Episode 225 Also Available On: Deliberately Entering Controversy April 17 Leader Notes Intro Politics Series (Non-Political Political Series) Resources available at elephantsanddonkeys.church Step #1: Discern Decision: Not addressing this would be more of a distraction than addressing it. Goal is not attention, goal is mission. Don’t enter controversy because of boredom, do it because of your purpose. Explain our decision: It will be more of a distraction not to, and our responsibility is faithfulness. So, we are deliberately entering controversy to avoid fut ..read more

Episode 224 Also Available On: When to Shepherd April 10 Leader Notes Intro – Final Episode: You have to know when to abdicate the focus of leadership and only be a shepherd. – Don’t fully know how to explain this, so may leave people confused, but I’ll do my best. Examples – My family is more in need of my shepherding than my leadership. – My friends do not value my leadership ability, they value me personally. To choose to lead in that environment is to damage the friendship. – In crisis, the organization needs to see I’m more concerned about if we’re good than if we’re grea ..read more

Episode 223 Also Available On: From Shepherd to Leader (Part 2) April 3 Leader Notes Shepherds will help people continue to grow regardless of where they are. Leaders will hold people to a standard, develop them up or move them on. Are they improving vs will they meet the standard? Shepherds will apply their time based upon your proximity and need, leaders will apply their time based upon your potential. They need a lot of my time vs Is this the best use for my time? Shepherds will always do what they feel is best for the individual, leaders will always do what t ..read more

Episode 222 Also Available On: From Shepherd to Leader (Part 1) March 27 Leader Notes Shepherds will help people continue to grow regardless of where they are. Leaders will hold people to a standard, develop them up or move them on. Are they improving vs will they meet the standard? Shepherds will apply their time based upon your proximity and need, leaders will apply their time based upon your potential. They need a lot of my time vs Is this the best use for my time? Shepherds will always do what they feel is best for the individual, leaders will always do what ..read more

Episode 221 Also Available On: The Distinction Between Shepherds & Leaders March 20 Leader Notes Intro: Goal of this: To Be Helpful to our team & Others 2nd Goal: To Help People Move from one level to another. Thesis: Learning to lead, when you know how to shepherd, is a higher skill set. Distinctions: Shepherd: Care. Where the word pastor comes from. “To lead to pastures”. Leader: Moving from one place to another. You can be in a leadership position and not moving anyone, just caring. The Dynamics: Not talking about led poorly andtyrannical Led ..read more

Episode 220 Also Available On: The Best Yes March 13 Leader Notes Context I need to get better at saying no, don’t want to get too good at saying no. I want to be strategic about saying yes. Big Idea Good leadership & great leadership is time well spent. My Goal: In every moment to say yes to the best thing. “The Best Yes” I don’t want to get better at no, I want to get more deliberate about my yes. Factors Energy: A yes now can’t inhibit a better yes later. Relationship: A yes needs to prioritize people. Scheduling: Don’t say yes in advance that I’ll ..read more

Episode 219 Also Available On: Don’t Take a Break Because You’re Bored March 6 Leader Notes Intro: If you’re taking a break because you’re bored, you’re not going hard enough. Take a break because you can’t keep going. Episode 212: Intense Words & My own implementation of that. Found: How often we operate with a total lack of intensity. Thoughts: Training: You can go long, you can go hard, you can’t go hard & long. We take breaks because we’re bored, not because our performance is declining. Note: Not everything requires intensity, but more things than ..read more

Episode 218 Also Available On: Behind the name change – Part 2 February 28 Leader Notes The Difficulty, The Decision, The Process. The Difficulty This is a strategic decision in a spiritual community. Tendency to spiritualize everything. God showed us where, we need to figure out how to get there at times. The Decision Do the benefits of expansion and cultural clarity outweigh the pain of the process and the risk of upsetting people. Explain both dynamics and what was at stake. So we didn’t make a gut reaction to it, we investigated it through the process ..read more

Episode 217 Also Available On: Behind the name change February 21 Leader Notes The Difficulty, The Decision, The Process. The Difficulty This is a strategic decision in a spiritual community. Tendency to spiritualize everything. God showed us where, we need to figure out how to get there at times. The Decision Do the benefits of expansion and cultural clarity outweigh the pain of the process and the risk of upsetting people. Explain both dynamics and what was at stake. So we didn’t make a gut reaction to it, we investigated it through the process. Our Proce ..read more

Episode 216 Also Available On: Architects & Archaeologists February 14 Leader Notes Culture should be designed not merely accepted. The point: You are taking the role of Cultural Architect. The Key: Your culture is dynamic, not static. So it must continuously be redesigned as the context changes and your goals change. You cannot do that if you are not an archaeologist. What I Mean: Investigating what is happening. Not just what did you set, what happened. What are the unexpected implications and repercussions of the culture. What I Shared with our Team: Our culture hi ..read more