‘I have no one else who asks me questions like this’
was the response of one leader I’m coaching at the minute. Coaching has enabled me to lead more effectively. I’m excited about how developing my coaching skills will allow me to help other leaders in Ireland do the same.
Coaching provides leaders the time and space to reflect, learn, plan and act for better performance and stronger relationships. It helps them transform their perspectives and make wise choices in how they live, lead and work.
Read more about my experience of the Innovista Coaching College, get an overview of 2011, find out what Glad you Asked is, join some intrepid fundraisers in running the Belfast City Marathon Relay or Dublin Women’s mini-marathon for Innovista Ireland and catch up with the latest news in our Spring newsletter by signing up here.
Beyond the snakes and the green Patrick was truly a heroic leader in Irish history. the slave boy who returned to the land of his captivity to bring a message of hope and peace. A leader whose vision was for a world where every life would be valued and every injustice ended still resonates today.
You can find out more about Patrick and read some of his writings at the excellent Saint Patrick’s confessio
And there’s the Dublin schoolchildren version:
Saint Patrick’s Breastplate is the famous prayer which never fails to inspire me.
I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the threeness, Through confession of the oneness Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgement of Doom.
I arise today Through the strength of the love of the Cherubim, In the obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In the hope of the resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In prediction of prophets, In preaching of apostles, In faith of confessors, In innocence of holy virgins, In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today Through the strength of heaven; Light of sun, Radiance of moon, Splendour of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of wind, Depth of sea, Stability of earth, Firmness of rock.
I arise today Through God’s strength to pilot me: God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak to me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to save me,
From snares of devils, From temptation of vices, From every one who shall wish me ill, Afar and anear, Alone and in a multitude. I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of women and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ to shield me today Against poising, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So there come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me, Christ in the eye of every one who sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the threeness, Through confession of the oneness Of the Creator of Creation.
Identity is at the core of (Christian) leadership. It has been so clear to me over the past number of years that leaders need to be secure in who they are. When a leader is secure in his or her identity as a child and heir of God, it liberates them to be able to invest in others, to develop the gifts and abilities of other leaders, to enable others to become greater than they are. All too often when leaders strive for control, or engage in destructive practices and conflict it can be traced back to identity issues. To feeling insecure and threatened by the gifts and abilities of others. To being afraid of how others look in comparison to them. Knowing who we are as leaders is critical – not just for our own health, but for the good of those we serve.
Ed Dobson (originally from Northern Ireland and pictured right) was a megachurch pastor in the US who had huge influence politically as a leader in the Moral Majority. He developed Motor Neurone Disease and life changed dramatically. He has made a series of short films exploring some of his learning, including this one: my garden which you can view on Rachel Held Evans blog.
So often we find our identity in our job or role, or position of influence. What happens when all of that changes?
Watch Ed’s Story: my garden to hear some of his reflections
Ed wrote a fascinating book recently called the Year of Living Like Jesus
It’s Friday, the weekend is coming and I’m off to Ukraine for a week to do some evaluating and planning with Innovista’s international team. So here are a few thought-provoking leadership related highlights I’ve enjoyed from around the web over the last couple of weeks.
Rick McKinley on the Restorer Minded Church – some very helpful thoughts on how the church fulfils its mission (video – 16mins).
Worldly leadership in the church from Scot McKnight’s blog.
Authentic leadership and clearness committees (scroll down) from the Toward blog.
Wow it’s been 21 years by Christine Caine on the Catalyst site.
And if you live in or around Belfast, check out the Bible College’s upcoming lectures looking at leadership, the gospel and fear with Simon Walker (author of the Undefended Leader series).
At our last Belfast Tempo group we were looking at strategy. One of the group sent me this link after attending a Worship Central conference. It is geared towards worship leaders but applies to all teams,churches or organisations. It begins to raise some interesting questions.
Further thoughts on culture vs strategy can be found in this article on Fast Company.
What do you think?
How is your team culture?
How is your team strategy?
In your church or organisation how might clarity on your culture and strategy be beneficial?
