Rest and Relaxation
I’m taking a break from this weekly blog for rest, relaxation, and restoration.
When was the last time you had a break from your routines?
Here’s a hint at what I’m probably doing while you are reading this….
Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley
Taking the Mystery out of Leadership
Archive for the tag “leader development”
How to Develop Yourself at a Meeting
I was recently asked for some thoughts on how to really benefit from participating in a gathering of leaders. Below are some practical suggestions on maximizing your growth and development from such a meeting.
- It’s easy just to let the meeting just happen and you take it as it comes – more reactive than pro-active. While this may be of some benefit, it will not maximize your experience. A little planning and forethought can be a great benefit.
- Don’t be afraid to take initiative with anyone while there or try to book an appointment beforehand. You will usually find them very responsive if at all possible. You will need to have a clear reason for wanting to spend time with them. Express what you hope to get out of the time together.
- It can be easy to feel like a grasshopper in the land of giants, but that is not reality. While a gathering of leaders will have those attending with different leadership roles, but there is no value or importance implied by those various roles.
- So, think ahead and do some pro-active planning. Who would you want to spend time with? Who would you want to learn from? Are their strategic linkages that you want to work develop or initiate?
- Though you have a plan, expect that the Lord will guide you into some ‘divine appointments’ that He arranges for you. Be anticipating that and listening to the Spirit as He directs you in your conversations. Be slow to speak and quick to listen.
- Go as a learner. Go asking questions. It might be helpful to have several questions related to leadership that you ask repeatedly to several participants and then compare their answers. The questions can be specific (i.e. What one lesson have you learned that has helped you most to be a strategic leader?) or more general (i.e. What advice would you give someone like me who is just beginning to lead geographically dispersed staff teams?)
- Don’t make any long-term commitments while there. You may be invited to visit, send staff teams, partner, commit resources , etc. to many wonderful opportunities. Thank them for the invitation, but tell them you will want to pray and think about this and discuss it with your leadership before making any long-term decisions. When you return, and decompress, you will be able to make much better and wiser decisions.
- Debrief with someone afterwards on what you learned.
Gatherings of leaders can be very stimulating and helpful for your growth and development. But a little forethought can truly make them life-altering. Plan ahead!
The 24 Hours of Life
The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Moses – Psalm 90:10,12
Some time ago I was meditating on these verses and thinking about the length of life. It is but a mist that appears for a short time and then vanishes (see James 4:14). To help me gain some perspective I created the chart below and review it regularly. It helps remind me of my mortality and of the brevity of life. It is a comparison of a seventy-year life span to a 24 hour day.
At 66 years of age (I was born in 1951) you can see that the vast majority of my life is now in the rear-view mirror. This does not mean that life is over, for no one knows their span of years. But whether it be seventy years, eighty years or more, we are to ‘number our days’ and make the most of them for His glory.
Reflect on these things and make the most of every opportunity. For this life will soon be past and only what is done for Christ will last.
YEAR AGE TIME YEAR AGE TIME
1952 1 00.20 1987 36 12.20
1953 2 00.41 1988 37 12.41
1954 3 01.02 1989 38 13.02
1955 4 01.23 1990 39 13.23
1956 5 01.43 1991 40 13.43
1957 6 02.03 1992 41 14.03
1958 7 02.24 1993 42 14.24
1959 8 02.45 1994 43 14.45
1960 9 03.05 1995 44 15.05
1961 10 03.25 1996 45 15.25
1962 11 03.46 1997 46 15.46
1963 12 04.06 1998 47 16.06
1964 13 04.27 1999 48 16.27
1965 14 04.48 2000 49 16.48
1966 15 05.09 2001 50 17.09
1967 16 05.29 2002 51 17.29
1968 17 05.50 2003 52 17.50
1969 18 06.10 2004 53 18.10
1970 19 06.31 2005 54 18.31
1971 20 06.51 2006 55 18.51
1972 21 07.12 2007 56 19.12
1973 22 07.32 2008 57 19.32
1974 23 07.53 2009 58 19.53
1975 24 08.14 2010 59 20.14
1976 25 08.35 2011 60 20.35
1977 26 08.55 2012 61 20.55
1978 27 09.15 2013 62 21.15
1979 28 09.36 2014 63 21.36
1980 29 09.57 2015 64 21.57
1981 30 10.17 2016 65 22.17
1982 31 10.38 2017 66 22.38
1983 32 10.58 2018 67 22.58
1984 33 11.19 2019 68 23.19
1985 34 11.39 2020 69 23.39
1986 35 12.00 2021 70 24.00
The Learning Cycle Applied – 3
Experience is not the best teacher. It is evaluated experience that makes for truly developmental learning. For those of us who seek to intentionally develop others, especially leaders, helping them to evaluate their experiences will maximize the developmental opportunity.
