Books @ Leadership Network

The Morning After Innovation 3

It's very quiet around here this morning. I'm sitting here in my favorite chair with a cup o joe reflecting on all that I saw and heard at Leadership Network's Innovation 3 Conference that concluded yesterday. Personally it was a phenomenal time of connecting and networking with a ton of old and new friends. I met so many young ministry leaders there that I would probably never cross paths with had we not gathered in Dallas this week. If I had to boil it down to just one thing that I took away from this gathering, it would be this -- how encouraged and hopeful I am for the future of the Church. As ministry leaders (and servants), we will always have our struggles and disagreements. That's just part of the deal. Beyond all that, I witnessed a real hunger for connection, for learning, for community, and for a real sense of mission, as overused as all of those terms are. As great as it was to hear positive feedback from conference participants, I know that there was so much more going on during those two days than just another Christian conference. Yet again, God showed up and put together some incredible encounters for us.

If you didn't have an opportunity to be there with us in person, you'll have an opportunity to virtually experience much of Innovation 3 in the coming weeks. We recorded just about everything! Todd Rhoades, aka The Monday Morning Insight Guy, told me last night that we probably captured and recorded somewhere between 40-50 hours of content. That includes audio and video recordings of main sessions and breakouts. We'll be rolling that out for you soon. Some of it is already posted on the Innovation 3 website. We'll post more on the site as we get to it. More details on that later.

Here's the link to the Innovation 3 Conference Live!site. You may want to check out the photos and other stuff posted there when you have a few minutes.

I'm keeping this post brief today. There's so much still rolling around in my head this morning. As the consummate introvert, I need some time to process and reflect. I just wanted to say thank you -- thank you to all of you who invested the time and the dollars to join us in Dallas this week. My thanks to God for showing up and for orchestrating the entire experience. And lastly, my thanks to God and to Leadership Network for providing this vocation for me. This is certainly not the path in life I would have chosen for myself. I wish I could say that I developed this tremendous, focused, intentional strategy for my life that led me to where I am today. The truth is, I stumbled into this vocation, I thought by accident. I'm glad that God had (and has) plans for me.

Well Mr. White, aka Coffee Drinking Cat, is actually drinking my coffee right now so I'm abandoning that cup and heading over to the kitchen to get another cup. Stay tuned for further Innovation 3 developments.

Linda Stanley directs the Life Stage Leadership Community Groups for senior pastors.

  

Medicine for the Leader's Soul- God's Prayer Book

For the past few weeks I have been immersing myself in Ben Patterson’s newest work: God’s Prayer Book…The Power and Pleasure of Praying the Psalms.  It is rich with theological reflection as well as practical direction for going deep in prayer.  Ben writes as a scholar, pastor, and a man who understands the world of prayer.  In my reading I have felt like I have a spiritual director and friend walking with me through the landscape of prayer.  From the heights of praise to the depths of lament, this book is taking me to fresh places in my personal journey of prayer.

I believe one of the most needed and neglected disciplines in the lives of leaders today is humble self-examination.  I wrote a book that helps leaders learn to live an examined life: Leadership from the Inside Out.  In this book I encourage Christian leaders to pay attention to their own spiritual health.  If Ben’s new book had been in print at the time, I would have listed it as a top resource for leaders to grow their inner life.  It is preventative medicine for the leader’s soul.

If you are a leader who wants to grow in your understanding of Scripture, your prayer life, and your awareness of God’s presence each moment of the day, this book is a trifecta!  It is a hat trick!  It is a triple threat!  OK, I like the book.

Kevin G. Harney

Are you the head fundraiser Part 3

Last post on this book.

Bottom Line: You are their pastor.

As I read Levy’s book I was struck by the similarity between his role as President of Lincoln Center and a good pastor.

I was trained as a pastor through my seminary education and my mentors. I didn’t stay in that field long but do work with pastors every day. So I know enough about the work of pastors to understand their points of view.

And most great leaders have the same skills as most good pastors.

