The video is a little on the longer side but it is very interesting and will go by quickly. Take a few minutes to watch this then I’ll have a couple comments on the flip side.

Ok, I’ll start off by saying the flow of logic at the beginning from Evolution to Social Evolution isn’t necessarily something I believe it, but I understand the point he is making. And I really think he is making a great point. The point isn’t that the system has failed us…(which we could have an argument on all day) the point is that it’s OUR responsibility. If the system has failed us, it’s our fault. We created and contribute to the systems.

So, my question is simple. What are you doing to take responsibility of with what you create, and with moving our culture forward? 

My favorite example of how people have been trying to help change this is in the music industry. Some of the best music (and most original) that I’ve been hearing is being made by friends and acquaintances. And guess what…most of the time they give it away for free. This is because they understand that the influence is worth more then the immediate gain.

Don’t get me wrong, money isn’t wrong and we need to learn how to make a living. Just make sure that what you are offering is greater then what you are expecting. Give more then what you take. Be responsible with your ideas, your creations, your songs, your art.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Are you giving more than what you are taking? Are we beings of “taking” or “creating”?

A lot of times when we have ideas we try to spice them up with tools. What can often happen though is we lean on them to heavily to make our idea better. That’s usually not best, and others notice when you do that. Check out the video below to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

Now, obviously these guys go over the top with how to use all these tools wrong, the main focus being on the PowerPoint slide show. But, we’ve all been in that presentation, or church sermon, or concert where the person using the tools was doing it all wrong. So, here are a few questions to ask yourself when deciding on that “creative element” to help your ideas sink in.

1) How does this tool help punctuate the point? – This is a serious question to ask. So often people (me included) use a tool because we think it will be cool and add a “wow” factor to what we are doing. Most times it does add that “wow” factor. But, do you want people to remember the wow or the what? Make sure you use tools that help punctuate your point.

2) What’s it going to cost you? – A second question you should ask is what’s it going to cost you? Sometimes we can come up with this crazy, out of this world idea to help support another idea. The problem is, the cost to execute that supporting idea won’t pay off. Cost can be anything from money, time, energy, anything that could take away from developing the main idea first. Again, it’s not bad to use something that will cost you, just make sure it will be worth the cost.

Just to make sure I’m clear. Using tools aren’t bad. They are actually great! The problem that we usually run into is that we use great tools to help support a not so great idea. In effect, killing the greatness of the creative tool we are using.

So, the next time you are doing that guitar solo and you add all the delay to make it sound better, work on nailing the guitar part first. Add the delay to sweeten it. Or, maybe you build a 50 slide presentation so that the crowd doesn’t look at your nervous teaching style. Slides aren’t bad, but working on the way you present will have the best results. Make sure your idea gets the attention it deserves and that your tools aren’t getting in the way.

What tools do you struggle to use well?

Resource 1) The Way of the Shepherd by Kevin Leman – I’m about to finish this book up. It was recommended to me by my friend Peter after we had a conversation about leadership and managing people. I’d highly encourage you to read this book if you are a manager. It’s short, super simple and the principles are simple, great reminders of how to lead people. The book is written in an engaging way that helps you remember these principles as well. Check it out!

Resource 2)  Flipboard (App) – This is a great app. I know it’s been around for a while and has already received a lot of attention. I tried it a few months ago and really didn’t like it. As of recent, I’ve found myself needing to cut back on some blogs (tech/news/etc) but still wanted a way to catch up or scan through things quickly without it being something I needed to clean out of my RSS Reader. Flipboard became the perfect thing for that. Instead of having news sites or mac rumors dumping into my RSS, I can now open up Flipboard and catch up and read the articles that I want to read. And it looks amazing too. The only down side is that it’s iOS only, so my Android friends can’t get it.

