(Here at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit praying for God to give me new insight to help me in leading with Operation Christmas Child. To learn more about OCC click here...)
The One Thing to Get Right
Bill talked yesterday about the fact that leaders matter
disproportionately and I thought how true that is. Yesterday we experienced so many things and I thought “Isn’t
it true that when you sow into a leader’s life how that return becomes quite
amazing.” We owe it to Willow
Creek Assn. to let them know how wonderful it is to sit and soak in this great
leadership stuff. (applause)
Bill and I are both grandparents. Something happens when you
become a grandparent—you hold that child and know it’s the most beautiful and
intelligent baby ever born. Then you ask yourself how intelligence skipped a
generation.
A few years after the Iron Curtain had come down I was in
Ukraine getting ready to speak at a leadership conference. The interpreter said I had a challenge
because, “You’re speaking to thousands of people who’ve never had a leader
value them.” I asked myself how I
would connect with them. When I
walked out on stage as I watched their faces I could tell leadership was
something they didn’t understand.
I asked have you ever been suspicious of a leader or been hurt by
one? And all hands were
raised. It’s amazing about
leadership—you have the ability to bless people or curse people. I told them I wanted to share ONE THING
that a leader needs to get right.
I wanted to get them to “go there” because before you can lead someone
you need to find them. I needed to
get them to think intentionally because everything they knew about leadership
was negative. The ONE THING I want
you to do is INTENTIONALLY EVERY DAY add value to people.
Last week I had a conversation with the CEO of One
Hope—largest distribution worldwide for children. He said they started in Ghana and asked how many wanted to
be a leader and 95% did NOT because they felt leaders were corrupt. After leadership material was taught,
85% DID want to be leaders. It
turned when they realized adding value to people was the core of leadership.
When I talk with Presidents of countries, I ask, “Are you
adding value to your people or do you want your people to add value to you?”
There is a thin line in leadership between motivating people
and manipulating people.
Manipulating people is always wrong.
Three questions followers ask leaders:
1.
Do you like me? (compassion)
2.
Can you help me? (competence)
3.
Can I trust you? (character)
Basically, will you add value to my life? Adding value to people on a consistent
basis makes things amazing.
Everything worthwhile is uphill. Everything.
Life’s not easy; never has been; isn’t supposed to be. Everything that is precious and
beautiful is uphill (a good marriage, a successful business)
People have uphill hopes and they have downhill habits. The only way you can break a downhill
habit is to get intentional in your life.
Until people can turn on the switch to be intentional they
can never make progress. There is
no accidental achievement.
Intentional living is deliberate. We have to come and make a choice in our life that we’re
going to be intentional.
Significance is not about me; it’s about others and it’s all
uphill and the downhill habit that fights against it is selfishness. Selfishness and significance are
incompatible.
So you think you’re not selfish, huh? I think you are. When you look at a group picture, who
is the first person you look for?
You judge the picture on how good you look.
The reason I teach intentional living is because most people
don’t lead their life they accept their life—and it’s unintentional and
downhill.
How do we
intentionally add value to people?
5 Things to Do—
1.
Value
people (Jesus values people; God values you; God values people I don’t
like) – we as Christ followers are going to have to choose whether to spend our
lives connecting with people or correcting them
2.
Think of
ways to add value to people –intentional living means intentional thinking;
who am I going to see today and how can I add value to them? I have my grandchildren
practice this, also.
3.
Look for
ways to add value to people – have your receptors on; when I am an
added-value liver I become an added-value looker; I want to add value to people
who don’t know me
4.
Add value
to others – go from knowing to doing; at then end of the day I evaluate and
ask myself if I added value to people that day
5.
Encourage
others to add value to people – every day spread the message of valuing
people
Story of a young woman named Gabby from Paraguay who called
her husband and said she wanted to quit her job and lead this movement of
intentional living in Paraguay.
She came back six months later and said I want you to sign your book for
the president. I’m going to meet
him so he can invite you to come to Paraguay. We were invited to come speak to the leaders of Paraguay and
on Sunday I will leave to go to Paraguay for more training. Gabby said, “You are going to cry
because you’re going to speak to 8,000 facilitators who will train 70,000
teachers around the country.” She
kept saying, “That’s totally God.”
Here was one lady who decided to go to a country a make a
difference.
The question I have for you is simple: Out of 300,000 people, who is going to
be the next Gabby? Who is going to
say, “I am going to intentionally add value to people every day and make my
life count.” I am guessing there
will be Gabbys that will rise up from this Summit and make a difference for the
ages.
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