Confessions of a Leadership Junkie

Generally, I stick with things that work. When I find shoes I like, I buy 7 or 8 pairs so I have a new pair for several years to come. I mean who needs the headache of finding new ones all the time? I have a well-organized closet with a cache of particular items that I deem a perfect fit for me. Items like nine of the same toothbrushes, three pairs of the exact same gloves, 23 moleskin notebooks, a case of mechanical pencils (0.9 mm lead thickness), and three boxes of the exact same black ink ballpoint pens.

I just feel that with so much uncertainty in this crazy world, it's wise to stick with a few proven performers. That's why I continue attending The Global Leadership Summit each summer with my staff. It never disappoints.

In some Christian circles it's uncool to like anything big or successful. But I have to come clean: I'm a big fan of Willow Creek and Bill Hybels. So when I was presented with the opportunity to interview Bill Hybels, I was thrilled—and a little nervous. I'm no journalist. How can people take notes and hold a real conversation? I found I was really bad at this. In no time I was asking Bill questions that had nothing to do with him or The Summit and instead began using the time to extract wisdom for my own leadership challenges.

I was curious to find out if the heat about leadership was as white hot in person as it appears from the auditorium as the Summit. I wanted to find out if his involvement in the GLS would continue since he and Willow Creek Church are actively looking for his successor. (Yes, two seconds into the conversation, Bill made it clear that the GLS would remain a passion of his for years to come.)

Now I've met my fair share of leaders on brief sit downs, but few have spoken with such force right out of the gate. He had his feet up and was leaned back, but that was the only sign of any relaxation. When Bill talks about leadership, he comes across with the power of a freight train. He's in his early sixties, but his passion and ideas are as young and energized as ever.

Like I said earlier, I'm not a skilled interviewer, so I often got more caught up in the conversation than I should have. Yes, I did take pages of notes, but I wasn't really worried about losing information because my trusted copilot, Cortland, was recording the whole thing on his iPhone. Of course, after the interview on our way home, Cortland dropped his iPhone in the toilet in the Chicago Midway Airport. I've seen Cortland play basketball, and trust me, he couldn't win at Horse, but here he was giving me the play-by-play of how he made an unbelievable 3-point play and flushed Bill. Look, I like Bill … but not enough to dig that phone out.

On the plane ride home, I began to panic a little. After paging through what I did write down, I realized that for almost eighteen years I had been shaped by all the things I had just heard. In many ways, sitting down with Bill was just a reminder of what he has done for years. Bill and the GLS have smashed an environment of leadership and developing at the church until it has changed our culture. For example, when I asked Bill about his personal favorite talks from past Summit Conferences, he mentioned the interview he did with Jack Welch. The Summit was where I actually heard about Jack Welch for the first time. One of the best leadership quotes I ever heard came from Jack when he said, "Before you're a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others." I have carried that into all facets of my leadership life.

Bill spoke about having President Clinton as a guest speaker and all the controversy that came with that decision. Many church leaders wrote in protest to say that they would not be attending. Bill went on to explain that no matter what the difference in views are, there is always something we can learn from other leaders. He reached out to many of the pastors who'd protested Clinton's involvement and asked them, "Could you still listen? Could you still learn?" Many took the challenge and came. I love that Bill and The Summit have forced church leaders to see wisdom in people even if they are outside our personal religious streams or comfort zones. You can see it in the diverse people who attend. Most Christian conferences have a certain demographic they target. I go to one every year that almost requires you to have a goatee, V-neck t-shirt, and tight jeans. Another one I enjoy is dominated by the older crowd. I mean like the age of Moses and his fraternity buddies. But the GLS has a diverse demographic: suits to shorts and everything in between. Christians to non-Christians. Younger to older. The Summit is a melting pot of leaders.

But you cannot separate the GLS from its founder. Bill's heart gave him away very quickly when he spoke of Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. He recapped her GLS talk and the relationship that grew from that time into her eventual relationship with Christ. It's evident that Bill is still very much about reaching those far from God as much as he is about leadership development. I asked him if there was one speaker he always wanted but could never land. His answer: Nelson Mandela. Bill said he'd been trying for years. He got close a few times, but scheduling just never lined up.

