Books @ Leadership Network

Baby Boomers for Better or Worse

        I read an advanced copy of Baby Boomers and Beyond: Tapping the Ministry Talents and Passions of Adults over 50 by Amy Hanson (soon to be released by Leadership Network and Jossey-Bass). Baby Boomers are the generation born between 1946 and 1964, and the balloon demographic that has pretty much determined the shape-of-things-past over nearly sixty years of culture. Actually, Baby Boomers are now adults between 46 and 64. I was curious to compare this book with two other books on a similar theme from around 1990 (when boomers were between 26 and 44). These were How to Reach Baby Boomers by Bill Easum and Baby Boomer Spirituality by Craig Kennet Miller.

        Miller emphasized the spiritual roots of Boomers (brokenness, loneliness, rootlessness, and self-seeking) which has pretty much shaped highly relational, feel good, praise worship; and their search for God (godliness, supernaturalism, and adventurousness) which has shaped affinities for small groups; and their expectation of the future (millennialism, globalism, and wholeness) what has shaped outreach ministries. Easum defined the “future-active” leadership style they appreciate, the streamlined results oriented boards they prefer, and their consumption of relevant programming for marriage and family and balanced lifestyles. He was among the first to point out their need to control and their penchant to shape the world (and the faith) around themselves.

        It makes sense that the current Baby Boomer book focuses on church priorities for health, aging, and retirement. The boomers are mainly empty-nesters enjoying the legacy of good pensions. They want to stay young and active, and 20 years later many are still searching for that elusive purpose in life. They want to age well, but also learn how to be great grandparents and competent caregivers to their own aging parents. Many have been married at least twice, and would like this one to last. They want to put retirement to good use and bless somebody else for a change.

        I think the best contribution of this book to the Baby Boomer literature is Part 3 that spells out implications for the church. This is one of those good news and bad news stories. The good news is that Boomers want to serve, they are looking for challenges, they don’t expect to be paid, and they are ready to think outside the box. The bad news is that Boomers are less spiritually mature than they think they are. They are still much as they were 20 years ago when Easum and Miller described them. They still tend to be self-centered, materialistic to the point of idolatrous, convinced they just need more continuing education rather than divine grace, and chronically neurotic.

        I think Amy Hanson is very perceptive to suggest that as Boomers have aged they have also become much more diverse as a group. It is harder to generalize about “seniors” than ever before. The Men’s Breakfast and the Women’s Knitting Group just won’t do it. Yet I would like to go one step further. Today’s aging boomers have discovered that the church they shaped around themselves twenty years ago isn’t meeting their needs today. Their own creations have let them down. The praise worship, affinity groups, high tech, pop style, highly relational, balanced lifestyle, program church isn’t enough … and boomers are dropping out of their own church creations at an alarming rate.

        Amy Hanson tells a poignant story (p.187) about one boomer's "coming of age". This grandparent suddenly realizes he wants to leave a different legacy for his grandchildren. It's good to see the Me Generation stop thinking about itself, releases control, surrender to God’s mission. But isn't it ironic that the catalyst is a concern about legacy ... same priority that boomers rejected so long ago.

Tom Bandy

www.ThrivingChurch.com

Spotlight: Check Your Smarts and Mix it Up

Announcing the August and September Spotlight Webinars, each offering a free, one-hour, online presentation and Q&A with our guest speakers.

Also, don’t forget to register for the July Spotlight on AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church. It’s 2 weeks from today, on Wednesday, July 14th, and 3:00 PM CDT (show me my timezone).

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The Spotlight: Relational Intelligence

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM CDT

Joining us on the August spotlight will be author Steve Saccone, to discuss the factors that affect your relational quotient (RQ) using principles from his book Relational Intelligence.

Relational Intelligence offers church leaders a guide for learning to increase their ability to form and sustain stronger and healthier relationships with everyone in their organizations-staff, lay leaders, members, prospective members, and others.

Based on the premises that we often aware of relational awkwardness in others but blind to it in ourselves, Steve shows how leaders can learn to be smarter in the way they conduct their relationships.

Register for the Relational Intelligence Webinar.

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The Spotlight: Ethnic Blends

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM CDT

Our guests the September spotlight will be Mark DeYmaz and Harry Li, co-authors of the book Ethnic Blends: Mixing Diversity into Your Local Church.

Dr. Mark DeYmaz is the founding pastor of the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas (www.mosaicchurch.net), a multi-ethnic and economically diverse church where significant percentages of Black and White Americans, together with men and women from more than 30 nations, walk, work and worship God together as one.

Harry Li is the Campus Pastor of Mosaic and came on staff in 2002, when the church was six months old. Prior to that, he was an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Idaho where he taught for 10 years.

