All posts tagged Bill Hybels

I’m Thankful for Willow Creek

by Tim Schraeder on 08/03/2011 in Personal with 14 Comments

Now I know what you are thinking.

“Really? You are thankful for Willow Creek?”

I know that for most next gen leaders the words “Willow Creek” may evoke some different opinions or feelings. It may seem a bit dated or corporate, or even representing a ministry model that didn’t work. But hear me out.

Regardless of your thoughts or opinions on Willow Creek, the seeker-sensitive movement, or megachurches, you can’t deny the impact Willow Creek has made on the lives of thousands of people and church leaders over the past few decades.

In a time where church was boring and irrelevant, Willow Creek gave many church leaders a glimpse of what was possible. And, beyond a ministry model or ideas, Bill Hybels has, at his core, been committed to helping leaders become their best.

In August of 2002, I was 19 years old I was less than a year into my first job working for my church as a communications director. I had decided against going to Bible college since most Bible colleges don’t pride themselves on their media programs. All I knew was that there was something in my heart to want to serve the local church and all I had to offer to the cause were my Microsoft Publisher skills.

All of the elders from our church were going to attend the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit but a few of them had to back out at the last minute. So, I got to take one of their places. I had no idea what was in store for me.

As I sat bewildered a the size of the room [and the fact that I was with some of the key leaders from my church], I heard Bill Hybels say his infamous phrase, “I believe that the local church is the hope of the world and its future rests in the hands of its leaders.”

In that moment I realized what God had placed in my hands… my design and writing skills and tech savvy… could be used to build the Church. And, I realized that regardless of my title, I was a leader. That moment changed my perspective and the trajectory of my ministry. I realized what I was doing wasn’t about bulletins or websites, it was part of me living out my calling.

I heard many other great leaders speak over the next couple of days but that moment is one I’ll never forget. And I’ve been at the Leadership Summit nearly every year since.

There are many great leadership conferences out there but for me, The Global Leadership Summit is one of the best because it brings together voices from inside and outside of the church, has introduced me to leaders and experts I’ve never heard before, and reinforces that thought that we, as church leaders, hold a sacred privilege of leading the church forward. Fast Company even recently featured the Global Leadership Summit and shared about its size and impact.

Now, if you’ve attended The Leadership Summit before and think you’ve been there, done that, I have to tell you that it’s changed dramatically over the couple few years. This year, the Global Summit Leadership will be in 200 cities in 75 countries internationally-and is projected to serve more than 100,000 leaders. In many ways it seems like they are returning to the heart of what it’s always been about: practically inspiring church leaders.

Example: Check out this awesome piece Blaine Hogan put together for the Global Leadership Summit last year:

BE HERE NOW from blaine hogan on Vimeo.

So all of that to say, regardless of even my own preconceived ideas, I am thankful for Willow Creek and The Global Leadership Summit. I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for that fateful August afternoon back in 2002.

Last year I was privileged to serve with the Willow Creek Association team as a blogger for the Global Leadership Summit and this year I helped organize a group of bloggers who will be helping share and extend the Global Leadership Summit experience online:

We’ll be blogging next Thursday and Friday during the 2011 Global Leadership Summit with guest speakers including: Seth Godin, Erwin McManus, Howard Schultz, Steven Furtick and more.

It’s not too late to register to attend at one of 185 satellite locations around the country. More info here.

Follow the madness here, on Facebook, on the WCA blog, on Twitter, or with the hashtag #wcagls.

And… I’ve got 2 tickets to giveaway for those of you who a) have never been to the Global Leadership Summit before or b) have been before but it’s been awhile. You’ll need to be available all day next Thursday and Friday, August 11-12 and be near one of the Global Leadership Summit satellite locations to win [the Barrington onsite location is sold-out].

To win, comment below and share how the ministry of Willow Creek has positively impacted you and indicate whether or not you’ve attended the Global Leadership Summit in the past.

I’ll randomly pick a winner on Friday morning, August 5, at 9 AM.

Hope to see you at the Summit!

Leadership Development :: Bill Hybels

by Tim Schraeder on 08/06/2010 in Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit 2010 with 3 Comments
  • The local church is the hope of the world.
  • For it to reach its redemptive potential it must be well-lead.
  • It has incredible impact-potential.
  • It has to be lead by godly, servant-oriented, humble, growing leaders.
  • If it is lead by those kinds of leaders the gates of Hell will not prevent the full work of God in the world.
  • Those of us with leadership gifts have to step up and have to step it up.
  • We have to take responsibility for our own leadership development.
  • Read as a discipline.
  • Get around those who are better than you, who have been where you haven’t been.
  • Ask the right questions.
  • Get better.
  • Go where leadership is taught.
  • Keep leading strong wherever you are leading.
  • Our church needs strong leaders.
  • This church would fold tomorrow if it weren’t for the fantastic marketplace people who considered themselves bi-vocational, serving in leadership roles at Willow Creek.
  • They have a huge group of unpaid staff that make Willow happen.
  • Clergy and marketplace people need to forge bonds of unity to carry out the calling of the Church.
  • The greater percentage of people you have at shared experiences enable you to move with critical mass from here to there.
  • If we have an expanded experience together, we can expand the Kingdom of God together.

Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit :: Bill Hybels

by Tim Schraeder on 08/05/2010 in Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit 2010 with 59 Comments

Bill Hybels is the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and the chairman of the board for Willow Creek Association. He convened The Global Leadership Summit in 1995, following a God-given prompting to help raise and develop the spiritual gift of leadership for the local church. Both visionary and passionate about seeing every local church reach its full God-given potential, he speaks around the world on strategic issues related to leadership, evangelism, and church growth. An exceptional communicator, he is a best-selling author of more than 20 books, including the upcoming release, The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God and Having the Guts to Respond.

  • Leaders can oftentimes find themselves in a leadership slump.
  • Leaders move people from here to there.
  • Leaders must be able to move people from a current reality (here) to a preferred future (there).
  • Some people are oftentimes going to be satisfied with “here.”
  • People oftentimes like it “here”… they don’t like the idea of going “there.”
  • There’s familiarity and safety “here.”
  • What do you do when people say they are staying “here”?
  • Crank up the heat and show them what life will look like over “there.”
  • The first play is not to make “there” sound wonderful, but to make “here” sound awful.
  • You have to convince people why staying “here” is a bad idea.
  • Before Martin Luther King Jr gave his “I Have a Dream” speech he gave hundreds of speeches that could have been considered “We Can’t Stay Here” speeches.
  • People were ready for the “there” speech because they had heard the “here” speech many times before.
  • Your God-given job is not to preside over something, our job is to figure out what God wants to get done, what role you play in it and move something or someone from here to there.
  • Our job is convince people that we cannot and will not stay here.
  • Staying here breaks the heart of God.
  • Your God-given job is not to preserve something from its gradual demise.
  • By God’s grace, with His power and for His glory, we are moving people there.

Team Building

  • It takes fantastic people to move a church or an organization from here to there.
  • You can’t do it alone.
  • One of the greatest joys of leadership is assembling and knitting together teams of fantastic people.
  • Teams are the catalyst of moving people from here to there.

The 3 “C’s” of Team Building… with a new “C”

  • When building teams we typically look for CHARACTER, COMPETENCY and CHEMISTRY.
  • We need to add a new “C”: CULTURE.
  • We need to ask what kind of person flourishes in our unique culture?
  • We’ve started asking, “What do we value? What works for us and what doesn’t?”
  • A fundamental goal of leadership is to attract, develop and retain a team of fantastic people that will flourish in your unique culture.
  • We want to make a disproportionate investment in your talents and abilities.
  • Telling people that they’re valuable to your organization is life-changing.

Challenge

  • We have a holy challenge of assembling, developing and inspiring a team of fantastic people without whom we could never get from here to there.
  • Do you see this as a leadership fundamental?
  • Do you view the assembling of fantastic people a privilege?
  • Have you defined your culture?
  • Are there sensitive conversations you need to have?

Mile Markers and Celebrations

  • How do you encourage people to stay on the journey?
  • Where on the journey are people most vulnerable on the journey from “here” to “there”?
  • The whole vision gets imperiled in the middle of the journey.
  • It’s not the first three or four miles that are a challenge in running a marathon, or the last few [because the end is in sight], it’s the miles in-between that it’s difficult.
  • Circumstances can hinder momentum.
  • People forget how bad it was “here” and how wonderful it will be when they get “there.”
  • Refill people’s vision buckets regularly.
  • Vision leaks.
  • Celebrate every mile-marker you possibly can on the way to the destination.
  • Create mile-markersarbitrarily if you need to.
  • What keeps people on the journey is some sense of hope that they are going to get there someday.
  • Turn set-backs into celebrations.
  • Any headway in the right direction is progress.
  • There is a 40% differential between in the productivity of an inspired teammate, church member, office worker, etc … and one who is uninspired.
  • Jesus monitored the inspiration level in His followers and breathe life into them when he saw that it was waning
  • He knew that inspiration matters.
  • When is the last time you threw a party to celebrate not just the destination, but the mile markers along the way of getting there?

