Absorbing New Ideas & Becoming a Better Leader

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Anthony Cotton, Nate Heard, The Qwa

I believe that the local church is the hope of the world. But for it to reach its redemptive potential, it must be well-led. This means that those of us with leadership gifts have to step up and step it up. We have to take responsibility for our own leadership development.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/adventtr

Here are four steps I use to absorb new ideas and become a better leader:

1. Read as much as you can. Really. As a leader, you have to seed your mind with leadership ideas to keep learning and growing. During a the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit a few years ago, David Gergen said, “Not every reader is a leader, but every leader is a reader.” Leaders, read diligently. I take every opportunity I can to absorb new ideas.
2. Use a “discernment filter.” Once you’ve exposed your mind to innovative concepts, you’ve got to put the ideas through a discernment filter.The truth is that some of the ideas you learn fit you and should be integrated into your current leadership style. But other ideas don’t fit you, and they don’t pertain to you. You shouldn’t act on them.Some ideas are good, but they fall into the “not now” bucket. I’ve seen leaders over the years who absorb all of these great ideas but are unable to keep up with taking them all in.There’s no short cut to discerning your leadership lessons. We all have to do the hard work of deciding which ideas are valuable—and which aren’t.
3. Assign an owner. Once an idea makes it through the discernment filter, leaders have to determine how many leadership ideas they can implement in their church (or organization). I know that I can bear the responsibility of the vision for our church and make sure that our strategic values are clear, but I’m careful not to bear the weight of implementing all new ideas. That’s where your team comes in. Don’t be afraid to attach cool ideas to people on your team, so they can run with them.

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Partners in Health – Vision

At its root, our mission is both medical and moral. It is based on solidarity, rather than charity alone. When a person in Peru, or Siberia, or rural Haiti falls ill, PIH uses all of the means at our disposal to make them well—from pressuring drug manufacturers, to lobbying policy makers, to providing medical care and social services. Whatever it takes. Just as we would do if a member of our own family—or we ourselves—were ill.

 

 

One Hundred Days – Mission

More than 16 years have passed since Rwanda was engaged in one of the worst genocides in modern history.  Most of us have never had to come face to face with killers who destroyed our families.  We have not seen our country devastated, while the rest of the world did nothing. We have not had to choose to forgive in order to survive. Our Rwanda has been through all of this and now is determined to become a thriving nation.

One Hundred Days is a 501(c)3 non-profit founded by a group of friends and neighbors in Atlanta, GA who were compelled by Christ to play a role in the restoration of Rwanda.  Although we have a high level of expertise in global health and African culture, we believe that the best solutions come from trusted partnerships with indigenous leaders.  Therefore we currently are partnering with Simon and Kedress Nziramekanga of the Good Shepherd Community Church in Kigali to build the only pediatric health care facility in Rwanda.

Our goal is to help communities create sustainable solutions by meeting the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the people. We do this by partnering with individuals and organizations who want to use their resources and talents to help bring about lasting change.

Find out more about how you can help.