1. They know what is going on in their congregants, or in Levy’s case, prospective donor’s lives. They know when to call to give encouragement and prayer and applause.
2. They know the situations where they themselves need help. In the case of a good pastor, they have to be willing to ask for help in specific ways, not just “I need your support.” Ditto the CEO of a nonprofit, they have to define specifically where they need funds, expertise, advice and volunteer effort.
3. They know that it has to be face to face. Pastors and Nonprofit directors communicate in many ways. Phone. Email. Blogs. Twitters. But nothing beats face to face. Yes, finding the time to do all that can be draining, but nothing replaces it. Not just in asking for help or support, but just to build the relationship of care and trust.
4. They know that the future is just as important as the now. I think this is one of the marks of a great leader. You have to manage the present in order to manage the future. The actions of the present determine the future. And sometimes you make adjustments to the present to get you to your future. But those that are consumed with either the future OR the present don’t get things done. You have to have your eye on both.

For a pastor or not for profit leader you are investing in a person now and developing them for the future.

Bottom line: If you think of the ideal pastoral skills, you have a pretty good description of what is needed to be a great Nonprofit CEO.

*** Dave Travis is Managing Director of Leadership Network.

Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

  by Noah Goldstein, Steve Martin, and Robert Cialdini
 
Have you ever wondered how effective those notes are in hotels that invite you to help the environment by reusing your towels? It turns out that pitching the idea of global preservation  is not nearly as persuasive as notes indicating that the majority of previous guests at this hotel reused their towels at least once during their stay. This second angle increases towel reusage by 33%, according to one study. The reason for the difference is that the second angle invites a bandwagon effect, affirming that one person's towel activity really does make a difference.
 
The 260-page Yes! book offers fifty similar examples of how small changes can make a big difference in one's power of persuasion. Each chapter tells a story from everyday life experience, such as the effort to reuse towels in hotels, and then it references a scholarly study that often offers a counterintuitive perspective. The commentary is clear, non-technical, and highly readable.
 
Each chapter offers a different window into the psychology of persuasion. Most ideas are readily adaptable into the world of churches and spiritual persuasion. Co-author Robert Cialdini, bestselling author of Influence, is the world's most-quoted expert on the subject of influence.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

Are you the head fundraiser part 2

Yours for the Asking: A n Indispensible Guide to Fundraising and Management by Reynold Levy.

 Get it here

Ok, read the last post for context but here are the big take-aways for me from this book.

1. Expand the board. They key to fundraising is a good and ever expanding board that gets you to new people and new contacts. The best fundraising is peer-to-peer and you need people that represent who you are trying to reach.
   

Too many times for religious not for profits we see boards that are friends of the founder who really have nothing to contribute except cheerleading. Good boards have funders, strategists and those willing to help make the asks.

2. Don’t depend on letters, proposals, events and the like. You have to ask face to face. Shoe leather beats stamps.
   

This is the biggest issue for church planters, pastors and not for profits. Be bold and ask.

3. Like many other monomaniacs that are successful in business or church or other fields, you do work all the time. I know my staff is like that. I know I am like that. I know pastors like that and Levy convinces me that is normal. Yep, I am thinking about it all the time. That’s part of the success.
   

4. a quote: “Be flexible. About the size of the gift. About the timing. And about the terms of payment.

Be grateful for whatever the response.

Building and sustaining long-term friends for your institution or cause is the objective.”

Too many of us view rejection as the end of the relationship but it is just the beginning. Find ways people can help you and your cause.

5. “Philanthropy is biography.” Giving usually flows out of their story and how it connects with the story of your organization. So take time to know their story.
   

6. Keep it simple. People really do want to help you. Don’t cloud the issues. Be direct.

And I love his chapters on humor and while his examples included in the appendices really don’t apply to my organization, I appreciate him sharing some of the materials there. Shows transparency and openness.

My sense is that if I ever had the privilege of meeting Mr. Levy and asking him questions, he would hold an open hand and try and be helpful with anything he had. That’s a good way to live.

Dave Travis is the Managing Director of Leadership Network.

Are you the head fundraiser?

Yours for the Asking: An Indispensible Guide to Fundraising and M anagement by Reynold Levy.

I try to read a few books a year on fundraising. I am not the chief fundraiser for our organization but I need to pull my weight. And face it, everyone is really about raising money. Whether you call it sales or business development in the for-profit world, or fundraising in the not for profit world.

My part 1 of this review is to help set context. I liked the book but just so you know where it comes from – a little background.

1.Levy is the President of Lincoln Center in New York. A big time charitable enterprise which he has led to great heights. Most of his other experiences are from that New York charity culture as well. Nothing wrong withthat, it just isn’t always translatable.

