Leadership Summit 2005

Well, as some of you know, I've been attending the Leadership Summit for the past three days at Granger Community Church in Granger, IN. The Summit is put on by Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL. Presenters included Bill Hybels, Rick Warren and John Maxwell. The Messages were well thought out and the overall theme was followed throughout.

My initial assumption was that we would hear information primarily focused on the development of "leadership" qualities. And while that was touched on, there were much more powerful themes being presented. You couldn't help but hear the following:

• The gospel
• The problems in the world today (AIDS, hunger, poverty, etc.)
• Our calling to meet the above needs
• What the church and others are doing to meet the above needs
• How leaders are succeeding because they have followed Christian principles in their churches/businesses
• How to manage our time/stress/energy in the completion of our callings

I really enjoyed two of the presentations on Day 2. Each sounded similar to clinical conferences I have attended. One guy even presented on the 4 parts of the self (emotional, cognitive, behavioral and spiritual) which is enough to make any counselor feel at home. I guess it's just good to know that even leaders of large churches and companies fall under the same psychological principles that I teach to people without jobs.

My overall impression of the conference was positive. I was refreshed, inspired and challenged to be more than I've already aspired to be. To focus less on success and more on servanthood. And to find my Holy Discontent (Bill Hybels described this concept as that thing that I feel in my spirit is wrong and needs corrected) and to do everything in my power to bring change in this area.