Thinking Thursday: The way we think about work is broken

What makes work satisfying? Apart from a paycheck, there are intangible values that, Barry Schwartz suggests, our current way of thinking about work simply ignores. It’s time to stop thinking of workers as cogs on a wheel. Can’t see the video? You can watch it right here. Every week I choose a video that I…

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How I Choose Studies for Small Group Connecting Events

I get a lot of questions. And a very frequent question is, “What are the best studies to use for small group connections?” Let’s just say I have my favorites. And I’ve listed them from time to time. But today I want to tell you how I choose studies for small group connecting events (i.e.,…

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4 Problems I’d Rather Have

One of the 10 assumptions that shape my small group strategy is that there are no problem-free strategies, systems or models. Instead, every strategy, system and model comes with its own unique set of problems. Wise leaders simply choose the set of problems they’d rather have. Every strategy, system and model comes with its own unique set…

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Thinking Thursday: How Far Can Curiosity Take You?

James Cameron’s big-budget (and even bigger-grossing) films create unreal worlds all their own. In this personal talk, he reveals his childhood fascination with the fantastic — from reading science fiction to deep-sea diving — and how it ultimately drove the success of his blockbuster hits “Aliens,” “The Terminator,” “Titanic” and “Avatar.” Can’t see the video?…

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Quotebook: Receiving Feedback and Effective Discipleship

You may have never thought of discipleship quite this way, but effective discipleship really has to do with the disciple’s ability to receive feedback. This important idea switched on for me at the Global Leadership Summit listening to Sheila Heen talk about feedback (you can read my key takeaways from her talk right here). As…

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How Do You Measure Up to the 5 Intangibles of Leadership?

In the days and weeks following the Global Leadership Summit it’s pretty common for me to work my way back through my notes and begin reading the books I bought. This morning I spent some time thinking about Bill Hybels’ talk. He set up his talk by pointing out that “we define leadership as moving…

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