Register for the Ethnic Blends Webinar.

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Stephanie Plagens is the Publications Manager for Leadership Network.

He Irritates Christians to Get Busy and Change the World

My friend Mike Slaughter, lead pastor at Ginghamsburg, has created a signature project titled Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus. It comes in several venues: book (121 pages), training DVD (four week study), and booklet (for giving one to every member of your church).

One message of the book is Mike’s passionate “gift of irritation” to church leaders to ask why we’re not doing the things that matter most to God. “The true greatness of any local church is measured by how many people serve the marginalized,” he says. This involves getting the church into the world, more than getting the world into the church. “Let’s quite worrying about numbers in the pews and begin to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our homes, our communities and the outermost places of the world,” he says (both quotes from page xvii).

Indeed it’s humbling to see Ginghamsburg long-term commitment to places like Darfur, Sudan, as well as to the needy in their own community. This commitment has come at a cost to the congregation as Mike as challenged the congregation to focus its time, energy and budget to work for real change in a hurting world.

I read every word of the book. Theologically I’m uncomfortable with about 5% of it. But the other 95% was a kick in the pants to me, pushing me to be more active in making a tangible difference for Christ in a hurting world.

I encourage others to experience a similar “uncomfortable” reading. See also this excellent “Religion and Ethics” piece as Mike Slaughter talks about the church’s work in Darfur. Part 2 is here.

You can also go to Ginghamsburg’s Change the World conference on October 20-22, 2010, for three days of intensive training -– and spiritual discomfort!

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Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 21 books on various aspects of church health and innovation. His recent “Leadership Network” books blogs include Becoming a Healthy Fruitful Multi-Ethnic Church, What Is Necessary for Church Planting to Go Viral? Mark Batterson’s Primal, Updated Publishing Updates, Beyond Christendom Says Migration Keeps Transforming the Church, Terrific Biography of Rick Warren, The Soviet Plot to Kill God, Migration and Churches in Europe, The Worst Moment in Most Church Services, Excellent Resources for Church-Based Grants, Multi-Site Church Roadtrip Released Today and Do White Churches Hold Others in Cultural Captivity?

Grant by Jean Edward Smith – A Review

I got turned onto this book because a CEO of a major corporation said he was reading it and it would be worth the time.

(Affiliate link here)

Every year I try to read a few military, presidential or political biographies for Leadership purposes. Both types of leaders have to lead very large institutions and as much as you think they might have command and control authority, most of the leadership actually comes from influence.

A well written biography for me shows us the persons great strengths and their great weaknesses. They accomplished much because of both and both are instructive.

Living in the southern United States amongst various battlefields always draws one to the American Civil War histories. I have read the biographies of most of the major generals on both sides and of both presidents. Grant is an excellent bridge character.

On the one hand, the Union Army accelerated its victories under Grant’s leadership but Grant was wise to protect much of the South’s Army, especially its officers, knowing that peace was coming and the nation would need healing. Further, he was pressed into the Presidency after the failings of Andrew Johnson.

Grant is generally remembered as a failed president, but a close examination of his two terms will show a few spectacular failings but lots of good things despite very difficult circumstances.

Some takeaways:

1. I never had grasped how much Grant modeled his military style and operations from his mentor in the Mexican War – Zachary Taylor. His tactics and strategies learned from Taylor carried him to great victories in the future conflicts. Grant was not a star pupil at West Point, but Taylor saw something in him to nurture. And the emphasis on supply lines was well learned by Grant.
2. Grant, even when he was the commanders of all the Armies, traveled and “lived” very simply. It was said that he had a simple breakfast, such as a cucumber sliced with vinegar. He had two small tents, one for sleeping and one for meetings with other generals. A few chairs, a writing table. This was contrasted to many other generals, on both sides, who had elaborate staffs and headquarters operations.

Grant’s example is to travel light.

3. This was the age before much of the electronic communication. Telegraph lines existed but were unreliable. Grant was apparently the master of clear, concise, written communications, a gift I wish I could develop more. His orders were clear to understand for the other units. And coordinating lots of fighters over a wide terrain, takes clear and reliable communication. I think of that often with my own dispersed staff. I have the advantage of telephones, video calls and the like, but clear assignments in writing are invaluable.

4.Take initiative – whether on the battlefield or the Executive Office, Grant believed in seizing opportunities and “taking the fight to the enemy.” His sources of biggest frustrations were generals that waited for conditions to change and be just right, instead of taking the fight directly to the front lines when the enemy was vulnerable. To put it in modern terms, when the momentum is with you, keep the lines moving forward.

