Opportunity Leadership

If you are in leadership and you believe you have a long-term goal and plan. Don't miss today's Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman is to separate ourselves from his iron grip more planning and really look for God's will is so much better. Welcome Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the New York Times, the five love line today. Get ready to talk about working your plan as a leader. I guess that's the best leadership looks for unexpected opportunity resource is the book opportunity leadership stop planning and start getting results provided at the website. Five love languages.com is, I've seen you in action. For the last few decades, or so it seems to me you kind of person who has plan you have goals in mind for your life for your ministry speak you know, think quick, you are willing to be flexible and change course if you need to do that if I get that right about I would say that's true Chris you know I've always had ideas of what might be coming down the road here, but also refound this. My plans are often ported by God, and he turned to the right of the left it up and flexible soffits a good world and flexible to move in those directions because look what we want as Christians, we will what God wants to do in our lives. You know that that's always been my perspective so haven't gotten hung up on you not reaching my plans that were floating in my mind, but rather silly trusting God to guide me what I'm doing and I think that's what Dr. Perez got be talking about here today because it in my own life to. I've seen this. I've got so many great plans that I missed opportunities that I was I was looking at things.

The schematic over here, rather than looking up at what is God doing and so let's find out more about his thesis. Dr. Roger Parrott is president of Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi. He was recognized as one of the 10 most visionary education leaders, 20, 21 by education magazine. Under his leadership, Belhaven was named one of America's best colleges to work for by the Chronicle of Higher Education's previous book was the Longview lasting strategies for rising leaders. But if you go five love languages.com right now. You'll see our featured resource opportunity leadership stop planning and start getting results. Find out more.

Five love languages.com Dr. Barrett welcome to Building Relationships. What a treat to be with you and thank you for the honor drawing near. We're certainly glad you're here, why don't you tell us a little about your background and how you became president of Belhaven there in Mississippi will plant that's for sure. I know I grew up college president probably the last thing I want to do because I'd seen the inside but God has a way getting is where he needs us. And so it did come about that. I was elected in the presidency way too young when I was 34 and so I bid for 33 years old together and love it every day better job of the world, but my grandfather was God's presence well and my grandfather always says best job will pay the bills so I do not get to work with, energetic, idealistic young people. I get that work with expert faculty, run your own city as a campus and all multiple things so we've all heard the saying and I'm quoting here. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail, but you're suggesting that that's really not true and we need to give up planning. There's up that's a pretty radical recommendation is and it will because long-range planning doesn't work that's that's the bottom results of it were all addicted to it, but it really doesn't work and tell the softball line example that scope that nobody had cultivated in their plan, but we've all adjusted and we all made transitions from it and those who have embraced Corbett's are horrible things.

Of course those who have embraced the new limitations ruptures of COBIT have done very well and those who still are trying to force her plan to work are suffering during this time, organizationally, and it's not just that I have talked to dozens and dozens dozens of leaders about one of the most significant things that happen in your life, your ministry, your leadership and they all are nearly all in common that the best things were not plan opportunities came along yesterday had a direction. Yes, they had a momentum they had. They had the mission clear, but it was really an opportunity. They didn't expect that was the 16 moment for the work and so that's what I'm encouraging is to separate ourselves from this iron grip on long-range planning and really look for God's opportunities in our lives which can be so much better than what we come up with certain found that your life right Chris, that's what I was saying earlier yeah I significant things were things that I had not planned at all.

So give us a working definition of the book title here.

Opportunity leadership I think it's important to understand what what I mean by planning, and that's the difference between destination planning and and operational planning. So I know on my campus working to teach English to run a soccer team or the fees students organ.

