Global Leadership Summit 2014 #GLS14

Willow Creek Association (WCA) celebrated 20 years of the Global Leadership Summit this year. The Lutheran Church was able to be qualified as a “mission” and receive a special $25/person rate for the two days. The Summit was done via webcasting. We had a bit of an initial problem with synchronizing the schedule and time zones (for some reason, most of the world forgets that Alaska is on its own TZ). Once we had that figured out we were actually able to speed through the day by shortening the breaks and going on to the next session at our own pace.

There were only a handful of us who attended. This I think was a genuine tragedy because of the quality of the speakers, the provided materials, and the content of the Summit. [Getting on my soapbox.] If anyone thinks their day jobs don’t allow them to spend two focused days on personal development, they shouldn’t be in leadership. [Off soapbox.] This leadership certainly includes businesses and churches and their identified and visible leaders, but it also includes anyone who “leads” a team, whether that be a workgroup, a small group in church, a ministry, a volunteer group, or yes, even a family.

One of the concerns about a conference like this is that by looking at the speakers and topics, it might appear that the message is targeted toward large organizations and their executive leadership. Nonsense! The Summit is not about organizational development, it is not about managing. It is about learning how to improve personal relationships with others so that a person can learn to be more effective in leading their teams, whether it be just one other person or a global corporation of thousands. It is about developing the art of communication when it seems particularly difficult.

Another concern is whether it is “too secular” or “too religious.” Some churches might have the idea that there is little to be gained from listening to secular business leaders. You might be surprised how many of the top effective leaders profess Christianity and do their best to live up to Christian ethics in their whole lives. Yes, there were non-Christian speakers. But to say that only Christians can speak truth to other Christians is the exact kind of arrogance that makes Christians ineffective in speaking to the world.

Was the conference religious. Certainly. WCA and Bill Hybels makes no excuse for it or tries to downplay it. Worship music plays between sessions. There is prayer. Some speakers are very much Christian pastors and preachers and they speak as they would in their churches. Is there a call for people to salvation? Very much.

The request is for mutual respect. It is a Christian and church environment, and it is organized with a Christian focus. At the same time the organizers know that the rest of the world has much to offer the Christian community. Likewise, I’d hope the Christian community has something of value for the non-Christian world that can be applied apart from specific religious trappings. My perception was that the first day had more in the way of non-sectarian presenters. The second day seemed to be more evangelical and where a gospel call was more prominent.

I took notes for each presenter, but rather than recapping my notes here is the link to the GLS14 blog that contains a synopsis for most of the presentations (plus other entries).