Dr. Bill Donahue

Developing Life-Changing Leaders

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Strategies for Developing Leaders

Apr 27

Posted by Bill Donahue in Business, Leadership, Uncategorized | No Comments

There were many Leadership Development approaches and models at The Lobby gathering in San Juan Capistrano. Intentional, consistent engagement with rising and potential leaders is still the core. A leader needs vision, time, someone who listens deeply, regular feedback, a place to process failure, and a laser-like focus on goals to shape a leader.

Here are some strategies and approaches to recruiting and developing leaders.

1)     Just ask. So often we forget to make a simple, direct ask. “Join me” and “Can you help me?” and “I want you to enter a leader development process” are simple ways to call people into leadership. No begging, no dancing around. Just ask with clarity and boldness.

2)     Provide short-term experiences. Give people a place and an opportunity to lead – even if they fail. But shorter experiences are ways to identify areas for growth and catch failure sooner. Sometimes we do not even need to tell them “this is training” but rather just give them a leadership experience.

3)     Apprenticing. This tried and true approach is as old as history itself. Take someone under your wing, or place them with a solid leader. Give them a little leadership under the supervision and coaching of another leader and people will thrive. They gain confidence, get a good taste of reality, identify growth opportunities and have a laboratory to lead in without all the responsibility for the outcomes.

4)     Use online Resources. Get a group of rising leaders in front of some good content (DVD or online) and then let them process and practice. Process the content and make sure it is understood, then form a leader development group and practice the skills together.

So choose a method or two and get going. There are no silver bullets in leadership development – just provide consistent engagement, real life experience and quality feedback. And watch the leaders emerge!

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Top Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs

Apr 18

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Top Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs

So you want to step out on your own, or build a company from scratch, or launch a new non-profit, or plant a church? It is likely you’ve got that entrepreneurial spirit. Awesome…but do you have the essential qualities successful start-up leaders say you’ll need to break through?

A WSJ article on March 19 lists the results of a survey of successful entrepreneurs. Here are the top qualities they listed in order of importance:

  • Vision
  • Passion
  • Drive
  • Integrity
  • Innovation
  • Risk-taker
  • Resilience
  • Pro-activeness
  • Relentless customer focus
  • Ability to team
  • Flexibility

When asked, “Where did you pick up the capabilities needed to be successful?” they responded as follows (also in order of importance):

  • Experience as an employee
  • Higher education
  • Mentors
  • Family
  • Co-founders
  • Secondary education
  • Colleagues
  • Senior executives/board
  • Friends
  • Investors

First, it is no surprise that vision, passion, and drive are at the top of the qualities list.  You have to have your start-up in your gut, not just in your head. By itself, an idea is worth very little. But an idea that is developed, tried, refined, funded, and desperately needed will go a long way. The person who can move an idea into action, and works hard pulling others together with integrity and passion, will turn it into something transforming.

When it comes to an innovative idea, you cannot just see it – you must see it through!

And second, it is no surprise that experience (rightly evaluated and understood) combined with formal and informal learning environments, is our best teacher. Formally, classroom instruction can broaden our intellectual horizons and sharpen our abilities to engage and defend ideas. Informally, mentors, family members and our co-founding partners bring their experiences – successes and failures – into contact with ours.

The takeaway? Discover what is in your gut and go after it. Stick with it through failure and disappointment. But never do it alone, because you’ll need others to learn from and maybe cry with. Be relentless about the quality and usefulness of your product, service or mission. Become a voracious learner, and invite others to join your team in the grand pursuit of your life-changing vision.

And watch what happens! We all might be very surprised!

Facing the Development Challenge

Feb 23

Posted by Bill Donahue in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

This is how I guide leaders and teams to work toward organizational outcomes, bringing personal leadership strengths in sync with group or team processes.

Whether working with an individual or an organization there are some common issues that must be addressed to get the team moving in the right direction and the leader focusing on the right stuff.

Here’s my 5-fold approach for moving forward to achieve results. Each has a “takeaway” recommendation so a leader can act with focus.

The Development Process

1) Name Reality: Using guided discussion with core teams and leaders, and some basic assessment tools we will identify leverage points that drive progress. Barriers to progress can be identified clearly, so that leaders know how and when to engage the challenge. A clear, honest picture of reality is the starting point for meaningful and lasting change.

