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LIVE! from Summit Day 2
As promised, I'm typing live from the Global Leadership Summit LifePoint Church satellite location (well it's as close to live as you're going to get from me at least). It's lunchtime and I managed to sneak away for a few minutes to bring you a few insights from this morning's sessions.
It's really difficult to put an experience like this into words. These speakers have the ability to stir up something within me. Something great; too great to be described by the simplicity of the English language. Which kind of brings me to the subject of this afternoon's post.
Bill Hybels hosted a session with 3 incredible leaders and they each left a mark on my soul. Essentially, they were discussing the integration of faith in the workplace and how they have made doing so a reality in their own lives and businesses. It was inspiring to listen to. Truly.
Following their talks, Bill Hybels came back to the stage and explained the purpose of the session once: The Grander Vision. He (once again) explained what's been on my heart. He said something along the lines of, "Many people ask, 'Is this all there is? Is this all I am? Will my life ever be used for a higher purpose?'"
Wow. I mean, I don't know about you, but those questions have run through my mind more than once. It's what I've frequently explained as restlessness. Dissatisfaction. A deep yearning for "more" with an underlying certainty that "more" exists.
I know that restlessness has been placed in my heart for a reason. I know that God refuses to allow me to be satisfied until I come into sync with His purpose for my life. And I'm grateful. I really am. My heart is overflowing with gratitude because I truly have no desire to settle for less.
It sounds so simple. My gut instinct is to say "Of course; I know that." But if I truly know it, then I have the responsibility to act on it. As Bill put it, my role is to serve people joyfully and without discrimination. That is where I will find satisfaction on this side of eternity.
What came next is something that needs to happen more often in our lives. We sat back in silence and asked God to speak to us; to reveal something to us that was not of ourselves. To give us a piece of His vision for our lives. And can I be honest? I was a little bit distracted.
I was suddenly overwhelmed. At first I was like "How can God answer this question individually for each of the thousands of people offering up this prayer in one moment?" I know He's God and I know it's not really an issue for Him. But still the thought crossed my mind. Then--suddenly--I stopped.
What if He was waiting? What if He has been preparing for this moment. What if He is so proud of Bill Hybels for creating an environment where thousands of people drop everything they are doing to pause and turn to Him and plead with Him for direction, purpose, vision, and true satisfaction with the sole desire of aligning themselves with His will for their lives?
I am overwhelmed right now. I can see God rubbing His hands together in eager anticipation. Tears streaming down His face when He hears our quiet cry for guidance and feels our hands stretch out to Him. It's beautiful.
So what about you? I know I won't get many comments on this one, but I'd still like to challenge you to answer this question for yourself:
Are you bankrupt in satisfaction?
“See You At The Summit”
My brain seriously feels like it's going to explode. But that would be really messy and let's be honest: Ain't nobody got time for that. I'm overwhelmed. It's Summit week across the nation and I'm kind of sad that a lot of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. The Global Leadership Summit is a massive conference executed by the Willow Creek Association. It is held at Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois and there are over 300 satellite locations streaming the conference live today and tomorrow. It is PACKED full of awesomeness.
Last year was my first GLS and it seriously changed my life. That is not an exaggeration. It is truth. 100% absolute truth. Speaker after speaker gets up on that stage and they each blow my mind and ignite a fire of passion in my soul. Sometimes I'm laughing and sometimes there are tears streaming down my face. But I'm always overwhelmed by possibility and this deep yearning to live my life intentionally. Every single moment of it.
At the end of last year's summit, I promised myself that I would go again this year. In May I checked with my boss to see if I could get that Friday off (Thursdays are already my "official day off") and she said of course. But then life happened. We took a spontaneous vacation in June and I had surgery in July. I had taken so much time off of work this summer that I didn't even want to ask to have August 15th off too. The ministry team I work with at my church said that I could go for just Thursday, which was awesome. I was so excited. But I knew myself. I knew if I went on Thursday, it would nearly kill me to miss out on Day 2 of the summit. So I sucked it up and asked my boss for one more Friday off. She said yes.
All of this happened less than a week ago and it has been a whirlwind of a week. I haven't really had a chance to prepare my mind and heart for the GLS this year. The anticipation wasn't built up like it was last year. But the excitement...oh. my. gosh. You have no idea. Last night I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. I knew how much the summit impacted me last year and I was ready. I was expectant.
I am raw right now; it took me quite some time to even dial myself down enough to sit and think. I do my best reflecting when I'm writing, so I'm going to give you a quick recap of...
Top 5 Things That Have Impacted Me During Day 1 of the Global Leadership Summit:
Bill Hybels talked a lot about vision and the importance of making a "Legacy Play." Um, can we back track to my blog post 2 months ago when I talked about developing a vision and my desire to leave a legacy? God didn't miss a BEAT and spoke straight to my heart first thing this morning. Bill talked about how, when we leave this world, a gravestone is what represents our lives: 2 dates with a dash in-between (he's never seen a U-Haul in a graveyard). He asked a simple yet challenging question:
“What will you do with your dash?”