David A. Kolb, an American educational theorist, captured a model on how adults learn. Later Peter Honey and Alan Mumford adapted model for use with a population of middle/senior managers in business. Here is their Learning Cycle with minor adaptations.
The Adult Learning Cycle
4 Phases of the Adult Learning Cycle
- Experience – The circumstances, people, responsibilities and opportunities that make up the reality of life.
- Reflection – People need to reflect on their experiences. Questions need to be asked about what happened and why it happened.
- Conclusion – Having reflected, the learner draws conclusions that form applications for future activity.
- Application – Applications form the basis of ongoing activities and experience.
Too often busy leaders fail to stop and reflect adequately upon their leadership experiences. One of a leader developer’s tools for helping others is the ability to cause busy leaders to stop long enough to adequately reflect upon their experiences. We do this by asking them questions. Becoming a good questioner is key to helping other adults learn from their experiences. But many fail to probe another’s experience by failing to ask. Why?
One of the greatest obstacles to overcome is the desire to talk about yourself and your own experiences. This self-centeredness flows from an inflated ego and an assumption that my experiences are more important than yours. We can ramble on and on about ourselves without seeming to take a breath and the listener, though hopefully polite, has really not benefited. You may feel good about the time, but it is a wasted opportunity for them to reflect upon their own experience because you lacked the self-control to shut up about yourself and listen to them.
Jesus asked hundreds of questions to those around Him, especially The Twelve leaders in training. Not one time was He asking for information! It was all for their benefit.
So, are you a ‘teller’ or an ‘asker?’ How you answer can determine how well you develop other leaders.
The Learning Cycle Applied – Five Questions for Reflection – 2
Experience is not the best teacher. It is evaluated experience that makes for truly developmental learning. For those of us who seek to intentionally develop others, especially leaders, helping them to evaluate their experiences will maximize the developmental opportunity.
David A. Kolb, an American educational theorist, captured a model on how adults learn. Later Peter Honey and Alan Mumford adapted model for use with a population of middle/senior managers in business. Here is their Learning Cycle with minor adaptations.
The Adult Learning Cycle
4 Phases of the Adult Learning Cycle
- Experience – The circumstances, people, responsibilities and opportunities that make up the reality of life.
- Reflection – People need to reflect on their experiences. Questions need to be asked about what happened and why it happened.
- Conclusion – Having reflected, the learner draws conclusions that form applications for future activity.
- Application – Applications form the basis of ongoing activities and experience.
Too often busy leaders fail to stop and reflect adequately upon their leadership experiences. One of a leader developer’s tools for helping others is the ability to cause busy leaders to stop long enough to adequately reflect upon their experiences. We do this by asking them questions. Becoming a good questioner is key to helping other adults learn from their experiences. Here are five of my favorite questions to ask leaders about a recent leadership experience.
- What did you learn about yourself from this experience?
- What did about your God from this experience?
- What did you learn about leadership from this experience?
- If you were to repeat this experience, what would you do again and why?
- If you were to repeat this experience, what would you not do again and why?
These simple questions will cause a person to stop and think carefully about their life and leadership and help them arrive at good conclusions. They ‘why’ part of the final two questions is most insightful as it helps us understand their reasoning and values.
