So I am attending the Leadership Summit put on by Willow Creek Church today and tomorrow. It's a pretty sweet event, I think they said something like that they are translating it into 42 different languages for people to watch it in the next few weeks or something, some 90,000 people attending. Pretty crazy. They have some great speakers, today we had the likes of Condoleezza Rice, Jim Collins, Craig Groeschel, and Bill Hybels. They also have music entertainment provided by the band Gungor. And Kevin Olusola. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioMRzpmnl7U There is a very nice example of their musicianship. So good.
So this is a pretty sweet event. Only problem is, I am in Midland, Michigan, and the event is taking place in Chicago, so we are seeing it on a live stream. So it is a little bit removed from the actual event, but there are about 300 people watching it with me in the big church there in Midland. So it is fun.
Usually I am very wary of Megachurch things, just because they really seem like money-wasters and money-lovers. I don't like big, flashy, Christian events because usually they advertise a bunch of organizations (Compassion, in this case) that really need money and ask all the people in attendance, possibly paying $200 to go to the event, to donate more of their money to these events. I feel like they could get rid of most of their flashy things, still have a great event, save a lot of money, and therefore have a lot more money to give to the organizations they are trying to raise money for! However, that doesn't really happen. Of course, in an even like this, with such high-profile speakers, much of that cost is appearance fees, yadda-yadda.
Moving on from that, to what I have actually taken out of this event.
This event is called the Leadership Summit because we are learning how to be better leaders, hopefully.
First guy up was Bill Hybels and he talked about how a lot of times the hardest person to lead is yourself. As a leader, you have to reach out to the people on the right, the people on the left, the people above you, and the people below you, but you also have to reach yourself somehow. He also talked about transition in leadership and how it is really hard.
Next dude wasn't a dude, it was Condoleezza Rice. That was pretty cool to be able to hear her speak. She has a pretty crazy story, growing up in segregated, racist Birmingham, losing a classmate to a church bombing, etc. Her parents raised her in a way that she believed that even though she couldn't buy a burger at the local market because she was black, she could still be president. Those are some sweet parents, I don't know how they did it, pretty sweet. So anyway, she said that as leaders we are supposed to try and help others realize their leadership potential. Which I agree with. Also, that we should strive to help the world become as it should be, not as it is.
Then Jim Collins, this guy reminded me of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory, but I actually respected this guy. I'm not sure how "Christian" he was necessarily (this event also attempts to cater to secular audiences) but he was a very engaging and meaningful speaker. I liked a lot of what he said. His main format was this triangle he had, On the top was Fanatic Discipline, bottom right was Empirical Creativity, bottom left was Productive Paranoia, and the middle (the "x-factor") was humility. He related everything back to the first two teams that tried to reach the South Pole at the same time and how every person in one died and the others survived by a series of 20 mile marches. This is where the Fanatic Discipline came into play. They went a certain amount of distance everyday, no matter what the conditions were. If it were a really stormy and miserable day, they would go that far. If it was a beautiful day and it seemed like they could go farther, they would discipline themselves and only go that certain distance. A big point he had in that was that we have to discipline ourselves in good times so that we can manage ourselves in bad times. Then, Empirical Creativity was "living with eskimo's", taking time to learn things firsthand and use things and processes that are guaranteed to work. If you are blazing a new trail, you need to implement processes and things that will work, because if something doesn't then you can be killed. Productive Paranoia was being paranoid about what could go wrong so that if it does go wrong you are ready. Then, we can't just sit back and watch our "good luck" moments come, we need to seize them.
Last dude I will talk about is Craig Groeschel, the founder of lifechurch.tv. He was a good presenter, and he was funny. So it was fun to listen to him. He talked about how we (the younger generation) need to respect, honor, and learn from the older generation. They (the older generation) need to know that we are entitled and to teach us things, not give up on us, and believe in us, believing that we can do things.
So yeah, that is what I learned today. Have a nice day, here is a picture of a donkey. He's a really happy donkey! But I think he died from a heart attack, or somethin... Poooooooor donkey. :'(
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