Brian Dodd On Leadership

Today, disco legend Donna Summer has passed away at age 63.  Donna’s real name was LaDonna Gaines.  My thoughts and prayers go out to family and friends – specifically her husband, children, and grandchildren.  She was my favorite female singer growing up and she will be missed.

Even more than her music, what I appreciated most about Donna was her Christian faith.  Many know from her autobiography that she attempted suicide at the height of her career in 1976.  She realized that you can have everything this world has to offer but that alone will leave your soul empty.

The following are excerpts from a People magazine article written June 9, 2008.  Since this is a leadership website, I will process her thoughts through that specific lens.  She was a woman of incredible faith, self-leadership and courage.  She possessed an inner-peace that only came through her relationship with Jesus Christ.  You can read the full article by clicking here.

• On Fighting Anxiety – “I was really freaked out by the horrific experiences of that day (9-11).  I couldn’t go out, I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I had to keep the blinds down and stay in my bedroom… Walking there (to counseling) felt like 90 miles. I was so burdened, I was panting. I went, ‘I can make it to the end of the street. I know I can.’”
• On Staying Positive - ”Emotionally, I had to stop focusing on negativism.”
• On Finding Solutions – “I went to church, and light came back into my soul.  That heaviness was gone.”
• On Having Perspective - ”When I attack myself on little, nonsense issues, I start thanking God for my life. I look at people in Afghanistan and Darfur, and I’m like, ‘Hello? Wake up, Miss Summer!’”
• On Marriage - Friend Alice Harris says, “She’s gotten through it with the support of a man (husband of 30+ years Bruce Sudano) who adores her.”
• On A Healthy Self-Image - ”There’s a sense of real life here (in Nashville rather than Hollywood).  I have hips, and I like to eat.  I’m too chicken to go under the knife.”
• On Being A Grandmother - ”I make them a bubble bath and bring them cider in champagne glasses.  They boss me around and get a total kick out of it.”

Summer’s family released the following statement today: “Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith. While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.  Words truly can’t express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time.”

Donna Summer is one of the most influential performers of the last 40 years.  But more than just a performer, she was a wonderful person who deeply loved and is now experiencing Jesus face-to-face.

What are your memories of Donna Summer?

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As a person who works with church leaders, I am often engaged in conversations about the subject of innovation.  When most people discuss innovation, here is what they are usually referring to:

• Something New
• Something Visual
• Something Digital
• Something Cool – there is a subjective term
• Something That Young People Require
• Something Young People Need To Connect With The Heart Of God
• Something Needed To Keep Us Relevant To The Culture
• Something That Will Keep Us From Dying
• Something That Will Get People Talking

I appreciate those descriptions and actually agree with all of them on a certain level.  However, doing something innovative for innovation’s sake is a recipe for disaster.

If you wish to do something innovative in your church or business, you will want to work towards having the following 10 Characteristics of Effective Innovation:

1. Effective Innovation Is Personal - By definition, innovation is doing something different but it should never violate your core values.  It should be customized to fit your unique environment.
2. Effective Innovation Increases Skill – Any effective innovation leverages the skills of your most talented people and allows them to perform at higher levels.
3. Effective Innovation Increases Passion – Not only should your team be performing at higher levels, they should have an increased level of ownership in the organization’s results.
4. Effective Innovation Helps ALL Team Members - Innovation should be done in a way that it weaves expertise throughout the entire church or organization.
5. Effective Innovation Increases Bottom-Up Communication – By weaving expertise throughout the entire organization, those closest to the action and carrying out the ground-level assignments can give feedback to their leaders about the new processes.
6. Effective Innovation Is Constantly Evolving - As feedback is given to the organizational leadership, modifications are made to improve the recently implemented processes.
7. Effective Innovation Must IMPROVE Communication – The mark of any effective innovation is more openness and less isolation.  Effective innovation breaks down silos and builds the team concept.
8. Effective Innovation Determines Assignments – In innovative environments, assignments are determined by assigning individual skill to a particular task.
9. Effective Innovation Is Collaborative – As mentioned, effective innovation does not take place in silos.  It is a coordinated effort by a passionate, skillful, and hardworking team of individuals.
10. Effective Innovation Creates A Leadership Culture - Effective innovation builds leadership and allows your team to approach each day with a leadership bias and strategy.

