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Leadership Development Rochester NY

4 GLS Tools to Accelerate Your Emotional Intelligence

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~~  Written by Liz Driscoll, Willow Creek Association  ~~

 

Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack. – Travis Bradberry

At the 2016 Global Leadership Summit, we took a deep dive into a key leadership skill: emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ has been described as the most important business skill for the 21st Century—and it is something that can be grown and developed in anyone.

Emotionally intelligent leaders are aware of their own emotions in the moment and they are able to manage and channel those emotions to build trust. They also sense the emotions of others—and know how and when to make a critical ask. Or when to back down. These leaders navigate challenging emotional waters and come out strong and intact.

  1. During the month of July, our GLS community will focus on the topic of Emotional Intellligence. Here’s how you can follow along. NEW! Download and listen to Episode 005 of the GLS Podcast. In this edition, Bill Hybels discusses how he is working to build emotional intelligence into his staff at Willow Creek. To watch or listen click here.
  2. Download the podcast shownotes. Included in the shownotes is a short summary with key takeaways, a list of links to resources mentioned in the podcast and reflection questions for you and your team.
  3. Gain new perspectives on the Follow the GLS Every week, watch for original posts on Emotional Intelligence from trusted voices in the GLS family. This month, we will feature posts from:

 

Bill Hybels – 2017 GLS Faculty Spotlight

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~~ Written by Willow Creek Association ~~

More than 20 years ago, Bill Hybels founded The Global Leadership Summit with a vision to bring the best of leadership learning to the local church. Fast forward to 2017. The event has grown to become one of the premier leadership conferences in the world—attracting a global audience of more than 400,000 people with a world-class faculty.

USA Today ran a story one time about a guy who slipped into a coma on the heels of a terrible auto accident. He didn’t stay there for 19 days or even 19 months, but rather for 19 years. They interviewed him right after he awakened from all that unconsciousness and asked, “How is it that you finally were able to start talking?”

“Well,” he said, pausing to consider it for the first time. “I just decided to start moving my lips.”

As I read the newspaper article, I couldn’t help but think, “If all it took to break out of a 19-year coma was to start moving your lips, why didn’t you give that a shot 10 years ago? You might be giving public speeches by now!”

Personally, I’ve never understood inactivity. Why a person would sit when he could soar, spectate when he could play or atrophy when he could develop, is beyond me. I feel sure Jesus felt the same way. A lot of adjectives might describe Jesus’ time here on planet Earth, but comatose would not be one of them. In the span of three years in “vocational” ministry, he performed dozens of miracles, healed hundreds of people, catalyzed thousands of conversations, set the stage for the most ambitious church plant in history and died for the sins of all humankind. He was the epitome of action-orientation.

What’s more, he sought out followers who shared his bias toward action . . .

Luke 5 says that one day Jesus was standing by a lake, preaching to a group of people. Needing a little distance from the swelling crowd, Jesus decided to continue his sermon from the water. He saw a couple of boats along the shore, left there by fisherman who were washing their nets, so he hopped into one and asked its owner—Simon Peter—to row him out from shore. Once in the waves, he resumed his talk.

Certainly Jesus possessed the skills necessary to row himself out to sea. But taking matters into his own hands that way wouldn’t have yielded any new information about the person he was thinking about drafting onto his team. Jesus wanted to find out what would happen to Peter when struggles or challenges came his way, so he put Peter to the test.

“Give me a hand here, would you, Peter?” That was the request Jesus made. And without so much as a second thought, Peter said yes. Of course I’ll help. Of course, I’ll spring to action when a need arises that I can help meet. Absolutely, yes!

More important even than the apostle’s yes though, was the motivation behind it. Pete’s yes oozed out of his wiring, not out of obligation. He didn’t know he was being tested. All he knew was a need had presented itself and that he was perfectly equipped to meet. So he met it.

Because of his solid bias toward action, Peter passed the test. Jesus finished the sermon, and kingdom gains were netted.