I have chapels we plan old things very, very carefully what we don't plan our destinations so you know the news outlet may say to Mabel what you see is Belhaven and 10 years from now. My transparent answer is I don't know. I really don't know what I do know is the best plans we can come up with the wrong conference tables drawn on whiteboards are pale in comparison to the plan that God has for us both planning nearly 20 years ago now and just watched a remarkable pattern, but the book does give a more formal definition of what I have defined as opportunity leadership is really its own waiting in anticipation it's not pressing it is waiting in anticipation for opportunities to combat mesh so seamlessly with our mission and our gift to you in our capacity we just know that's what God's trying to do and then really be sensitive to the wind of God where God stating this so we can respond when those opportunities come quickly and and effectively and with a lot of energy and most of us are so stuck in our trying to execute our planet. We don't have any energy left for God's opportunities. Does this concept work in any leadership setting or is it primarily ministry framework works pretty Christian because I think it really is it's theologically grounded it. It is based in our theology of our total and complete trust in God and you know it really comes down to that kind of core and lilies of the field you know Isaiah 55.

My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways to strengthen studio know I have seen no errors fertile mind is conceived with God's prepared for those who love it.

So for any Christian. I think this really works. The books designed obviously for more ministry settings, church settings, readership settings, but I think it does go across the spectrum, and whether or not it works and never say I don't know what one of the early readers of my book and gave a wonderful endorsement was present Krispy Kreme turn the company around and he said this was a guidebook for what what he really did in the company.

So I think that leaders across the board know planning doesn't work.

But again there so expected to do it that they can't let go and the book is really cold the courage let go of what you know is not working and listing some different really let God work in our lives. But where did this concept come from in your own life. I think it was experience it was just one thing after another. They kind of showed me that we were going through a lot putting a lot of energy into planning a lot of effort into planning.

It never was coming through in the ways we anticipated it because it planning. We all project is idealistic, growth patterns and and everything looks perfect on the charts. Life doesn't work that way. It's a ministry or a family or a person. There are ups and downs and and when you let go of that and you find the opportunities that's when we start get the joy in what God was calling us to do rather been a grind and that so I think it was it was a process and it was it was a lot of practical things, one small thing on top of another, on top of another, and pretty soon we we realize we don't need planning we can do this a different way and then it was a matter trying to get the culture to change and began to accept that and it it has been the single most important decision I've ever made in 33 years of college president. This is Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman.

Our guest is Dr. Roger parent are featured precise in his book, opportunity, leadership, stop planning and start getting results. You can find out more at our website.

Five love languages.com to pair you said something just before the break. That really intrigues me and it you said that as you let go of this planning model. What happened was, rather than the grind of every day you started to feel joy come back into what you are doing and I think everybody's listing right now has is experienced that in some way that there is this you get your nose to the grind stone you get you noticed the plan. This is what were going to do and this is ever going to do it and it just feels like a grind rather than a joyful working together talk more about that where it really is a dramatic transformation. The model that I use and I read about the book and also my cave to come to my campus yesterday, but about powerboats and sailboats. That's how they would explain this difference in the model we use is that we want to be a sailboat is prepared to catch the wind of God and go where God's wing takes us rather than a powerboat. The ghost will rethink God wants us to go and ignores the wind and your mother's beautiful things about a sailboat that looks relaxing.

It looks inviting people are enamored by sailboats, but a big powerboat consuming, chopped up the water and makes a lot of noise and Canada grinds its way through. It's a totally different way to shrapnel and so that's what we have found is the release of a sailboat that were not trying to ignore the wind pressed through were trying to be sensitive that wind of God and of God's when changes that's great.

And God's wing stops. That's okay to sit and wait and were not were not to get all bundled up because things are moving let's just wait God's wind will eventually blow. I had a group of leaders in number of years ago, international leaders who were intrigued with this concept of redoing the end of the three day session.

One of them from South America and most quiet moments you have, but in the long discussion he said something that really caught my attention. He finally said, to himself, come into the room, to me that anybody particularly said you know you really expect God to bring you opportunities don't and I think that was a turning point for me that when we realize, yes we expect God to bring opportunities and if God doesn't bring opportunities that doesn't mean God is not speaking it's just not the right time and so we can await in that in that there's a tremendous freedom I can say that again just review for us, what, what's the downside of this off of this long range planning that you just push yourself every day to accomplish this such a good question because it's not just that this is a new way or giving up and always it really is harmful and long range planning where you're trying to predict destinations in the near working hard to get to those your you miss all the opportunities it keeps us from just a number things. First of all, we only aim for targets we know are going to hit you know of a leader would be crazy to stand up and and aim for targets that was beyond impossible. But that's what we do suite we we lower our targets so that we know that will hit together stretch, but we know we could do it if homogenizer strikes in one of the great things about Belhaven University as we are the leading Christian college in the arts that were one of only 36 schools in America accredited in all nationally cradle for the arts, music to visual art danced through this huge dance program. But if we had done that through planning and we had to bring up every program in the same way that we invested in the arts.

We never could groan the stellar arts program so homogenizer strikes.

I think it focuses on deficiencies. When you set out and a whiteboard to make plan what you do, you're right on the stuff you don't have that we supplement the stuff we do have God's giving great opportunities. Let's rejoice in those early significant improve but I think a planning process really zeros in on what we don't have ribbon thanking God for what we do it and then this thing is a lot of empty productivity have meeting after meeting after meeting and always dialogues and discussions and nothing comes out of it. If you know the plaintiffs, Don everybody sizzled that was great meeting. While this is a great plan. What happens after that you very rarely see results. I was teased college presidents that you can appoint your blue ribbon committee for planning and spending too much, but I'm taking your five outcomes right now before you read first meeting, I know what the debate they're not hard to predict in every ministry every church every even for family content to predict those things if you just go in a traditional format, but if you trust God really open up and let go of that magic all the time available for a lot of other great stuff. Is it the planning that's the problem. Always it the rigid adherence you know to the plan. I think it's a little of both. I think that I think that planning does set unrealistic expectations know when you set out to plan everything looks perfect that the future looks like an even growth curve looks simple to do and in no just on work out that way. I build liabilities of the campus and I never do architectural lending entries because no building can look as perfect as an architect and brought and so it is unrealistic that dictation you know it delays decisions because we say well were in the planning process. We can't decide that things get pushed off and I think it limits the dialogue increase the dialogue because of planning groups working on that and that and so we get so caught up in being attached to the and once we put out the plan. We won't let anything else come into our framework because we committed to the plan and at the beginning is good Christians.

Of course we prayed for that plan and we pray God, for blessed at the end and that you know and then we spend the rest of time at the plans out a short excuses for why it didn't come out the way we draw it out perfectly on the whiteboard so it's just not a healthy way for organization or family or anybody to live. So what you think. Leaders and organizations say so committed to this planning model. Even when they realize what what you're saying is true. It's ineffective what I think is two things I think is one is expectations boards especially expect the plan they could make a lot of the corporate environment.

Many of them and so they expect the leaders of ministries that have a plan and look like it does in the corporate and all that much more effectively older time frames are probably short is at work on today reports instead of tenure visions like ministries tended to but and donors expect that policy or plan that kind of thing but but I think the other issue beyond expectations is for a lot of leaders, they assume that's their only visible way to lead so either I raise money or I do planning. If I take out planning how do I leave what I do what you fill that in with them and that's really what the books focus on is how as leaders do we develop it different set of characteristics that get six characteristics that leaders need to develop to be opportunity leaders and then put that into the organization was six traits that opportunity. Leadership organizations tend to have so that that's, what were what were trying to do is is find a different way to lead something that fills that space and what you find as you can have Philip was so much more effectiveness than simply grind away a planning process. Was there an event that flipped the switch for you to think about giving up planning will you know my changeability in 26 years ago I put in place the regular planning that every college dollars and that's what leaders posted and so we went through about a year and 1/2 long process of planning we have the documents of the committee's mole fragments and yo with the blue ribbon on Marshall.

What that means but we always call a blue ribbon committee and so we came out with this document. With all these plans were going to go and one things I kinda want to do was to start football someday, but I do most terribly, so I cannot work it into the document like four or five layers down and so it didn't create a lot of disturbance.

It really what in the plan and I was at my second commencement and walked into the lobby and walked into a football coach that had hired at my previous school and I said what the world are you doing here and he said the school were you were after you left. They fired me and I moved back to Mississippi and I'm looking for coaching job just like that. I said you want to start a football tape and went out the window. Coach was that in there and off we ran the start of the bolting and so that was kind of the moment where Gabe broke through and did a pretty public arena of start football be quiet about it, that's for sure. Yeah that's that's a good illustration I think of this whole concept that you're trying to share that it's okay to have plans, you know, but God's timing may be very different from ours, and God's plans may be very different from ours absolutely in is not that we don't have plans we have plans a week or more. Dreams are more there more mission calling I'm interested in the calling dear you had 88 tremendous vision for "The 5 Love Languages" but never expected.

I'm sure for to go to the level that it has a man who would've ever thought that would have this worldwide huge impact that it had when you first maybe you did write because I don't I get it. I only God could make that happen. You can't draw that out you know not expect people to vaccinate had and I explained you know the sale of that book 20 million copies. They tell me now tell the world and published in over 50 languages around the world and I typically say the short answer is God in the long answer is God exactly exactly.

I need that concept would work because I had discovered it in my counseling and I use it in my counseling for at least five years, but I had no idea know that that would happen if I needed to the publisher. I remember I Greg Norton said to me he read the manuscript and he said I thought to myself as a public sale six right thousand copies. He said Moody publishers then have the dream either didn't see what God was doing either that we've we've all this got a been following God's plan.

Step by step that as it's revealed so what I think that the didn't point Gary and doctor.

I want you addresses. There are things that succeed in the culture in the Christian world, whatever. And people will use that then is the template for example if I want my book has my book title as the work number five in its cubbies's success or if I do the same kind of social media or the website that that "The 5 Love Languages" .com is then I'll be success and so the goal in the owner.

That is, how do I replicate this thing that God did. The end can't replicate that so we are almost stunting ourselves creatively by trying to copy something else. Talk about that we really are and I think our whole culture to see a hip movie come out and get a whole bunch of movies like that gradebook comes out. People try to read books like that you know that doesn't work very well.

There are moments for significant things that happened, and God puts moments for significant things and all of our lives, not all of us won't have the kind of broad reach that Gary said that's not going to happen, but for each of us. God designed us for a purpose and a reason and it will take those opportunities to make them ours not try to make them somebody else's. I tell my students. Ultimately, somebody else's life. Lead your life and and and and follow your pattern of what God's put in your spirit, in whom we do that is just is just amazing.

The joy we get from it. The goal is not to try to emulate somebody else stated goal is to let God work in our lives for the best that you put into site inside of us.

Yeah, I have not use the term that you're using your opportunities as opposed to planning, but looking back on my life which I wrote my memoirs I came out back in April. That's the principle that was there throughout my whole life just sit here listening and applying this in looking back at my own life and that that that's the case, the significant things in my life did not happen by my planning they happened is I just took the next step with what I felt God leading me to do in a that is so so right on target. Gary and and really forming the year as I think it is for all of us. But most leaders won't admit it the way that you are synthetic you for sharing that. I showed an early copy of the book to one leader and they said finally have got the words for what I've been trying to do and and because it is opportunities. We look at our lives.

That's restrictive in all of us and that's how God operates.

And that's the joy of really trusting him. We all say we want to trust God. We don't act like we need to really trust them for future and let them take it where he wants to take it. Thanks for joining us today for Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the New York Times bestseller "The 5 Love Languages" I guess is Dr. Roger, parent, author of opportunity, leadership, stop planning and start getting results. You can find out more at 5lovelanguages.com that's five love languages.com.

Dr. Barrett is CEO and president of the college may be easy for you to envision the future without a plan, but didn't giving up this concept and turning more to opportunities didn't scare your board and those who work with you scared me too you know. And it was interesting because the more I would talk about it the more I would begin the project this to the board and the campus I would get people pulled me aside and say oh that's really great. Were gonna trust God were going to go for God tells us to go lean on him to make a plan and that Satan really puts what's the plan the plan and not part of this is there is no plan B. This is and if you do it and there's a plan B. You have really given up planning so you know it really is different and and what I had to do is show my board and and over time. Again, we had small successes we had. We had opportunities came along that gave them benchmarks to see that work the number one meeting. It was really fun. We're about 1012 years into this and I passed out a sheet of my board and I said five-year plan on the top of it will course they knew planning so there, looking at it funny. And I said and I started to go through it. Number one is were going to increase enrollment 43% number two organ arrays $21 million, which for a lot of money.

Number three were built $32 million was building which is just forward and have seven new undergraduate majors number 58 graduate new majors and the one she'd been on the board a long time after get about the authority figure out what I was doing the others were horrified that we were laying out this kind of huge land and they realize that wasn't the plan for the future.

That's what we had done the previous five years. And when we get done. I said to the board. You know if I have brought you this plan five years ago two things would happen. One is we want to cut back by about two thirds of these goals are to know what we could hit.

And secondly, you will thought I was crazy. We trusted God's opportunities. Look what happened and that it also I think I think we can show the communities that we influence that it can work it takes time. It is not done overnight. I read a lot in the book about that process because a leader can't just declare this and take off. Yeah right is a God is present and I'm thinking out loud here now. What if a teacher came to you on your professors came to you and said I don't have a lesson plan for the year. I'm just gonna look for opportunities to respond and say great fabulous. There's a difference in here to teach English to teach English. So plan map because you know God's given that to you quickly. Opportunities you don't know our impact are going to have in the students life to come up with this problem with that problem or some families hurting in your class. With those opportunities. If you're sensitive to those opportunities. Great things are going to happen but you plan what you know you have to do which is to teach English.

But you don't plan what those opportunities are somewhat prime for students into some kind a contrived relationship with the weather. What ever I can wait for those moments to come and God will bring them to meet and I tell my faculty staff that will bring you opportunities every single day. If you look for in the edits When It Happens Because It Happens over and over and over Again What Would This Be a Way of Saying Saying That That Where You Are in Life Whenever You're in Be All There. Give Yourself to That It with. It Is Teaching English or Whatever You Give Yourself to That but Keep Open to the Opportunities That God Is Going to Bring Your Way. Wherever You Are Just Utilize Absolutely That That's That's Kind of the Work and Expect Opportunities.

That's Part of It Were Surprised When God Gives Us an Opportunity Know If You Expect Opportunities, See Douglas One of My or My Dear Friends in Prison Campus Crusade for so Long.

All These People He Would Test He Would Witness to Find All These People He Expects to Run into People Everyday Who Need to Hear about the Lord and so He Had All Kinds of Opportunities If All of Us Will Live in a State of Waiting for God's Opportunities.

They Will Come the Outcome in the Grocery Store, Though, Anyplace, God Bring Opportunities. The Recently Back in July I Retired As from the Staff, Church Staff Who I Have Served on the Same Staff for 50 Years. Okay, Many People Said to Me What's on Your Bucket List and I Said I Don't Have a Bucket List.

If You Mean You Not Plan to Do This This This This and This Is My Only Desire Is to Finish Whatever God Has in His Plan for Me and I've Already Told God That When These Through And Through. I Don't Know How to Play. Another Thing That Meant What He Says You Know the Doors That He Opens.

So I Identify with What You're Saying Is It's Not That We Don't Planning the Scripture Say Man Makes His Plan Tonight but God Directs His Steps and I and That's the Difference. That Is a Difference Right There. We Plan What We Know We Have Adopted Direct Steps and in Retirement over You Not to Retire the Dams, Not the Bible for One Ministry in Different Ways, but You Know but God Is Going to Continue to Bring Opportunities Because You Been a Person Who Has Always Been Open to Those of You Responded You Been a Person of of the Example of Humility to Christian Leaders That We Desperately Need an God Honors That so the Opportunities Continue to Come and It's Gonna Be Fun for You and for All to See What God Does in the Six Phase in Your Life and and I Believe That I Was Fortunate That Pastor Said What Can We Do for You Is a Well If You Want to Know the Thing to Be Most Meaningful to Me. Let Me Have an Office at the Church.

Let Me Have My Assistant to Work with You and I Sitting Greatness over the 40 so You Admit When I'm in the Office. You Know When I Went to MC and People of Indian Counseling People and and and Then When I'm Traveling Traveling at How I Love What You Two Are Talking about Here That I Had to Jump in Because It Sounds to Me like Is What You Talk about Leadership in the Leaders That Are Going I Will Know What Goes on. Then in the Hearts of the People Who Were under Those Leaders. If You Can Find Love Languages.com You'll See Opportunity Leadership Stop Planning and Start Getting Results. It's Written by Guest Today, Dr. Roger Parrott What What Happens to the Person Who Is Sitting around the Table Who Is under the Leader Who Is Thrown Planning out the Window. It Sounds to Me. That That Person Is Freed up to 10 Have Less Constrictors on Him or Her and Be Able to to Plug into This Wind and the Sales Idea That You're Talking about Very Much so and and When They Really Capture That at First Soldiering When They Finally Capture That They Do Find Great Freedom in It and They Find They Are the Front Lines of Ministry on the Front Line of Ministry Belly Ring University. It's Is the Faculty It's the Coaches Is the People Business Office Is See It's the Maintenance Workers.

I Was Tell Them When They Have Their Thumb with a Hammer, Though, Teach More in How They Respond That We Will and in Chapel All Semester.

Students Are Watching and When They Capture That Calling and What Third Doing As Part of the Mission, Not Simply Doing the Job That's One of Great Joy in a Hike, I Came across Campus Several Years Ago and in a Couple Maintenance Workers Work at. Doug Had a Deep Hole and They Could Fix a Water Line Break. They Were down over the Waste Ground There Stated in My and I Came He Came up to the Whole Trying to Be Nice and I Looked over My Six Guys What You Doing down There for A While Want What You Know Now Merit They Support or Educate Students of the Lord and That's Exactly It. Your Calling Is Educating Students by Providing a Wonderful Campus in Place for Them to Live and Work and to Learn and so Yes I Think Everybody Will Confine Opportunities and When They're Free to Know That That's What We Value, Not Simply Checking the Boxes on a Plan.

That's When God Really Works in Their Lives and Gives Them a Joy in the Work That They Didn't Have Otherwise. Once You Made This Decision to Move Away from This Be Married to Planning and Look for Opportunities Was Ever a Time That You You Felt like Maybe Maybe I Made a Mistake Here, Maybe Not like That Are Not You Know I Can Find My Way Because It Really Was in the Book I Studied to Try to Find Somebody Had Written on This Data, the Concept and That's Why Finally Coined and Defined Opportunity Leadership Is Nobody Really Written so I Can Identify My Way and That the Book Tells a Story. But Yeah, I Think the Scary Part Was, or Have I Made a Mistake Was There Some Risk Because As a Leader You Gotta Get out Front, but It's a Different Kind about Is Not a Get out Front. I Got the Plan.

Everybody Follow Me. It's a Get out Front That I Don't Have All the Answers and and so This Is a Risk in That I Don't Know. And Sometimes We so Trained.

Organizations and Churches and Others to Expect the Leader to Know Everything.

And No, I Don't Know. And There's a Risk Improvising Because When You Start This Path, God Gives an Opportunity, but the First Thing You Start with the Stuff Was Going to Invite It's Can Be Different When You Started Love Languages. It's It's Changed and It Is Involved in Its More and A Lot Of Different Outlets and Things and and Things Change over Time so You and Beck Requires A Lot Of Transparent Communication. I Talked to My Fact Is That All the Time but Were Thinking about Doing Not Just Declaring What Were Going to Do, but What Were Thinking about. And Then There's a Risk in Kind about Reviving What I Call Reviving Because Every New Idea Every New Initiative to Start out with Cannabis. A Lot Of Energy and A Lot Of Excitement and There's a Is a Close-Up of the Growth Curve of the S-Curve Is Goes up and Then It Hits Whole and That's When a Leader Has To Step in and Kind of Revive the Idea Rework It and Sometimes Say You Know That Didn't Work, but This Worked and Were Going to Do This Instead.

And You Know That's Hard for A Lot Of Leaders, Christians, Especially Christians, Are Not Very Good at Stopping Things Really Get a Starting Things and We Say God Honors It or Blesses It but but Because We Ask God to Lead Us When We Started Something It Doesn't Work Were Afraid to Stop It. So Instead We Start Something New on Top of It. Instead of Stopping the Old Thing and Thankfully I Got a Culture of of Aborting a Campus to Learn That Yeah It Makes Sense to Stop Things a Time, but It Is Different Kind of Leadership in the End, There Is Some Risk in It, but It's It's a Wonderful Rest You Know God's Leading and Directing and Just Rely on Him. Thanks for Joining Us Today for Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, Author of the New York Times Bestseller "The 5 Love Languages" You Can Find Simple Ways to Strengthen Your Relationships on Our Website. Five Love Languages.com.

I Guess Today's Dr. Roger Parrott and Our Featured Resource Is His Book, Opportunity, Leadership, Stop Planning and Start Getting Results. Find out more at 5lovelanguages.com (obviously leaders are not going to stumble on this idea, or they would have already stumbled on it, but how do we prepare or help prepare leaders to have this concept of looking for those opportunities.

What I think they just Come to the realization the traditional long-range planning doesn't work and again I differentiate between operational planning which we do a lot of and long-range destination planning, setting those future objectives and goals and soaking in when they come to realize that doesn't work, and then they can find a new model for leadership. Again, there's great joy in leadership, but it's a different kind of leadership.

It encourages you to give you an opportunity Leader. It encourages you to let your team become a lot more independent people to make mistakes and that's okay hire good people get out of the way and let them do it. You know I really encourage reversing the spotlight leaders get more than enough applause wielding the more we don't need be more will be more spotlight on us turn the spotlight around lift up the people who around you and then I tell leaders to be prepared for the key moments you know as university president. My year is probably made or broken by 12 decisions a year and put needs to happen is I need to be ready for those 12 decisions when they come in. I'm not sure which of the which ones will be the 12 that make a big difference.

So you've got to be spiritually ready. You gotta be most ready. Gotta be rested. You have had to have enough clarity of what's going on.

You have to be a well-prepared switch can make those decisions.

And then I think you just deal with people differently when you do opportunity leadership. Because yes, they are gonna miss it at times that I mess up badly in the bouquet I gave a great illustration I just love the story, but in brief it's about Ulysses Grant during the Civil War and he was here in Holly Springs, Mississippi, of all places and goddesses after he started to get some claim and that he in 1862 made a terrible decision after a horrible decision is called Gen. order number 11, and he essentially said all the Jews have to have to get out of the southern territory where they were fighting is a lot a reason for that because of his dad and a lot of issues yet going on longer story, tell here, but Lincoln responded to that first all he publicly said he was wrong.

Dead wrong about it and this was in the same week that Lincoln was trying to grasp the Emancipation Proclamation so you know where his hand was in comparison to this like I don't need this from a subordinate the mess up this badly, and he did a he addressed it. He said he was wrong. He corrected Grant and then within the next month. He gave grant even more responsibility and we call it future focused evaluation evaluating people focusing on their future not on the past because what we tend to do is we tender somebody messes up we can restrict the authority we tend to accentuate our power differentials and then we just throw ideal time just for fun.

I guess I don't know why but it doesn't do any good. We need to be focused on how do we help that person learn from that row from that go to the future so it so it's a lot of doing things very differently than we've done in the past, but again it comes back to really finding God's purpose for each person in our ministry or organization, not just for the leader (as Christians, of course, we look to the example of Jesus. What you see in his life that fits with what were talking about here. Will Jesus was completely committed to his mission.

He knew why he came to work and he knew what his responsibility was and that mission never wavered when you see him in day-to-day ministry.

I'm amazed at how often the Bible we read he was headed someplace and something happened and he went someplace else or he was headed to do one thing and somebody touched him and he went someplace else or he was preaching the crowd and they got too big and I got to close so the got in the boat went to the other side and they get to the other side that that 5000 people always hit his ministry was a life of interruptions. It wasn't.

It wasn't a plan. We get up every day were going to go to this this and this and that's can achieve our objective of trying to win the world. It was a life of interruptions and I just love studying that because then I can embrace the interruptions in my life and realize those of the most important moments for ministry. Those are the things to get checked off the to do list that I had when I got up this morning, but those of the things that make the difference. Those are things also. The move the dial for the four ministry organization and so following that model of Jesus and relaxing in the model. It's hard for us to do as leaders we want to provide our agenda.

We want to driver checklist letting go and will do interruptions like Jesus did interruptions.

It's amazing what can happen and that's where the opportunities come in I seen it so many times in my own life and I think of pastors who may be listening or honest they would say that's true, that sometimes they've missed opportunities because they didn't have time to get engage with that person that wanted to talk with them because they had their own agenda sent so this this speaks deeply to leaders in any capacity. Nine. The book you also talk about the David and in and you see this pattern of the opportunity leadership and in his life as well. Explain that to like to summarize opportunity leadership in the story of David and Goliath because it was an opportunity Leader at that moment and he five things he acted fast when he came to that to that moment, not expecting to go to war. He came to deliver food to his brothers.

This is bad savings, but he acted fast. We was called on. He capitalized on his strengths. He knew he was good with a sling.

Saul try to put his arm on him and he knew it would be good with actually took that off. He capitalize on his personal strengths not run in the somebody else's. He didn't expect this to succeed the first time he took five stones something expected to hitting the first time.

Thankfully did but but so often in leadership. We lay out a plan. We expect the first time to work and he usually doesn't. He was forcefully supported by others, but he really is a leader had to stand alone is one out there with Goliath. They will churn form binding, but he was someone out there.

But then, for the most important.

He knew God was on his side, he never question that he would succeed and you know everybody studies a story David and Goliath and this is the moral of the story is the little guy wins. I don't think that's the purpose of the story. I think the moral of the story of David and Goliath is the Goliath never had a chance because God was on David's side God is on our side in the Goliath, the giants of our lives don't have a chance. We God's on our side absolutely is a good place to stop because it reminds us of the truth. Well this is been a fascinating discussion and it's a fascinating book and I hope that many of our listeners are going to pick up on this end and read and say hey how does this apply in my life. So let me thank you for being with us today and for not only practicing this over the years, but taking time to put it in writing so that others can think about Thetis and how it applies in their leadership.

Thank you so much. I'm on dishonor to be with you today and what treat to share with you and thank you for all your ministry to me and other severe think when intriguing and challenging conversation with Dr.) today to find out more about our featured resource website. Five love languages.com look like the opportunity leadership stop start getting myself in five love languages.com next week if you said is you ready to leave an abusive relationship.

Don't miss our conversation, I thanks to Steve Blake and Janice time Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Tom and the radio ministry at Moody Bible and thanks for listening