For my own amusement, I asked him to recap the story of how he came to meet Bono. Hybels is one of my favorite Christian leaders, and Bono's U2 is my favorite band. The way their worlds came together is awesome! I could tell he didn't want to tell the story again, but I really didn't care because it's the stuff of lore, and it's little gems like this you get at the GLS. Bill was out of the country and actually got a call from Bono and didn't know who he was. Yeah, let that sink in. Bill didn't know the band U2. Look, even our greatest leaders have faults. So Bill said he was a little puzzled on how "this man" knew where he was staying. He said he told the people at the front desk to just take his number and he would get back to him! He said the front desk people seemed disturbed by this. HA! No kidding! Can you imagine being the lady who has to tell Bono that this guy doesn't know you so give me your number and we'll see? A few days later, while emailing with his family, he asked his kids about the name, Bono. They dealt with Dad appropriately. Just goes to show you that even a parent with a low music I.Q. can raise really great children.

That story has no importance in this article at all. I just love to retell it.

Bill spoke about the challenges he sees for the church in America and shared insights on what we need to focus on now. Honestly, this guy doesn't give you nuggets of wisdom; he literally drops gold mines on your head. And that is exactly how every GLS is. You know it will be good, and yet you still leave challenged to the core. The Summit challenges thinking, habits, and even attitudes. If you skip a session there, you do so at your peril because you really never know who will swing the big bat at any time. Some speakers you may have never heard of often steal the show and bring stunning insights. Allow me to give you my personal favorite game changers. These talks didn't just change my life. They changed how I went about it.

Hybels gave a talk in the late '90s called "Dangerous Leaders." This is perhaps the greatest leadership talk I have ever heard, and I am a connoisseur of leadership conferences. I remember to this day where I was sitting when he set this bomb off in my life. He was not talking about bad leaders, but dangerous in the good sense of the word. It dialed me into taking risks, making time with God a priority and not just sitting and hoping for the rainbows of tomorrow. If you're a leader of any type and that talk doesn't get your heart pumping, then you may be dead and should get someone to check your pulse. However, not all of it is adrenaline-driven. At a time in my ministry when things were getting out of control, Hybels spoke of a plan for leaders to get organized. He called it Six-by-Six Execution. I couldn't do justice to this idea in such a short article, but if you need to get more things done with more focus, I haven't found anything that works better.

Dr. Henry Cloud talks often at The Summit, and his wisdom seems so on track it's scary. You can feel how much prayer has gone into the GLS when you go because it seems tailored fit to your life and leadership trials like only God can direct. Henry's talk and book on "Necessary Endings" saved me from "death by relationship." It gave me the real tools to know when it was time to say bye-bye to certain people in my life, a lesson all leaders need to understand.

One of the most life-altering ones happened several years back. Bill and the GLS tackled the issue of racism in the Church. Many pastors were inspired to get off their rears and make real friendships with people who look different than them. A week after coming back from that particular Summit, I attended a local Bible study in someone's home and walked across the room and introduced myself to a young African American worship leader named Sterling. I actually shared with him what I had just heard at the Summit, and we had great talks about it for months. Through that time, we bonded and decided to build a church together. To this day, we are best friends, literally. He is even giving me classes on how to be "more black." I couldn't imagine my life without my best friend, and it all came from the words at the Summit challenging us to get this issue fixed in our lives and our churches.

For years, I have taken all our prospective staff members to the Summit. Coincidentally, if a staff member doesn't get anything out of the GLS, they don't usually stay on staff for more than a year. We call it "The Summit Test." My hunch is The Global Leadership Summit appeals to hill takers and those interested in change and development. It can be a turn-off for people who are looking to simply tread water or be a paycheck player.

This year's Summit lineup promises to be very strong, and I'm pumped. General Colin Powell, Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Dr. Henry Cloud and Mark Burnett will be speaking, just to name a few. I believe it will be as course-correcting as always.

In summary, leaders matter. They matter in business, politics, families, the military and in our churches. In the ever-increasing, changing world, we need a real continuing education for our chosen profession.

You may ask why I'm cheerleading for this conference. That's fair. One reason is because we are losing 1,500 pastors and church leaders every month in this country. You take that many leaders out of any organization, and it's going to lose a lot of momentum. Many leave for issues and reasons that some instruction would have helped them avoid–lessons that Bill and the GLS teach clearly year after year. Another reason I champion this conference is because of its massive impact on my life. It helps leaders who are spinning their wheels. Over the years, I have taken well over a hundred struggling church leaders to it. Time and again, I have watched the majority of them become passionately committed attenders who return into their callings with real force. It's not a cure-all for all issues of leadership. My best description would be that it is an annual wake-up call to become the people God always knew we could be.

So there, you have my perspective. If you get a chance, go to one of the many satellite locations around the world and see for yourself. Perhaps download a few talks from previous Summits and sample it. If you hate it then, I guess it wasn't for you. But for some of us, it will refill our tanks and rattle our spirits. You may not agree with everything you hear there, but you will have to start thinking and feeling for yourself. And that is always a step in the right direction.