From 1996 until 2002 I could not wait to receive my monthly leadership cassette tape from John Maxwell’s INJOY Life Club. Annually, I paid $120 for 12 cassettes, a fill-in-the-blank listening guide, a binder to house the cassettes (which I still have), and John’s latest book.
Since my daily commute to work was between 75-90 minutes each way, I consumed everything John taught. During this time, he became and still is my spiritual hero.
But four years in I noticed an interesting trend. Much of the material was repurposed and repackaged. Only about three or four sessions each year were fresh content. But I loved John and stayed a faithful customer who eventually had the incredible honor of working for him.
The lessons I came to enjoy most were when he would do case studies of successful churches. I found it fascinating when John would sit down with a pastor dealing with a particular issue, take out his yellow legal pad and just ask him great questions. These lessons moved beyond mere information and concepts to being an actual practitioner of the leadership. There is simply a HUGE difference between exposure and experience.
I am having similar feelings today. It appears all the leadership lessons are simply repackaged and repurposed content. As I survey the leadership landscape, I am forced to ask, “Where Have All The Good Leadership Ideas Gone?”
Rather than having a land rush for new great leadership IDEAS, there is a land rush for leadership LANGUAGE. How can I say the same something which has already been said multiple times but say it in a new, fresh way? The truth is there is nothing new under the leadership sun.
Much like the INJOY Life Club tapes of the late ’90s, what I currently enjoy the most are case studies. I am enjoying books about people who are doing leadership rather than talking about it. Some examples are:
- Ed Catmull’s story of Pixar Entertainment, Creativity, Inc.
- David Kirkpatrick’s account of the rise of Facebook, The Facebook Effect,
- Or a book I am about to begin, George Bodenheimer’s Every Town Is A Sports Town: Business Leadership at ESPN, from the Mailroom to the Boardroom.
Finally, what about leadership at local churches. The local church is the toughest leadership environment in the world because we face an enemy on a daily basis others may or may not encounter, Satan. We also lead volunteer armies who do not have a paycheck hanging over their heads.
So why are new ideas not coming out of local churches? In a single word – obedience.
I feel God has told the local church, “I have given you 20 years of leadership content from some of the greatest practitioners in human history. Now be faithful and utilize what I have given you and I will give you more.”
So how do we as Christian leaders to solve this problem? I have three suggestions:
- Prioritize Leader Development Over Leadership Development. Crawford Loritts introduced this concept in his book on self-leadership, Leadership As An Identity. Leadership development focuses on the task and assignment. Leader development focuses on being the type of leader God can use to accomplish the task and assignment. Focus on self-leadership first.
- Serve Business Leaders. The people who attend your church should have a competitive advantage in their industry because they attend your church. For more on this idea, click 14 Things Churches Can Teach Business Leaders To Have A Competitive Advantage In Their Industry.
- Invest In Next Generation Leaders. It is a humbling reality but few if any new ideas ever come from anyone over the age of 45. If you want to see new leadership ideas, they are likely coming from young leaders. Investing in next generation leaders is an investment in great new ideas.
What are your thoughts on new leadership ideas?
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