2. While the subtitle has the word “Management” in it, it’s really about fundraising.

3. I would say that I found the book to be 60% inspirational and 40% practical. And I think that is the right mix for this type of book. The key for most sales, business development and fundraisers is keeping a positive outlook and attitude. And Levy has some great, for real stories as well as some humorous tidbits he uses with prospective donors that are fun.

4. Before he joined LincolnCenter he was Director of International Relief Committee which works with refugees across the world. So he knows not only the culture crowd but also the poor of the world. It is a good balance.

5. While the chapters are a little scattered and jump around a bit, it is a good read for CEOs and Chief development officers.

Part 2 of my review will have some practical tips from the book.

Dave Travis

Managing Director of Leadership Network

What to Do about What's Next

        Two books dominated my Christmas thinking this year. The first set the stage for the next. First, I read Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World (Simon and Schuster) by A.J. Jacobs. It’s a great book for preaching illustrations, but it also represents the fundamental faith of modernity … the faith in reason. The author sets himself the task of reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. Afraid? Anxious? Beset? Burdened? (Notice how I cleverly mirror the author’s “A-Z” approach to comprehensive understanding?) Continuing education is the answer. Hope lies in knowledge. It is the enlightened agenda of the 20th century. The last sentences in the book are so reassuring:

“I know once again, firsthand, the joy of learning. And I know that I’ve got my life back and that in just a few moments, I’m going to have a lovely dinner with my wife.”

Salvation is at hand! After all, what is more important than knowledge, health, family, and a good investment plan? Or maybe not?

        It is that “maybe not” that drove me to read Metavista: Bible, Church and Mission in an Age of Imagination (Paternoster) by Colin Greene and Martin Robinson. This is one of the best books on postmodernity yet available. However, be warned! It is steeped in very profound, but highly nuanced language. It wrestles with the history of ideas, not a catalogue of facts. My doctoral degree is in philosophical theology, and I found a refreshing challenge. If you are a pastor, this is a book best read in a classroom or discussion group.

        The title reveals the intent. This is not about describing a new meta-narrative of religious perspective, nor about defining a new metaphysic of reasonable orthodoxy. It is about discerning a new “vista” that is partially hidden and partially revealed. It is a “meta-vista” … a vista that is “on the way” … as if people emerged from the cultural forest into a sudden clearing and saw things differently for the first time, and were not sure what to make of it.

        The authors call this experience “radical cultural engagement”. It is the intersection of societal imagination, cultural icons, and the encounter with the Bible as scripture. It is what lies beyond the subjectivity, selfishness, and opportunism of modernity; but also beyond the preservation of heritage, intellectual curiosity, social action, and ideological cant that represents 99% of Christian thinking in postmodernity. What happens when we emerge from the cultural wilderness to discover that both conservative and liberal fundamentalists are wrong, and both modern rationalism and postmodern willfulness are wrong, and God is weirder than expected?

        The Bible becomes a means to grapple with the weirdness of God. Unfortunately, Greene and Robinson seem most interested in just one aspect of that wrestling match, namely the “political” implications of the storylines of scripture. Scripture interprets the “metavista” by pointing toward the righteous Kingdom of God, curbing our proclivity to violence, modeling a moral alternative to rampant capitalism, and establishing the church as proclaimer of the good news of [social?] reconciliation. I’m not convinced that is sufficient, but it is a darned good start.

        The authors began the book by sounding the alarm that the irrelevance of the church is accelerating (despite evangelical claims), and that this irrelevance is rooted in the church’s inability to discuss anything meaningfully with anybody. I think this is accurate and powerful. The book finishes positively by focusing on the “cosmic significance of incarnation” as the thread that connects past, present and future in an unfolding narrative. This is not about a relationship with a cool dude named Jesus, but about experiencing the intersection of the infinite and finite.

        In the end, there is a fourth circle intersecting with societal imagination, cultural icons, and encounter with scripture. That fourth circle is decisive. It is the peculiar kind of revelation through which the fullness of God is present, yet unexplainable, uncontrollable, and unexpected. It’s what makes a “vista” possible in the first place, and what renders every “vista” only a “metavista”. That experience alone renders the church a counter-cultural minority. It is a paradox of escape from the world and encounter with the worlds.

        The one thing that surprises me most of all about this book is that the authors seem to assume this paradox has not happened before. I think it has … in the monastic movement of the 4th – 6th centuries that rejected Christendom from the very beginning.

Tom Bandy

www.ThrivingChurch.com

www.tgbandy.com