Resource 3) “For The Honor” Elevation Worship (Music) – It might seem weird to put music as a resource but it’s not. It can actually be a great resource. For me, it helps me connect with God. Maybe you read my blog and that’s not something that’s important to you or you don’t like worship music, either way I understand. Just wanted to share this one because I appreciate the hard work, great songwriting, and honest heart that’s presented in this album. Great job to the guys at Elevation Worship.

Well, now it’s your turn! What is your favorite resource right now? Let’s share them with each other and be stronger, creative leaders because of it! 

Today’s post was specifically inspired during the ministry burnout discussion with Wayne Codeiro and James MacDonald. I don’t necessarily want to talk about burnout (that can be an issue for a later post), what I really want to talk about was a key way to lead.

During the discussion one of the other pastors submitted the idea that we spend less time on “leadership development” and more time on “leader development.” Instead of taking all your energy and pouring it into others, which is important to do, make sure you save some energy for yourself. Most importantly, the development of your leadership skills, vision, etc.

Many times as leaders we live off the thrill of “leading”, being in charge can get us amped up. Being able to move people from one success, or failure, to another success is life giving. But it is such a bad motivation for leading. The alternative to this, that one of the pastors pitched, is that we should lead from a brokenness.

As soon as I heard that I thought about The Broken Leader. What is the broken leader? What does it look like? What am I broken for? In our areas we lead, we need to be leading from a brokenness.

What does that mean?

I take it this way: the core of my job centers around 20somethings, and helping them to connect to one another and to God. To lead in this area well, I really need to be broken, have a heart for, these 20somethings. Otherwise what I’m doing could be somewhat heartless.

I don’t think this brokenness is something your force or fake. I think it can be something that is grown, fueled by experience.

The question is very challenging to me. What am I broken for?

What are you broken for? Are you leading out of that brokenness? Have you ever seen anyone else lead from a brokenness? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.

(Photo Props)

If you don’t yet know what Evernote is, check out this quick video.

How I Use It

I really use Evernote for a quite a few things. First, I rely on it for the storage and retrieval of creative ideas. I tend to find myself in a lot of meetings where I’m trying to come up with ideas. Most of the time, meetings don’t lend themselves to creativity. On top of that, creativity can be totally random and happen whenever. What I try to do when I come across ideas I find online or ideas that pop in my head is to clip them into a creativity notebook in Evernote. I do my best to tag the note with a few words that tie into the theme of the idea. That way when I’m looking for ideas for “teaching about money”, I can just type that in and see if I have anything saved yet.

The second thing I use Evernote for is ideas and content for my blog. When I’m disciplined I take some time to schedule ahead on what I’ll be writing about. (see image below) I’ll type that up in Evernote so it’s there ready to go. Also, if I come across content or ideas that inspire a post I’ll clip them in Evernote and again tag them so they are easy to find.

A third way I use it is to take all my notes from conferences or things that have made an impact on me and scan them into Evernote. Typically, I write everything into a Moleskine, even notes when I’m at a conference or meeting with a mentor. These notes are things I want to remember. So I’ll scan them into Evernote. The cool thing about Evernote is that it searches text in images as well! So, if there is a quote from a conference I can remember but not who said it, I can type it in search and it will bring up the notes I scanned in from that person.

Those are just three quick ways I use Evernote. For the sake of keeping this short I’ll stop there for now. The key to using it well is creating a system to organize it in a way that will work for you. Use folders, tags, sub-folders, etc.

How about you? Have you ever tried Evernote? If so how do you use it? If not, what questions do you have? Let me know below! 

Since we are still kind of fresh in the year I thought I would take a break from my normal posts and do one that features you! I know that a lot of you also have blogs and write killer content for them. Maybe you don’t have a blog, but there’s that one blog you make sure you read every day.

Here’s how this works, in the comments below copy in the address to your blog (or favorite blog) and let us know what it’s about. If that’s to much work, just copy the link and let us know the author. Can’t make it much easier then that!

My goal is to try to make sure I visit all of the blogs shared, and hope you check others out too. So, share away! Pimp your blog out below!

