As is my annual custom, I attended a satellite presentation of the Global Leadership Summit last week. My primary reason to attend is to be introduced to new speakers in the field of leadership development and be exposed to some cutting-edge ideas in the field. About a third of the participants are church leaders, one-third business leaders, and the rest are not-for-profit leaders, educators, and others. The mix is ministry meets marketplace, and it is done well.
The Summit still originates in South Barrington, Illinois, from the facilities of Willow Creek Church, but there is a bit of distance between the church and the Network since accusations arose about former church pastor Bill Hybels who was also a key player in the Willow Creek Association, now rebranded as the Global Leadership Network. Although the Summit was broadcast to hundreds of sites across the United States with about 135,000 participants (and will be re-packaged and translated for subsequent presentations in over 135 countries), I found myself having to drive over an hour to attend a location in the Nashville area.
The new pastoral face of the Summit is Craig Groeschel, co-founder and pastor of Life.Church. He has been designated as “the official champion of The Global Leadership Summit,” undoubtedly an effort to bolster its legitimacy for church leaders. Groeschel is energetic and likeable, combining the insights of a creative CEO with the enthusiasm of a skinny jeans wearing preacher. In other words, a young Hybels without the baggage.
The social entrepreneur who stood out this year was Liz Bohannon, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Sseko Designs, a company whose products are made in countries such as Uganda and Ethiopia, empowering women to earn their own incomes, lead in their communities, and continue their education. Bohannon is a lively speaker who obviously is committed to her work and is a role model for young women. Her presentation was built around her new book, Beginner’s Pluck. Her key quote was, “Nobody needs or wants you to be their hero. The role of leaders is not to be the hero...but to help others become the hero of their own story.”
Jason Dorsey is president of The Center for Generational Kinetics which does research on generational characteristics and tries to verify or debunk myths about Gen Z, Millennials, and other cohorts. His key insight was that research is perceiving an emerging split among Millennials about age 30 between the “mega-llineals” (engaged and prospering) and the “me-llenials” (still defined by a delayed adolescence). His book will be out next year.
Patrick Lencioni was as manic and entertaining as ever. He began with a conference-stopping quote: “Fewer people should be leaders!” He explained that too many people are leading for the wrong reasons--they are seeking reward rather than responsibility. From Lencioni’s perspective, responsibility-based leadership is servant leadership. His next book, The Motive (due out in 2020) is based on this idea. His key quote: “My hope is that someday people will not talk about servant leadership because that will be the only type of leadership that exists.”
Although the lineup this year was a bit short on preachers, everything else was about the same--creative and upbeat musical presentations, thoughtful leadership gurus, dynamic business leaders, and inspirational speakers who have experience in world-changing ministries.
Best quote of the Summit was made by Bozoma Saint John, Chief Marketing Officer of Endeavor: “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.”
Several of the leadership gurus were new and one favorite, Patrick Lencioni, was back. They covered topics from generational change to negotiating.
Ben Sherwood, a journalist who has had leadership roles at Disney and ABC, was not charismatic but very informative. His key quote related to survival tactics was,“Always maintain your point of reference. No matter how hard you get hit you will stay on course. When leaders lose their point of reference, they get lost.”
Jason Dorsey is president of The Center for Generational Kinetics which does research on generational characteristics and tries to verify or debunk myths about Gen Z, Millennials, and other cohorts. His key insight was that research is perceiving an emerging split among Millennials about age 30 between the “mega-llineals” (engaged and prospering) and the “me-llenials” (still defined by a delayed adolescence). His book will be out next year.
Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator and founder of The Black Swan Group, shared some ideas about negotiating that overlap with leadership coaching. Jia Jiang, author of Rejection Proof and a trainer in what he terms Rejection Therapy presented strategies for overcoming the fear of rejection.
One of the best of the new presenters was Todd Henry, author of Herding Tigers: Be the Leader that Creative People need. Henry pointed out the leadership tension between challenge and stability. One of his important ideas was, “Trust is the currency of brilliant teams.”
Craig Groeschel provided the bookends of the Summit, as Hybels often did. I was particularly taken with his emphasis in the final presentation on the value of story and storytelling. “Stories stick. Facts fade,” he said. “When you use a story, you connect the heart of emotions to the strength of logic, igniting powerful action.” This is a great leadership insight for ministers, business people, and not-for-profit leaders.
Although I enjoy the Summit, this is an event best experienced with a team. For several years, Central Seminary allowed me to offer this as a class and it was great to process everything with a group. If you lead a team, plan to participate next year on August 6-7, 2020. I plan to attend, the Lord willing, and I hope I won’t have to drive as far.
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