The whole thing seems so simple, so elementary, but be honest: Do you screen for action-orientation when you want someone to join you near the center of your cause? Are you intentional about seeking out the ones who, by virtue of sheer wiring patterns, will say, “Your dilemma is my dilemma, too”?

I was helping a Willow Creek Association church with a building initative a few years ago, and en route from the airport to the church, the senior pastor and I talked about this “bias toward action” concept. He told me that whenever he’s considering hiring someone new, he gives the person a driving test. Are they looking for the fastest lane? The shortest route? An edge on nearby drivers?

We happened to be sitting at a stoplight while he was telling me all of this, and somewhere mid-paragraph, the light changed from red to green. I waited a few seconds for him to notice, but no such luck. Finally, I couldn’t choke it back: “It’s as green as it’s gonna get. If you’re so action-oriented, then step on it! I’m dying here!”

Friend, it’s as green as it’s gonna get in our world. The doors are open, the path is clear, the harvest is huge and the time to act is now. I believe God is looking to pour out his favor on those who are hopping out of bed each morning ready to further the cause for his glory. Lead with a bias toward action. You will never regret it.

 

To hear more from Bill Hybels and 12 additional world-class faculty leaders, register today to attend the Global Leadership Summit at Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women!


The GLS Reaches 1,000 Prisoners in Ecuador

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~~ Written by Willow Creek Association ~~

As the GLS expands across the globe, there is an increasing interest to bring the event into prisons.

Each city that has decided to take on the initiative to bring the GLS into prisons has the same heart behind it—to raise up, encourage and equip leaders behind prison walls with godly leadership principles, so when they leave (or even if they don’t), they are better prepared to enter society and make a positive influence.

The idea to bring the GLS into the local prisons in Guayaquil, Ecuador was sparked after the local team watched the grander vision story about Burl Cain during the 2015 Summit.

“We’ve been hosting the GLS in our church for the last 10 years,” said Anna Maria, GLS leader in Ecuador. “And when we saw how the GLS had started going into the prisons in the U.S., the pastor in our church who is in charge of prison ministry was inspired to do this in our city.”

Last February, they launched the GLS in one of the nine prisons, reaching more than 1,000 prisoners.

“It’s amazing to see the reaction to what they’re experiencing,” Ana Maria shares. “They thanked us for giving them tools they never had before.

“As their minds open to things they thought they could not do, it infuses into them hope for the future.”

In the U.S., the goal is to bring the GLS into 60 prisons in 2017. There are also prison initiatives in Kenya, Venezuela and of course, Ecuador. Thank you for praying and supporting the GLS in prisons.

Becoming Better Evangelizers by Becoming Better Leaders

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Several years ago I walked into a used furniture store in Irondequoit.  On one of the beds lied a young man, about 16 years old. He was lined with tattoos and body-piercings from his face down. Talking with his mom on the other side of the store, it was clear he was looking for attention.

I thought to myself, who will evangelize this young man? Will he find himself wanting to walk into a nearby Catholic Church? Will the local church, or his parish (the geographical boundary in which he lives) reach him and bring him to Christ?

These are great questions. We live in a high-need world and a high-need society. People are hungry and awaiting our genuine and thoughtful response.

How can we become better evangelizers? 

By becoming better leaders!

Leadership expert and best-selling author John Maxwell states “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” His statement couldn’t be truer.

Summit Gives Birth to New Catholic Ministry

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Grace & Relationship - The Paradigm Shift for the Catholic Church

Written by Willow Creek Association • Apr 24 2017

Dan Tarrant and his family
Dan Tarrant and his family

Dan Tarrant, founder of ReEngaged Ministries and a Summit host site leader in Philadelphia, is on a mission to invite Catholics into a personal relationship with God within the heart of the Catholic Church.

Some think this mission is counter intuitive and impossible.

But the paradigm is shifting.