So, are you a ‘teller’ or an ‘asker?’ How you answer can determine how well you develop other adults.
The Learning Cycle Applied to Leader Development – 1
Experience is not the best teacher. It is evaluated experience that makes for truly developmental learning. For those of us who seek to intentionally develop others, especially leaders, helping them to evaluate their experiences will maximize the developmental opportunity.
David A. Kolb (born 1939) is an American educational theorist whose interests and publications focus on experiential learning, the individual and social change, and career development. He was first to identify this model of how adults learn. In the mid 1970’s Peter Honey and Alan Mumford adapted David Kolb’s model for use with a population of middle/senior managers in business. They published their version of the model in The Manual of Learning Styles (1982) and Using Your Learning Styles (1983). Here is their Learning Cycle with minor adaptations.
The Adult Learning Cycle
4 Phases of the Adult Learning Cycle
- Experience – The circumstances, people, responsibilities and opportunities that make up the reality of life.
- Reflection – People need to reflect on their experiences. Questions need to be asked about what happened and why it happened.
- Conclusion – Having reflected, the learner draws conclusions that form applications for future activity.
- Application – Applications form the basis of ongoing activities and experience.
Too often busy leaders fail to stop and reflect adequately upon their leadership experiences. They complete one responsibility and ten more await their immediate attention. They move forward with impressions from past experiences, but not having taken the time to reflect well, these impressions are half-formed thoughts or wrong conclusions that then lead to even poorer applications.
One of a leader developer’s tools for helping others is the ability to help busy leaders to stop long enough to adequately reflect upon their experiences. We do this by asking them questions. Becoming a good questioner is key to helping other adults learn from their experiences.
So, are you a ‘teller’ or an ‘asker?’ How you answer can determine how well you develop other adults.
It Is Well With My Soul
Horatio Spafford had known peaceful and happy days as a successful attorney in Chicago. He was the father of four daughters, an active member of the Presbyterian Church, and a loyal friend and supporter of D. L. Moody and other evangelical leaders of his day. Then, a series of calamities began, starting with the great Chicago fire of 1871 which wiped out the family’s extensive real estate investments. When Mr. Moody and his music associate, Ira Sankey, left for Great Britain for an evangelistic campaign, Spafford decided to lift the spirits of his family by taking them on a vacation to Europe. He also planned to assist in the Moody-Sankey meetings there.
In November, 1873, Spafford was detained by urgent business, but he sent his wife and four daughters as scheduled on the S.S. Ville du Harve, planning to join them soon. Halfway across the Atlantic, the ship was struck by an English vessel and sank in 12 minutes. All four of the Spafford daughters—Tanetta, Maggie, Annie and Bessie—were among the 226 who drowned. Mrs. Spafford was among the few who were miraculously saved.
Horatio Spafford stood hour after hour on the deck of the ship carrying him to rejoin his sorrowing wife in Cardiff, Wales. When the ship passed the approximate place where his precious daughters had drowned, Spafford received sustaining comfort from God that enabled him to write, “When sorrows like sea billows roll … It is well with my soul.” What a picture of our hope! [1]
Author: Horatio G. Spafford
Composer: Philip P. Bliss
Tune: Ville Du Havre (Bliss)
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like the sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
‘It is well with my soul.’
Tho’ Satan should buffet, tho’ trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious tho’t!—
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
‘Even so,’ it is well with my soul.
Chorus It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Yes…. it is well with my soul! How is your soul state today?
[1] Osbeck, K. W. (1996). Amazing grace: 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions (p. 202). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
Kingdom Hierarchy
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 1 Thes. 5:12-13 NIV 1984
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. Hebrews 13:17 NIV 1984
The Apostle Paul and the author of Hebrews both recognized the leadership hierarchy and corresponding authority in the Kingdom. Whether is was a local assembly (Ephesus) or a scattering of believers (Hebrews audience) there were leaders in place who were tasked with shepherding the flocks entrusted to their care.
