First up, the opening.  Bill talked about decision making.  Here was his rough outline and my thoughts.  (FYI, I scribbled this in the lobby quickly, I will go back and clean it up later…publishing the rough draft here.)

First, Bill reminded us how important many of the decisions we make are.  While it was dramatic, it really is true that some of our decisions are pastors are life and death ones.  From evangelistic programs to overseas feeding programs, our decisions matter.

Then he went on to give a template that most leaders follow to make decisions.  The template is.

  1. What does the Bible say about this?  Many decisions are easy because the Bible is crystal clear.
  2. What would smart advisers counsel me to do?  He encouraged us to get a network of people we can seek guidance from.
  3. What does the pain of the past, the gain of past decisions, and my experience inform me to do?  One of the things we were encouraged to do was to journal for the sake knowing what do to in the future.  Use our past experiences, good and bad, to help us in the present.
  4. What is the Holy Spirit prompting me to do?  As a part of this, he suggested making trial decisions in one’s mind and seeing if we still have peace.

Bill then went on to remind leaders to take ownership of poor decisions and take the heat when necessary.

He then went on to suggest that effective leaders create their own list of rules, axioms, that can compress this decision making process.  He shared an example of Abraham Lincoln and the rules of General Colin Powell.  (For what it is worth, I found the list of Don Rumsfeld to be quite helpful, too).  In my mind, this can be a profoundly helpful exercise for leaders.  I plan to do this.

He then shared a few of the Axiom’s that have informed him and compressed his decision making.  They include.

  • Vision Leaks.  We need to remind people of what we are about and how we are to be about it.
  • Get the right people at the table. This is similar to Jim Collin’s idea, get the right people on the bus.
  • Facts are your friends. Having correct information, no matter how difficult, will help us move forward.
  • When something feels “funky,” engage.  Don’t let problems fester…they will not go away.  I know a few things came to mind for me.
  • Leaders call foul.  When someone is out of line, call them on it.  When you are out of line, fess up.
  • Take a Flyer.  Go ahead and take chances.
  • This is the church.  We need to be reminded the ministry is for and about people, not meetings and infrastructure.

All in all, a good start to the summit.  Looking forward to session two.