2) Prioritize Investment: How a group or team allocates resources depends on what “drivers” are most likely to produce results. We do not ignore weaknesses and broken parts of the strategy. Instead we focus on what seems to be working and what has the highest capacity for leverage. Time, talent and treasure are precious commodities. Are you deploying them wisely?

3) Catalyze Movement: Rather than wait, I focus my energies to catalyze movement within priority areas as quickly as possible. This is not like building an automobile. This is an organism—it is fluid, flexible and dynamic. By catalyzing limited, focused movement we can determine the impact on the whole, and discern where to bring additional energy or redirect resources. Get the right things moving in the right direction as soon as possible.

4) Guide Process: Change cannot be managed. But, like electricity, it can be channeled and guided, measured and adapted. As strategies for movement are put into play, we will navigate their impact, funneling successful results into greater overall impact. Leaders need coaching and guidance to navigate change.

5) Cultivate Feedback: You must create feedback opportunities all along the strategy pathway. Rather than wait until the full impact of guided change takes place, feedback loops are utilized throughout the process, ensuring that leaders are wisely fueling the pace, level and scope of the change. Timely feedback that informs meaningful next steps helps a leader refine the process, reset the target and execute the strategy.

Developing the Leader Within Part 5 of 5 – Running on Empty? Developing the Leader’s Capacity

Feb 9

Posted by Bill Donahue in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

How are your gauges? I check the ones on my car frequently. The readings on the gauges provide a snapshot of reality. They rarely lie. We ignore them at our peril. I am glad my gas gauge has a yellow light that tells me I have about a gallon or 2 left before I wind up hitchhiking on some dark road in the middle of nowhere.

How about your Leadership Gauges? There are 3 to pay attention to. Where would you mark each gauge in relation to your life?

Check your gauge

1) Spiritual Gauge: Empty…..Half ……Full?

This gauge moves toward empty every time you invest spiritual energy in others. Helping people connect with God, providing soul care and engaging in great moral or ethical battles can sap your tank. Though especially true of pastors and non-profit leaders, this can affect every leader.

The spiritual life must be replenished. Times for prayer, meditation, solitude, reading and silence are usually sufficient to refuel the tank. Pay attention to the soul and to the heart. Life flows from those places and, like a garden, they must be tended to and weeded regularly.

2) Emotional Gauge: Empty….Half….Full?

Are you experiencing unresolved conflict with co-workers, family or friends? Are you continually sad and depressed, filled with fear, easily aggravated or overly defensive? Then your emotional gauge is likely near empty.

Getting relationships back on track, addressing conflict head on, and forgiving people who have offended you will help move the needle back toward Full. It is important to process these emotions with a trusted friend or safe small group who know you and want to see you find healing. Consult a professional counselor if needed, especially if there have been serious losses in life; a death, job loss, a broken dream, or a relational breakdown.

3) Physical Gauge: Empty….Half….Full?

Lack of sleep, poor diet, too much caffeine or sugar, illness, and too little exercise or fresh air will drain this tank quickly. Some of these we cannot avoid, but we must address. Allow time for healing during an illness. Too many of us get heroic and come back to work before we should, infecting others and slowing our healing. The result is poor performance and fractured relationships.

So pay attention to your gauges, and make two decisions. First, build some margin into the calendar. Put “ME” on the schedule just like any serious appointment and stick to it. Set vacation time NOW. And second, set clear boundaries. Say NO and mean it. You do not have to do it all, and your kids do not have to sign up for everything. FOCUS is your friend!

Lead at full capacity, and your leadership will flourish.

Small Group Insights Giveaway!

Jan 20

Posted by Bill Donahue in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Small Group Insights

Just Released! Small Group Insights DVD Leader’s Kit! Act now for your chance to receive  a copy of Small Group Insights! To celebrate the release of this new resource we are hosting a week-long DVD giveaway! (For more about how the SGI Kit can transform the relationships in your group or team, read my Post, Real Relationships: Real Groups & Teams).

To be eligible for a free copy, comment below by answering this question: How would improving the relational dynamic of your team increase its effectiveness? There will be multiple winners per day! You can also follow me on Twitter or “Like” Dr. Bill Donahue on FB for more chances to win!

The SGI assessment has been used with universities, hospitals, churches and businesses. It is a proven tool that we have refined for greater use. So we added a simple leader’s DVD to help guide a group or team toward health and productivity. The multiple-page SGI results (sent immediately to each person online) provide awesome feedback about how each member of the team connects with others. This insight into each person, combined with information on how to work better as a team, will create an authentic environment where you can build healthy relationships and get the mission done more effectively.