So to all of my friends who consider themselves to be creatives, I love the smoke coming from the dry ice as much as the next guy.  I love the black-and-white videos.  I love your scarf.  I love the shaky camera shots.  I love the rimmed glasses.  I love the multiple hairstyles.  I don’t even like skinny jeans on guys but I guess you must have some give-and-take!

However, if you what you are doing is not accomplishing the 10 items listed above, it is not effective innovation.  It can be simply insulting.

So leaders, let me ask you the question.  As you do things you feel are “innovative”, how many of the 10 items listed are you achieving?

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“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” – Elmore Leonard on why his crime novels are so successful.

Much like the acclaimed Leonard’s approach to writing, successful leadership often results from things leaders choose not to do.  Things they choose to skip.  Things they choose to simply give up and leave out of their lives.  A “Stop Doing List” is a practice of every successful leader as is a ”Not Doing List.”

The following is a list of rights that successful leaders choose to skip or give up:

1. Successful leaders give up the right to always be right.  Maintaining relationships is more important.  You do not need to win every argument.
2. Successful leaders give up the right to do it alone.  It is hard but they must build a team.
3. Successful leaders give up the right to constantly be angry.  They must maintain self-control.
4. Successful leaders give up the right to stop learning.  They must embrace personal growth.
5. Successful leaders give up the right many times to their opinion.  The impact of our words is too great.
6. Successful leaders give up the right many times to comfort.  They must work harder and longer than those they serve.
7. Successful leaders give up the right to live in the “gray area.”  They must be above reproach in financial matters and with the opposite sex among others.
8. Successful leaders give up the right to “wing it.”  They must always be prepared.
9. Successful leaders give up the right to be arrogant.  A humble spirit increases your influence and is an attractive quality to those who wish to follow you.
10. Successful leaders give up the right to constantly have the platform and spotlight.  They must constantly promote the efforts of others and build organizations that will last beyond their leadership.
11. Successful leaders give up the right to some privacy.  Your life becomes increasingly scrutinized.
12. Successful leaders give up the right to have many options.  There are fewer places you can go and things you can do.  Ask any pastor who just wants a quiet meal at restaurant with his wife and children.
13. Successful leaders give up the right to many times controlling the agenda.  You must build consensus.

Pastors and leaders, do any of these sacrifices resonate with you?  What other things have you had to give up to be a successful leader?

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I am currently reading The Games That Changed The Game by ESPN’s Ron Jaworski.  In his book, Jaworski analyzes seven NFL games that helped influence what the league currently looks like.  One of individuals Jaworski profiles is former San Diego Charger head coach Don Coryell.

Coryell is my favorite NFL coach of all-time.  Known as “Air Coryell”, he is the father of the modern passing game.  His practices in the early 80′s were truly innovative and revolutionary.  The following are the qualities of this great innovator we learn from Jaworski’s profile.  They can be used by any leader regardless of their area of discipline.

1. Innovators Are Learners - Coryell knew his offensive philosophies would work against “vanilla defenses” after extensive film study.  Also, as a young coach, he went to as many clinics as possible to learn various coaching techniques.
2. Innovators Care About People - Highly Successful Innovators know it takes a team to accomplish anything new.  Furthermore, they know people must personally like you to take a journey into the unknown with you.  Dan Fouts said, “The most important thing to me about Don Coryell is him as a person.  He actually cared about us as players.”
3. Innovators See Opportunity Where Others See Calamity - When asked why he took a head coaching job at San Diego State in the early 60′s after the team had three consecutive winless seasons, Coryell said “because he could do better than that.”
4. Innovators Value Experienced People Around Them - When he arrived at San Diego State, he initially only recruited junior college players.  Rather than going after high school athletes like other schools, Coryell “took some of the guesswork out of player evaluation.  Everyone we brought in was ready to play.”
5. Innovators Focus On Results – Though associated with the passing game, Coryell was never committed to a single style of play.  He simply viewed the passing game as a way to help him win quickly.
6. Innovators Thing Big - Fouts stated the Chargers approached each game in dramatic fashion.  “The first thing in our offense was always the bomb…you start with this premise and then work your way back toward the line of scrimmage.”
7. Innovators Are Repetitious - Coryell believed that repetition produced precision.
8. Innovators Are Unpredictable - An outside-the-box approach to football was vital to the Chargers’s success.
9. Innovators Utilize Talent Differently - Part of Coryell’s innovative process was leveraging the unique giftedness of those on his team.  This aided in the evolution of his ideas and philosophy.
10. Innovators Respect Tradition But Will Change It – The coaching staff, men like Joe Gibbs, recognized that tight end Kellen Winslow’s talent was boxed in by the traditional use of the position.  Therefore, they began to create unique positions for him.
11. Innovators Encourage Top Talent – Let’s be honest, talented people can be fragile and the Chargers were an incredibly talented team.  The coaches continually complimented their unique skills verbally.
12. Innovators Have Courage – Highly Successful Innovators are not afraid to fail.  Coryell would let his assistant coaches try any idea.  This is critical to creating environments where people do what has never been done before.
13. Innovators Focus On The Right Things - The genius of Coryell was that his creativity allowed his players to compete against the other team’s players rather than their coaches.  Coryell’s gameplan already had defeated their coaches.

