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Resource Dump #2

February 6, 2012 in Creativity, Leadership, Social Media - 0 Comments

Well, it’s that time again! I thought it was about time to do another resrouce dump and let you know the things that I’ve been loving lately. It’s pretty simple. I’ll share three things (resources) that have been helping in my journey lately. The only think I ask for you to do is to share one resource that you’ve been digging lately below in the comments. It’s pretty easy!

 

Resource 1) The Way of the Shepherd by Kevin Leman – I’m about to finish this book up. It was recommended to me by my friend Peter after we had a conversation about leadership and managing people. I’d highly encourage you to read this book if you are a manager. It’s short, super simple and the principles are simple, great reminders of how to lead people. The book is written in an engaging way that helps you remember these principles as well. Check it out!

Resource 2)  Flipboard (App) – This is a great app. I know it’s been around for a while and has already received a lot of attention. I tried it a few months ago and really didn’t like it. As of recent, I’ve found myself needing to cut back on some blogs (tech/news/etc) but still wanted a way to catch up or scan through things quickly without it being something I needed to clean out of my RSS Reader. Flipboard became the perfect thing for that. Instead of having news sites or mac rumors dumping into my RSS, I can now open up Flipboard and catch up and read the articles that I want to read. And it looks amazing too. The only down side is that it’s iOS only, so my Android friends can’t get it.

Resource 3) “For The Honor” Elevation Worship (Music) – It might seem weird to put music as a resource but it’s not. It can actually be a great resource. For me, it helps me connect with God. Maybe you read my blog and that’s not something that’s important to you or you don’t like worship music, either way I understand. Just wanted to share this one because I appreciate the hard work, great songwriting, and honest heart that’s presented in this album. Great job to the guys at Elevation Worship.

Well, now it’s your turn! What is your favorite resource right now? Let’s share them with each other and be stronger, creative leaders because of it! 

The Broken Leader

January 30, 2012 in Leadership - 2 Comments

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a one day conference called the Elephant Room. I had my idea of what I thought it was going into the event, because of the promo’s, but it ended up being something really great. Essentially, two pastors go head to head on an issue in the church. It really is great conversation that’s done in a “grace & truth” kind of way. The issues talked about varied from Denominations, the Gospel, Ministry Burnout, Doctrine, Racial Diversity, Moral Failure, and Relationships with Other Pastors. It was a very good conference and I learned a lot.

Today’s post was specifically inspired during the ministry burnout discussion with Wayne Codeiro and James MacDonald. I don’t necessarily want to talk about burnout (that can be an issue for a later post), what I really want to talk about was a key way to lead.

During the discussion one of the other pastors submitted the idea that we spend less time on “leadership development” and more time on “leader development.” Instead of taking all your energy and pouring it into others, which is important to do, make sure you save some energy for yourself. Most importantly, the development of your leadership skills, vision, etc.

Many times as leaders we live off the thrill of “leading”, being in charge can get us amped up. Being able to move people from one success, or failure, to another success is life giving. But it is such a bad motivation for leading. The alternative to this, that one of the pastors pitched, is that we should lead from a brokenness.

As soon as I heard that I thought about The Broken Leader. What is the broken leader? What does it look like? What am I broken for? In our areas we lead, we need to be leading from a brokenness.

What does that mean?

I take it this way: the core of my job centers around 20somethings, and helping them to connect to one another and to God. To lead in this area well, I really need to be broken, have a heart for, these 20somethings. Otherwise what I’m doing could be somewhat heartless.

I don’t think this brokenness is something your force or fake. I think it can be something that is grown, fueled by experience.

The question is very challenging to me. What am I broken for?

What are you broken for? Are you leading out of that brokenness? Have you ever seen anyone else lead from a brokenness? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.

(Photo Props)

What’s Ahead For 2012

January 3, 2012 in Leadership - 6 Comments

Last week I wrote a review of my goals from 2011. This week will be a bit of a look ahead. Why do I do this? Mostly to put it out in the open for accountability and for encouragement. One of the things I’ve learned over the past few years is that we aren’t made to do things alone. It’s ok to have personal goals, but who’s going to keep you accountable?

Here’s what I’m thinking goal wise for 2012.