Respond below for your chance to receive a free copy!

Leadership: Whose Values?

Oct 27

Posted by Bill Donahue in Leadership, Uncategorized | No Comments

Leaders thrive in tension. But they can also be torn apart by poorly navigated tension. This is especially true when dealing with personal and organizational values. Zealots of the past age embrace the tried and true while visionary dreamers of amazing futures are guided by the new, the hip, and the “just imagine what we could be!”

So which values make it on the list? Or better yet – WHOSE values? Those of the senior leader? The team? The customer/target audience? When you start talking values – as I do with groups and leaders I coach – you get a lot of tension. It looks like this:

Preserve the Past ————-VALUES—————Embrace the Future

The tension created here is no small thing. Preservation of the past is not bad. There is “value” to what got you here. The people and leaders who shouldered the problems of the past should not be ignored as you shape the paradigms of the future. The energy that fuels the future must be unleashed without crushing the spirits of those who built the past.

Tension is good and necessary. Why?

Tension and leadership are partners. Without tension, there is no need for leadership. Navigating the “pull” of many good forces in many different directions is the challenge of every leader. Today, for example, I will have to manage the tension between some self-leadership issues (taking advantage of some personal growth opportunities) while still reaching out to others to serve them through my coaching and consulting. Both are necessary for me.

Personal and organizational values are tested and forged in such tension. So here are three questions to ask when shaping values, given to me by a mentor many years ago.

1) What to we want to Avoid? Those who wish to preserve the past love this question. It is the guiding motif behind their energy and commitment to “keep both feet firmly planted” in what they believe. Fear – sometimes legitimate fear — of losing hard-fought ground is behind this. Or people are worried that a core value will be lost in the future.

Example: A company wants to receive just-in-time data for decision-making. Sounds like a great value (“there should be no one standing in the information line!”).

But without a filter or a process for sifting through that information (guided by strategic values and frameworks) the leadership team may act impulsively: “well, the new data tell us that we should…” So leaders who embrace the value of timely information and data must wrestle with the value to maintain brand quality, vision clarity, and consistent implementation of strategy. Or else the group will shift and sway with every new piece of data that comes down the pike.

So what might these leaders want to avoid? Impulsive decision-making; the kind that comes from an effort to be hip or current, instead of being wise.

2) What do we want to Preserve? Example: A new effort is being designed to get everyone in a group or on a team, because of a timeless value — No One Stands Alone. If we hold to a long-term value like this in the face of needed change, do we appear to be stuck in the past? Be careful here. A long-held value does not imply a lack of creativity. It simply means a desire for continuity at the core level. Fresh strategic thinking can still embrace enduring values while adding new values that will guide the future.

It can be a win-win effort.

3) What do we want to Achieve? Those committed to taking the proverbial “next hill” love this question. The problem is they often leave those committed to #1 and #2 above lying wounded on the previous hill. Vision-casters are “next hill” people. We need them. But they will look over their shoulders and see no one following if they do not re-group, re-align, and re-invest in the development of staff and volunteers who fought the last battle.

Potential achievements must never eclipse past accomplishments. Reward and recognize as you renew and re-envision.

Final Thoughts: Obsession with the future at the expense of the past is leadership suicide (let’s watch how Apple handles this the next 12 months) and obsession with the past at the expense of the future is organizational suicide (go to school on the last decade and present decisions by HP!).

Granted, there are people who will never move ahead. But there are many who will, and they just need someone who values their contribution and challenges them to become a learning community with eyes to the future. Strong companies, schools, churches, boards, and agencies that have been around understand this.

They may lack the sizzle of a Groupon. But they won’t get fried either.

How are you navigating the “Values” tension with your team?

 


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What We Need 10 Years after 9/11

Sep 7

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Ask people what we need more of in this world and many will say “love” or “hope” or “justice.” All of these are good answers. Especially as we reflect on the 10 years since the tragedy of 9/11/2001. But today I was challenged by some comments in the editor’s introduction to the Weavings Journal for Sept/Oct 2000. Founding Editor John Mogabgab writes,

“…The real explanation for the force shaping the course of things is gathered up in one radiant word: mercy. Creation in its entirety is a work of God’s love and though it is fractured by every sort of strife, it cannot escape the gravity of mercy. God’s mercy fills the earth (Ps. 33:5), an outpouring of costly care that is not merely one among several of God’s dispositions toward misery and need.