Following on from a previous post I’ve been reminded about the importance of discipline in leadership from a number of sources.
A couple of weeks ago the Belfast Tempo group visited a business run by a family who are Christians. Reflecting on his practices, experience and passion the father reminded our group that Christian leadership flows out of a vibrant relationship with God. Making ethical decisions and treating staff well flowed for him out of time spent before work in prayer and God’s word. A similar commitment to spiritual discipline in seen in this interview with the theologian and former Bishop, NT Wright who has a rhythm of morning and evening prayer.
Discipline has many benefits in all aspects of our leadership. Discipline builds character and also develops our skills. The now CEO of the aforementioned family business was also describing to us the annual discipline of review and strategic planning that has enabled their company to grow in the midst of recession. Without the discipline of reflection, planning and prioritising we simply end up reacting and chasing our tails. Days I sit with my email open are often less productive than the days when my day is structured with (roughly) set times to respond to emails.
Michael Hyatt also talks about the benefits of a regular (disciplined) approach to exercise and to reading – habits that keep up our energy levels. Disciplined people are disciplined both in their thinking and their action.
For many of us the word discipline is not one that excites us. Perhaps thinking of it as building healthy rhythms into our leadership can be helpful.
I know that when I have a good rhythm of time with God, of exercise, of reading, of spending time with people who energise me then I am more engaged in work and enjoy my days more.
What are the things that if you built into a healthy and regular rhythm would help you operate at your best and enable you to serve those you lead most effectively?
Short interview with Chris Wright with some interesting insights on developing leaders and discipleship at 3.39.
Thanks to Medris Kinnon Productions
Good strategy almost always looks simple and obvious and does not take a thick deck of Powerpoint slides to explain.
It does not pop out of some “strategic management” tool matrix, chart, triangle, or fill in the blanks scheme.
Instead, a talented leader identifies the one or two critical issues in the situation – the pivot points that can multiply the effectiveness of the effort – and then focuses and concentrates action and resources on them.
Richard Rumelt
I love new year and all that it reminds us about the possibility of fresh starts and new beginnings – how God’s grace is continually poured out on us and his Spirit empowers us to begin again or work with him again on some stuff we’ve forgotten.
Don Miller in this blog on Reputation vs character issues a timely reminder that the start of a new year is an opportunity to focus on what matters – and that building character is much more important than building our reputations.
For (young) leaders a new year is a perfect time to recommit to developing the gifts and abilities God has given us – for the sake of those we serve. HBR have an excellent piece on 5 resolutions for aspiring leaders. The first two – find a mentor and form a leadership development group are at the heart of what we are doing through Tempo (now recruiting for a new Dublin group).
New year resolutions are something I’m not so hot on as they don’t tend to last. However, this article from the99percent takes a really helpful approach and recommends simplifying your approach to reflect, select and remove.
Reflecting on the year that is past, on what went well, on the difficulties, on what we have learned is a crucial aspect of leadership growth and a discipline I struggle with as an activist. Select refers to choosing a few simple goals that are specific and achievable to focus on. I found this really helpful as I chatted over dinner with my wife last night about what mine might be and we agreed 3 together. Lastly remove. Stopping doing something is difficult but to quote a leader I once interviewed “my noes give value to my yeses”. Many of us are simply doing too many things to do them well. Maybe this year we should choose one or two things that we fill focus on doing excellently and stop doing other things to enable that to become reality.
Wishing you experience the hope, joy and peace of advent and the incarnation this Christmas.
And some enjoyment from a few of my favourite Christmas discoveries.
First, something to watch:
If you liked that check out this year’s offering.
Then something to listen to: Bruce Cockburn – Cry of a Tiny Babe
My favourite Christmas song this year listen to it here on Spotify
Like a stone on the surface of a still river
Driving the ripples on forever
Redemption rips through the surface of time
In the cry of a tiny babe
And finally something to read:
Check out Brian Walsh’s rewrite of Mary’s song here or the Transforming Centre’s inspiring advent blog series.
Happy Christmas!