2012 will be a year of tough decisions, finishing through the breakthrough year of 2011. I will have the opportunity to follow up and really live out some of the things I worked on. 2012 will really show if I laid the foundation for those goals well.

My three focus areas for 2012.

1) Priorities – One of the biggest things I need to work on is my priorities. I have them, they are just in the wrong order. I think they are in the right order but they aren’t. I can tell by the way I live my life and the decisions I make. It’s very frustrating. It’s humbling. I need to work on them. I think this would be my ideal order of priorities.

  • Relationship with God.
  • Relationship with my wife.
  • Relationships with others.
  • Relationship to myself . (Health, eating, physical fitness, continued learning)
  • Relationship with Employer (Excellence @ work)

2) Intentional Investment – I’m going to be looking for 2-3 men that I can be investing into. One hopefully from a work standpoint and 1 or 2 from just a general life standpoint. Most importantly, I’m looking for people who I can learn from as well. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but have never had the guts to do it. I’ve come to realize that I don’t have to have it all figured out to help and invest in others.

3) Discipline of Prayer – I want to build into my life the discipline of connecting with God often. It’s vital to a relationship with God. It’s a big part of the Christian faith. I don’t do it. I flat out just ignore communicating with God. It’s easy to do because I think I’m in control and God isn’t the most fore front and center thing in my mind. I’m really wanting to work on connecting with Him more.

Some thought filters for 2012.

  • Take risks.
  • Think different.
  • Others focused.

That sums up the direction for my 2012. We’ll see how I do. Feel free to ask me at anytime how I’m doing with these things. I’m not doing this to show off or brag. I really want to work on these areas and it takes the work of everyone to do that.

What are some goals/themes/focus areas for you this coming year? 

Listen to a great podcast on goals and goal setting here.

What Happened In 2011?

December 27, 2011 in Creativity, Leadership - 2 Comments

It’s that time of the year where I take some time to review the past year and look ahead and plan for what’s to come. Last year when doing this I decided that I’d write out some of my goals and keep them in front of me for the whole year. I did that, and it helped a lot.

I thought I’d take this post and list out a few things, accomplishments I’m proud of. Mostly so you can see the process I go through but also to see where I fell short. I’m learning that accountability with ideas is extremely important.

My goals for the past year were:

1) Intentional Leading – Actively embrace the opportunities of leadership I’m given and invest in them appropriately. - I felt like I really excelled in this area, thanks to the help of Paul Atkinson. I still have room to grow, but this year I felt like I worked this one well.

2) Healthy Living – In three areas: Physically, Relationally, and Vocationally. - I was doing really well Physically at the beginning of the year, eating and working out well. Then it tanked. Relationally and Vocationally, setting healthy boundaries and investing in relationships, I feel like I kept a better, consistent curve year long. Still, this area was probably my weakest, and hardest growth area.

3) Better Time Management – First, make better use of my day at work, which means working harder & smarter. Secondly, make the most out of my mornings & evenings. Don’t wast time on things that don’t count or don’t have value. – This was probably one of the better out of the three. I was in some dire need of reworking my time and felt like I did that well this year. I’m still working out a good schedule while at home, but definitely feel much better about how I approach my job. A major theme of 2012 will continue to influence this area.

4) Create Something – That I’ll be proud of in 10 years. This is a challenge I received via Twitter from Jason Sherman. - Jason laid this challenge out at the end of 2010. For the first few months, I thought I needed to make my own musical creation, because that’s what I thought I could make. But, it ended up being two things that I did for work with the SaturateOnline team that I’m most proud of, and one other personal accomplishment.

  1. Press Record – A live, community album we did at Saturate on a Tuesday night. It consisted of Michael Ferrari leading in worship via acoustic, and then recording the voices of everyone who sang. Super cool community project. Check out video and download Press Record here.
  2. Movement – A very different, worship experience we did in November for the Saturate Community. We wanted to create a unique way for 20somethings to connect with others and with God. We took some risks and I think it paid off. Very fun project to try. Check out a time-lapse of the day and check out the songs we used.
  3. AdamHann.com – I’ve been blogging off and on for three to four years. This year, in May I took a very targeted step in trying to focus my blogging, my writing, and investing in people. It’s not perfect, I don’t get tons of traffic, but I love that I can influence and help people. Even if it’s just a couple!