Carly Fiorina boldly proclaimed that human potential is the only limitless resource in the entire world. She explained that the role of a leader is to build a framework consisting of vision, organization, metrics, and culture.
“Set the frame, then set your people free.”
Jeffrey Immelt is the President and CEO of General Electric and he had lots of insightful points to offer during his interview with Bill Hybels. He talked about how it's not your supervisor or the people you manage who determine where you go; it's your peers. Your supervisor has to "like" you because he hired you and your employees have to "like" you because you're their boss. But you have to earn the trust and respect of your peers.
“Horizontal strength is what keeps organizations together.”
Susan Cain spoke on challenging the extrovert ideal by revealing the power of introverts. Her talk spoke to me in a unique way. She wasn't exactly an especially eloquent speaker, but she knew she had something important to say and she knew that she was the best person to say it. So she did. Our culture values extroversion and equates it with "good leadership." She challenged us to see the strengths in both extroverts and introverts and to create an environment and culture that caters to the needs of each. Group work has its place, but solitude can lead to equal (if not greater) degrees of success.
“May you have the courage to speak softly.”
Patrick Lencioni was tied for my favorite speaker last year and he made an even more impressive appearance today (the GLS faculty changes every year but they keep asking Patrick back...he must be doing something right). He talked about the most dangerous mistakes that leaders make and he did so with humor that only he could pull off respectfully. One of the mistakes he spoke about was becoming a leader for the wrong reason. The right reason for becoming a leader is the desire to sacrifice yourself for the good of others, even when you know there won't be a return on investment. He said he's tired of hearing about servant leadership.
“Servant leadership is the only kind of leadership. Otherwise it’s just economics”
I know it probably doesn't sound or look like it, but these are just a few tiny snips of what one day of the GLS contains; the nuts and bolts of some very compelling and thought-provoking topics. This won't be the last you hear of the summit from me. I was hoping to do a "live blog feed" during the lunch break today, but maybe I'll be able to pull it off tomorrow. Regardless, I can pretty much guarantee you that I will do a more in-depth post about one or more of the speakers over the next few weeks. There's so much good information and it needs to be processed and shared. Attending the GLS won't make you a better leader; intentionally applying what you learn will.
My question for you today is the same question Bill Hybels asked me at 10:00 this morning:
What will you do with your dash?
Summit Hangover
I attended the Global Leadership Summit last week at one of its satellite locations and it was amazing. We listened to world-renowned speakers from every end of the leadership spectrum, including an army officer, business man, doctor, pastor, lawyer, author, film producer, and more.
The lineup included:
Bill Hybels
General Colin Powell
Patrick Lencioni
Liz Wiseman
Chris Brown
Bob Goff
Mark Burnett
Joseph Grenny
Vijay Govindarajan
Dr. Brene Brown
Oscar Muriu
Dr. Henry Cloud
Andy Stanley
I've been wanting to write a blog entry about the experience, but my brain still feels like it's going to explode. Dr. Brene Brown spoke about the concept of a vulnerability hangover, and I'm convinced that I have a summit hangover. When all was said and done late Friday night, I sat in my room and cried. I was just so overwhelmed with all the wisdom I had taken in and the fact that now I had a choice. I could,
A-Wake up the next day and go into work and have it go just as every other day has gone the last 2 weeks, or...
B-Wake up the next day and go into work and have it go just as every other day has gone the last 2 weeks and look for opportunities to apply this newly acquired wisdom to some practical situations.
After a conference like the GLS, you leave wanting to change the world. Then reality smacks you in the face. Sometimes you realize what you're up against and decide that what you've learned simply can't apply to the situation you're presently in. Maybe it'll be useful later on in life. So you just tuck it away for later.
That's usually me.
Something inside me just won't let up, though. I still want to change the world, so it makes me angry that I am where I am. Making coffee and dealing with disgruntled employees and people who will run me over in the parking lot trying to get to the drive-thru 1.37 seconds faster (not thinking about the fact that if they run over their barista, there will be no coffee in the first place). It's easy to get bitter, discontent, and unsatisfied.
It's been a struggle. I've been wrestling with it a lot. I know that I am here for a purpose. God has something to teach me. I know that God did not bring me to the Summit to get me all fired up, then squash my flames in a torrential downpour of disappointment and frustration. I think He planted within me a seed to change the world. But He wants me to start by changing MY world. And for some reason, that's a whole lot more tedious and less inviting.
It seems I'd rather change the world than change myself. OUCH.
I'm exhausted. It'd be really easy to give up and settle and accept what I have for what it is.
But I'm too stubborn for that nonsense. So I'll dig in my heels and lean into God and let Him do a work in me. And I'll start by sticking my nose into Liz Wiseman's book Multipliers.