Being a “Shepherding” Type Leader

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Understanding leadership as a “shepherding” function is critical to effective leadership in a way that truly cares for the peole being led and honors God.

Following is a verse that has impacted me greatly and I invite you to consider it today.

” . . . shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” 1 Peter 5:2-3

Remember – those you lead are precious in God’s sight – are they precious in your sight?

Have a great weekend!

BG  Read more at bgallen.com

 

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7 Questions To Ask Your Leadership Team

Taken from a blog post by Perry Noble.

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Some good questions that should spark a great discussion in your team and keep you headed in the right direction.  These are from a blog post by Perry Noble – click here to read his post.

#1 – What is the next step we need to take in order to stay in step with the vision the Lord has given us?

#2 – What is the ONE THING that we want to happen and need to happen…but it would take a move of God for it to happen?

#3 – Is there any unresolved conflict in this room?

#4 – Is there anything that we need to stop doing?

#5 – Are there any obvious problems that we are trying to deny that simply need to be dealt with?

#6 – Do we know the vision and values of our church and can we recite them from memory?

Some good questions.  Also Perry Noble’s site is a great one to read in regards to Biblical leadership.

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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10 Common Time Management Mistakes – Avo

Good reminder from MindTools.com

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Time management – actually I prefer the term “stewardship” as our time is a precious resource that we should approach with a stewardship attitude.

MindTools.com is a great resource for a wide range of leadership and management tools.

They have a good article on time-management (stewardship) that I would recommend to you.  Following are the highlights:

Mistake #1. Failing to Keep a To-Do List

Mistake #2. Not Setting Personal Goals

Mistake #3. Not Prioritizing

Mistake #4. Failing to Manage Distractions

Mistake #5. Procrastination

Mistake #6. Taking on too Much

Mistake #7. Thriving on “Busy”

Mistake #8. Multitasking

Mistake #9. Not Taking Breaks

Mistake #10. Ineffectively Scheduling Tasks

Hope you have a fruitful day today!

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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Cherry Splits & Problem Solving

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Creative people fascinate me. I enjoy great art, music, and watching artists of all types create something beautiful.  I wish I could paint, but I don’t think coloring by numbers counts.  I also took piano lessons for ten years, but I sound more like I just took two!  When I listen to my youngest daughter play, I realize that she got her mother’s genes in that area.

Realizing that creativity is something I need to “learn”, I have been reading on how to grow in that area.  A fascinating book on how to approach challenges creatively is Thinkertoys.  A great book listing both Linear and Intuitive tools to use to approach problem solving creatively.  It has already been helpful to me and I am not even finished with the book.

One tool is the Cherry Split.  The approach is to simply state the essence of your problem in two words.  Then you split the challenge into two units using those two words.  In other words, your challenge could be “Cherry Picking”.  Then one unit would be Cherry and the other Picking.  Don’t worry about the correctness of the split, this is simply a way to focus your thinking.

Then you continue “splitting” the attributes until you feel you have enough to work with.  Then you begin examining each attribute for ideas.  You will often find big ideas hiding in insignificant attributes.

Also, try reassembling the attributes into new combinations which can result in new and powerful concepts.

This process will result in provoking you to search out new ways of doing things and can provide powerful solutions to your challenge.

Check out this book – it contains 17 linear and 12 intuitive problem-solving tools.

Great book to add to your toolbox.

Grace & peace to you,

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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He is Risen

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It’s Friday, but Sunday is Coming!

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Some Questions About Your Leadership

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Looking forward to a great day today.  Being a Southern boy living in southwest Michigan, I am more than ready for some warm weather.

Question for you – what is your leadership philosophy?  Do you have it written down?  Can you give a three minute “elevator” speech that adequately describes your philosophy?

Following are some questions from Kouzes and Posner that might help you:

1. What are your top three defining values?

2. As a leader, how would you like to be remembered?

3. Imagine it is 5 or 10 years from now – what leadership legacy have you created?

4. How do you currently describe your leadership philosophy?

5. How would your day-to-day work change if everyone in your department knew exactly how to define your leadership philosophy?

Take some time one day to actually sit down and define your philosophy.  The clarity it brings will be a blessing to you as well as those you lead.

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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What Is Keeping You From Growing?

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As Christians, we should be on a journey of growth – of sanctification.  Continuing to become more conformed to the image of Christ.

As leaders, we should also be on a path of continual learning and growth in regards to our role as a leader.  But sometimes we aren’t.  Sometimes we seem to be stuck.

So what are the barriers we may be encountering to our growth? James Kouzes & Barry Posner suggest the following three areas that might be a barrier to our growth:

Pride – this is the granddaddy of most of our problems – spiritually, professionally, relationally and so on. They make the statement that you can’t be proud and teachable at the same time which is so true.  In our ministry, we have found pride to be the number one issue in most people’s lives that hinder their relationship with God, their relationships with others and hinders their growth.