That’s a quick recap of 2011. Over the next couple of days I’ll be working on goals for 2012. You can probably expect them next Monday.

So here is a question for you. What are you most proud of this past year? We can we celebrate together? Let us know below and link out to a site/song/video whatever it might be! 

The Serving Leader

December 19, 2011 in Leadership - 3 Comments

When you find yourself in a position of leadership it can be somewhat overwhelming. You may have been working hard to get there or it may have just come upon you. Either way, you have a decision to make. How will you lead?

If this is something that you have worked hard for then you might have the tendency to lead with more of a deserving, demanding, “I’ve worked hard for this” type of leadership. We have all had those types of leaders. The kind that let us know they deserve to be in the spot they are in and because of that we (their underling) are now subject to all the grueling punishment they had to go through.

Guess what? It doesn’t have to be this way.

The Serving Leader does not lead this way. It’s a practice and a mindset, but it’s one of the most rewarding ways to lead. It takes a paradigm shift in the way you view the organizational chart. Because you are on top does’t mean that your employees work for you, it means you work for them. Any bad decision, poor judgement, misuse of resources can effect each and every one of your employees. It effects their families and their future. You see, when we are leading we are (should be) doing it through a lens of serving others.

So what are a few practical ways to do this?

1) Take Time – Spend time with those you lead. You can’t lead from a distance. When you are a leader it’s easy to think you are alone, and sometimes you will feel that way because of decisions you need to make. But, it doesn’t mean you separate yourself from those you lead. What would it look like for you to stop by an employee’s office and instead of adding another thing to their plate, let them know how much they mean to the organization.

2) Pitch In – I used to think that once I got to a certain point in the organization I wouldn’t have to do things I didn’t like to do anymore. It is possible to do that, but it’s not worth it. I’m blown away when I have leaders who help out with things that are my responsibility, and are things that are annoying to do. The serving leader is not afraid to pitch in and help when employees are overwhelmed or being stretched by the organization. Even when it’s not on their job description.

3) Follow Through – Probably one of the biggest things and the one that would make the most sense. Follow Through. Nothing says you don’t value an employee more than not following through on something for them. Maybe they need more hours, maybe they need less. Maybe they need some more training or for you to deal with that one organizational problem that’s above them to fix. Serving those you lead means following through and letting those you lead know that you are for them.

Have you ever experienced a Serving Leader?

Challenge for this week: Look for opportunities to do one of these three things for those you lead. It will be one of the best Christmas gifts they could get!

5 Tips To Make Email More Useful

December 5, 2011 in Leadership, Social Media - 3 Comments

Email may possibly be one of the greatest and worst things ever created. For most people, it dictates their day and controls their emotions. As leaders, we are probably always diving into our email to check up on things. There are so many other tools out there similar to email that are better, but still email has remained constant in most of our lives.

Instead of talking about what should be different I’d love to give you five tips to make the most out of this tool. Learn how to tame it like a wild horse and it will make a world of a difference.

1) Use Email For The Right Conversations – Most times we use email for the wrong conversations. We’ll send emails when we are to lazy to pick up the phone. We might send the email when we are to afraid to confront that person. We’ve all done it, mostly because it’s very easy to do. But somewhere along the line this has become the norm and creates major communications problems. Use email when it’s appropriate, otherwise pick up the phone or have a face to face conversation.

2) Keep Them Short – There’s no reason to make an email 5 pages long. Especially if you want it read. When writing an email, keep it short. People typically don’t have or don’t want to spend the time reading a long email. Every now and then you may come across the need to write a longer one but make sure you think through the best way to say what you need in the least amount of words.

3) Find The Right Tool – When I say tool, I mean program or email reader. Find the application that will help you handle email the way that you like. There are so many different options out there, so just pick a couple and try them out.

4) Create A Schedule – There’s no reason that we need to be checking our email 24/7. But, we do it anyways. We think we are going to miss something. One of the best things I’ve done is create a simple schedule of when to check emails. For you, maybe hourly or 4 times a day. Just try it out. What you’ll find is that you start working on the things that need to get done instead of putting out fires all the time. This will be hard and will take discipline, but try it out. Maybe try it with your team so that everyone can see the benefit.

