A Sobering Reality Leaders Must Recognize
Leaders have major impact on the teams and organizations they lead. Their leadership impacts the direction and the future. Their leadership attracts the type of people who will join the team, and greatly influences the culture. Even the expressions and mannerisms of leaders are often picked up by others throughout the organization. Leaders have a […]
Four Indications You Have an Untrustworthy Team Member
Bad company corrupts good character (1 Corinthians 15:33). An untrustworthy team member can spoil and corrupt the collective character of a team. One team member can adversely impact the whole, can adversely impact the culture of the team you lead. Here are four indicators of an untrustworthy team member: Negative about everyone else If the […]
Seven Signs Success Has Outgrown Your Character
Success has plagued many leaders. They experience the Lord’s blessing, see the fruits of their labor, and receive recognition. And many times, the success goes to their heads and hearts and pulls them away from utter dependence on the One who gave success in the first place. King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26) is an example: […]
Four Reasons the Local Church Is the Best at Developing Leaders
God uses a multitude of environments to develop leaders, but there is nothing like the Church. Because the whole world is His, the Lord can use any environment to develop and mature His people, but the Church is the best at developing leaders for at least four reasons Divinely Designed The Church is divinely designed […]
Skills Can Kill: 4 Dangers of (Only) Skills-Based Leadership Development
Both character and competence are essential for leaders. Of David, the king of Israel, the Scripture states, “He shepherded them with a pure heart and guided them with his skillful hands” (Psalm 78:72). In other words, David possessed both character and competence. When people think of developing leaders, they often think in terms of necessary […]
3 Ways To Finish Well
A great player on our team finished his time with us this week. Matt Capps, who served as The Gospel Project brand manager, is beginning his new ministry assignment as senior pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Apex, NC. I told Matt when we hired him from a church staff position that I would give […]
Character First
When the apostle Paul challenged Timothy to reproduce himself in others, to broaden the number of leaders, and to hand ministry over to more people, he emphasized character over competence. He didn’t diminish competence, but he started with character. Notice the order of the language of this often-quoted leadership development verse: The things you have […]
A Woeful Substitute
The apostle Paul challenged Timothy, “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Notice the order of the language. Paul did not say, “Entrust to able men who will one day be faithful.” He did not encourage […]
Change the Character, Change the Story
While the plot and the context of a story are critical, the central characters are really what makes a story unique. The characters or central figures in a story are inseparable from the story itself. If you alter the character of the central figure, the story is not even the same story. For example, if […]
Four C’s of Building a Team
A wise leader obsesses over having the right players on the team. A team filled with the right players is exponentially more effective than a team filled with the wrong players. Whether hiring employees or recruiting volunteers, I find it helpful to have a general framework from which you view potential team members. Two of […]