(Photo Props)

For those of us who can’t seem to get any inspiration can get frustrated watching others have a cup overflowing of it. That’s what this post is for. Those of us looking for inspiration. I obviously can’t tell you what inspires you, but I can ask a simple question.

When was the last time you felt inspired? What was that one thing? An Instagram picture? A note played on a cello? That one book you were reading? That one, incredibly designed website? A warm sunny day? That last movie you saw? Or maybe it was the view out of your last plane ride?

That’s the thing. Inspiration can come from anywhere. I’ll give you two examples of where I’ve recently been inspired.

A book. It’s called “Communicating For A Change” and is written by Andy Stanley. I wanted to brush up on my communication skills, but I’m finding I’m finishing this book inspired and wanting to impact people’s lives with what I have to say.

A Dobro guitar. Also can be known as a resonator guitar. This past weekend at LCBC someone played one. They played it really well. It was incredibly inspiring and moving. I walked away from the gathering changed a little bit because of that instrument.

Those are two simple examples that moved me deeply. They have brought me some inspiration. Now it’s my job to make the most of that inspiration while it’s here. To be a steward of it.

Stewarding inspiration can be just as important as finding it. What we do with an idea, a song, a different way of working, really matters. I often think that the way you are inspired is dependent on the way you steward inspiration. (I could be wrong on that, but I think I’m finding it to be true more often then not)

I’d really love for you to take a minute and think of the last time you were inspired. What was it that inspired you, and what did you do with it? How are ways that you can look for that inspiration in similar places again?

Feel free to share any inspiration you have had or any thing you have done with the inspiration below. Link to that inspiration if it’s online!

(Photo Props)

Here’s what I’m thinking goal wise for 2012.

2012 will be a year of tough decisions, finishing through the breakthrough year of 2011. I will have the opportunity to follow up and really live out some of the things I worked on. 2012 will really show if I laid the foundation for those goals well.

My three focus areas for 2012.

1) Priorities – One of the biggest things I need to work on is my priorities. I have them, they are just in the wrong order. I think they are in the right order but they aren’t. I can tell by the way I live my life and the decisions I make. It’s very frustrating. It’s humbling. I need to work on them. I think this would be my ideal order of priorities.

• Relationship with God.
• Relationship with my wife.
• Relationships with others.
• Relationship to myself . (Health, eating, physical fitness, continued learning)
• Relationship with Employer (Excellence @ work)

2) Intentional Investment – I’m going to be looking for 2-3 men that I can be investing into. One hopefully from a work standpoint and 1 or 2 from just a general life standpoint. Most importantly, I’m looking for people who I can learn from as well. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but have never had the guts to do it. I’ve come to realize that I don’t have to have it all figured out to help and invest in others.

3) Discipline of Prayer – I want to build into my life the discipline of connecting with God often. It’s vital to a relationship with God. It’s a big part of the Christian faith. I don’t do it. I flat out just ignore communicating with God. It’s easy to do because I think I’m in control and God isn’t the most fore front and center thing in my mind. I’m really wanting to work on connecting with Him more.

Some thought filters for 2012.

• Take risks.
• Think different.
• Others focused.

That sums up the direction for my 2012. We’ll see how I do. Feel free to ask me at anytime how I’m doing with these things. I’m not doing this to show off or brag. I really want to work on these areas and it takes the work of everyone to do that.

What are some goals/themes/focus areas for you this coming year? 

Listen to a great podcast on goals and goal setting here.

I thought I’d take this post and list out a few things, accomplishments I’m proud of. Mostly so you can see the process I go through but also to see where I fell short. I’m learning that accountability with ideas is extremely important.

My goals for the past year were:

1) Intentional Leading – Actively embrace the opportunities of leadership I’m given and invest in them appropriately. - I felt like I really excelled in this area, thanks to the help of Paul Atkinson. I still have room to grow, but this year I felt like I worked this one well.

