Catalyst One Day - Live Blog Session 1

Catalyst One Day:

SESSION 1:

Craig Groshel:  Decision Making
- How to make wise decisions?
EVERYDAY Craig has a to DO and a TO DECIDE list.
Decisions we make today define who we are becoming.

Craig suggests we should be intentional decision making process.
-It is amazing how far we go toward a decision with so little information.
-We put so much weight on what we do know, and ignore what we don't know.

5 Secrets of Superior Decision Makers:

1) Avoid either/or scenarios

●      If neither were an option, what would you do?  Look for other options.

2) Avoid decision fatigue like the plague

●      Delegate as many decisions as you can

●      Bulk decisions when possible

3) Become our own personal advisor

●      If I were counseling myself what would I say to myself.

●      Posture myself like I'm advising myself
Question to ask:

●      What would a great leader do?

●      What would my successor do?

4) Decide when we will decide.

●      Procrastination is the number one enemy of progress.

●      Remind yourself the cost of no decision.

●      Remind yourself of the loss of leadership credibility.

●      Remind yourself of the loss of opportunity.

●      If you wait until you are 100% sure to make all your decisions, you will generally be too late.

5) Seek and Listen for Direction from God

●      Galatians 5:25 (Keep in step with the Spirit)

●      With everything in you, seek the Spirit of God.

If you don’t want to develop leaders, make all the decisions.

If you want your organization to reflect your weakness, make all the decisions.

Keep a list of every time the Holy Spirit prompts you.

Andy Stanley:

If we had it to do all over again, what would do all over again?

1.     We had a uniquely better product.

●      Uniquely Better - it does what it is supposed to do but better than everything else

●      An engaging church experience for the entire family, especially for men.

●      Someone somewhere is creating the next generation of ‘uniquely better’ product of church, our decision is if we are going to embrace it or repel it.

1)    You have to be a student, not a critic.

                                           i.         Uniquely better is uncomfortable

                                          ii.         Our instinct when something is different is to be threatened, rather than students.

                                         iii.         I don't wanna be the guy leading last generations model.

                                        iv.         Marry your mission, date your model.

                                         v.         The next generation product or idea almost never come from the previous generation.

b.     Close Minded leaders close minds

                                           i.         Your innovators will leave

                                          ii.         You’ll be left with the status quo

c.     How do you respond to staff that make suggestions based on what they’ve seen at other churches?

d.     When was the last time your ministry embraced a big idea that wasn’t your idea?

e.     When was the last time you weren’t sure of an initiative it you gave the go ahead anyway?

f.      Sam Harris - PODCAST - We must pay attention to the frontiers of our ignorance.

g.     Replace HOW with WOW!

                                           i.         Nothing great started knowing the HOW

 2) As the uniquely better questions?

1.     Is this unique?

2.     What would make it unique?

3.     Is this better?

4.     Is this better, really?

SESSION 2:

Craig Groeschel: Leading with Urgency

Romans 13:11

Success feed pride, pride kills urgency, nothing fails like success.

URGENCY IS NOT THE DEFAULT MODE, complacency always is.

Luke 12:16-20

“The greatest success is future success.”

Complacency is really difficult to see in the mirror.

1)    Embody healthy skepticism.

●      All success is temporary. What works today may not work tomorrow.

●      What is happening outside that can hurt us inside?

○      The younger generation is skeptical in big and organized. We want to get bigger, but feel smaller

○      General bias against the mega church and the mega church Pastor

○      Secularization that is happening massively

○      People are coming to church less frequently

■      You do not advance the kingdom of God with one hour a month (based on the attendance of an involved believers coming once a month)

■      Engagement drives weekend attendance -- instead of engaging them in the 1 hour on Sunday, we need to engage them in the 167 during the week

■      Needed and Known -- why you go to churches of 100

●      How can we help people feel this way, that's why they will come back.

2) Attack Don’t Yack.

●      As your organization grows, movement naturally slows.

●      As your organization's ages, most move from a bias for action to a bias for discussion.

○      Bureaucracy is the enemy of growth.

○      We will make mistakes, but they will be aggressive not passive!!

○      Think about what you’ve been wanting to for a long time, and commit to action.

3) Pursue Continual Discomfort

●      Comfort is the enemy of progress.

○      We like comfort because it feels good, not because it's health.

○      Growth and comfort never co-exist.

4) Get Emotional

●      You can not light a fire with a wet match.  We must be emotional.

