Blog-worthy Blogs: Steven Furtick May 2, 2008
Posted by Zachary in Blog-worthy, Leadership.Tags: Steven Furtick
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Going to use this section to bring your attention to some of the treasures that I have been excavating. I believe very much in one of Rick Warren’s life principle.
Every leader is a learner, and the minute you stop learning you stop leading.
-Rick Warren
So here’s something interesting to kick off this series.
(Most blog references can be found under my Link Highlights.)
Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
April 30th, 2008 Steven Furtick wrote:
I can’t stop thinking about this lately:
Is it possible that the key to Elevation’s continued growth lies in my ability to lead less?
To spend less of my time executing and almost all of it empowering?
I’m not talking about passive or nebulous leadership. It will always be my responsibility (and my passion, and my honor) to lead wholeheartedly and boldly in key venues and to key people.
Developing and communicating clear and thorough direction will always be on my job description.
But I think the bigger this thing becomes, the more time I’ll spend receiving vision from God, and the less time I’ll spend implementing it at a hands on level.
It’s a brand new paradigm for me: I can lead better by leading less.
Read more of his articles here.
haha. completely out of point. but his name looks mildly offensive.
pardon my keen eye
Mark-
…. only you would notice such things. Didnt know you drop by here! Anw, I thought his name was cool in a unique way!
oh… you found him
good right!? but for you, someone more tame perhaps!
Chris-
Haha, the balance to fire is not water, but wind. Wind to fan the flames of a consuming fire. I think he’s just right for me. =)
it’s really really amazing what God has done in his church- i think was it like over 1000+ salvations since they started in about 2 years?! man! talk about the move of God!
your pastor is now going to kill me!
hahaha okok.
yeah we like him, glad you do too
i think now we need to get you onto someone more pastoral… and docile. haha
how’s things?
i have been mega sleep deprived, but all good
yesss *cracks knuckles* whatever happened to our steven smith?
in any case, his blog sure IS interesting!
however, i dont fully agree with his entry above.. or rather, i think the CONTEXT wasnt stated clearly..
leading LESS works when u’re leading a huge group (e.g. hundreds of people) and u have a strong team that’s developed over the years
but when we’re leading a small or mid-size group, we can only lead effectively by rolling our sleeves and getting into the thick of things.. like what i always say, if it’s less than 100, we’d better know each of them like the back of our hand and care for them individually
just my two cents! =)
cait-
Yea man, i heard it from Chris regarding this. Do you know where or how i can read up or find out about his church history? Cause now, i only know like the tip of the iceberg..
Chris-
Docile some sort of a swear word for me. Haha… Things over here are great. Just got a part time job that’s similar in nature to evangelizing. (Door to door sales) Talk about on the job training man!
Yes, you need more sleep as less packing. No more 330am comments from you!
Shirls-
Please.Don’t.kill.Chris.
Note: Chris… that’s the best I could do for you. At least I tried. =)
So the key operative word here is size is it not? Anyway, i TOTALLY agree with you that only people who lead more then 100 should “lead less” in the context of his article. I have seen both the type of people who should be leading more, as well as the kind of people who should be leading less. So pre-defining the critical limit is of utmost importance in this post. Thanks for helping to do it from your experience. =)
My only thoughts on this was that even a human has an effective care limit for about 10? How can one care for so many people?
i heard a lot about their history from his sermons
and i think i’ve heard some all the way from 2006 so been noticing their progress!
but yeah i think you can find out a bit here http://www.elevationchurch.org/subpage.html?s=beginning
so correction- “we have watched over 1,300 people profess faith in Jesus Christ during our SECOND YEAR of ministry”
WOW
hey guys
rev - pls don’t kill me. i can’t help it if your boy is smart and resourceful :). plus i am too young (and too good looking) to die
you are absolutely right about the context of leadership though. i like steven furtick a lot and have been following him (amongst others)
his strength is actually not only in being a visionary, but an incredible mentor and discipler. did you know when he took his original team of volunteers (eight families), he treated them all like fulltime staff and even gave them full staff evalutions?
many of his staff today, including his exec ps & assimilation ps were part of those original families. they have written some of the sharpest and most articulate stuff on church growth and leadership. the most unbelieve part is that their ministry experience is actually largely limited prior to elevation.
zachy - i think somewhere in their lies your answer too. leading LESS actually means leading MORE in terms of your core. i think size may not actualy be the most critical factor - function may be
example - how much does someone who leads 5,000, 500 & 50 differ in their direct influence? not necessarily, right? a leader over a thousand should prob be spending the majority of his time leading his small group of leaders; much like a leader of 50. the difference is the capacity and influence of those they are leading.
size aside, the question also comes in terms of your leadership level. in ps furtick’s case, he is the senior pastor - if he does not have vision for the church, noone will. hence he needs to hear that vision from heaven all the more, since what he hears will shape the culture, identity and direction of every level of the church. this is true for senior leaders no matter the size.
for “middle management”, it is a different story. i still need vision from heaven (as we all do), but what is more important in a corporate setting is for me to seek out God’s vision which is invested in my senior leaders. i grab hold of it, understand it, internalise & personalise it and then bring it to my scope of influence. we learnt this is business - as our position in the company goes up, so does our time spent on strategic issues (the adverse is also true).
so i think how we spend our leadership resources are determined by those things - our function, size and leadership level.
to be honest (haha like that is new), i am struggling even with the direct care that i have now with the 11 guys, few departments and university students God has entrusted me with.
i’ve learnt that for most departments & ministries, i do need to lead less, think strategy and empower the right people.
for my many wonderful sheep, i need to get involved even more in some of their lives, and do the hard yards of caring, investing and serving to a deeper level.
anyways. long comment
good to hear you’re well. i slept 11 hours last nite!
…has decided to bestow pardon because,
chris, i couldnt have put it better myself! that’s one insightful essay-comment!! both balanced and very practical!
apparently the more sleep u have, the more sense u make. considering your severe goodlooking delusion, try 12 hrs.
dan (or zach, yea yea..), happy chewing, dude! =)
yeah i must say wow to chris’ long but very interesting insights (chewing for me too indeed!) into leadership and laugh at “the gracious’ one”’s comment on delusion
ooo pardon. i like the sound of that.
delusion - i don’t like the sound of that!! anyways i think it will take more than 12 hours sleep. maybe 30 years.
cait - don’t laugh