Success – it has been said that success is a greater test of a man’s character than adversity.  Sometimes we rest on our success and feel like we have it all figured out.  This is deadly in regards to your continued growth.  In fact a book has been written about this called What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There.

Lack of Time – to grow, you need to invest time in learning. You need to be intentional.  I would actually title this one Priorities as we tend to make time for what is important to us.  The problem many of us actually deal with is incorrect priorities.

So – what are you doing about growing in all areas of your life?  Do you have a plan?  If not, check out this post by Michael Hyatt for a great tool to help in this area.

Hope you have a great week as we prepare to remember what Christ did for all of us on the Cross and to celebrate the victory of His Resurrection.

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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THE REASON We Lead and We Serve

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Why are you in ministry?  Why do you make the sacrifices that are required of a leader?  Let’s remember THE REASON we serve – to glorify our LORD, revive the Church and to see others across the world come to know Him as Lord and Savior.

This week is culminating in the celebration of the greatest day in history – Resurrection Day.  Take time to center yourself on the incredible sacrifice of Good Friday and the unfathomable good news of the Empty Tomb.

Following is an interesting video on the Good News of Jesus Christ.

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Seth Godin on Leadership

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Questions about Innovation

Are You Developing An Innovative Culture? Some Questions To Ask Yourself

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Innovation – a popular word right now and rightly so.  Innovation is critical, we know that, yet why do we seem to have such a hard time with doing it?  In fact, while we desire our team to be innovative, we may be the actual hindrance to them becoming so.

Following are some questions to ask yourself:

Does your team know that it is alright to use innovative means to do their work?  Is it not only alright, but encouraged?

Do your statements, questions, non-verbal signals all send the message that you approve of innovative behavior?  Or not?

Has your team been prepared (trained) to seek out and identify ways to improve their systems and processes?

What was the last innovation implemented by your team?  How long ago?

How could your team’s innovations impact your organization?

Do you celebrate innovation?  How so?

How do you handle mistakes made by your team?  Are they to be avoided at all costs or are they seen as a normal part of the innovative process?

Do you make it safe to innovate?

As the leader, you set the tone or culture.  Are you really developing a culture of innovation in your area?

We serve the Creator and we should celebrate His creativity and encourage it within ourselves and thos around us for His glory!

Hope you have a great weekend!

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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Capture Your Ideas Before They “Fly” Awa

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Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Look sharply after your thoughts. They come unlooked for, like a new bird seen in your trees, and, if you turn to your usual task, disappear.”

How many great ideas have you lost because you did not capture them? What could have been if you had captured that thought?

Develop a system for capturing your thoughts as you have them.  There are some great software systems for organizing your thoughts such as OneNote and EverNote.  Personally, I like to use a Moleskine notebook.  They are great to take notes, the small one is easy to keep with me and there is something freeing and creative about putting pen to paper.

Whatever system you do, develop the discipline of capturing your ideas before they “fly away”.

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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Some Questions to Ask Your Team

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In the Way of the Shepherd, the first principle is Know the Condition of Your Flock.  Following are the sub-points mentioned in the book:

1. Follow the status of your people as well as the status of the work.

2. Get to know your flock, one sheep at a time.

3. Engage your people on a regular basis.

4. Keep your eyes and ears open, question, and follow through.

Additionally the book A Coach’s Guide to Developing Exemplary Leaders has some good questions to use to get to know your people better:

What is most important to you in your professional life? Why?

What are your long-term interests?  What are your aspirations in regards to your career?

What are your dreams for the future?  What is keeping you from realizing those dreams?

When looking at the key milestones in your life, what was it that kept propelling you forward?

If you were looking back at today from ten years into the future, what would you remember?

At your funeral, what do you hope people will say about you?

These are just a few questions to get you started.  The key point is to be intentional about really getting to know your people on an individual basis.  A lot of work, but well worth it!

Hope you have great week getting to know your team better!

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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Living Your Principles – A Daily Review

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Do you actually live by your stated principles?  Have you taken the time to think and pray about and then articulate your actual principles that you live by?  If not, it would be a great exercise.

In the book A Coach’s Guide to Developing Exemplary Leaders, the authors recommend a simple daily checkup to see how you are doing in living by your principles.  At the end of the day, ask yourself these three questions:

1. How did I demonstrate today that I am committed to the principles I espouse?

2. How did I act in ways that are inconsistent with the principles I espouse?

3. What can I do tomorrow to make sure that I am consistent in word and deed?

A simple but powerful checkup.

Hope you have a great weekend!

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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Leading By Example – Some Questions

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Leading by example – I am sure you have heard that and probably often said it.  The question for all of us – are we actually living it?  Or do we sometimes feel that because of our position we somehow are exempt from the “rules”.

Another question – do we really know what our values are and do we actually live by them?

In their book, A Coach’s Guide To Developing Exemplary Leaders, Kouzes and Posner have some diagnostic questions that help you to evaluate if you are setting the right personal example for those you lead.