Not a short book, but well written and well paced between Grant’s early days as an Army officer, his failure as a private citizen, his organization of volunteers that vaulted him into war leadership and ultimately the Presidency. I would commend it to you as a great vacation book.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

www.twitter.com/davetravis

Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw

(fyi: simultaneously released over at http://books.leadnet.org as well)

Wait a second! What in the world is this review doing in Leadership Network Books blog for goodness sake? Who in the world is minding the store over there? Have they gone completely mad?

Who would feature the famously foul-mouthed, foul-tempered author/tv personality/former chef in a blog about leadership?

OK, let me put it out there.

I occasionally watch Bourdain’s TV show on the Travel Channel. I did read Kitchen Confidential. I have looked at a few of this other books. And yes, he is ill tempered, uses language you will never hear, or should hear in church, and his subject of both tv, magazine and books are really a little afield of our normal church leadership subjects.

But I think the man is a brilliant reporter. He has a point of view and there is no mistaking it. You know where he stands. No guessing. Straight at you. I like that.

He values street food and fine food. I like that.

The latest book is Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook is on par with Kitchen Confidential.

Hey, the guy is admittedly a former drug addict and willingly shares all his dysfunctions. He is painfully open about his past. I can appreciate the honesty. If you want to read something by a good, clean, Christian author this summer, this ain’t it.

But I found some incredible value in the book.

First, his writing style is appropriate for the time. So if you just like to read good writing, I say go for it.

Go read the Chapter called “So You Want to Be a Chef” and translate chef to pastor and cocaine and heroin addiction to codependency and approval addiction. Change seminary for culinary school and you will get the drift. Tony’s advice: Don’t go to culinary school before you start cooking somewhere to see if it really fits you. Know how hot it is in the kitchen before going in debt to the ivory tower. I know a lot of young seminary grads that should have taken this advice.

Go read “The Fear” chapter to get a sense of how restaurant operations have coped with the current recession both in positive and negative ways. Ok, yep, churches are different and operate differently. But seeing how these small businesses have morphed in the current age is instructive. Some got creative and survived, some didn’t. Some just quit.

I liked the chapter on David Chang, the hypochondriac creative genius who knows he has hit it lucky and is just not that smart. But he is very open, transparent and is loved because of it.

And finally, I think the best piece of reporting I have read in years is in the Chapter 18 “My Aim is True.” I know you may not care who butcher’s the fish at your seafood establishment, but the description of Justo Thomas and his regular day, is an incredible behind the scenes look at the way a piece of fish turns up on your plate for dinner.

Yes, you will cringe at the language and views of Tony. You will get bored at some of his personal digs at other chefs and tv folks at times if you haven’t watched the show, but it was a great read and for food lovers, a must.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

www.twitter.com/davetravis

Delivering Happiness

About a month ago I was sent an advanced copy of Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness. I was planning on just lightly skimming it, but I ended up really falling in love with the story.

Most of the business principles you’ll find in the book have been around forever, but Tony does a great job of describing how he’s actually practiced them in his life and his company (http://zappos.com)

The opportunities / crises he faced in growing the company are riveting. What gets under my skin about the book is that as a person deeply connected to communities of faith, Tony’s passion puts many of us to shame.

In his story you’ll find huge leaps of faith, creativity spawned out of desperation, and sacrifice to the point of liquidating everything he owned… and all this to sell shoes!

Our world needs more people committed to Delivering Happiness.

Lon Wong 
http://solarcrash.com 
http://twitter.com/lon

Relational Invasion

Today’s post was written by guest blogger Steve Saccone.

Relational Invasion: Influencing People Without a Forceful Agenda

When it comes to the impact we long to have as human beings, we must be intelligent in how we approach our relationships.

To build and develop true relational influence, we have to be invited into someone’s relational space versus what we sometimes do, which is invade someone’s relational space.

By "relational space," I mean that invisible dynamic inside of people where they either open themselves to someone else’s advice…or resist it. For instance, if someone refuses to allow us into his "relational space," that means he is resisting our advice. In leadership, we often don’t know exactly how to handle this interpersonal dynamic. In the process, if we are the invader of someone’s space, we break trust, lose credibility, and diminish our capacity to influence. That’s why we must learn how to navigate the space between you and another.

Let’s think about this dynamic in a different way. Imagine hiring a personal trainer at a local gym to help you get in shape. By hiring him, you give him permission to coach you, offer his advice, and even push you to exercise with greater effort and focus. You are inviting him into your “space.”

On the contrary, imagine seeing a friend at the mall. After saying hello, he verbally assesses your physical health, explains to you how much exercise you need, and then commands you to “do 50 pushups.” I’d be looking for the hidden camera.

This metaphor may sound bizarre, but enter the world of relationships, and people often ignore this same principle. We try to advise people who haven’t yet invited us into their relational space. To them, our approach seems bizarre because we're trying to impose on them something they've never invited us to give.

