family vacation and the leadership summit

originally uploaded to flickr by leadershipsummit2009

my husband and i just returned from a lovely family vacation - an annual summer tradition where all eleven of my immediate family members spend the week together relaxing, reading, swimming, shopping, chatting, playing games and laughing!  i look forward to this vacation every summer because it is always a rich time of just being together.

every couple of years the annual family vacation occurs during the week of the willow creek leadership summit (as it did this year) and we have to miss this fantastic leadership event. i attended my first leadership summit at willow when i was 16 years old as a volunteer in the promiseland ministry - with the exception of a few years while on family vacation - i've attended every year since. as a leader - i absolutely love the experience of being surrounded with fellow leaders and being challenged to think in fresh ways.

since i missed this year's event - i've been pouring over blogs, and tweets, and facebook pictures - so that i might experience just a taste of the summit. in case you missed it too - here are a few of my favorites:

"finding leaders for ministry is not the problem, the challenge is creating a culture that thrives without super humans at the top."  - bill hybels

"tolerance for failure is critical if you hope to achieve change." - dan & chip Heath

"learn to be positive deviants." - gary Hamel

"there is always resistance in the journey to equality" - bono

"if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together." - david gergen

some of my favorite blog recaps: drew from nyc, taylor birkey, greg cox, tim schrader and check out the flickr pics and summit next steps.

i read several tweets from people hoping for more female leadership representation. i agree! and desperately wish, not only for the summit but for our churches that we realize that growing need for women to lead in this current context.

i'm still searching for children's ministry blogs - leaders who were inspired by the summit and are applying the lessons to children's ministry. if you have seen any - please send them my way!

overall it sounds like summit 2009 was a great experience - what was the best moment for you?

speak to be heard

communication - one of the most important tools for efficient leadership. i continue to run into children's leaders who are frustrated and confused as to why they are not being heard by their sr. leader, or volunteer team, or staff, or parents of children in the ministry - and this absolutely breaks my heart, because i believe that just a few small changes could dramatically increase the effectiveness of a leader's ability to be heard. wikipedia defines the phrase "to be heard" as "to listen with favor." i love that thought - when we speak, as leaders with a vision for children in our churches - we are listened to with favor.




first: identify your audience

as leaders, we communicate with a lot of people all day long. and different people require different styles of communication. as you enter each new conversation - ask yourself, "who is my audience now?" identify who you are in conversation with: your sr. leader, a volunteer, a parent, a collegue or staff member.

second: identify how your audience listens

by realizing how your audience listens - you can adjust/adapt your communication style so that you when you are communicating you are fully heard.  as a children's director, i worked for a sr. pastor who listened to me by printing out my emails, writing his thoughts on the printed email paper, and then placing the paper in my mailbox. well - this wasn't exactly my method of communicating - but i learned quickly that this was his language, and if i wanted to be heard, i needed to communicate with him in his language.  you can quickly identify the language of your audience by watching the way they respond to your emails, phone calls, texts, etc.. do they respond to your emails with a phone call? that's a good indicator.

third: communicate directly to your audience

once you've idenitified your audience in a particular conversation and the way in which he/she communicates - you are ready to lead with strength by communicating well. be mindful of your body language, prepare well for each interaction, tell the truth so that you build a reputation as a trustworthy communicator, and always get to the point quickly - don't babble or use extra words to make your point - be direct in order to make the listener's job easier.

i love what robery mccloskey, an illustrator of children's books has to say:

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

my favorite books for leadership teams

reading a book with your children's ministry leadership team is a great way to encourage new thoughts and cast a new vision for the direction of your ministry.  i can still remember the first book i led my children's ministry leadership team through - sue miller's book "making your children's ministry the best hour of every kid's week." we would read a chapter on our own, and then discuss that chapter together each week - it was such a rich time of dialogue, and examining, and learning about each other's perspectives and philosophies. reading that book together encouraged us to re-think many of the assumptions we had made in ministry.

here is a list of my current favorites for leadership teams:

1. Postmodern Children's Ministry by Ivy Beckwith - whether you agree or disagree with ivy's perspective, it is the perfect book for a group trying to define vision and values.

2. Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands by Nancy Ortberg -  my absolute favorite book on leadership, great stories and applicable lessons. i can't say enough about how personally affected i was by this book.

3. Mad Church Disease by Anne Jackson - fantastic book about overcoming burnout in the church, a great resource for spending your energy well in ministry, especially great for volunteers who may be headed towards burn out in their roles.

4. Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World by Don Tapscott - a great book on the characteristics of digital kids, perfect for discussions on how relevant your ministry is today.

5. Think Orange: Imagine the Impact When Church and Family Collide by Reggie Joiner - brand new from the leader of reThink, great thoughts on envisioning parents and church leaders.

what books are on your current list? what are you doing to lead and challenge your leadership team?

thursday's steal of a deal

i love a good deal more than anyone. nothing feels better than getting a quality product for a steal of a deal. today i highlight this week's children's ministry good deal.

this week's steal of a deal comes from timbuktoons. i can't say enough about my friends todd hampson and sean copley. not only are they wildly creative and talented, but they are consistent examples of people doing their best to make the world better for kids! and have they got a deal for you!

all DVDs -  only $10 This is your last chance to purchase hard copy products from Timbuktoons so they are selling them at extremely low prices. All DVDs are only $10 each but for limited time only and while supplies last!




and - an even better deal! right now all Scripture Shorts lesson plans are FREE (in the downloads section)! you can't get a better deal than that!




know of a good deal? let me know - email me with the details [amy@lemonlimekids.com]- i'll be posting every thursday and highlighting the deal of the week.

the special magic of a team

recently i attended a funeral - the funeral was for the daughter of a volunteer with whom i had served with in children's ministry years ago. during the service, i looked around the room to see the faces of people i had served with weekend after weekend for almost 8 years. the incredible number of people in attendance reminded me of how this particular volunteer team had loved and cared for each other for so many years.

i saw the face of a woman who would sing and dance for kids, and the face of a man who would dress up in silly costumes while teaching kids, and the faces of several women who led small groups of kids, and the faces of students who assisted in the classroom, and the faces of spouses who for so many years - supported their husbands' and wives' volunteer efforts. it was an unbelievable picture.

the community that had been built on that special team was unlike any i had experienced before. i will never take the privilege of leading - or being a member of a team for granted.

serving on that team transformed my life.

and even in the tragic and darkest moments of life - i'm reminded of the special magic of a team.