1. What do you think it means to “set a personal example”?

2. What are your top three defining values?

3. Imagine that you are setting the perfect personal example; what would it look like?

4. How will you know what the expectations are?

5. What do you wish leaders you’ve worked for in the past had done more? Less?

6. Who can you relate to that is a good example of setting a personal example?

7. Where do you think there might be a disconnect between what you say and what you do?

8. Why should someone follow you?

9. If your team could select its leader, would they choose you? Why do you think that?

Some great questions – might be a good exercise to take some time and answer  over the next few days.

Blessings!

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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Analyze Failure – Before You Even Begin

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Sounds kind of strange doesn’t it?  Analyzing failure – even before you begin a project?

Guy Kawasaki, in his book Enchantment, talks about the benefits of doing a premortem.  Now most of us know about a postmortem.  In medicine it is an examination to try to determine the cause of death.  In project work, it is the process whereby we try to determine why a project failed.

The premortem is quite different – it is the attempt to prevent the death of a project rather than explaining it.

Here is how it works:  Assemble your team before the start of the project or in its very early stages.  Ask your team members to assume the project has failed and to determine the possible reasons for the failure of the project.  Once the team lists all the possible causes of failure of the project, they then begin figuring out how to prevent these causes of failure from occurring.  The idea is to prevent the problems in order to increase the chances of success.

He lists the five benefits of a premortem:

1. Identification of problems in advance rather than after they occur.

2. Reduction of the likelihood of premature embarkation.

3. More creative and organized approaches to the challenges the teams will face.

4. Heightened sensitivity to early warning signs, since the team has already considered them.

5. Participation by more team members because of the less political environment.

Sounds like a very creative and nonthreatening way to prepare for a project.

Hope your week is going well!

Finally starting to sort of look like Spring here in Southwest Michigan!

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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Seven Principles for Leading People

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I am republishing this post from January 2010 because this little book has had a profound impact on many lives.  I am an adjunct professor of management in an MBA program and have made this book a mandatory supplemental text for my management classes.  This little book has had more real impact on lives than anything else I have taught in my classes.

This one is worth getting and reading!!

We have been using a great little book in our leadership training that I highly recommend. It is The Way of the Shepherd, 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People by Kevin Leman and William Pentak.

Following are the highlights of the book:

1. Know the Condition of Your Flock a. Follow the status of your people as well as the status of the work. b. Get to know your flock, one sheep at a time. c. Engage your people on a regular basis. d. Keep your eyes and ears open, question, and follow through.

2. Discover the Shape of Your Sheep a. Your choice of sheep can make flock management easier or harder. b. Start with healthy sheep, or you’ll inherit someone else’s problems. c. Know the SHAPE of your sheep to make sure they’re in the right fold.

3. Help Your Sheep Identify with You a. Build trust with your followers by modeling authenticity, integrity, and compassion. b. Set high standards of performance. c. Relentlessly communicate your values and sense of mission. d. Define the cause for your people and tell them where they fit in. e. Remember that great leadership isn’t just professional; it’s personal.

4. Make Your Pasture a Safe Place a. Keep your people well informed. b. Infuse every position with importance. c. Cull chronic instigators from the flock. d. Regularly rotate the sheep to fresh pastures. e. Reassure the sheep by staying visible. f. Don’t give problems time to fester.

5. The Staff of Direction a. Know where you’re going, get out in front, and keep your flock on the move. b. When directing, use persuasion rather than coercion. c. Give your people freedom of movement, but make sure they know where the fence line is. Don’t confuse boundaries with bridles! d. When your people get in trouble, go and get them out. e. Remind your people that failure isn’t fatal.

6. The Rod of Correction a. Protect: Stand in the gap and fight for your sheep. b. Correct: Approach discipline as a teaching opportunity. c. Inspect: Regularly inquire about your people’s progress.

7. The Heart of the Shepherd a. Great leadership is a lifestyle, not a technique. b. Every day you have to decide who’s going to pay for your leadership—you or your people. c. Most of all, have a heart for your sheep.

Again – a great little book.

My question – Are you shepherding your people or are you just managing them?

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Empowering Ministry and Nonprofit Leader

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One of my primary passions is coming alongside Christian leaders and helping them to become more effective in their calling.

To grow in this area I signed up with Ministry Coaching International and began their certification process, which has been a blessing.  This week, I received my certification as a leadership coach!

As part of the process, I have been coached for most of the year by Pastor Dave Kraft who is the  Director of Leadership Development and Coaching in The Resurgence, a ministry of Mars Hill Church as well as  a coach for Ministry Coaching International.  He is also the author of Leaders Who Last – a good book to add to your toolbox.

It has been a great process.  I have started coaching some men and it is a blessing to come alongside men who want to and are making a difference.

Well, it’s been a good week for me – a Life Action Ministries Board of Directors meeting in beautiful North Carolina this week as well!

Blessings on your weekend.

BG Read more at bgallen.com

 

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