Session three was a short presentation by Bill George and an interview with Wendy Kopp.

First Bill George.  His talk was titled, Finding Your True North.  (I assume it is based on this book, True North.)

Here were the take away’s from his presentation.

First, he is a fast talker.  I mean, a really fast talker.  It is probably good he was not making a long presentation as there is no way I would have been able to hang with him the whole time.  He did have some good things to say if you were able to write fast enough.

First, he addressed the crisis of leadership today.  He talked about only 1/5 of the population trusting business leaders and only 48% trusting pastors.  He says the reason this is so is because we do not have authentic leaders who go to the true north.  We choose charisma over character and style over substance.  Leaders who move towards true north are the ones who are not borrowing from someone else but being who God intended for them to be.

Secondly, we need to move from a 20th century model of leadership to a 21st century one.  We need to move from command and control as a model to a more contemporary model that is based on …

  • Alignment – Getting everyone on the same page, this is the hardest task of leadership.
  • Empowerment – Releasing the knowledge the people we work with have.
  • Serving – Looking to serve rather than being served.
  • Collaborate – Working together across organization…not just with people.

Then finally he talked about the 6 behaviors true north/authentic leaders do to develop themselves.  They…

  1. Understand the purpose of their leadership.
  2. Gain self awareness
  3. Know their values
  4. Follow Intrinsic motivation
  5. Build a support team
  6. Lead an integrated life.

Finally, after he was done Bill Hybles asked him about leadership failures and why it happens.  He talked about the reason being that they failed to lead themselves…they were leading as someone they were not.

The second interview was with Wendy Kopp.  Her topic was titled, “Stand Up and Lead.”

I was not familiar with Wendy.  In case you are not, Wendy Kopp is the founder and CEO of Teach for America, a nonprofit organization that recruits the nation’s most promising college graduates to teach in America’s most distressed urban and rural communities.

I kind of wish they would hire someone to interview people like this as Bill Hybels is not the world’s greatest interviewer, but in spite of that some real nuggets came out of her time.

For example, I was impressed by her faith (not in a spiritual sense) that her vision would be accomplished.  She trusted (and trusts today) that young people will give two years of their live to teaching in these rough settings.

I was also struck with how she is fearless in asking for a donation.  She believes in her cause and unapologetially asks for large donations for it.  I wonder how many pastors need to be more bold.

I thought Wendy was very helpful in reminding us of the importance of having the organization well managed and her commitment to having her involved in what she can do best.

Finally, I think her commitment to start with a bang is something we need to consider.  There is a time and a place for trials, but there is also a time to hit the ground with a focused intensity.