Mercy is the deepest quality of God’s love, the most encompassing movement of God’s heart, the most stunningly unexpected evidence of God’s generosity, the most enduring commitment of God’s sovereignty…Flexible and strong, mercy is capable of bearing sorrow’s weight and of supporting every honest effort to build new life.”

I was taken aback by the richness of these thoughts and the depth of God’s compassion — to all who have experienced grief and loss and pain and despair. We need mercy. Leaders need it, politicians need it, teachers need it, pastors need it, and God knows I really need it.

So, this week, perhaps a thought about mercy. Mogabgab observes, “In the paradoxical economy of God’s realm, what is freely given away often returns greatly multiplied (Mk. 6:30-44).”

Mercy is exactly what you need. So go ahead — give some away.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Mt. 5:7)

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Liberty and Recovery for ALL

Jul 25

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You and I believe a lie. Recovery Groups are for really sick people. But here’s the truth – we all need recovery because we are all sick. Recovery is not a place or a program or a kind of group – it is a way of life, a process where we “recover” from the effects of the Fall. We are all wounded emotionally and damaged spiritually. Emotional health and spiritual growth are mutually dependent. This has implications for how we build community in the Church.

Here’s a few things to consider as you build groups and guide leaders.

1)    Emotional health is a pre-requisite for long-term spiritual vitality.

2)    Leaders and Pastors need healing just like the rest of us.

3)    The “really sick” people in our churches and communities are not just the “addicts” or the “abused” or the “formerly incarcerated.” We all need a doctor.

4)    Group life flourishes when churches become safe places.

Becoming a “Hospital Church”

If you talk with James Reeves, the first and only Pastor of the 25-year old, 1500 member Celebration Fellowship in Ft. Worth, TX you will hear this mantra: “The Church has to be a safe place and the Church has to have a safe process.” The first funeral he did, at age 18 was his own 41-year-old alcoholic father. Alcoholism impacted his entire life, yet Reeves dislikes using terms like addiction and recovery because, “It sets up barriers between us and them; between the so-called healthy and the sick people. But we are all sick.”

Known as the Hospital Church, a place where everyone is “in recovery” from the effects of sin, the ministry has about 35 Home Groups for basic support and community. But people need a focused Support Group for deeper personal work, to confess secrets that destroy the soul, and to find tools to overcome destructive lifestyles. These groups must be safe, healing, provide real process for change and must foster the recovery of genuine intimacy with God and others. And they must be seen as “normal” – not special groups for “those kinds of people.”

The church’s emphasis through Reeves’ teaching is learning the “ABC’s of Life Change” which creates the environment for spiritual and emotional growth. Leaders are required to participate in two 14-week cycles in a Support Group, then another cycle as an apprentice leader before leading a group of their own. The biblically-rooted 12-step process is foundational to the experience.

Reeves observes that “The Church has historically said, ‘just love Jesus more’ but often people do not know how to be intimate with God or others, because of emotional wounds.”  Those wounds create blocks to intimacy in both directions. These holistic groups and the process used help people remove the blockage and find freedom.

And we need a lot more of that — I know I do.

 

 

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Leadership Core

May 20

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I am aware of some things today that are essential to functioning as a leader who tends to his soul. And I think every leader would do well to attend to them. However imperfectly I engage these, I am committed to working at them

1  Face Reality about Your Sin and Weakness: Always the first job of a leader, naming reality — about self and the organization — is of prime importance. I do not like this part, but it means honest reflection, humble confession and then a commitment to “let it go” and move ahead.

2  Declare Your Personal Dignity: Almost in contrast to the above, remind yourself that you are gifted, called, blessed, loved, forgiven, protected, significant, and loved (did I say that already??!!) in the eyes of God. This is your true identity in your relationship with Christ. Declare this daily!

3  Live a Shared Life in Community: Relational integrity stems directly from authentic communal engagement. You are, at some level, the product of your community. Living with others, as Jean Vanier says, reveals our pride and ego, and yet gives opportunities to be “for” others and share their lives. this practice keeps every leader from thinking to highly of himself/herself, and from self-absorption

4  Take Responsibility for Your Own Growth: It is up to me and you to read the book, have the conversation with a mentor, reflect on the Bible, expose the mind to new ideas, network with fresh thinkers and engage in serious debate and discussion. It is job one!

