Comments on: leadership summit: semi-live blogging (day 2)

By: monts

monts — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:33:39 +0000

i would certainly agree! there are so many illusory forms of accountability out there—and yes i would throw out blogs as one—and it is because it’s difficult. it’s really hard to look into someone’s eyes and share your concerns, especially when they haven’t given you permission to do so… and even when we do have permission sometimes it doesn’t get any easier. why is that? i know some of it has to do with fear that you will lose a friend… but why can’t confrontation be a good thing, a loving thing, a nurturing thing, a positive thing?

By: mike h

mike h — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:28:51 +0000

Yep, it seems difficult to manage the ‘shadow mission’ completely on our own. To have somone alongside, whom you can mutually be watchful of each other, appears to be vital for most of us. I haven’t been able to do much on my own. I need a ‘we’.

There also seems to be illusory forms of accountability (perhaps even blogs). So we settle for them, when the real thing is much more time-consuming and painful.

By: monts

monts — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:25:26 +0000

yeah, just a little bit.

i’ve seen the shadow mission not only in my own life, but i’ve certainly seen first-hand the destruction of someone else’s shadow mission and the devestating effects that it had on the mission of the church. it makes me wonder what would be different if someone had stood up to it earlier…

By: mike h

mike h — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:27:18 +0000

That’s a great story… I wish coffee was my only shadow mission.

Good stuff from Ortberg. He seems to hit me where I’m at most of the time. I will get a copy of his message as I agree that we all have ‘shadow missions’ and most of us are either unaware or minimize their potential for destruction.

Did you relate to this one?

By: monts

monts — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:32:26 +0000

funny story… our coffee maker actually broke at the shorewood campus a couple of weeks ago and it was a frenzied panic to know what to do… we eventually made our way to dunkin’ donuts to pick up a couple of traveler packs of coffee to make due for the rest of the morning…

it’s truly a big fear!

By: mike h

mike h — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:03:00 +0000

That makes sense….

Man, I wish I was there to hear Ortberg. I’m guessing that a leader’s greatest fear is that we’ve run out of coffee on a Sunday morning.

By: monts

monts — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:31:01 +0000

i really liked the “fit no stereotypes” stuff as well… it was great. i was blown away by him, his wisdom and knowledge.

i think what porter was saying was to plan strategically and expect some sort of results… have clearly set out goals for what you want to accomplish and set out to acheive it. if you fail, go back to the drawing board and try again… and again, and again. it’s okay to set high goals, just make sure they’re achievable.

the other thing is that i think he was using it in terms of the organization instead of on an individual level… although i’m sure there can be some carry over into the individual realm as well.

By: mike h

mike h — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:06:52 +0000

I love the stuff from Powell. Lots of application to leading a church. Thanks for sharing… I think my favorite for today is “fit no stereotypes” I had some construction workers who are working on our church building ask me “what kind of church is Crossroads?” YUCK! I hate that question because I’ve never found a great response that someone doesn’t have stereotype for. I think next time I’ll answer and say “we really don’t fit any stereotypes.” : )

Porter sounded good too. Nice twist on the non-profit. I also find it intriguing to think of ‘making sure we are achieving results.’ What results should I expect when I give and serve the community? If I am serving out of love are there times when maybe I don’t see the results I was expecting? I wonder what results are ineffective or harmful? Is he talking about like giving money to an alcoholic and enabling them to buy more booze?