LEADERSHIP LESSON # 2 ( shut up and listen)

If you missed my first blog, I mentioned that I have been reflecting on my leadership skills the past few weeks .This is part 2 of my leadership lesson series that i hope would help you in any area of your life..


lesson # 2 : SHUT UP AND LISTEN


As a person with a strong personality ( I got this from my mother and i think my son got this from me) ,I tend to dominate conversations and meetings. Too often I would be the guy talking and coming up with ideas after ideas. That worked but in order for me to get to the next level i needed to adjust.

Recently, I had learned a valuable leadership nugget. I can sum it up by saying "L.A. SHUT UP AND LISTEN!!"

The bible talk about listening. let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance — ( ps 1:5)

Im not saying hold your ideas and not contribute in meetings , but what i am saying is that we truly listen... not just hear but LISTEN we can pick up awesome things from other people.

Try listening... while running your meetings, counseling, or simply just a conversation with a youth. You will be blown away with insights you will receive.

Great leaders have mastered the art of listening. Guys, time to get rid of earwax...( that was a gross illustration) and START LISTENING!!!

LEADERSHIP LESSON #1 ( NEVER DO THINGS ALONE)

Really been thinking about my leadership style recently. I really been crying out to God for an upgrade. The BOOK OF JOHN Maxwell ( pun intended) talks about the law of the lid. Simply put, your church, youth group or organization can only go as far as the leaders capacity can go. With that in my mind, I have been praying, reading, observing and learning from other people about leadership. The following blogs will be a series of things I observed about leadership.

LESSON #1 NEVER DO THINGS ALONE

Had a recent meeting with Pastor Steve Murrell (my boss) and he asked us a very simple that really had me pondering ..

DO YOU SPEND YOUR TIME MINISTERING TO PEOPLE OR EQUIPPING PEOPLE TO MINSTER? ( eph 4:11-12).

I always bought into this philosophy.. but as a campus minister and pastor, did i really apply this in my life? Do i really equip people or do i always just minister?

I went through my calendar and checked what my regular week looked like and saw .. encm staff meetings, message preparation, counseling, service preaparation among other things. I evaluated myself and saw that I COULD HAVE USED ALL THOSE THINGS EQUIPPING PEOPLE. I COULD HAVE ACTUALLY DONE BOTH, WHILE DOING ALL MY ACTIVITIES.

How you might ask ? By commiting to "never do things alone". I could counsel people, prepare messages, and even include people in some of my meetings. I could be mentoring them by simply asking them to tag along. Another bonus is that these younger people ( staff or volunteer) have awesome ideas that i can use in ministry.

So here are some things, I will try to NEVER DO ALONE!!!

1. prepare a sermon
2. preach in an out of town invite
3. counsel a youth
4. counsel a campus minister
5. teach an enli or any class

A lot of things i learned as a minister was seeing men like Pastor Steve, Joey , Ferdie , Rico ,Ariel, Paolo, Dennis,Robert h and many others IN ACTION. I want to do the same thing for the younger generation of leaders!!! ( I feel so old saying that!!!)