Li shared profound insight into the power of social media:

“If your voice is absent (from social media), then (it communicates to those who are) that this is not a relationship worth having.”

“If you are in a relationship then you are not in control…to think that you are in control of the relationships in your church is a fallacy.” ***by far my favorite quote

“Twitter is not a technology but a conversation, and it’s happening with or without you”

“If you are not part of the conversation, you have no influence.”

She focused her responses on how technology enhances and increases the transparency in relationships. I enjoyed her thoughts on how social media reveals the true lack of control anyone has over a conversation. Much of ministry in the last 50 years has minimized the voice of the many in favor of the few; social media has completely turned this paradigm on its head.

“Handshakes are Precious”

Li literally shook hands with the interviewer to illustrate the power of a personal connection. She clearly showed how many online actions feel the same as a handshake to people, and the potential of interacting with people online to create and enhance relationships.

Specifically for Pastors and Ministry Leaders:

“If you see something that’s interesting I sure would like to know about.”

“Take me on that journey of discovery as you prepare for your sermon.”

“Can you produce a 2 min video of something that just hit you, if you don’t like writing?”

Pastors and ministry leaders can easily apply these suggestions. The first quote shows that “the audience” (your ministry) now has expectations to hear from you not just on Sunday or the time and day you meet in person, but in between. The second quote was powerful–to use social media to provide context as one prepares for a sermon. The third tip was fantastic–I’ve run into so many ministry leaders who because of their preference for speaking struggle to update Facebook, a blog, or Twitter. Producing a short video even once a week would dramatically increase people’s engagement and provide extended opportunities to connect.

To stay updated on future Willow Creek webinars click here.

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Enjoyed reading these statistics from Generation Y: The New Kind of Workforce:

One in three said he/she would prioritize social media freedom, device flexibility and work mobility over salary in accepting a job offer.

64% of college students asks about social media usage policies during job interviews and approximately 24% says it would be a key factor in accepting the offer.

There is also a high expectation of the employee for the employer to offer a flexible schedule and freedom to work remotely.

Sixty-four percent of Gen-Y fails to list their employer on their profiles, yet they add an average of 16 co-workers each to their “friend” group.

Those that do enter workforce spend an average of just over 2 years at their first job. They are job hopping multiple times in their careers.

The theme of flexibility connected to nearly every statistic either directly or indirectly. Work and device mobility, frequent job changes, and the freedom to stay active online while they work all speak to this theme.

I see more ministries embracing remote working but I believe even greater strides can be made to empower and involve people in ministry work that are not in the office. Clay Shirky’s book Cognitive Surplus powerfully communicates the potential of part-time, distributed, asynchronous work.

How are you leveraging remote work and flexibility in your ministry or organization? What are you learning? 

photo via greatist

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Social networks are essentially systems for distributing content among people who care about each other, and the frequency at which its users can share that content on a particular network is critical to how much value it’ll provide them on an ongoing basis.–Mark Hendrickson, former CEO of Plancast

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I found this idea of Immerse and Disperse extremely helpful when thinking about how to tactically drive an organization forward in digital competency.

Immerse and Disperse:

• 15+ people do a stint on a social media team
• Served for approximately one year.
• Moved on to another part of the business.
• Result: 20+ experts, dozens more at intermediate level. T

Every organization or part of an organization reaches a plateau as it seeks to adopt social media. Either “the expert” reaches his/her level of influence, or the fatigue of staff amidst constantly changing online tools sets in and halts change. “Immerse and Disperse” can be a great strategy for moving beyond the plateau.

Large non-profits often have distributed teams that each possess their own highly customized systems for communicating and sharing resources online. Immerse and Disperse allows an opportunity to align these disparate practices and harness the best practices from a wide range of leaders.

 View the entire slideshare presentation here.

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The top three online channels are websites, email, and Facebook. Yet many ministry fundraisers spend most of their time on Facebook, and little time on their website or email.

Fundraisers must use these channels as complements to one another instead of copying and pasting the same message in each place. If you are copy/paste mode, then you only receive a linear return on each channel, rather than an exponential one. When fundraisers vary the type and frequency of each communication channel they work together to create an exponential return of interest, engagement, and connection.

Consider telling part of a story on your blog, another part in email, and the rest in a direct mail communication. Instead of fatiguing donors with repetitive communication you will inspire, motivate, and increase their connection to you and your ministry.

via John Haydon’s blog

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“Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me … they live in their heads. They’re almost like artists. In fact, the very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone …. I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: Work alone… Not on a committee. Not on a team.”–Steve Wozniak, Apple Cofounder

via The Rise of the New Groupthink

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The 99% Blog Shares 5 Tips:

1. Hire for personality, drive, execution, and accountability. Skills and experience will always be essential, but today they’re not enough. The value of positive, responsible, and accountable team members who take action cannot by overestimated.

2. Reward leadership. Clearly define what leadership means within your organization, then reward it aggressively. Often, leadership means putting yourself second and supporting the growth of the organization and others. It also means shepherding them into growth situations. Put them, with support, in uncomfortable situations such as leading client meetings, or giving presentations.

3. Institutionalize mentorship. To fill the leadership gap, create a methodical in-house mentorship program with clear goals and a purposeful mandate. Mentorship programs can help new employees adjust or be used as a recruitment tool. IBM, for example, started its program to encourage learning and connect people in a large, scattered organization.

4. Establish communication hubs. The faulty flow of information, especially in organizations that assemble and disassemble themselves on a per-project basis, is the goo that mucks up the works. Hubs can be digital, or they can be actual people. Appointing a communication czar or even just a referee, can save a project.

5. Build a company of listeners and question-askers. A culture that rewards self-awareness and emotional intelligence is a culture of leadership.

I love #3, Institutionalize Mentorship, but I think mentorship relationships work best with clearly defined time-frames for duration and frequency. Ongoing mentorship can quickly turn into an obligation rather than an opportunity, and mentors can end up fatigued.

via The 99% blog on Why Flat Organizations Don’t Create Great Leaders

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Here’s the slides from that time:

A few highlights:

• Email should not supplant a direct mail communication, but complement it. Rather than attaching a direct mail communication in an email as a PDF consider how to vary the content in each communication so that they work together.
• Facebook communications should originate from a profile rather than a group or a page for maximum engagement.
• Many potential financial supporters will check your ministry website before making their first donation. Is your website updated with current pictures and information?

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“Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.”–Howard Stevenson

This quote captures the essence of my experience leading entrepreneurial ventures within Campus Crusade. As a Christian dependent on spiritual resources provided by an infinitely powerful God I’m passionate about the “without regard to resources currently controlled part.”

The dreams and visions given to those in the Bible rarely called for a mere reorganization of existing resources. Instead they demanded radical re-orientations of people, time, money, thinking, effort, and focus.

“They see an opportunity and don’t feel constrained from pursuing it because they lack resources,” says Stevenson. “They’re used to making do without resources.”

Ministry leaders frequently complain about a lack of resources. As I examined my own experiences complaining about a lack of resources, often the biggest problem was my lack of organizing my resources in a manner that allowed God to work abundantly. I invested the majority of time, people, and money in controllable outcomes instead of abundant opportunities.

“The perception of opportunity in the absence of resources helps explain much of what differentiates entrepreneurial leadership from that of corporate administrators: the emphasis on team rather than hierarchy, fast decisions rather than deliberation, and equity rather than cash compensation.”

 Delayed decisions diminish the potential to realize the opportunities in front of the entrepreneur. I would substitute the word “people” for “team.” In my experience working with hierarchies I notice that sometimes the right people to move a decision forward and realize an opportunity do not have the right title. It’s not that entrepreneurs despise hierarchies–it’s more that we value realizing the future and hierarchies often delay the process.

“Entrepreneurs offer their team members a larger share of a vision for a future payoff, rather than a smaller share of the meager resources at hand. Opportunity is the only real resource you have.”

This characteristic represents the greatest challenge for an entrepreneurial leader. Many team members/coworkers value present, tangible actions more than future opportunities. It’s easy to become frustrated when others do not want to drop or reallocate their time to pursue a new venture or project, and to minimize the importance of daily tasks. Those that can communicate the future opportunities as well as the importance of daily tasks become influential.

“You can look at the array of choices that present themselves, pick the best available option and try to make it fit. Or, you can do what the true entrepreneur does: Figure out the best conceivable option and then make it available.”

A team can dramatically improve their results by spending time dreaming about the best option. Too often current resources are the primary factor in team decision making. In order to achieve significant results on a regular basis the best option must always have a place in the conversation, and a leader foolish enough to believe it can happen.

Would you call yourself entrepreneurial? What challenges do you face as you pursue new opportunities? 

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This happened because:

“These rules sound like common sense, but they often disappear as companies get large and people call meetings more for political or ego-boosting reasons than to actually get anything done.”

1. Every meeting must have one clear decision maker. If there’s no decision maker — or no decision to be made — the meeting shouldn’t happen

2. No more than 10 people should attend.

3. Every person should give input, otherwise they shouldn’t be there.

4. No decision should ever wait for a meeting. If a meeting absolutely has to happen before a decision should be made, then the meeting should be scheduled immediately.

I loved #4. Large organizations can produce a culture of over-inclusiveness. The number of decisions a team makes provides an insightful glimpse into their effectiveness. I try to stay away from projects or teams that have a track record of few decisions.

via businessinsider.com

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