5  Pursue a Life of Simplicity: Rid yourself of the things that tangle up your leadership — unnecessary meetings, committees and teams; stuff that clamors for attention; people who are draining and never desire to change; varying from your core mission. You must ruthlessly shed these distractions so that you can give maximum energy to “this one thing I do” in the moments such focus is required.

What would you add to this list?

 

 

The Gospel According to Rembrandt

Feb 28

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It was my first trip to Amsterdam speaking for the WCA and I wanted to see some of the best the city had to offer. I was quickly caught up with its European splendor and beauty. Outdoor café’s and coffee shops, fabulous architecture, a vast array of shops and dazzling flowers along the canals and waterways, enclosed by Holland’s famous dikes.

I had asked the person who arranged my trip whether there was anything special I should see if time is limited. Two recommendations were offered. “You will want to see Anne Frank’s house, the hiding place where she and her family had been hidden from the terror of Nazi’s seeking to exterminate all Jews.”

“Oh, and if you like art, make sure you see the Rijksmuseum.”

I asked, “Is there any special work of art I should look for?”

“Don’t worry, you will know it when you see it,” was the reply.

I have seen 3 incredible works of art that literally took my breath away and left me simply frozen in awe. One is “Miracle at Pentecost,” the 124-foot-long painting of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts (unfortunately now destroyed by a fire that devastated the Biblical Arts Center in Dallas). Another is “The David” by Michelangelo in Florence (the original in the Academy Gallery, not the replica in the piazza).

In the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam I saw the third.

I cannot describe the rush of thoughts and feelings—words are inadequate. There it hung on the wall and all I could do was stare with disbelief and wonder. You know what I mean—something so beautiful and inspiring that you can’t get take your eyes off it, you can’t get it out of your mind.

I turned the corner, and entered a room. There before me was The Night Watch by Rembrandt. You might think, “No big deal. Just a painting from the 17th century.” Maybe you’re right – maybe it is just beautiful to me—like staring into the hospital nursery after your first child is born thinking, “WOW – look at my child! She makes everyone else’s kid look so pitifully ugly.”

The Night Watch produced a similar reaction because it dwarfs the rest of the artwork — in scope, grandeur and depth.

But the artwork has a story beyond the surface beauty.

Though beautiful, it was later feared the work would be further damaged by the effects of the elements. In order to protect its beauty, it was covered with a dark varnish. As a result, people thought is was a night scene and hence it’s name was changed. Actually it is a scene in broad daylight, and was originally named after the main character in the work. You can read the story if you have time.

The painting is famous for a few reasons – one, it is a dramatic example of the use of light and shadow. Second, it’s story — a masterpiece covered in thick darkness later revealed in the light of restoration.

Granted, the subject matter in this portrait does not hold the mystery and power of Rembrandt’s other biblically-based works (like Return of the Prodigal Son). Maybe that is what I like about it. The redemptive power is more subtle. It requires meditation to understand.

Another reason it catches your attention is that it does not simply hang on the wall–it virtually covers it. The painting was 13′ x 16′ in it’s original dimensions (still very close after some restoration). Its sheer size and scope causes even the casual observer to pause. You might stroll past other paintings in the gallery and hardly notice some of them. Not this one. Here you stand and stare in wonder.

I sat pondering for an hour, as I did with The David and The Miracle at Pentecost, wondering, “How can someone create something so captivating, so beautiful, so stunning, so filled with wonder?” I felt like an hour of staring at it did not do it justice — like only reading the first sentence of War and Peace.

It is hard to imagine but that is how we will look at God one day. Staring in awe and wonder. And in that moment we will discover that he has been staring at us long before we ever knew he existed. Like  Rembrandt, he envisioned a masterpiece, and then painstakingly applied his brush to our canvas. The results were… Perfect.

But later, after some rough handling, the corruption of the “elements” and layers of “protective varnish” to hide our true selves, our portrait sat covered in darkness. And then we were wrongly named — by what others saw on the outside.

But God, in his grace through Christ and with the power of his Spirit, broke through to the original and made us new, removing the thick darkness and exposing our Christ-like beauty. He gave us a new name; one that reflects the light. And someday, after all the work of restoration is complete, the unveling will come.

And we shall be like him. Priceless. We will not casually stroll past by any portraits in this eternal gallery. We will stare in awe at the work of the Artist. And all the beauty in the Rijksmuseum will pale in comparison.

Lord, remove the darkness that covers me, and let your light shine for all to see.


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