The Ephesians are instructed to be sure to treat their leadership with respect and hold them in highest regard in love. The final note to live at peace with each other assumes that we will not always agree with our leadership and their decisions. Whether we agree or not, we are still to respect and hold in highest regard those over us in the Lord.
The audience of the Hebrews letter got an even more pointed exhortation. They were told to obey their leaders and submit to their authority. Note the assumption that to disobey or rebel against spiritual leadership (see v. 7) could be a common mistake. The reason for submitting to and obeying spiritual leadership is that it is for our own advantage. If their leadership of us is a joy rather than a burden, the resulting actions and decisions will be to bless rather than burden us. Would you rather be led with a carrot or a stick?
We are to honor and hold in highest regard our spiritual leaders “because of their work.” Kingdom leadership is voluntary and those who serve in these roles do so out of obedience to Christ’s personal calling. It only takes a short time after accepting any leadership role before the realities and responsibilities of the job outnumber any preconceived advantages. Leadership is hard work!
So, how’s your attitude toward your spiritual leaders? Are you submitting to their authority? Are you treating them with respect? Are you holding them in high regard because of their work?
Prejudice and the Kingdom
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” John 1:43-49 (NIV 1984)
You’ll note from the above passage Nathanael’s response when Phillip says, “We have found the one..” Nathanael’s prejudice is verbalized in his reply, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” In other words, those Nazarenes are not worth much in my opinion – especially considering that you are asking me, Phillip, to believe that the Messiah is from Nazareth!
Prejudice is a prejudgment of a person or group, usually based upon stereotypes. It is a strong bias or an opinion formed before encountering the facts. If ones prejudice manifests itself in actions it becomes discrimination.
Nathanael expresses his prejudice against the Nazarenes and is then confronted by a choice. Phillip simply says to him, “Come and see.” Fortunately, Nathanael does not allow his prejudice to overcome him. He’s willing to investigate this one whom Phillip is so excited about.
When meeting Jesus face to face, Nathanael is told by Jesus that He saw him under the fig tree when Phillip invited him. Immediately Nathanael’s prejudice is changed as he responds, ” Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
All of us have our own prejudices, some being more obvious than others. If these prejudices are negative or critical towards others what hope is there for lasting change? For Kingdom citizens we have the hope of a personal encounter with Jesus.
Just as Nathanael had his prejudice removed when he personally met Jesus, we too can have our own prejudices removed and permanently transformed. There is hope for those of the Kingdom and that hope is found in meeting the Messiah. He will reveal to us our true selves and with that will come the power, through the Holy Spirit, to put off our old self and put on the new.
Perhaps it may prove helpful to ask the Lord to show you any prejudices that you may be harboring. And once revealed, ask Him to change you-removing the old and putting on the new Christlike one that He desires for you to be.
Packaging the Message
Leaders desire to influence and deeply impact those around them. Kingdom leaders want to do so for the advance of the gospel and to bring glory to Christ.
In 1 Samuel 16:7 the Lord reminds Samuel as he is selecting from among Jesse’s sons a replacement for Saul, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV 1984).
There are two truths in this advice. Primary is the truth that the Lord’s criteria for leadership selection is based upon what is internal – the heart of a person. But there is also a second truth – people do look at the outward appearance. Many a leader has neglected to consider the importance of the ‘exterior’ image that they project. So much so, that the message that God has given them and their leadership influence is muted because the ‘packaging’ of the messenger is distracting.
This is not to suggest that Kingdom leaders must wear designer clothing or be modeling the latest trend or cultural fad. But wisdom says that we don’t want our exterior to detract or confuse the message that God has given us to deliver.
That’s why Paul said, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-23 NIV 1984)
So how’s the ‘packaging’ of the message and the messenger? You might consider asking your spouse or a trusted friend for any suggestions they may have on how you can improve or change.
The task is too important to neglect this!
Tom Yeakley
Developing Kingdom Leaders - Tom Yeakley 