Pastor + Author
We all know that Albert Einstein is known for his brilliant mind. However, as much as a great mind is a prerequisite to innovation, so is action. Without action, your thoughts will amount to nothing.
Hence, here is today’s thought by Albert Einstein:
Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any many who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
The best leaders are consistently learning and challenging themselves. They are not content with the status quo. Neither are they content with leading the way that they’ve been led or simply according to their gut instincts. The best leaders are on a lifelong journey of learning because they know that when they stop learning, they stop leading.
However, it’s not just about learning because any good leader knows the importance of learning.
The thing that sets the best leaders apart from the pack lies in Todd’s quote above. The best leaders not only strive to become experts in their field, but they also broaden their field of vision.
When you develop this discipline, you begin to see connections between seemingly disparate themes, ideas, and concepts. You develop the ability to integrate diverse perspectives into a collective whole. It’s like a light turns on in your brain.
As a pastor and as a church leader, I love to read spiritually formative books. I love to read books from thought leaders in my discipline, like:
However, if I stop there, then my leadership will only go so far.
That’s why these are the books that I’m currently reading to challenge and grow myself:
1. How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know – Byron Sharp
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If you are on a journey to discover your calling in life, then you should acquaint yourself with the works of Parker Palmer. If you want to think deeply about your vocation, then you need to read Let Your Life Speak: Listening For the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer.
Here’s Parker Palmer’s perspective on vocation:
Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you.
I was recently interviewed on GroupTalk @ SmallGroupNetwork.com about mid-size communities!
Carolyn Taketa, the Executive Director for Small Groups at Calvary Community Church, is a friend of mine and she interviewed me about all things mid-size communities.
In this Group Talk, we cover:
I’d love to hear your thoughts and continue this conversation with you!
Be sure to check out the interview here.
In every growing organization, the order in which you hire your next staff member is critical to your growth trajectory. Resources are limited and every staff hour counts. How much more true is this in a non-profit organization like a church? Especially when it’s primarily a volunteer movement?
Peter Drucker, in his book The Effective Executive, gives us timely advice for this question:
One should only have on a team the knowledges and skills that are needed day in and day out for the bulk of the work. Specialists that may be needed once in a while, or that may have to be consulted on this or on that, should always remain outside. It is infinitely cheaper to go to them and consult them against a fee than to have them in the group to say nothing of the impact an underemployed but overskilled man has on the effectiveness of the entire group. All he can do is mischief. (Location 673)
What a great framework to determine who your next hire should be!
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