I love books on leadership. They are inspiring, enlightening and offer tangible help to my ministry. While there are many out there, my favorite leadership writer is Jim Collins who wrote Good to Great (a must read for anyone in leadership or thinking about being in leadership). Recently I came across a speech he gave at the Drucker Institute (click here to view the speech). The entire speech is worth listening to, but the last 10-15 minutes are pure gold. He offers 10 pieces of advice to emerging leaders, two of which are: “If you woke up tomorrow and found out you inherited $20 million dollars while also finding out that you had a terminal disease and would be dead in 10 years, what would you stop doing right now?” His next piece of advice is, “Create a stop-doing list.” I immediately created one and here it is:
1. Stop trying to memorize my sermons. I thought great preachers memorize their sermons and I want to be a great preacher. So I tried, worried, tried some more and ultimately felt unfulfilled because I never found the time to do it. I realized that I was setting myself up for failure and my gifts and time could be used elsewhere. I know great preachers who use notes—and I know great preachers who don’t. To each her own! Continue Reading…