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12 Characteristics of "All In" Leaders

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A fantastic post by Brad Lomenick. Nails it. Here are the first five:

1. You don’t look at the clock, and you’re not punching a time card. Your role is not defined by 9 – 5.

2. You get it done no matter how long it takes. You are “managerless,” meaning no one else has to worry about whether you are getting it done.

3. You realize you are part of something bigger than yourself, and humbly accomplish the goals because of a larger motivation than just you.

4. Giving just the “minimum” amount of effort required to get by without “getting in trouble” doesn’t even cross your mind.

5. Your hard work and excellence is done with pure motives. You are not worried about climbing the ladder or impressing anyone.

Read the whole thing.

The Call to Do Good and the Call to Work: Are They at Odds?

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That’s the title of my guest post from yesterday at the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics. I will be guest posting there twice a month on the connections between theology, work, and economics, along with how we can live out the biblical doctrine of work in practical ways.

I am very excited about the work that is being done by the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics. They exist to educate and inspire Christians to think Biblically about issues of faith, work, and economics and “to steward their whole lives in a way that benefits society and glorifies God.” Thus, one of their chief aims is “to awaken Christians to the strategic role their work plays in God’s loving and redemptive narrative in the world.”

One of the reason I’m so excited about the institute is that creativity, purpose, and freedom are three of the core biblical principles behind everything they do. Here’s how they put it on their site:

  • Each person is created in God’s image and, like Him, has a desire to be creative and fulfilled using their God-given talents through work.
  • As we explore a comprehensive Biblical view of work, we understand that our work – whether paid or volunteer – matters to God and is an integral part of His purpose in this world.  For many of us, this is a paradigm shift in how we view work.
  • Indeed, God’s call to Christians is to pursue excellence throughout the week – not just on Sundays – stewarding all that we’ve been given for the good of others and God’s glory.
  • Therefore, if this is true about work, we as citizens must cherish and sustain an economic environment that not only provides us the freedom to flourish in our work but also reflects the inherent dignity of each human being.

In my view, those three principles are precisely what needs to be at the forefront if we are going to truly recover the biblical doctrine of work for what it really is.

You can learn more about IFWE on their website and also read their blog, Creativity, Purpose, Freedom.

Catalyst Atlanta is Coming Up

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Catalyst Banner 393x120-2013_2

Catalyst Atlanta is this October 3-4 in Duluth, Georgia. Speakers include John Piper, Jon Acuff, Malcolm Gladwell, Andy Stanley, Lecrae, and many more.

I attended my first Catalyst in the fall of 2008 — the week before I started this blog. My fourth post on this blog, in fact, was a list of some highlights from Andy Stanley’s closing message.

When people ask me what leadership conferences I recommend, Catalyst is at the top. It serves you both in the short-term and long-term. Some conferences are great energy bursts, but don’t offer much long-term wisdom and guidance. Catalyst is strong on both fronts. It will give you a much needed energy boost and equip you with solid leadership wisdom for the long-term.

And, of course, I especially recommend it this year since John Piper, who I worked with for 13 years at Desiring God, is one of the speakers.

Catalyst is offering a special rate for readers of this blog. If you register by Thursday, August 22 you will get the special rate of $209 (the regular rate is $329, so this is a huge savings). Just register online using the rate code BLOG or by phone at 888.334.6569. You can find all the logistical details such as the schedule, FAQs, and so forth on their site as well.

What Catalyst Is

For those who want to know a bit more:

Catalyst Atlanta is a powerful gathering of young leaders, a movement of influencers and world changers who love Jesus, see things differently, and feel a burden for our generation. We seek to learn, worship and create together with a momentous energy passionately pursuing God.

On October 2-4, 2013, 13,000 leaders from across the United States and around the world will converge—a revolution of ideas where you’ll challenge the process and think unconventionally. Even more than a cutting-edge event, Catalyst Atlanta is an experience that leaves you enlightened, rejuvenated, and ready to embrace the life to which you’ve been entrusted and the journey to which you’ve been called. Expect a fully immersive learning, worship and creative experience, where timely inspiration can come from the thought leaders who grace our stage, or the person sitting in the seat right next to you.

This Year’s Theme

This year’s theme is known:

When you lead authentically, with an inner confidence birthed by your Creator, when you are willing to be true and vulnerable before God and others, you become a leader without pretense. A leader worth following.

