Women: Take responsibility for your own leadership development.  Do not assume that someone else is going to.
• Men: You have incredible women leaders in your church. Utilize them.
• Women are more likely to wait to lead until they are asked.
• You can grab a copy of Sherry’s book with Jeni Catron, Just Lead!, here.

HEATHER ZEMPEL || COMMUNITY IS MESSY

• God made a perfect world.  It took us about two chapters in Genesis to mess it up.
  
• Small groups are great until the people show up and we realize that community is messy because lives are messy.
• Small groups must move from a program to a true representation of the body of Christ.  In order for that to happen, we must embrace the mess.
• You can get ahold of Heather’s book, Community is Messy, here.

CHARLES JENKINS || 5 CONCEPTS FOR GAME CHANGERS

Charles became the pastor of Fellowship Chicago in 2000 when he was just 24 years old.  At that time, 75% of the church was 75 or older.  Since then, it has quadrupled in size.

1. Understand the engine of change.
It is driven by a need, gap, or challenge.

2. Be a student of culture.
Leaders study and understand their consumer and competition.

3. Toleration vs Elimination.
Consider what you need to kill before it kills your ministry.

4. Teachers are better than dictators.
Change has to be taught when it is not being caught.

5. Redefine success.
Your programs and metrics must change as your strategy changes.

ANDY STANLEY || 7 GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNICATING SCRIPTURE

1. Choose one passage of Scripture and stay there
Bring energy to the text.

2. Give people permission not to believe or obey the Scriptures
When you give non-Christians an out, they respond by leaning in.

3. Teach in a manner that emphasizes the identity of Jesus over the authority of Scripture
The basis of the early church was that Jesus rose from the dead.

4. Don’t refer the the Bible as a book
It is a collection of ancient documents that span a long period of time.

5. Cite authors, not “the Bible”
Tell the stories behind the authors.

6. Acknowledge the odd as odd
There are some weird things in the Bible.

7. Don’t create the impression that one must choose between faith and science
Understanding how something works does not negate one’s belief in its creator.

This content and much more is included in Andy’s latest book, Deep & Wide. If you truly desire to reach unchurched individuals and have not read it, I think it ought to be at the top of your list!

DOUG FIELDS || FINDING THE OPTIMAL PACE TO SUSTAIN A HEALTHY MINISTRY

• In ministry, we are often trying to teach people to live at a slower pace but we are not slowing down ourselves.
• We have a bias toward hurry. Busy people are viewed with prestige. Rushed people carry themselves with a sense of value.
• Busyness is a sign of brokenness.
• Some of us are so over-connected with others that we are under-connected with Jesus.
• Jesus stopped for others. Jesus’ sense of timing confused others.
• “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is not use a disordered schedule, it’s a disordered heart.” – John Ortberg
• Efficiency is not the answer to a disordered heart.
• Why do you say “yes” so much?
• The answer to a busy life is not just “reading the Bible more.” That is trying to solve the problem of doing too much by just giving yourself more to do. It takes more than that.

TOM SHEFCHUNAS || CREATING A LEAD SMALL CULTURE IN YOUR CHURCH

• Culture is the belief and behavior that characterize a group of people.
  
• You can assess another organization’s culture better than you can assess your own.
• You don’t see when culture is changing in the present, you just realize later that it did.
• If small groups are not the answer for your church, then what is? If you have many answers to that question, you do not have a clear answer.
• In discipleship, create steps, not programs. Programs tend to be random and misaligned. Steps are aligned and strategic.
• The quality of your team is based on the quality of the small group leaders you recruit and the culture you create for their development.
• In Transit, North Point’s middle school ministry, the only consistent person in the room is the small group leader. They are the heroes every week.
• Transit does not complete their messages. They leave the personal application component to take place in the small group.
• Just because you “tried small groups” and they “already failed” does not mean that you actually built your structure around them for success. If you are going to do groups, you have to take something away and place greater focus on groups.

JOHN ACUFF, TRIPP & TYLER || GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT HAVING FUN

• John explained to everyone the concept of a Jesus Juke.
• If you don’t laugh at yourself, someone else will take the opportunity.
• Laughter is a vehicle for truth.
• There is a difference between creating a fun environment and knowing how to be joyful people.
• Anything you do awake for more than 40 hours a week should be more than a job.
• John’s new book, Start, encourages readers to get off the path from average and onto the path to awesome.