5) Try Inbox Zero – Inbox Zero is a way, or practice of approaching email. In it’s simplest forms, it’s keeping your inbox to zero at the end of everyday or every time you check it. I started trying Inbox Zero a few years ago and it has helped tremendously. It takes a little organization (which if you are bad at that, ask a friend who is organized to help) but pays off. It changes your attitude towards email and how you use it. I highly recommend trying it out!

What is one tip that you’ve come to find when using email that’s been a game changer? What’s your favorite tool or app to use for email? Share below!

The Communicating Leader

November 21, 2011 in Leadership - 2 Comments

Often times while leading people the hardest thing to do is communicate well. It’s an every day struggle. It’s not something that we figure out then move on to the next problem. It’s like a fine skill that we hone in over the course of our life. My guess is that it takes a very unique leader to focus in on communication. But, we all know what it’s like to not have a leader like that. We’ve probably experienced it at some point. Maybe it’s been us!

I don’t need to list out the symptoms of poor communication. We know what it feels like. We know how it demotivates. Ultimately, I believe it’s what can make or break us as leaders. The problem is it can take a while to track down unless you are actively looking for it.

Here’s where the Communicating Leader comes in. The list below explains how ideal communication comes from a leader and how to be proactively working on communicating well.

  1. The RIGHT information is communicated - Sometimes as leaders we share the wrong information. We need to learn how to really focus on what people need to hear. That way we aren’t taking up to much time and they aren’t checking out because we share info that’s not important.
  2. Information is communicated ON TIME - This is huge. To often leaders jump the gun or wait to late when sharing information. This is a practice, a skill. Learn how to time your communication right. Learn when your people are ready to hear it.
  3. It’s communicated to the RIGHT PEOPLE – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come across situations (or heard of them) where the wrong people know the right information. This can be extremely de-motivating to those you lead, extremely. Find out where you communication leaks are, so that the information is going through the right channels.
  4. DON’T HOLD INFORMATION as a power play - A leader who doesn’t trust his employees holds information from them. A leader who is insecure, holds information from them. Don’t be that leader. Learn how to trust your employees. If there is a trust issues, address it! Don’t be insecure. Don’t hold the info over their head. Those you lead love it when they know they are in the loop.
  5. Finally, COMMUNICATE CLEARLY – This is simple, but it’s very hard. It takes knowing your employees and knowing yourself well. Learn how you communicate, and how others like to receive communication.

Here are a couple of questions I’d love to hear back from you on. Have you ever had a major communication problem? How did you fix it? Are you annually or quarterly asking those you lead or work with how you are doing at communicating? 

Resource Dump #1

October 31, 2011 in Creativity, Leadership, Social Media - 7 Comments

I thought we’d take a little break from our normally scheduled blog post to share some resources today. I’m calling this the Resource Dump post. I’m sure there will be many more. Here’s how it goes. I’ll try to share with you three different types of resources that are really helping me out. I’ll also try to make sure they are different types of media too. (Books, Video, Audio). All I ask in return is for you to share one resource back. What’s one resource that has been helping you grow?

Resource 1) EntreLeadership Podcast – I started listening to this podcast a couple weeks ago and can not get enough of it. It’s loaded with some serious leadership gold. The podcast is produced by Dave Ramsey’s company and based of his recent book called EntreLeadership. It’s just a matter of time till I pick up the book. Each podcast usually contains a snippet from the EntreLeadership training courses they do and then they also include an interview with a leadership expert. I can’t recommend this podcast highly enough!

Resource 2) Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky (Book) – Do you have ideas? Are you ever in charge of making ideas happen? Do you consider yourself creative? Do you struggle keeping things organized? Are you breathing? (yes, I went there) Then this book is for you! This book has been highly transformative in the way I do things. I’m actually going over the book a second time and pulling out action steps to put into practice right away. The book lends itself more to the project manager or creative individual, but I really believe it can give a lot of people a step in the right direction.

Resource 3) IAmPaulAtkinson & LeadershipFreak (Blogs) – I know this is two resources. I wanted to include them both in this post. Some of you may already follow Paul’s blog on leadership stuff. Despite working with him every day and being pals, I still ready his blog because it’s always got some good, practical advice. I just started following Dan’s blog (Leadership Freak) a few weeks ago after hearing an interview with him on the EntreLeadership podcast. (seriously, you need to go subscribe to that podcast right now in iTunes) He also has some very practical tips on leadership on his blog. Last week I tweeted a few links to their blogs. Check out this link for a few posts of theirs to start on. 