You can only know where you are headed, when you know where you’ve come from.

Lead from who you are.

Register at the Discount

As I mentioned above, if you register by Thursday, August 22 you will get the special rate of $209 (regularly $329). You can register online or by phone at 888.334.6569. Just use the rate code BLOG. (Update: you can also use the rate code MP).

I’ll be attending again this year. Would be great to see you there!

Find a Career Path that Utilizes Your Talents and Passions

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Well said by Brad Lomenick in his book The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker:

The next generation of Christian influencers is passionate about finding and pursuing their divine purposes. They don’t want to work thirty or forty years in a job that fails to fulfill their deepest longings. Instead, this generation wants to find career paths that utilize both their talents and their passions. They are locating and living their callings, and we’re all better for it.

Amen. Don’t settle for forty years in a job that doesn’t call on the best of you. Find something that calls on your strengths and passion, and do it with all your heart.

Is it Really Biblical To Love Your Work? A Closer Look at Ephesians 6:5-8

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I’m a firm believer in doing work you love. Not only is this an intrinsic good, it also enables you to be more effective at what you do — and thus serve others with greater effectiveness, passion, and clarity.

But someone might say “Since God can use us wherever we are, it doesn’t matter if we love our work or not. So let’s get rid of this silly quest to actually like what we spend 40 hours (or more) of our weeks doing.”

Sounds a bit spiritual, right? Or, maybe I should say, sounds a bit…over spiritual. Which is the first sign of the problem. So let’s take a closer look at Paul’s core passage on work, Ephesians 6:5-8.

Paul does indeed teach that the Lord can use us anywhere, and that we can find joy in our work no matter what it is (assuming it is lawful). His teaching to slaves here is to “do the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, not that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord.”

So, no matter our work is, we can indeed find a way to take joy in it because we can do it for the glory of Jesus. Specifically for slaves, Paul’s counsel is: “If you are a slave, don’t worry about. Do your work with joy, knowing that you are ultimately serving God. Your ability to make an impact will not be lessened because you are in slavery; do all the good you can in your work, knowing that you will be rewarded abundantly for it from the Lord.”

This is a precious, fundamental reality. So, following from this, we might then say: “So it doesn’t matter, then, if we actually like our jobs themselves. Who cares if you have a job you like? God uses you anyway.”

This is where the fact that Paul is here addressing those who are in slavery comes into play. I’ve always been slightly uncomfortable with how everyone applies this text directly to modern-day employees, as though we can just take it over wholesale. The general principles certainly remain, but the fact that Paul is addressing those in slavery here does mean something.

This flips us over to 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, where Paul addresses the issue in some more detail. Here Paul teaches us that we are to live according to the condition in which God has placed us. Paul’s counsel to slaves is “don’t worry about your condition. I know it is hard, but don’t worry that it diminishes your relationship with the Lord. You can do everything in your condition to God’s glory, and he will be fully pleased with you.”

The thing is this: God pays attention to the specific contexts of our lives and seeks to give us counsel tailored to our unique situations. Whereas those in slavery didn’t have any say over their work and roles, those who are free do have a say. That’s what it means to be free.

That matters. If you notice the argument of the passage, Paul’s point is that it is OK to live according to the context in which we find ourselves. “Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him” (1 Corinthians 7:17). If you became a Christian while a slave, that’s OK. Likewise, if you became a Christian while free, that’s OK to. You can keep living as a free person. “In whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God” (1 Corinthians 7:24). And part of what it means to be a free person is that you have control over what jobs you choose and which career path you want to take. You can make those choices — it’s up to you.

So Paul is not saying to free people “just put up with whatever you’re given.” That’s contrary to the nature of being a free person. Paul expects free people to live as free people. Thus, it’s OK to seek a job you love. Again, that’s part of what it means to be free.

Paul’s counsel to those who are free, then, is simple: live as a free person. It’s OK! If you want to work in a field you love and have a job where the bulk of the activities are things you find engaging and which challenge you, go for it. You don’t have to fall for the trap of the over spiritualizers who say that since some people (maybe them?) don’t like their jobs, you shouldn’t either. “Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him” (1 Corinthians 7:17). For those who are free, that means living according to the fact that you have freedom over what you choose for a job. So if you prefer, then seek a job you love.

It’s OK. Go for it!