See Preconference and Session 1 Notes HERE

CAREY NIEUWHOF || CREATING AN APPETITE FOR CHANGE IN YOUR CHURCH

• People crave what they already like.
  
• Leaders have a greater appetite for change than those who follow.
• Unimplemented change eventually becomes relief or regret.  Leaders at least want to know that they tried.
• Incremental change ushers in incremental results.  Do not make a few small changes and feel like you should see drastically different results.
• Plot the trajectory of where your current state is leading you and where you could be if you do change.
• Create discontent out of the urgency of your mission.
• Focus twice as much on WHY you do what you do than HOW you do it.  Why unites.  How divides.
• Don’t look for consensus.  Consensus kills courage.  Change never happens when everyone has a say.
• Reserve decisions exclusively for the body that must make decisions.
• To lead change effectively introduces drama into the church that is necessary to bring the change about.  Embrace the drama.
• People will want to know when the change process will be over.  The right answer is never.
• You can read more of Carey’s thoughts on change in his book, Leading Change Without Losing It, and on careynieuwhof.com

BRIAN WHITE || LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP FROM DISNEY

• Disney thinks Orange –  The big idea: Parents and children having fun together.
• Honor the past without living in it.  Disney still honors bold moves from throughout its history.
• A brand is like a bank account.  Everything you do either adds value or takes it away from that back account.  Every decision you make affects the brand.
• Cheap and safe may be less risky but it decreases brand value.
• 2 types of people Disney does not try to please: Demanding fans (people who love the brand but have a limited view of it) & Haters (people who do not share its values and hates what you do).  Do not worry about the opinions of these two types of people in your church.
• If you have a bad ideation process, you will never create innovative products.
• Concentrate on psychographics, not demographics.  Psychographics include the needs, wants, stereotypes, and emotions of potential customers.
• Brian shared an awesome project management tool used by Disney called the Scrum.

JEFF BRODIE || KEYS TO AN EFFECTIVE ORANGE STRATEGY

• Align your team around families first and strategy second.
  
• The fastest way to get people working together is to put multiple departments’ budgets together.
• Move from Vision to Strategy to Clear Steps.  Clear steps give parents confidence to act.
• Always communicate information in the context of your strategy.  70% of communication should be vision and strategy.
• Illustrate the strategy in stories. (i.e. baptisms)
• Decide what you want families to do first THEN choose the right tools (curriculums, resources, etc.).
• The quality of the small group leaders in your Children’s and Student Ministries dictates your ability to influence families.
• Samuel, Jesse, and David: Samuel stood in the gap between father and son and saw the king that the father did not see.  That is the role family ministry leaders must take.
• You can read more of Jeff’s thoughts at jeffbrodie.com

JEANNE STEVENS || THE LOST ART OF SELF-LEADERSHIP

• Know thy God, know thy self, and know the story He is writing through you.
• Are you staying focused on your holy discontent?
• Clearly identify, articulate, and embrace your personal values.
• Do you actually know how to rest?
• Remember the specific gifts, passions, and personality that God has given you and stay within them while you lead.
• Make friends who do not come to your church.  You need the relational safety that comes with it.
• What are the scripts (lies) you tend to listen to about yourself?
• What are the things you tend to hold up rather than submitting to God?
• Who do you still need to forgive?

REGGIE JOINER || MAIN SESSON ONE

• The amount of time we have before a small child becomes an adult is shorter than it seems.
• (1) When you see how much time you have left, you tend to get serious about the time you have now. (Ps. 90:12)
  
• (2) When you see how much time you have left, you tend to value what happens over time.
• …You tend to make what matters matter more.
• …You start to see every week building on top of each other to make a greater impact.
• Create a sense of belonging that no matter how far a kid runs from God, he or she knows that he can always come back.
• Everyone needs someone in their life who knows what they’ve done wrong and still shows up when they need them.
• (3) When you see how much time you have left, you tend to be more present for a few [as opposed to everyone].
• You can learn more about Reggie and Orange at whatisorange.org

Brian Hunter (Mountain Lake Church & ChurchPlanters.com)

• Be a quitter.
• Many of us go into ministry trying to heal other people when we are really in need of healing ourselves.
• God could care less about your ministry. He just wants your heart.
• Too often, we try to substitute the Gospel with the work of ministry.
• Some of us need to quit something or else we will not be able to keep going.
• The Jesus who called you to ministry is the same Jesus who loves you now.  He will protect you as you let go of the things that you need to.
• If your fear outweighs your obedience, you do not trust God.
• Feeling like you cannot quit anything stems from the feeling that you have to be important.
• “Above all else, guard your heart” (Prov. 4:23).  Stop guarding your reputation and start guarding your heart.
• We tend to imagine that everything will become perfect once we become successful.  That perception is not real.