Maybe this has happened with a person you’re trying to mentor, but you haven’t established a mentoring relationship. Or maybe it’s happened with someone you supervise at work, but you’ve wrongly assumed they want your input. Just because you live in close relational proximity, and just because you have a position of authority, doesn’t mean you’ve established credibility, nor a voice of influence in their life.

Even if our motives are sincere in wanting to make a positive impact, when we force our way into a person’s relational space, they sense relational invasion…and will usually resist. They resist because they feel we’re barging in without knocking. They haven’t opened the door and welcomed us in.

As leaders, we will become more relationally intelligent if we refuse to consistently invade people’s space. Instead, when we wait to be invited our credibility builds and our influence capacity expands.

One of the primary ways to identify when someone is inviting us in comes down to our ability to read and discern non-verbal, invisible cues that people emit. Everyone sends them out, thus communicating whether they’re open or closed off to us. This is revealed primarily through body language and the emotional energy a person emits. In simple terms, someone could maintain a welcoming and open spirit, or they could emit an aloof and distant one. People tell us without words whether they want our advice or input. To be relationally intelligent, we must pay close attention to these cues. Over time, this will help us build relational capital and expand our influence.

I’m not advocating for relational passivity here. And, this doesn’t mean there aren’t moments when we push through resistance and challenge people to grow and change. It’s just that in many circles, we rarely acknowledge this dynamic, and we continually overlook these cues, often forcing our agenda upon someone and eroding trust. 

Since Jesus doesn’t force Himself on people neither should we. But His posture is always bent toward serving others, and He’s a model we can emulate in our conversations.

 

Steve Saccone is author of Relational Intelligence: How Leaders Can Expand Their Influence Through a New Way of Being Smart, and he is a Leadership Catalyst at Mosaic in Los Angeles. http://relationalintelligence.info

The Final Book of the Series – Kingdom without Borders

For my vacation reading – Kingdom Without Borders: The Untold Story of Global Christianity – was the most impactful. The author, a professor at Seattle Pacific, tells us upfront this is going to be a serendipitous journey story. It mixes theology, missiology and story telling along the way. Quite frankly, I usually hate that, but I loved this book.

Reasons to love it:

1. It is a reminder that Christianity is alive, well and vital around the world.
2. It helps me again to take off the blinders of our own versions of Christianity practiced in the West.
3. It helps me to hear of how suffering for the sake of the gospel is necessary for bold advance of the gospel.
4. It reminded me how what we call aid and development, is a natural outgrowth of the Christian life of believers around the world.

As Leadership Network considers and weighs it’s global involvements in the future, I was constantly reminded that we have much to learn.

I can’t tell you that I marked too many pages, or drew out a whole bunch of principles from this book, but I was mighty glad that I read it. I am going to make my International Affairs major daughter read it too.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

The Fourth Book of Vacation – The Power of Pull

For those just catching up to the series, you can read the first post here on how I picked books for my recent quick vacation.

The next post was on the first book – Soccernomics

The next on A Perfect Mess

And the one before this on In Defense of Food.

Ok, The Power of Pull is much like other business books I have read lately. It is sort of a combination of Tribes+Trust Agents with an academic’s slant.

On the one hand, I felt I had read all of this before in other works. While some of the case studies are original to the book, they are so similar to others that I didn’t get a lot of fresh discovery. On the other hand I did note that in my note-taking in the back flyleafs, I had jotted down multiple page numbers for reference.

The contrast of the book is between “Push” – sort of the idea that we used to push products and ideas out to consumers and they would respond, instead of crowdsourcing and co-creating with users to create “Pull”.

I did find one section very useful in describing “a shaping view”. In the authors’ view it describes “a vision, a shaping view, a galvanizing statement about the future of a market, an industry, or a broad social arena that says how tomorrow will be different from today and how everyone will be better off thereby.” (I note how the editor probably put that last word in there to not end the sentence in a preposition)

I think they have hit a good description of powerful vision in our niche arena here. I think what passes for vision in churches and parachurches is often too specific and descriptive. But good vision is broader – a shaping view – that helps guide all the actors towards a direction AND shows how things will be better. I think that type of vision empowers. It assists leads in making iterative decisions to move in a direction that allows for flexibility.

I am going to try and use “shaping view” as a description rather than vision in the future.

For my money, there are a few good observations as well about the power of weak ties theory, which I think is also huge in our arena. But after that, very skip able book.

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

My Stack of Books Today

Here is my current stack.

What’s in your stack for the summer?

We are doing our current survey of readers.

Send me a photo or post in the comments.

Will post more vacation reviews later today.

 

Dave Travis

Managing Director

Leadership Network

dave (dot) travis (at) Leadnet (dot) org