●      Fact’s don’t move people to action, emotion invokes action.

●      Great leaders try to win the hearts of people, not their minds.

●      If you in a complacent organization you have a complacent leader.

●      You can train skills, but you can’t train passion.

●      We are not building churches, we are filling heaven.

Andy Stanley:

If we had it to do all over again, what would we do all over again?

2) We created a culture of continuous improvement.

●      Momentum: New, Improved, Improving

●      Evaluate and Incorporate

●      Everybody is for change until something actually changes.

●      Church cultures are traditionally improvement-averse. (Because they are change adverse)

●      ORG CULTURE:

○      The personality of the organization.

○      How things are done

●      Creating Culture

○      Name it.

○      Stick it.

○      Model It. (Wear it)

■      Culture is shared primarily by how leaders behave not why they believe.

○      Teach It.

○      Institutionalize it.

○      Recognize it.

■      When you see something, say something.

■      It's not enough to do good, the church must be seen doing good.

●      Continuous Improvement

○      Name it.

○      Stick it. (Make it better)

○      Model it / Wear it

■      Are you improving?

■      What are you actually doing as a leader to improve as a leader and improve what you are responsible for?

■      You must be seen improving and improving things.

■      Work harder is different than make it better.

■      TEACHING EVALUATION - After Servces? After recording.

○      Teaching It.

■      What it is

■      Why it is important

■      What it will require of us

■      What it looks like here

■      What’s at stake.

○      Institutionalize it.

■      New Employee Evaluations

■      Evaluate Everything

■      Anytime a staff member goes to another church, we invite our staff to learn from it.

○      Recognize it.

■      What's rewarded is repeated.

■      Employee of the month style??

○      What feels tired?

○      Where are we manufacturing energy?

SESSION 3:

Craig Groeschel

Colossians 3:23 NIV

We are not serving people, we are serving God first.

Understanding Motivation:

●      People are not unmotivated

●      Everyone is motivated

●      They are just motivated by different things.

Leaders Definition of Motivation:

-       The art of leading people to do what you want them to do, because they want to do it.

Two Things to Avoid when Motivating Others:

1.     Avoid fear and threats

a.     Threats kill trust.  Leadership cannot thrive where there is no trust.

b.     Seagull Leadership (swoop & poop)

2.     Avoid handing out prizes and promises

a.     Dangling a carrot in front of someone is to imply they are like a donkey -- lazy and stupid.

b.     Outside rewards often cheapen internal satisfaction.

c.     If you always need a reward from the outside, you will never create true motivation from the inside.

How to Motivate in a Way That Lasts: (in reverse order)

1.     When all else fails, discipline.

a.     One of the most demotivating things we can do as a leader is consistently accept unacceptable performance. -- you are sanctifying incompetence

b.     Sometimes discipline needs to be public.  We do the offender a favor letting others know the issue is addressed and resolved.

c.     Private Discipline:

                                           i.         Create a climate of safety.

1.     Explain what is not happening

2.     Ensure they understand they are not getting fired, etc…

                                          ii.         Show them how their underperformance impacts others.

                                         iii.         Communicate specifically what needs to change and have them communicate what they heard you say.

2.     Empower them to own the solution.

a.     An average plan executed with full commitment is better than a good plan with partial commitment.

3.     Create a culture of appreciation

a.     If you want to motivate, appreciate.

b.     “People don’t lead organizations, they leave bad managers”

c.     Appreciate more than you think you should.  Then double it.

d.     Brag on your team to people close to them.

e.     Don’t just find what is wrong.  Find what is right and celebrate it.

4.     Model Motivation

a.     You always inspire more by your example than your words.

b.     “The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.” John Wooden

SESSION 4:

Andy Stanley

Once upon a time...there was only ROME.

●      No political parties

●      No political beliefs

And Jesus was...

-       Betrayed by a friend

-       Condemned by the temple

-       Crucified by the Empire

-       Worshipped though the world

At some point our generation will be a once upon a time story, just like the first century...what is that story going to be?

The day has come and gone where people would sit up and listen when you mentioned ‘the Bible says’.

Acts 4

If God had answered all the prayers we had prayed in the last year, who would have been impacted?  Most of us, it's about us, our families, and our friends

We pray such little prayers, maybe that's why such little happens…

Once we no longer fear the end of this life, we are no longer compelled to grasp the things of this life.

The boldness of the first century church was not about something Jesus taught, their boldness centered on the resurrection of their Saviour. An event, not a book.