Just like Pastor Craig always says (we think he got it from Bill Hybels): “When the leader gets better, everyone gets better.”
Well, it’s true. And when more than 400,000 people get better all at once, the world can change. That’s exactly what happened at the 2017 Global Leadership Summit over the last two days—with more than 7,000 people in the audience and more than 700 satellite sites in North America!
The Open Network had the privilege of being invited to be part of the social media team at the summit here at Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago. We posted things we thought you’d enjoy to Instagram and Twitter, and here are some of the highlights:
Marcus Lemonis: Star of CNBC’s The Profit
“Success is based on your ability to be vulnerable.”
“Money is important, but it shouldn’t be your purpose.”
Sheryl Sandberg: COO, Facebook and Author of Lean In
“Resilience is a muscle, and you can build it.”
“To develop as a leader, get real feedback, get people to tell you the truth. Make is easy for people to give you feedback.”
Marcus Buckingham: Author StandOut 2.0
“People on your team want two things: to be part of something bigger and to feel special.”
“Ask each person on your team two questions every week: ‘What are your priorities? How can I help?'”
Juliet Funt: CEO, Whitespace at Work
“The pause is where great ideas grace us with their presence. And it’s the most endangered part of the modern workplace.
“Your time is a space that will be filled unless you install filters in your mind to prevent it.”
Four Questions to Ask Yourself to Fight Busyness:
Is there anything i can let go of?
Where is “good enough” good enough?
What do i truly need to know?
What deserves my attention?
Immaculée Ilibagiza: Author and Advocate for Forgiveness
“Use your life to do something beautiful. Something that God would be proud of.”
“Complaining doesn’t help. Looking back doesn’t help. This is what I have now. Work with what you have!”
“I cannot change other people, but I can change myself.”
Angela Duckworth: Author of Grit
“Grit is sustained passion and perseverance for especially-longterm goals.”
Sam Adeyemi: Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre in Nigeria
“Real and sustainable change in people’s lives begins with a change in their sense of identity.”
“The people we lead are plagued by self-doubt. We need to let them know they matter.”
“Great leaders change the way people see themselves.”
Laszlo Bock: Senior Adviser at Google
“Having goals is the only thing that drives performance. Have goals and make sure your team knows them.”
“Give your work meaning; if you’re a leader give your team meaning in their work.”
Andy Stanley: Pastor, North Point and Leadership Author
“Be a student, not a critic. I will never criticize something I don’t understand.”
“When you stop learning you stop leading, and when you stop leading, the other leaders in your organization will leave. Status quo-people will stay and protect the status quo.”
“Keep your eyes and mind wide open—listen to outsiders. Listen to people who aren’t in your industry. Listen to people who don’t know how to do what you do…they might have the best new ideas. Outsiders aren’t bound by your assumptions.”
Bryan Stevenson: Founder, Equal Justice Initiative
“Leadership requires that we get close enough to problems to understand them.”
“Stay hopeful. Hopefulness is essential to effective leadership.”
Fredrick Härén: Business Creativity Expert
“An idea is when a person takes two formerly-known things and puts them together in a new way.”
“Always listen to why someone thinks their idea is a good one.”
“The speed of innovation is increasing, and we need people to keep up.”
“Most people are stuck doing things the old way because that’s the way we’re supposed to do it.”
“You don’t get creativity by talking about creativity; you get it by doing creative thing as a leader.”
“We are never closer to God than when we have a really good idea and create.”
Gary Haugen: Founder and CEO, International Justice Mission
“Fear is the destroyer of the love that inspires dreams.”
“I’ve seen far more dreams destroyed by a leader’s everyday anxieties than by violence.”
Bill Hybels: Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church
Challenge 1: Write or call the people who believed in you as a young person and thank them.
Challenge 2: If you’re a leader, make a covenant with yourself to invest in younger leaders.
Challenge 3: Spend 15 minutes every morning reading and reflecting on life.
Challenge 4: Make this year the year of a grander vision. Your soul was created for more.
Challenge 5: Commit to making your workplace the healthiest place it can be.
Challenge 6: Create a personal plan for improving your own leadership this year.
It was a jam-packed two days, and we’re all a little tired. But being tired for a day or two will give us energy for the next season. If we don’t intentionally flex our learning and leadership muscles, we’ll stall out. We’ll stay satisfied with “normal.”
If you want experience the amazing talks from the Global Leadership Summit, you can access their content through the GLSnext app.
You can also find free ministry training about everything from baptisms to small groups to public speaking on the Life.Church Open Network training page.
Whatever you do, find a book to read, a TED Talk to watch, or a group to meet with. Learn a lot, get tired, take a nap, and then go out and change your community.
FOMO is real, so don’t take chances.
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