Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit--John Dickson

Here at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit waiting to hear more wisdom that will help me serve better with Operation Christmas Child.

John Dickson--Humilitas, A Lost Key to Life, Love and Leadership

The character trait of humility has been a challenge for leaders for century. John Dickson had a defining moment at a young age when his father died in a plane crash. John is a thinker with a degree in theology and a Ph.D. in ancient history.

The fear of being the guy who talks about humility. There's a dilemma for anyone who would talk about humility in public. "I fell into the topic of humility by accident." I have developed a love/hate relationship with humility.

Humility is not humiliation or low self-esteem. Humility is the noble choice to forego your status and use your influence for the good of others before yourself. It's the humility to hold power for the good of others.

Humility makes the great greater and here are 5 reasons--

1) Humility is common sense--none of us is an expert at everything. Expertise in one area counts for very little in another. Competency extrapolation--think because you're bright in one area you'll be bright in another.

2) Humility is beautiful--we are more attracted to the great who are humble. In ancient Rome 'humility' meant servitude. Jesus created a humility revolution sparked by his crucifixion. Western culture has been profoundly transformed by the cross of Christ. Greatness and humility are now one.

3) Humility is generative--it generates new knowledge and new abilities because the humble person is open to knowledge. The scientific revolution is the result of the humility revolution. The humble place is the place of growth. Sometimes you learn something in the humble place you can't learn any other way. It's the place of flourishing. It's the criticism you know is true.

4) Humility is persuasive--Aristotle in his book "On Rhetoric" said there must be logos, pathos, and ethos. and ethos is the character of the persuader. "We believe good-hearted people to a greater extent and more quickly than we do others on all subjects in general." The most believable person in the world is the person you know has your best interests at heart.

5) Humility is inspiring--"When our ego won't let us build others up...we have stopped inspiring others to great heights." We admire those leaders who are not approachable but we don't emulate them. But those who humble themselves inspire us to be like them. We think they're like us and so feel we can be like them.

Leaders have 4 tools

ability

authority

character

persuasion

Some of the most inspiring leaders in history had no authority but had much ability, character, and persuasion and people followed them. Sometimes you don't need the power or empires to make change--you need character and persuasion. You don't need the keys to the kingdom to impact the kingdom. You don't need to reclaim a Christian nation in order to win a nation back to Christ.

Humility is not just another leadership technique. At the center of everything is a cross and if that is true, the humble life is a life in touch with reality. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus."