The Genius of the "AND" in Real Life

In the fall of 2005, I attended the Coast to Coast Multi-Site Conference at Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL. While there I talked with some of the staff members, who shared with me a practical application of "The Genius of the AND."

The following illustrates how Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of CCC, views the concept of multi-site: by comparing them to what goes on in the banking, health care, higher education - and church settings.

Our institutions are growing larger and smaller simultaneously, blending the strength that size offers with the comfort and convenience of smaller, closer venues. This is one example of what Jim Collins in “Built to Last” called "the genius of the AND," the paradoxical view that allows you to pursue both A and B simultaneously.

While developing our multi-site church, we discovered these advantages that all demonstrate the genius of the AND:

Brand new AND trusted brand
We've found a similar dynamic with the multi-site church. It has the upside of what used to be denominational loyalty, which was prominent in yesteryear but now is found in congregational loyalty. The particular congregation is the trusted brand, and the opening of a new site makes it brand new.

Staff with generalists AND specialists
The multi-site church allows you to start a new location with the existing staff in place. Instead of hiring more generalists, you add specialists such as technical arts, administrator, or director of creative arts for children.

Less cost AND greater impact
Financially, a new campus is tremendously cost effective. When we started our north campus (our first) we spent lots of money on staff, equipment, and marketing. When we started our south campus (our second site), we spent less money, added specialists to our existing staff team, and a similar marketing blitz. We had 565 at the first service, but more importantly, after three months we were averaging 360 at our south campus, again 80 percent unchurched. Doing the math, that's 39 percent retention at our first location, and 64 percent retention at our second location. Our second campus cost less money to start, reached more people, and resulted in a greater retention.

New church vibe AND big church punch
Lyle Schaller told us, "The most important thing you offer to this new work is your large church culture." At first I wasn't sure what he was talking about. He meant expectations and excellence. We were able to launch the second site with the same level of excellence that it took us eight years to achieve at our north campus.

Move there AND stay here
Growing churches and real estate have this in common: "location, location, location." Many existing churches, particularly older churches, are located in communities with little growth. These churches look across town where new development is happening and they see the potential. Perhaps many of their members are moving there. After looking at their options, instead abandoning their existing site to move to the booming west side, they can choose to "move there and stay here." That keeps a campus in the downtown neighborhood with an intentional outreach to the community, and allows the launch of a campus in one of the faster growing areas.

More need AND more support
As we think about a new site, we lay out a matrix of about 100 blanks, representing the positions we need to fill in order for us to launch. The increased opportunities create a vacuum that challenges more people to step in to serve in voluntary leadership roles in all areas, such as children's, hospitality, and small groups.

More outreach AND more maturity
While people will drive long distances to join the weekly celebration service at a large church, if they live more than 20 minutes away, their ability to serve and to invite friends is diminished. A multi-site campus allows them to participate in volunteer teams as well as small groups.The multi-site church reaches out to make both more Christians and more mature Christians.

That's the Genius of the "AND" in real life.

How are you going to put it into practice at your organization?

Embrace the Genius...

of the "AND"

Instead of being oppressed by the "Tyranny of the OR," highly visionary leaders - and the organizations they lead - liberate themselves with the "Genius of the AND" - the ability to embrace both extremes or dimensions at the same time.

Instead of choosing between A OR B, they figure out a way to have both A AND B.

Jim Collins first introduced this line of thinking in "Built to Last" in 1994. Intended primarily for the business audience, it wasn't long till perceptive church leaders picked up the idea and ran with it.

For example, here are a few ways it might play out in ChurchWorld:

On the one hand                                 Yet on the other hand
a fixed core ideology          AND        vigorous change 
conserve the core              AND         bold, risky moves
clear vision and direction    AND        experimentation 
leaders steeped in the core AND        leaders who induce change
ideological control              AND        operational autonomy
close-knit culture               AND        ability to change and adapt
long-term goals                 AND        short-term performance

This is not just a balancing act. "Balance" implies going to the midpoint, fifty-fifty, half and half. Visionary leaders lead organizations that seek to have a fixed core ideology and take vigorous change to the extreme.

There's no gray, cloudy, shapeless mass in these organizations. It's a bold attempt to be both "this" AND "that" - at the same time, all the time.

Need a real-life example in ChurchWorld? Come back tomorrow and see how some of the early pioneers in today's multi-site movement used the genius of the "AND" to launch a movement.

Reject the Tyranny...

... of the "OR"

Without a doubt one of the most influential business writers of the past 15 years has been Jim Collins. Some of the most respected leaders in ChurchWorld list his works as tremendously important in the foundation of critical elements of their development - both as individuals and of their ministries.

Level 5 Leadership - First Who, Then What - Hedgehog Concept - Culture of Discipline - The Flywheel - BHAG

If you recognize these phrases, then you are probably familiar with Collins' work. If you don't, I suggest you check out "Built to Last," "Good to Great," "How the Mighty Fall," and "Good to Great and the Social Sectors."

Of all his insightful work, my favorite is the brilliantly simple concept of dualism, referred to in the title. I'll introduce it today, and finish it tomorrow.

The Tyranny of the "OR"

It's easy to understand why leaders - or organizations - subscribe to the rational view that cannot easily accept paradox, that cannot live with two seemingly contradictory forces or ideas at the same time. The "Tyranny of the OR" pushes people to believe that things must be either A OR B, but not both. It makes such proclamations as:

• You can have change OR stability
• You can be conservative OR bold
• You can have low cost OR high quality
• You can have creative autonomy OR consistency and control
• You can invest for the future OR do well in the short-term
• You can make progress by methodical planning OR by opportunistic groping
• You can be idealistic OR pragmatic

Why?

Is there a natural principle at work here like gravity? "That's the way things have always been"; That's the we we've always done it"; "It's always worked that way before, so why change it now?"

I think not.

There is a better way...

Bridging the Digital Divide, Part Three

Our leadership brains are dealing with a digital divide in organizations today: team members of different generations think differently. First, there's the digital natives; then come the digital immigrants. Bringing up the rear (literally) are the digital dinosaurs.

Author Marilee Sprenger, writing in "The Leadership Brain for Dummies," makes these observations about the digital dinosaur:

The Digital Dinosaur
Natives speak the language of their birth; immigrants are learning to translate the digital language of the natives, and then there are those individuals or organizations who are hopelessly out of date - the digital dinosaur.

You may think that Traditionalists (born before WW II) fall into this category, and many do. But anyone or any organization can be a dinosaur.

Digital media is transforming organizations everywhere. If your organization appears to be incapable of change, those who embrace digital technology won't find it appealing. If your clients are changing their minds and getting plugged into the latest technology, you don't won't to present yourself as stuck in an analog world.

Take a close look at what your competition is doing digitally. If they are still dinosaurs, make some changes so your organization can be the first to enter the global age. Rather than feeling safe because they aren't doing anything that you're not doing, get out of that reptile brain and use your thinking brain to take some risks to get updated.

Note to church leaders: if my use of the words "client" and "competition" bother you, sorry - you have a whole different set of problems! The people who come to your church are your clients, and you do have competition - but it's not the church down the street from you.

A closing thought: leadership is all in your head - literally. When your brain is at its best, you will be at your best as a leader. Understanding how your brain works is just the first step. Put your leadership brain to work today!

Bridging the Digital Divide, Part Two

The brains of those who are digitally connected are different from those who are not. Here's how Marilee Sprenger, author of "The Leadership Brain for Dummies," sees this divide:

The Digital Immigrant
Some Traditionalists (born before WW II), many Baby Boomers (born 1945-1964), and the early Gen Xers (born 1965-through the 70s) fall into the category of digital immigrants. They didn't grow up learning the second language of the digital world and speak it with varying degrees of fluency.

Many digital immigrants:

• Insist on paper bills even though receiving copies via email
• Print out emails and attachments
• Rely on printed newspapers, books, and so on
• Are somewhat leery of paying bills online
• Believe that methods taught years ago should work for everyone
• Don't understand the informal language used in emails and texts
• Believe a social network consists of people he meets with for parties

Digital immigrants have much to offer to your organization. Wisdom derived from years of storing patterns in the brain gives them the ability to see the big picture, predict accurately, foresee future consequences, and draw on mental templates to help store new information.

Challenging tasks activate more areas in the frontal lobes of the brains of digital immigrants than in the brain of digital natives. The immigrants have little choice because their brains change as they increase their skills with technology. The natives may need to practice more skills that their brains haven't used very much, like building rapport face to face.

How do you lead digital natives and immigrants to work together?

Bridging the Digital Divide

Using the Leadership Brain to Understand Generational Differences

Marilee Sprenger, author of "The Leadership Brain for Dummies," does a good job of outlining the differences in organizations that have multiple generations involved - like the church.

This post isn't about that - read her book here on page 223 to understand those differences. Instead, let's take a look at the the digital divide.

The brains of those who are digitally connected are different from those who are not. Since your organization has different kinds of brains working together, maybe you should understand a little about it.

The Digital Native
Today's world requires a new language and a new literacy - digital literacy. The late Generation X'ers (born in the late 70's) and the generations that follow them are digital natives - they speak the language well. These people have grown up with video games, cell phones, computers, the Internet, and other techno toys. The ABCs of learning have been replaced with the the XYZs of technology.

The digital natives grew up communicating in a very different and fast-paced way from their parents and older siblings. They're proud of their ability to come up with hard data quickly and easily. It's a wide learning gap between these generations and the prior ones.

The digital natives who believe that their world isn't complete if they aren't constantly connected are always trying to multitask (you can't, but that's another post). They're always working hard, switching from one task to another and back again without skipping a beat.

Former Microsoft executive Linda Stone called this problem continuous partial attention.

Not truly giving anything complete attention has a number of negative effects, not the least of which is the inability to accomplish anything! Efforts to stay connected may prohibit you from bringing deep thought and closure to any one project, which may lead to stress. Elevated stress leads to distraction which starts the cycle over again.

Recognize yourself?

SMART or SAFE?

Setting goals and the leadership brain

Goal setting is vital to the success of every team - and the process also increases brain performance. According to neuroscience consultant Marilee Sprenger in " The Leadership Brain for Dummies," the brain sees goal-setting as an extension of itself - it takes ownership of the goal and the accomplishment.

But what do you do when your team has different kinds of "brains" trying to set goals? Could it be that you need to consider two kinds of goals?

The SMART approach to goal-setting is linear, logical, and very left-brain oriented. Those teams that think in a left-brained format appreciate this type of goal setting because it is easy to track and measure. SMART goals are:

• Specific - each goal specifies your target exactly.
• Measurable - each goal must be measurable so you know when you've reached it - or not.
• Achievable - a goal that is within reach increases motivation and those brain chemicals that keep you motivate.
• Realistic - a realistic goal is one your team has the resources to realize.
• Time - specific time frames provide clear deadlines for action.

But what about teams that aren't as left-brained? How do they set goals? Consider SAFE goals. Approaching goals in a nonlinear manner appeals more to the right hemisphere of the brain. If your team members are creative, visual, and right-brain dominant, consider SAFE goals:

• See it - see yourself working toward the goal; then picture it already achieved.
• Accept it - accept that you can achieve the goal, and picture what that looks like.
• Feel it - adding emotion to your visualization is very powerful: feel good about your accomplishment; enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done.
• Express it - visualize yourself telling others about the accomplishment of the goal; make presentations at team meetings about your contribution to the success.

The SAFE method is especially good for those brains that need to have the big picture in order to accept the fact that they can in fact accomplish their goals.

So, does your team need SMART or SAFE goals? Or a combination of both?

As leader, it's your job to know the difference and lead accordingly!

Brain Science and Decision-Making

Making good decisions under a variety of circumstances is a critical leadership skill. Your brain works differently to decide when you have little time than it does when you can consider your options.

Marilee Sprenger, author of "The Leadership Brain for Dummies,", offers the following ideas to help you make the best decision when you have the time to research the situation:

• Clearly define the problem - exactly define the challenge
• Gather all the data related to the problem - enlist your team's help
• List all possible solutions - even the crazy ones
• Consider the consequences of each solution - with a little thought, the right solution may turn out to be a disaster in waiting

When you're making decisions with little time:

• Consider previous situations - the decisions you made in that situation probably apply to the current one
• Look to the future impact - even when pressed for time, considering the ramifications of your choice is critical
• Gather as much information as you can
• Listen to your instincts - as well as your logic

Making good choices is a matter of gathering input from all areas of your brain. Understanding how your brain processes information - even in a time crunch - will help you make better decisions.

Feed Your Brain

I always thought Cherry Coke and a Hershey's bar was brain food, but neuroscience is proving me wrong.

Marilee Sprenger, author of "The Leadership Brain for Dummies," thinks that our leadership brains can be nourished so that they excel. You can provide great leadership and brain "nourishment" for your team by:

• Providing training opportunities - on the job, onsite, offsite, virtually - you name it. Learning never stops, and the brain thrives on it.
• Conducting personal meetings - by letting team members know you value their contributions, they are secure and will be more productive.
• Keeping stress levels low - high stress interferes with the brain's functions; offer coaching, mentoring, and partnering programs to help your team thrive without stressing out.
• Celebrating successes - big or small, celebrations help teams bond. Make them regular and special; after all, humans are social animals.
• Connecting teamwork and the organizational goals - help your team's brains make pathways to work more efficiently.
• Promoting life outside of work - emphasize exercise, rest, and family time; without breaks, the brain can't work at its best.

Tomorrow: Using Your Leadership Brain in Decision-Making

I like Dummies...

... the books, that is.

I've been a big fan of the "Dummies" books for a long time. I own at least 10 - they serve as great introductions to a new topic and help chart a course for expanded learning later on.

I guess you could say they are like Cliff Notes on steroids - or is that mixing too many metaphors?

For instance, when our 18 year-old son decided to give rugby a try after 14 years of playing soccer, it was "Rugby for Dummies" to the rescue. From a brief history of the game to key terms to strategy, after a few nights reading I felt somewhat knowledgeable about the game and could appreciate the fact that my son was a hooker. That's another story.

About a year and a half ago, I became aware of a book by John Medina entitled "Brain Rules", a fascinating study of how the latest studies in neuroscience were helping us understand more about our brains. A series of posts beginning here took a look at a few of the key learnings from the book.

Enter "The Leadership Brain for Dummies." Author Marilee Sprenger translates the recent abundance of brain science into into leadership principles which help your team keep operating at its best.

Applying Brain Science to Leadership

When you lead with the brain in mind, you address the structures of the brain and its needs. Scientists commonly consider the brain as a structure with three separate "brains" that have their own specialized jobs. Understanding how these different brains work and what they need enable you to better relate to and lead your team.

• The survival brain wants safety and security. In a nutshell, its job is to keep you alive, and so it's always on the lookout for changes in the environment that might put you in jeopardy. You address this brain's needs by providing a predictable ans stable workplace - agendas, schedules, information, and procedures.
• The emotional brain deals not just with emotion but memory. You help keep this brain moving along by being socially aware (noting your feelings but not letting them rule you), and you put it to work for you by giving your team an emotional connection to training. Any information that is connected to an emotion has a better chance of becoming a long-term memory. Also, remember that your emotions are contagious - whatever you are feeling will spread to your team.
• The thinking brain handles the brain's executive functions: decision-making, future planning, judgement, and emotional control. The brain learns through feedback. Change your team's minds by providing immediate, constructive feedback.

Tomorrow: Feed Your Brain

The Tunnel of Chaos

All team members will have their fair share of disagreements and conflict; we all bring our dysfunctions to work. But grace will allow conflicts to be resolved - not allowed to fester.

This value – trust tempered with grace – will allow conflicts to be readily resolved. If someone passes you in the hall and didn’t say hello, you don’t have to worry that they are upset with you. If you say something in a staff meeting that offends a team member, you know that they will have the guts and integrity to talk with you about it.

It’s called the “tunnel of chaos.”

It’s a phrase that communicates urgency for team members to get one-on-one, discuss the issue, and resolve it.

Bill Hybels coined the phrase after hearing psychiatrist Scott Peck talk about the differences between participating in genuine community and experiencing what he called “pseudo community.”

If community involves things such as knowing and being known, serving and being served, loving and being loved, and celebrating and being celebrated, then most relationships, Peck asserted, are constantly devolving into pseudo community. It’s the temptation for small groups of people to slide into a state where they’re not quite telling each other the truth and they’re not quite celebrating each other. Instead, they tolerate each other, they accommodate each other, and they settle for sitting on the unspoken matters that separate them.

Hybels taught on this idea at Willow Creek Church by drawing two circles on a flip chart and labeled the one on the left “Pseudo Community,” the one on the right “True Community.”

He said that we all want to get to true community, but we find ourselves in pseudo community. So how do you move from one place to the other?

Hybels connected the two circles with a tunnel and said people need to be willing to go down into the tunnel – the tunnel of chaos. Frightening as it is to enter that tunnel; those who do so are the ones most likely to pop up one day into the fresh, life-giving daylight of true community.

The tunnel of chaos is where hurts are unburied, hostilities revealed, and tough questions asked. No matter how unpleasant the tunnel of chaos is, there’s no other route to authentic relationships.

Being a part of a team can be like a series of battles, and a lot can get said on the front lines that may not be exactly edifying. Every leader must constantly ask direct reports “Are we okay? How can we clean up the messes we’ve made along the way?"

As leaders, be prepared to enter the tunnel of chaos whenever necessary.

You Can't Improve by Coasting Uphill

The final post of "The Physics of Biking" or what I'm learning about leadership while training for a 24 hour bike ride...I am training for my 6th annual 24 Hours of Booty, a charity bike ride for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. As you might expect, riding even part of 24 hours takes training. I don’t mind training, but I hate hills – at least going up hills. Coming down, now that’s pretty cool. You can coast and catch your breath. The only problem is you can’t improve by going downhill all the time.



 
Living in North Carolina, there are hills everywhere; you can’t train without encountering them regularly. When I planned my training rides, I used to dread the uphill parts. No matter what techniques I tried, going up long, steep hills was a killer. Give me a flat surface and I can move along at a pretty good clip. Even better was a slight downhill run. I haven’t found a one-sided hill yet, so I would labor through, barely surviving, looking forward to the flying downhill on the other side.

Business blogger Seth Godin noted this in a recent post: It's very difficult to improve your performance on the downhills.


I agree completely. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get any better by just going faster on the downhill side. Eventually, even I realized that the place to improve performance, to get better, is to work on the uphills. That's where the work is, the fun is, the improvement is. On the uphills, if I work hard and don’t give up, I have a reasonable shot at a gain over last time. The downhills are already maxed out by the laws of physics and safety.


Suddenly, the truth about biking can be translated into my work world as well. The best time to do great customer service is when a customer is upset. The moment you earn your keep as a public speaker is when the room isn't just right or the plane is late or the projector doesn't work or the audience is tired or distracted. The best time to engage with an employee is when everything falls apart, not when you're hitting every milestone. And everyone now knows that the best time to start a project is when the economy is lousy.

Godin’s 2007 book “The Dip” is a quick read that reinforces this line of thinking. A Dip is a temporary setback that you will overcome if you keep pushing. But maybe it’s really a cul-de-sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try. According to Godin, what really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt – until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. Winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it.

What uphill are you facing right now? Will you push through it, improving your performance along the way and on the next hill? Or will you be satisfied with coasting on the other side?

The Draft is Your Friend

Part 4 of "The Physics of Biking" or what I'm learning about leadership while training for a 24 hour bike ride...

Drafting is an important technique in cycling. The cyclist, as he moves through the air, produces a turbulent wake behind himself. It makes vortices. The vortices actually make a low pressure area behind the cyclist and an area of wind that moves along with the cyclist. If you're a following a cyclist and can move into the wind behind the front cyclist, you can gain an advantage. The low pressure moves you forward and the eddies push you forward. A rider tucked just 6 inches behind another rider expends almost 30 percent less energy than the front runner. Increase that distance to  24 inches and the energy savings are slashed to just about 10 percent.

Surprisingly drafting not only helps the cyclist following the leader, but the lead cyclist gains an advantage as well. The interesting thing is by filling in the lead cyclist's eddy you improve the front person's performance as well. So two people who are drafting can put out less energy than two individuals (who are not drafting) would covering the same distance in the same time. While the lead cyclist gains some advantage in this situation he still needs to expend much more energy than the cyclist who is following. Thus, successful drafting techniques require constant lead rotations among the pack.


Although I typically train by myself, most of the rides I participate in have groups in them. My first experience at drafting happened several years ago as I was "pulling" a group of about 7 bikes. As I took the lead, we came to a small rise; due to the effect of the draft as explained above, we actually were able to accelerate to about 21 mph up the hill. I only lasted a few minutes, and then it was time to let someone else take the lead, but the experience of moving forward with less effort was amazing.

How do you take advantage of the draft? Like all the posts in this series, you will make the final choice, but let me offer you my suggestion:

Lead Leaders.

Leaders who develop leaders experience an incredible multiplication effect in their organizations that can be achieved in no other way - not by increasing resources, reducing costs, analyzing systems, or doing anything else. As a leader you will go to the highest level only if you begin developing leaders instead of followers.

Becoming a leader who develops leaders requires an entirely different focus and attitude from that of a developer of followers. John Maxwell's "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" points out some of the differences:

Leaders Who Develop Followers   Leaders Who Develop Leaders
Need to be needed                    Want to be succeeded                 
Focus on weaknesses                 Focus on strengths
Develop the bottom 20%            Develop the top 20%
Hoard power                             Give power away
Spend time with others              Invest time in others
Grow by addition                       Grow by multiplication
Impact only those they              Impact people far
touch personally                        beyond their own reach

As a leader, do you ride solo most of the time or are you part of a team that together, accomplishes more? Leading a team is hard work - it takes time, energy, and resources. But when you've got the right team of leaders, with everyone pulling their weight, the results are amazing.

Leaders commit themselves to people and activities that provide explosive growth through teamwork.

Gearing Up

Part 3 of "The Physics of Biking" or what I'm learning about leadership while training for a 24 hour bike ride...

The development of the chain drive helped make the bicycle that we know today possible. The chain drive eliminated the need to have the cyclist directly above the wheel. Instead the cyclist could be positioned between the two wheels for better balance. With the advent of gears, the cyclist could also pedal more efficiently. Riders enjoyed increased speed and easier riding up steep grades.

A chain drive alone (without gears) is effective on flat surfaces and going downhill. However, when it comes to headwinds, hill climbing, and even starting on a bicycle without gears--the cyclist has to stand on his pedals and strain while pedaling at a very low rate. Gears allow the cyclist to pedal at a comfortable and efficient rate while traveling either uphill or downhill or with a headwind or a tailwind.The gears of a bicycle make pedaling more efficient, allowing the cyclist to travel faster and more easily handle steep grades and other obstacles.

Gears make it possible for riders to maintain the cadence (or rate of pedaling) that makes them the most efficient. While there are many opinions as to what exactly is the optimal cadence for bicycling, everyone seems to agree that cadence is important.

What are your leadership "gears"? What makes your organization go? How do you determine the speed of your movement? When do you have to push a little harder, and when can you coast? Just like yesterday's post on "wheels", only you have the right answer. But here's mine:

Priorities.

Leaders never grow to a point where they no longer need to prioritize. It's something that good leaders do whether they lead a small group, a church, or an organization of 50 or 5,000.

Successful leaders recognize that not all activity is accomplishment. The best leaders seem to be able to prioritize their focus while reducing their number of actions.

John Maxwell, writing in "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership," talks about three guidelines he uses when making priorities. To be effective, he thinks leaders must order their lives according to three questions:

1. What is required? Anything required that is not necessary for you to do personally should be delegated or eliminated.
2. What gives the greatest return? Leaders spend most of their time working in the areas of their greatest strengths.
3. What gives the greatest reward? Nothing energizes a person the way passion does.

What are you doing with your leadership potential? Are you successfully prioritizing your actions to produce maximum results? Or are you spinning away in the wrong gear?

It Begins With a Wheel

If you're going to talk about bicycles, you had better start with the wheel. The wheel is the most crucial element of the bicycle: it allows the rider to roll over the ground with great speed and efficiency. A bicycle wheel needs to be able to handle a variety of forces. Besides holding up the weight of the cyclist, a wheel must withstand the forces of pedaling and braking and the jarring effects of the road surface. The resistance to the motion of a wheel can vary tremendously depending on the surface on which it is traveling. The treads of bike tires can affect performance.

Even the earliest bicycles used spokes of one sort or another. A spoked wheel can be made as strong as a solid one and have only a fraction of the weight. It's easy to think of the spokes as columns supporting the wheel and helping it retain its shape. But, the "support" that the wheel receives is created by pulling the spokes towards the center of the wheel (tension) rather than pushing out from the center (compression).

Many aspects of the wheel make it crucial for the success of a bicycle. But this isn't about bicycles so much as it is the leadership you provide to the organization you lead.

What's your leadership "wheel?" There's a lot of right answers to this question, so you will have to figure it out for yourself. Here's my suggestion:

Trust.

Trust is the foundation of leadership. To build trust, a leader must exemplify these qualities: character, competence, and chemistry (Bill Hybels). In order to develop these qualities, Posner and Kouzes have suggested six disciplines of credibility or trust:

1. Discovering your self
2. Appreciating constituents
3. Affirming shared values
4. Developing capacity
5. Serving a purpose
6. Sustaining hope

Leadership exists only in the eyes of those who follow you - are your "wheels" on right?

The Physics of Cycling...

...or, what cycling is teaching me about leadership.

I'm heading into the final two weeks of preparation for my 6th annual 24 Hours of Booty charity ride. I'll being joined by over 1,200 cyclists as we ride the 3 mile "Booty Loop" in the Queens College area of Charlotte. It's a lot of fun, it's for a good cause, and it's become a tradition unto itself - the ride usually sells out in a couple of weeks each January. If you're interested, here is my personal web page at the 24 HofB site. You can find out anything you want to know about the ride, and if you're  so inclined, you can even make a donation to my efforts! But I digress...

Normally, I prepare for rides like this and other distance events by long, repetitive hours of time in the saddle. I'm not in this for speed, and I just try to condition my legs, butt, back, and aerobic system for hours of riding. This year, however, I am behind in training time. There's no shortcuts, but I am going to take any advantage I can find - which leads me to the physics of cycling.

At it's simplest, I am trying to move my body mass over a fixed course at maximum efficiency so that I can ride for several hours at a time. I only have the muscles of my body (and the energy stored within them), my bicycle (the system that will convert energy to motion), and my computers (my brain and my bike computer) to accomplish the task. In order to ride at maximum efficiency, I'm going to have to really let the physics of cycling dictate my training and ride times.

As I was on a training ride this past weekend, it occurred to me that the physics of cycling have leadership lessons as well...

...want to join me on a ride?

Real Leaders Get Real About Leadership

Alan Webber, cofounder of Wired magazine and former editor at Harvard Business Review, published a great book last year: "Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self." Since this week's posts are about leadership, here is Webber's Rule # 41:

If you want to be a real leader, get real about leadership.

Leadership isn't attached to any single job title. It doesn't come with a diploma, a degree, or a program. Leadership is a way of thinking and acting, a way of being and doing.

If you want to get real about leadership, you can boil it down to four things:

• How leaders are - confident and modest, authentic, and good listeners
• What leaders do - attract and grow talent, lead by example, and challenge others to do their best
• How leaders act - give others guidance, not answers
• What leaders leave behind them - passion, a great team, and most importantly, more leaders

How are you doing at the real work of leadership?

At Their Service...

Ask yourself daily:

What did I specifically do today to be "of service" to members of my group or team? Was I truly a "servant" to them?

Robert Greenleaf, writing in the classic "Servant Leadership" challenges leaders to be servants. To help leaders understand the concept, he had two "exam" questions that leaders should ask concerning the people on their teams:

1. Do those served grow as persons?
2. Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?

Tom Peters translates these questions as follows:

1. Leaders exists to serve their people. Period.
2. A team well served by its leader will be inclined to pursue Excellence.

Use the word "Serve." (That's what you do.)
Use the word "Service." (That's what you provide.)
Use the word "Servant." (That's what you are.)

What Olympic Athletes and Your Leadership Team Share in Common

Over two weeks of Olympic events have wrapped up, closing with a thrilling gold medal hockey game between the U.S. and Canada. The Olympic Games are spaced out enough so that I really enjoy watching the competitions, even the more esoteric events (like curling).

For all the hype and hoopla, to me the single most important aspect of the Games is the unique skill sets it takes for each athlete to become a world-class participant in their sport. For many, that means years of preparation and practice for a one-time shot at a medal. Most don’t ever get a chance to medal, yet all prepare as if they were already a champion.

In other words, they have locked away in their minds a preferred vision of the future that has them accepting a gold medal. That vision keeps them going day after day, month after month, up early and late in practice.

Church leadership teams don’t compete for a gold medal, but their reward is much more important: changed lives, as members develop into loving, growing disciples. That’s an outcome worth working for!

Leaders as Followers

One of my favorite pastimes is chasing down one thought which leads to a totally different thought which is unexpected pure gold. Like this one, from Garry Wills' "Certain Trumpets: The Call of Leaders."

The mystery of leadership and followership goes on all around us - and within us. We are all in some measure leaders and followers - as we are, most of us, alternately parents and children, employers and employees, teachers and taught. Integration of our leading and led selves is one of the goals we seek when we look at exemplary cases of leadership and following. Tell me who your admired leaders are, and you have bared your soul.

The leader most needs followers. When those are lacking, the best ideas, the strongest will, the most wonderful smile have no effect.

Leader: Who is following you?