20 Quotes That Pastors And Church Leaders Need To Hear From The World’s Most Creative People Part 1

Leadership paradigms are dramatically changing, especially at the church level.  These changes are causing me to look at leadership differently.  Some of the things that are shaping my thoughts come from the June 2011 edition of Fast Company magazine which features their list of the Top 100 Most Creative People In Business.  The following are quotes and leadership principles I am currently figuring out how to best implement into a ministry setting:

1. Hospitality – “From a productive standpoint we want every touch point to feel magical.  It inspires trust.” – Twitter’s Jack Dorsey
2. Mission – “I’m in the service of humanity…There’s almost no problem that can’t be solved.  That’s important as a premise.  History has proven it over and over again.” – Google’s Sebastian Thrun
3. What Issues Are Your People Facing – “Talking is what I do but listening is my job.” – Ryan Seacrest
4. Sunday Services – “I love big concerts and experiencing mass hysteria.  Studying uninhibited fans up close teaches and inspires more than any focus group ever has.  Retreating to a darkened movie theater is the perfect escape, full of limitless possibility and fantasy.  I still get goose bumps when the lights dim.” – Levi’s Christian Parkes
5. Content – “Khan Academy will get watered down and lose its focus if I’m not more focused on building content than debating policy.” – Sal Khan
6. “Inspiration comes from the community itself, people who use the tools and make the most out of poor connections.” – Ushahidi’s David Kobia
7. Change – “As engineers we find something that works, so we’re finished.  But if we take the time to creatively think about it, we  can do better.” – Arup’s Alisdair McGregor
8. Innovation – “I had to get wicked, wicked smart people to assume stupidity from day one…This is a new era and it’s going to require a ton of pioneering, a ton of innovation, and a ton of incubation.” – Microsoft’s Alex Kipman
9. Entrepreneurualism – “You can chop down a tree into pieces and use it to build things, but why not just grow pieces of your building?” – Ginkgo BioWorks’s Reshima Shetty
10. Narrative Vision – “I am constantly trying to find and articulate something that everyone can organize around – it’s what people call ‘vision’, but it’s really just a story line.” – Facebook’s Chris Cox
11. Creativity – “I’ve discovered my creativity is that I can tell what might move consumers.” – Mars’s Debra Sandler
12. Connection – “Every day it’s ‘How do I engage my fans?'” – ESPN’s Carol Kruse
13. Values – “There’s power that comes from matching corporate values with personal values.” – Delivery Happiness’s Tony Hsieh
14. Passion – “I won’t rest until we shake up the industry and attach some guilt to wasteful construction.” – Project Frog’s Ann Hand
15. Life’s Purpose – “You bought a running shoe, a football boot, for a reason.  Now, who do you want to become?” – Nike’s Trevor Edwards
16. Removing Leadership Barriers - “Quora’s goal is to pull knowledge out of people’s heads and share it.  The product itself needs to get out of the way.” – Quora’s Rebekah Cox
17. Thinking – “I’ve probably lost more good, interesting ideas from not writing them down than I’ve ever captured.” – Qifang’s Calvin Chin
18. The Best Use Of Technology – “We want technology that maximizes our flexibility.” – BMW’s Stephan Durach
19. Productive Insanity – “To make your mark, you have to do things other people thought were insane.” – Disney’s Andy Mooney 
20. Fresh Approaches – “Good songs are like good movies.  You’re telling stories in a way they haven’t been told before.” – Bruno Mars

Tomorrow I will be sending out Part 2.

Pastors and church leaders, what principles from these quotes can you begin to incorporate into your weekend services and ministry plans right now?

For additional church leadership resources, click:

• How To Make Your Vision For 2011 A Reality – 34 Leadership Lessons From Buckhead Church’s Jeff Henderson
• 17 Signs Of A Fast Growing Church
• The 10 Last Words Of A Dying Church
• 16 Leadership Quotes From Bill Hybels, The Embodiment Of A Leader

To make your voice heard as a leader, click The Leadership Tribe link.