2) Healthy Living – In three areas: Physically, Relationally, and Vocationally. - I was doing really well Physically at the beginning of the year, eating and working out well. Then it tanked. Relationally and Vocationally, setting healthy boundaries and investing in relationships, I feel like I kept a better, consistent curve year long. Still, this area was probably my weakest, and hardest growth area.

3) Better Time Management – First, make better use of my day at work, which means working harder & smarter. Secondly, make the most out of my mornings & evenings. Don’t wast time on things that don’t count or don’t have value. – This was probably one of the better out of the three. I was in some dire need of reworking my time and felt like I did that well this year. I’m still working out a good schedule while at home, but definitely feel much better about how I approach my job. A major theme of 2012 will continue to influence this area.

4) Create Something – That I’ll be proud of in 10 years. This is a challenge I received via Twitter from Jason Sherman. - Jason laid this challenge out at the end of 2010. For the first few months, I thought I needed to make my own musical creation, because that’s what I thought I could make. But, it ended up being two things that I did for work with the SaturateOnline team that I’m most proud of, and one other personal accomplishment.

1. Press Record – A live, community album we did at Saturate on a Tuesday night. It consisted of Michael Ferrari leading in worship via acoustic, and then recording the voices of everyone who sang. Super cool community project. Check out video and download Press Record here.
2. Movement – A very different, worship experience we did in November for the Saturate Community. We wanted to create a unique way for 20somethings to connect with others and with God. We took some risks and I think it paid off. Very fun project to try. Check out a time-lapse of the day and check out the songs we used.
3. AdamHann.com – I’ve been blogging off and on for three to four years. This year, in May I took a very targeted step in trying to focus my blogging, my writing, and investing in people. It’s not perfect, I don’t get tons of traffic, but I love that I can influence and help people. Even if it’s just a couple!

That’s a quick recap of 2011. Over the next couple of days I’ll be working on goals for 2012. You can probably expect them next Monday.

So here is a question for you. What are you most proud of this past year? We can we celebrate together? Let us know below and link out to a site/song/video whatever it might be! 

If this is something that you have worked hard for then you might have the tendency to lead with more of a deserving, demanding, “I’ve worked hard for this” type of leadership. We have all had those types of leaders. The kind that let us know they deserve to be in the spot they are in and because of that we (their underling) are now subject to all the grueling punishment they had to go through.

Guess what? It doesn’t have to be this way.

The Serving Leader does not lead this way. It’s a practice and a mindset, but it’s one of the most rewarding ways to lead. It takes a paradigm shift in the way you view the organizational chart. Because you are on top does’t mean that your employees work for you, it means you work for them. Any bad decision, poor judgement, misuse of resources can effect each and every one of your employees. It effects their families and their future. You see, when we are leading we are (should be) doing it through a lens of serving others.

So what are a few practical ways to do this?

1) Take Time – Spend time with those you lead. You can’t lead from a distance. When you are a leader it’s easy to think you are alone, and sometimes you will feel that way because of decisions you need to make. But, it doesn’t mean you separate yourself from those you lead. What would it look like for you to stop by an employee’s office and instead of adding another thing to their plate, let them know how much they mean to the organization.

2) Pitch In – I used to think that once I got to a certain point in the organization I wouldn’t have to do things I didn’t like to do anymore. It is possible to do that, but it’s not worth it. I’m blown away when I have leaders who help out with things that are my responsibility, and are things that are annoying to do. The serving leader is not afraid to pitch in and help when employees are overwhelmed or being stretched by the organization. Even when it’s not on their job description.

3) Follow Through – Probably one of the biggest things and the one that would make the most sense. Follow Through. Nothing says you don’t value an employee more than not following through on something for them. Maybe they need more hours, maybe they need less. Maybe they need some more training or for you to deal with that one organizational problem that’s above them to fix. Serving those you lead means following through and letting those you lead know that you are for them.

Have you ever experienced a Serving Leader?

Challenge for this week: Look for opportunities to do one of these three things for those you lead. It will be one of the best Christmas gifts they could get!