Pastors and other leaders, do you practice these 13 habits?  If so, you may also be a Highly Successful Innovator.  If not, where can you improve?

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On February 6th of this year, we had the funeral service for my dad.  I was really blessed to have many friends who are church leaders in attendance.  One of the two people representing the staff of Fellowship Bible Church was Associate Pastor Matt Farlow.

Matt has been a dear friend for several years and has recently been called to a church in his home state of Texas.  When you walk with people through dark and painful times, a bond develops that time and distance cannot separate.

When I think back on Matt’s tenure at FBC and our friendship, there are ten leadership principles that stick out to me about this incredible husband, father, pastor, friend, and leader that I would like to thank him for:

1. Matt Identified And Built Relationships With Leaders - Matt was the first staff person who ever reached out to me after my family started attending FBC.  I was unassumingly handing out bulletins as a greeter who just wanted to serve.  One Sunday, Matt walked up and asked me my story and then took me to lunch to get to know me better.
2. Matt Built Platforms For Leaders – After that initial meeting, Matt introduced me to two additional staff members and then asked me to conduct a training session for the entire Hospitality team.
3. Matt Was An Encourager – Matt loved people.  I had the privilege of baptizing my daughter a few years ago.  As part of that process, you say a few words about the person you are baptizing.  Matt called me the next day and told me how much my words blessed him.  That meant a lot to hear that from another father who you respected.
4. Matt Was A Man Of Prayer – Matt walked with God.  Matt often served in our prayer room and in the Stephen’s Ministry.  Because of this, he inspired you to be a better Christian.
5. Matt Possessed A Strong And Proactive Work Ethic - Let’s keep it real.  We have all met lazy staff people.  Matt always immediately responded when families had a difficult or crisis situation.  If it was in his power, Matt met any need that he became aware of without delay.
6. Matt Paid The Price Of Preparation – Because he paid the price to be educated, Matt was extremely competent about biblical matters and one of the scholars of our team.
7. Matt Had The Fruit Of Kindness – How many grown men have you ever heard described as kind?  Not many.  Men are usually described in some other manner.  Matt is arguably the most genuinely kind man I have ever met.
8. Matt Provided Security – Regardless of what you were facing, when Matt walked into a room you just knew the raging tempest of life would be calmed if only for a moment.  Matt’s soothing personality always reminded you that Jesus was in control and everything would be fine.
9. Matt Was A GREAT Servant – Though well-educated and highly competent, Matt could be seen doing literally anything on a Sunday morning.  He never pulled rank.  He would do anything to help people better connect to the heart of God.
10. Matt Was A GREAT Husband And Father – I got the privilege of often seeing Matt socially as our daughters were cheerleaders together.  Matt never missed a game.  He deeply loves his wife and daughters.  He was a great servant to his family.

Just as I experienced during my father’s funeral, Matt Farlow made many dark days a little brighter for hundreds of people who attend our church.  Georgia’s loss is truly a gain for a church in Texas.  As much as we hate to lose him, we are deeply thrilled for him.

Just as he expanded the platforms of many leaders, God has now chosen to expand his.  His promotion is a BIG win for the Church!

I look forward to staying connected with Matt via Facebook moving forward.  It was an absolute privilege serving alongside my friend while I had the opportunity.

Leaders, tell us about the people serving in your church who are currently making a huge impact in your life.

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