Amy Scott's Thoughts

This last week I had a great opportunity to attend a highly acclaimed leadership conference. The Global Leadership Summit is put on by the Willow Creek Association and it is always a top-notch event. The speakers are always amazing and truly gifted in their fields. For two full days, the amount of leadership knowledge that gets poured into those that attend is astounding.

Today, I went back through my notes and highlighted the points that really stood out to me through conference. The worst part of a conference like this is it’s easy to fill your head with all this information and then slowly let it seep out. Reviewing a couple days after the conference gave me a chance to clear my head and then go back in and intentional remember the points that I want to take away.

Below are the points that I found myself highlighting. I figured typing them out would be another way to reinforce their place in my memory. I also thought they might be of some benefit to you. Each point is just a small piece of the great leadership expertise shared by this amazing line-up. I hope that some of the thoughts below jump out at you and strengthen your leadership just as much as it did mine.

• You do your best work when you right over the over-challenged line at work. Not when you are appropriately challenged, not when you’re dangerously-over-challenged and not when you are under-challenged. (Bill Hybels)
• You set a bad example when you live in crazyland (in reference to the dangerously-over-challenged work environment). (Bill Hybels)
• Believe in the future by creating it first. (Len Schlesinger)
• Historical results do not show future results. (Len Schlesinger)
• Baby steps and small wins go farther then you realize. (Len Schlesinger)
• Use your blessings to move you forward – don’t allow them to make you dumb, fat, and lazy. (Honorable Cory Booker)
• Everyone is born an original, but most die a copy. (Abraham Lincoln, quoted by H. C. Booker)
• How you see the world reflects your heart and character. (H. Cory Booker)
• Look past the current problem and see the opportunity. (H. Cory Booker)
• When you catch on fire, people will come to watch you burn. (Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil)
• We are not called to survive the world, but to change it. (Steven Furtick)
• Only God can make it rain. We can do all we can do, but God is the one who sends the favor and blessing and healing. (Steven Furtick)
• If what you’re doing isn’t intimidating you, then it’s probably insulting to God. (Steven Furtick)
• If you want to see the land filled with water, then you must dig ditches. You prepare for what you believe is coming. 2 Kings 3:9-20. (Steven Furtick)
• Sometimes we only need to see the next step. (Steven Furtick)
• Don’t confuse your behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel – it took a lot of ditching digging to get to those highlight moments. (Steven Furtick)
• What I’ve learned – Silence your body, listen to your words. Silence your tongue, listen to your thoughts. Silence your thoughts, listen to your heart. Silence your heart, listen to your spirit. Silence your spirit, listen to the Holy Spirit. (Mama Maggie Gobran)
• Wise people see the light and adjust to it. Fools see the light and try to adjust the light, not themselves. Evil people see the light and run. (Dr. Henry Cloud)
• Show people you are willing to do what you are asking them to do. (Patrick Lencioni)
• Honor others by being interested in them. Put them first. (Patrick Lencioni)

The other speaker I would like to highlight was an interview with Michelle Rhee. In 2007, Rhee was made Chancellor of the Washington DC public school system. From the very beginning she made drastic changes to the school system that rocked the city. She is a woman with high standards for education and a desire for quality in the classroom. I’m not a school teacher, but my job does involve working with the next generation. I got very wrapped up into her story, because she fights for the next generation. She wants to make the next generation better and bring them to a place where they will succeed in life. This goal is very close to my own heart. I want to make sure that I make decisions that are best for the kids in my life. I don’t want to make my decisions based on popularity or pressure. High standards ensure that the kids we come into contact with will have best opportunities possible. Her story and her fight impressed me greatly. While I took down no quotes from this session, it was one that deeply impacted me.

I was so glad that I was able to go to the conference this last week. The Global Leadership Summit always leaves you full of thoughts and ideas. It challenges you to take what you have heard and do something with it. Investing in leadership training is something I value so much about the team I work with. It was great to go as a church staff. I look forward to all that God is going to grow out the time invested into our leadership.