When the Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in 1999, agreeing explicitly that salvation is “by grace alone” and “not because of any merit on our part,” Dan became burdened with a call back to the Catholic Church.

This time, as a Christian who was also Catholic, he desired to invite Catholics into a relationship with God built on the foundation of grace.

His vision was sparked.

But it wasn’t until he (reluctantly) attended The Global Leadership Summit that Dan’s vision was set ablaze.

 

He realized the local church, including the Catholic Church, could be the hope of the world.

And Dan has been attending the Summit almost every year ever since.

"Figure it Out"
“Figure it Out”

God thumped my heart a couple of years ago when Bill Hybels’ challenged us to “Figure it Out” in his message at the Summit. And it wasn’t simply a nice pep talk. It was the Holy Spirit using that moment to pull me aside so I could listen to Him.

This is likely the most important takeaway from a Summit for me in my life.
I realized that sometimes God calls us from A to B and then says “figure it out.” I kept telling God to figure it out and I would follow. But it became clear God was asking me to “put out into the deep” without knowing what to expect and then “figure it out” myself.

So I set out on a journey to figure it out!

My own personal relationship with God, my own experience of Church and my reading of the Bible has led me to two solid conclusions.  The Catholic Church is being called to:

  • learn how to have a more personal relationship with God.
  • rediscover grace in a more authentic and personal manner.

I honestly believe the absence of these two things can hold back many Catholics from a transformed life in Jesus Christ.

Pope John Paul II said, “It is painfully clear that many Catholics…have never made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and the Gospel.”

Pope Benedict XVI said, “Let us ask ourselves: how is my personal relationship with God?” He also said “We are only Christians if we encounter Christ…. Only in the personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we truly become Christians.”

Finally, Pope Francis said, “We believe in Jesus when we personally welcome him into our lives.”

It seemed that Pope John Paul II was saying that many Catholics have never personally committed their lives to Jesus Christ. It seemed that Pope Benedict was calling Catholics to a personal relationship with God and openly declaring that being baptized and then only going through the motions at Mass was not enough to be an authentic Catholic Christian. And it seemed that Pope Francis was saying Catholics need to consciously make a personal decision to welcome Jesus.

But few in the Church were actively responding.

The popes, along with the voice of God in my life, were saying what my own heart and experience were saying.

I was going to have to figure it out.

That was when ReEngaged Ministries was born.

Through ReEngaged Ministries, an organization birthed out of the inspiration and encouragement God prompted at the Summit, thousands of Catholics have met Jesus Christ in a personal way.

In a year and a half we have invited more than 4,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and beyond to make a personal decision to welcome Jesus Christ into their hearts in a personal relationship with God, which is grounded in grace alone.

My dream is that the relationship with God I discovered after I left the church can be found by other Catholics within the Catholic community without leaving it.
God calls all of us to be Christian. Christ is not a vague abstract moral principle; He’s a person with a personal plan for our lives.

Whenever I ask God what He wants me to do in this situation or that one, the answer is always the same: “Be a Christian.” It’s so simple. And it’s what I’m doing. I’m being a Christian in the Catholic Church, and God is honoring that work in the church tradition in which I was born.

The Summit is a catalyst.

The Summit’s approach of being unapologetically Christian and unapologetically open to learning from everyone has created a genuine space for growth and rest in my walk with Jesus Christ as a Catholic Christian. The Summit experience creates unity with other Christians, changing the Summit from being a series of talks you can just watch at home to something you must attend within a diverse community of faith.

To this day, the Summit continues to give me the vision for leading up and leading courageously without using my circumstances as an excuse. It helps me keep my eyes on grace and growth. And the Summit is the one place where I am almost certain to hear a whisper from God about the future direction of my service to him in a foundational way.

Ultimately, the Summit has helped me be more fully myself fully for Jesus Christ. And in that alone is my peace. Everything else in my leadership life is a fruit of that lifestyle. The Summit has been, and continues to be, one of the most important touchstones in my walk with Jesus Christ within the Catholic Church.