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Talking Technology Last week we looked more closely at the Leadership Summit hosted by Willow Park Church in Kelowna. That conference was held in conjunction with the Willow Creek Association and the Leadership Centre of Willow Creek Canada, which is also located in Kelowna (www.growingleadership.com). The Leadership Summit was broadcast live via satellite from the Willow Creek campus near Chicago, involved more than 40,000 men and women gathering in some 80 cities and was attended by more than 450 people in Kelowna. This week, I want to take a closer look at one of the leadership lessons taught by Bill Hybels. Hybels is the senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., and is the author of several books on leadership including, Courageous Leadership. I think that the messages taught by Hybels can help any leader seeking to lead their organization. Every person in a leadership position experiences what Hybels calls, “challenge spikes.” A challenge spike is akin to a crisis that not only completely stretches your leadership capability but does so in such a way as to cause you to question your own capacity to handle the crisis and your own ability to lead your organization in the midst of such turmoil. Challenge spikes can often last months and have the ability to teach leaders enormous leadership and character lessons. Leadership of any organization can be a lonely place at times. Sometimes the road less traveled for the leader is simply not an envious place to be. Perhaps your closest friends don't buy into your vision, perhaps the business finances look impossible to turn around, perhaps your employees have lost faith in you, perhaps there is no one that understands exactly what you are going through or perhaps nothing that you have tried with your business seems to be working. What do you do when you are experiencing such a challenge spike in your business, career or personal life and you on the road to losing all confidence in yourself to be a good leader? How do you handle the overwhelming feeling of inadequacy and despair that can overtake you in such moments? Where do you turn? It was no surprise to me, being at a Christian conference on leadership, for me to hear Hybels describe how his faith helped him to handle a significant challenge spike in his leadership of Willow Creek. However, what did surprise me was how brutally honest Hybels was about his brokenness and his lack of confidence in himself to be the leader that could bring his team and the organization through this crisis. Being a Christian pastor, he described how he went to God through Jesus Christ for affirmation and confirmation that he was the one to lead in this moment. Being part of a large and growing organization, I appreciated Hybels' humility in the midst of such turmoil. Hybels also shared this crisis with his team who not only confirmed their confidence in his ability to lead but rallied around him and supported him throughout the crisis. Regardless of your perspective on the Christian faith, I think there are three very important lessons that we can all learn from Hybels' message on challenge spikes. First, as leaders we need to recognize that challenge spikes come our way to help us deepen our leadership skills and our character. Crises of confidence shake us to the core and help us recognize our strengths and our weaknesses. Second, as leaders we need to get out of “do it yourself” mode and be honest with ourselves and those that we are leading. How often we look internally when a crisis arises and try to do everything ourselves, often shutting others out. Admit it—things are not always rosy in your business. The path to a better business is not always clear. Sometimes you do have doubts and lack confidence in your own leadership ability. As leaders, we all need to be more honest with ourselves and those that we lead to not only recognize when we are in a challenge spike but also be humble enough to ask for help. As Hybels described, for him to have the unwavering support of God and his team was invaluable to him. In fact, it was help propel him to new heights as a leader. Third, remember that a challenge spike can be your finest hour as a leader. That is, when you rise above your own abilities and deliver leadership capabilities that you didn't even know that you had. A truly great leader is a humble leader that is willing to admit when they don't have all of the answers. Next week we will look more closely at the leadership lessons of Pat Summitt, who has maintained a championship women's basketball program at the University of Tennessee for almost three decades, is the fourth women's basketball coach to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and is the author of two inspirational books, Reach for the Summit and Raise the Roof. I think you will enjoy Summitt's insights on developing winning teams. Steve Burns, CA, CMC, CFP, is the president and CEO of Burns Innovation Group Inc. (www.burnsinnovation.com) and Steve Burns Inc. Chartered Accountant (www.steveburns.ca), which provide consulting and accounting services to entrepreneurs. You can reach Steve at 763-4716 or via e-mail at: |
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