Whispers from God

  • You can never get from “here” to “there” in a straight line.
  • You never amass fantastic people or make much progress on the journey without hearing from God en route.
  • The primary way God speaks to us is through the Bible.
  • Be a regular relentless reader of the word of God
  • God speaks to us directly by His Spirit.
  • John 10:17 … “my sheep will hear my voice…”
  • We may never hear an audible voice but He puts thoughts in our minds that are not our thoughts.
  • Follow those urges and those promptings.
  • Do you believe that God still speaks today?
  • We can’t live out a script that other people have for our lives.
  • God’s whisper is enough.
  • God tries to speak to us every single day.
  • We need to lower the ambient noise in our lives to receive and hear what God is speaking to us.
  • We will never have to do this alone… God with us all the time, everywhere.
  • Will you do everything your power to hear God’s voice and heed it?
  • We would see incredible changes in leadership all around the world if we’d be willing to listen to the whispers of God.
  • The smartest moves we make in leadership don’t come from our own wisdom but from wisdom that is not our own.
  • There’s no telling what God might do if you listen to God’s whispers and heed them.

Some Whispers You May Be Hearing

  • Don’t Quit,
  • Step Up
  • Apologize
  • Make the Tough Decision
  • Get Help
  • Stop Running from God,
  • Slow Down
  • Show your Heart
  • Let others Lead
  • Feed your Soul
  • Bless the Team
  • Make the Ask
  • Do something more Impactful
  • Come Clean
  • Embody the Vision
  • Celebrate the Victories
  • Speak the Truth
  • Pay the Price
  • Count Your Blessings
  • End the Secret
  • Check your Motives
  • Set the Pace
  • Give God your Best
  • Get Physically Fit
  • Serve Your Spouse
  • Pray

Whispers from God help us get from here to there the right way with the right motives.

Lead Where You Are

by Tim Schraeder on 08/08/2009 in Leadership Summit 2009, Notes with 3 Comments

I’ve been to the mountain… well, The Summit.

This year’s Leadership Summit was fantastic. Thanks to all of you (well over 3,000!) who found your way to my blog. I guess I take good notes? [By the way, I'm still taking 'Notes for a Cause' donations to go to Kiva.org!]

So I was at The Modern Wing at The Art Institute of Chicago today with a friend and overhead someone saying near the end of their trek through the galleries, “wow, I’m saturated…”

I think that sums up how I feel right now. Absolutely saturated.

There was so much information, inspiration and ideas that leapt out at me over the past couple of days and I’m still processing everything… but while it’s fresh, I thought I’d share a key thought or take-away I had from each session.

  • Bill Hybels’ first session, Leading in a New Reality, reminded me that I need to slow down and gently listen to God, even in the midst of the chaos of the world around me.
  • The panel discussion on Hiring, Firing, and Board Meltdowns challenged me to think of the kind of work culture we are creating at Park and how I, as a part of the team, am contributing.
  • Gary Hamel blew me away. There was so much he said, I don’t think I caught it all. But the one thing he did say that’s going to stick with me is that the Church is God’s plan for humanity and He has no “plan B.”
  • Tim Keller’s session, Leading People to the Prodigal God, was a sobering reminder to remember the true heart of the Gospel.
  • Jessica Jackley’s insight on the whole idea of co-creation totally excited me when thinking about new ideas and possibilities that are out there. It just starts be taking one, small step.
  • Harvey Carey didn’t have to do much to convince me that I just need to do something!
  • I could have listened to Dave Gibbons a lot longer, but I did get a copy of his book. I’m stoked to read more about his thoughts and insights on creating a Third Culture, a culture of adaptation.
  • Andrew Rugsira really challenged me to think differently about the continent of Africa and to not just look through the lens of compassion, but to also see the opportunity that is in the people there.
  • Wess Stafford… wow. What an amazing story. And how humbling to think that nothing is wasted, everything is redeemable.
  • David Gergen had tons of great insights but the one that stuck with me was the idea that who we are says a lot more about us than what we actually say.
  • The Heath Brothers were stellar, as usual. I’m going to really cherish their statement that “failure is oftentimes an early warning sign of success.”
  • Bono was great, too. I think the biggest challenge from him this year wasn’t so much about the HIV/AIDS as it was what he said about the Church. He said some things I think we really need to take to heart.
  • Tony Blair’s interview was way too short, but I think more than anything his reminder of what a privilege it is to be in leadership was something I needed to hear.
  • And although not a formal session, Bill Hybels’ closing remarks were a great way to end, reminding us that the little things are often the most important.

So, after all that… what’s my final thought?

I think the theme of this year’s conference says it all: lead where you are. No matter who you are, where you are, what you do, what you have or what you don’t have, God is calling you to do something. To lead where you are.

In thinking through each of this year’s speakers, they were all the first to admit their flaws and shortcomings but also the first to admit that in order to make a difference, you have to be willing to take a risk and do something. Even in the midst of your own failures or at the risk of failure.

I cannot think of a more exciting time and opportunity to be a part of the Church and to be a part of what God is doing in our generation. I’m so thankful for the experience of the Leadership Summit to remind me of the importance of the call to leadership, but more importantly, to remember first and foremost, before I do anything, I’m called to be a child of God.

So how about you?

What’s are your take-away’s from the Leadership Summit? What challenge are you going to face? Or what simple thing are you going to do differently? Would love to hear!

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