Kevin Lloyd (Stevens Creek Church)

• There is great value in learning to lead from the second chair.
• Kevin’s 6th grade band director:  ”You may not be playing the main part.  But if your note is off, it will be the only note that anyone hears.”
• God did not put you in the second chair just to prepare you to be a point leader later.  He will use you just as much from the second chair if you allow Him to.
• One of the greatest struggles of our generation is a sense of entitlement.
• When pride and entitlement creep into your heart, your department in the organization becomes YOUR department.  Say “ours”, not “mine.”
• Because second chair leaders do not have the burden of the entire organization, they often expect change faster than the point leader is able to make.
• Sometimes are combative under the banner of “passion”.
• Any time you walk away from a conversation with your leader and you feel like you “won”, you lost.  You are pursuing change with the wrong motives.
• Spiritual maturity is not about being right.  It involves executing things that we would do differently.
• Talent may give you a voice but consistency and faithfulness will earn you a platform.
• Some of us need to go to our lead pastors to ask for forgiveness and give them our full support.

Shawn Lovejoy (Mountain Lake Church & ChurchPlanters.com)

• Most pastors quit because they are running from something, not to something.
• The one question we all have to answer: “Why do I do this?”
• It is easy to disguise our personal dreams as God’s dreams.  Asking “Why?” exposes our motives.
• Remembering why you do what you do protects you from becoming a people pleaser.
• “Above all else, guard you heart.  It is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23).  Everything we do that is truly life-giving begins with a healthy heart.
• When you do not guard your heart, you lose your passion.
• Jesus did not preach from new Scripture.  He spoke with new passion. (Matt. 7:29)
• Answering, “Why do I do this?” reignites our passion.
• Do you remember when you had a passion for ministry?  When you were excited to share the gospel with any individual?
• When did you first forget why you do what you do?  When did you start focusing on the number of empty chairs rather than sharing the Gospel with each individual?
• If you lost passion, your church already sees that it is gone.  Why not go ahead and repent and take your church back?
• Ultimately, the answer to “Why?” is Jesus.  He is the ultimate source of our passion.

Which of these most caught your attention?  If you were at Hydrate, what else stood out to you?

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Jonathan Martin (Renovatus)

• We may know what we are against but we do not have a sense of what we are for.  Thus, we are unified by the things we are against.
• There are two kinds of people: accusers and advocates.  In Scripture, Satan is our accuser while Jesus is our advocate.
• Many people are unsure as to whether they have advocates or accusers in the body of Christ.
• The gospel takes an accusatory crowd and leaves it walking away one by one (John 7:53 – 8:11, Matt 26).
• At times, we will have to take a stand on issues but the spirit of our stance is very important.
• For some reason, we feel like we need to take a stand for Jesus.  But Jesus is not in trouble.  Jesus is not looking for you to take a stand for Him but to take a stand with Him.
• You may say something truthful in the name of Jesus.  But if you do it in the spirit of the world, you become just another angry voice.
• The Pharisees quoted Scripture.  It is dangerous to be armed with Scripture but miss the heart of God.
• Genuinely showing the love of Jesus is both un-condemning and un-condoning.
• The best way to lead an accusatory congregation is to keep going back to the example of Jesus.

Bill Isaacs (Church of God, Ohio & ForwardLeadership.org)

4 Ways to Live a Life That Honors God

1. Identify Your Weaknesses

• You are most vulnerable on the backside of your greatest moments.

2. Protect Your Influences

• You need the right people to speak into your life.
• Make sure your coach is connected to you skills and gift set.
• If you live the life God desires, God will bring the people you need at the right times.

3. Embrace Humility

• Humble people do not want to be elevated.
• Every once in a while, ask, “How did I get here?” – You did not earn this spot in history. God gave it to you.
• Value relationships more than you value positions.

4. Commit To Finishing Strong

• It is about how you win, not how you begin.
• Stephen Covey encourages us to “begin with the end in mind.”
• Set up your life now to get to the right end.

Which points most resonate with you?  If you are here at Hydrate, what other great points jumped out in these session?

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