Ok, it’s your turn! Share with us what leadership, creativity, social media resource that you’ve been eating up lately. Heck, even if it’s a post from your own blog share that with us below in the comments. 

The Fringe Leader

October 24, 2011 in Leadership - 2 Comments

Fringe [frinj] 3. An outer edge; margin; periphery: on the fringe of the art world. – Dictionary.com

What is it about the fringe that scares some of us and makes others come to life? For some it is where they find their identity, and others try to pretend it’s not there. What is the fringe?

The Fringe is a group of people, ideas, or actions that are at the outer edge.

The Fringe is that one person who always thinks totally different then you ever have.

The Fringe is that new technology that has the potential to take off but you’re scared to touch it.

The Fringe is the idea that’s out there about that industry you are in. You know that change is coming but you try to prevent it at all costs.

Do you know the Fringe? If you are a leader I hope you do. This is where movements come from. Where ideas are born. Where raw passion and energy collide and overcome great odds. The idea of the fringe leader is something I’m just now discovering and praying that I become one day.

What does a “Fringe Leader” look like? It can vary, but there are some important characteristics.

The Fringe Leader is always listening. They are not just talking to their middle management. They get down with those doing the work and listen. They ask questions. They ask “what’s coming?”, “what’s our culture?”, and “what do I need to know?”.

The Fringe Leader is willing to take a chance on that one idea. They understand how it will revoluntionize or subtly make a huge impact on what they are doing.

The Fringe Leader ask the outsider to join them, and allows them to have a voice. The Outsider is the one most don’t understand (and maybe the Leader doesn’t either). The Leader allows the outsider to speak from where they come from and allows them to disrupt what is happening. (Read disrupt as, dropping a bomb that changes everything, but for the good)

You may be a leader now, or maybe you are a leader in the making. One thing that’s important to remember is that as you grow in influence and leadership there will be times people aren’t always honest with you. Sometimes you aren’t privy to what’s going on at the fringe anymore.

And at that point is the most important time for us to become the Fringe Leader. We must be willing to humble ourselves and “what we know” and ask the right questions of the right people. We need to stop and reconnect ourselves to the outer edge of what’s happening to continue to lead well and lead those there with the passion and energy that they have.

Are you a Fringe Leader? How do you stay connected to those on the outer edges?

(Photo Props)

Why Are You Doing What You Are Doing?

October 17, 2011 in Creativity, Leadership - 5 Comments

Much of life and creativity is seeing others work, art, ideas, and remixing them. Look at Apple, most movies, many songs, and you will hear ideas, melodies, or even exact lines that were used by others first. Usually what we remember is the person who does it best. But “best” can seem like a preference based opinion. So I have another way of looking at it.

People who present their idea best are probably the people who have thought through the “why” of every aspect of their idea. 

Recently my church (LCBC) had Bill Hybels come in and speak as we celebrated out 25th Anniversary. He said something about innovation that I had to write down.

“Innovate to solve a problem” – Hybels

That’s it. Very simple but so profound. Don’t just create for innovation’s sake, solve a problem! It’s extremely important to know the why behind what we are doing. If not, the right decisions won’t get made, the right people won’t be on board, the right funding won’t come in, the list could continue. As we lead our creative ventures we should be able to account for all of our decisions with a reason why. They may be simple reasons, but it still counts.

This coming weekend LCBC will be hosting an event called Saturdays @ LCBC. It’s all about the why behind what we do at LCBC. This event is targeted to leaders, pastors, employees, and volunteers from other churches. Our goal is to be able to help them understand why we do what we do so that they start thinking about their dreams and visions. So they can figure out their why. We want them to ask “What is my dream for my church?”.

If you are a church leader or volunteer and would like to know more about Saturdays @ LCBC check out the link above or click on the banner over here ———–>

Either way, I’d love to hear to hear from you. Does your organization have a “why”? There’s honestly so many different levels in which you could ask the why question.

So, if you are up for it, below let me know what you’ve been thinking about lately and the “whys” you have been concluding. 

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