Leadership Summit: Sessions 1 and 2

Today I'm hanging out at Granger Community Church, a satellite location for the Leadership Summit. Leaders from around the world convene in early August to engage in some awesome leadership development opportunities. So far we've gotten through sessions one and two, hearing from Bill Hybels (one of the pastors of Willow Creek) and Carly Fiorina (former CEO of HP). So far here's what I've gleaned from the talks:

Session 1: Vision

"Nothing matters more than the ownership of a vision."

The idea here was that, with widespread ownership of a vision, the organization, institution, or orgranism (as is the case with the Church), can move forward with quality people on board. Everyone is working toward common goals and the accomplishment of a common vision. How can this be accomplished? We need to take the team approach when it comes to forming a vision. Get the team, get key leaders, get input from a lot of people when it comes to forming a vision for the people you lead.

When leading, people will know if you're a true leader or just a hired hand. Ultimately what it comes down to is this: are you willing to pay a very heavy price for the vision God birthed in your heart? People will follow and pay a high price for the realizing of a vision if they realize that you would pay the price first.

It's kind of crazy, but I started to think of some of these principles and how they apply in my classroom (I'm a high school math teacher). I have a vision for that classroom: I want the kids to be able to think for themselves, to reason things out and figure things out for themselves. I also want them to come into class each day and just do a good job. However, I've never communicated this vision to a class. And I'm sure that some of the kids' visions of math class are quite different. I'm wondering if I can do something about this.... The last thing I want is a repeat performance of the mediocrity I've seen in the past.

Session 2: Carly Fiorina

This was basically an interview between Bill Hybels and Carly Fiorina. She said some cool things about leading corporations and stuff like that: leading with integrity, honesty, respect, innovation (which I thought was cool), and a few others. But a random thought passed through my mind as I sat there. I don't know where it came from because it was somewhat unrelated to what she was talking about, but here it is:

Be a good leader in your family.

I need to work on setting the example in my family.

~

WJS