Leaders are Learners

Can you teach a old dog new tricks? I'm not sure, but I have a fascination in trying as best I can to learn as much as I can.  Especially when it comes to learning leadership from God's Word.


I just returned from a two-day quasi-leadership-training event with Chuck Allen. Chuck is the pastor at Sugar Hill Church, outside of Atlanta. He's a great leader and loves to teach it. In fact, he's written the best "Leadership 101" book I've ever read. It's called Extraordinary Leadership for Everyday People.

This was a rare opportunity to spend about 5 hours with a guy who travels the world teaching leadership to thousands of people, especially teenagers. Every summer he teaches at Student Leadership University and really connects with the students. I'm excited that my youngest daughter gets to hear him this summer at SLU 101.

I wanted to share my notes from this experience.
Hopefully, something he said will be as encouraging to you as it was me:

• Two words that define a leader: Servant and Courage
• God is tired of sissy Christians!
• Great leadership demands great risk. Illustration: Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in the midst of his plane falling apart: "You won't believe how smooth is it on the other side."
• Most people never lead because they fear failure.
• Thomas Edison had over 10,000 "failures" at the light bulb. [DM addendum: When asked why so many failures, Edison replied that they weren't failures, rather 10,000 lessons to help him get it right.]
• Failure can either be a crutch you lean on or a rung on the ladder of success.
• Failure is often where God gets our attention most.
• If you've never failed, you've never lived [from video below]:

• Jesus didn't come to keep you from messing up, but to get in the mess with you.
• What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail and what would you do if you knew no one would laugh at you???
• God can't wait for you to get up in the morning!
• If I get Jesus right, I get all of life right.
• He who leads without people following is only taking a walk.
• Invest in others: "Blue Chippers" and "Penny Stocks"
• Find people to hold you accountable.
• From three different passages, Chuck shared these three thoughts: 

• Jesus has to break us before He can bless us.  (Breaking bread to feed the 5,000+ - Matthew 14). Question: What do you think is impossible? Bring it to Jesus and let Him try.

• I need to be emptied of me so I can be full of Him. (The pots collected for the Widow's oil - 2 Kings 4) Question: How much of you is in the way of God doing something great?

• I need to reflect God's glory to the world around me. (Peter and John heals the cripple man at the church - Acts 3) Question: When's the last time you told someone what God has done?