Lead With Your Strengths

2. Lead With Your Strengths Developed from 15 years of NCLS research among 10,000 church leaders over 22 denominations in 4 countries

3. Lead With Your Strengths Kit • A book presenting the conclusions of the research. • A booklet to help leadership teams engage the main points. • A workbook for leaders and leadership teams. • A web based interactive process for those in leadership.

4. Lead With Your Strengths Think of a time when you have experienced leadership that has inspired or motivated you Think of the people involved Think of the circumstances What were the key elements of that leadership?

5. Lead With Your Strengths Think of a time when you have been part of a group that has energised you Think of the group Think of the people What were the underpinning elements that made this group so exciting?

6. Lead With Your Strengths What do you think are the main elements of good leadership?

7. Lead With Your Strengths • Engage with them • Develop shared directions • Create a secure base • Act with purpose Communities require their leadership to:

8. 12 Leadership Strengths Create a secure base Develop shared directions Engage with others Act with purpose

9. Strength 1: Listen deeply Engage with others • be fully present to people, • check that you’ve heard others correctly, • put yourself in the other’s shoes, • be interested in what people have to say • ask questions and engage with their issues/stories

10. Strength 2: Build connections Engage with others • make time to develop relationships, • seek ways to work together with other groups and people, • listen to dissident voices as well as supportive ones, • ask who is missing from groups and networks and involve them.

11. Develop shared directions • lead the community to articulate the yearning of its heart • emphasise the vision often • remind people of the vision in difficult times • encourage people to be keepers and proclaimers of the vision Strength 3: Envision together

12. Develop shared directions Strength 4: Explore options creatively • develop questioning and reflection as part of the community’s life • openly value diversity • share in people’s questions rather than giving answers • support the dreamers and link them with the pragmatists

13. Develop shared directions Strength 5: Inspire heart commitment • inspire commitment to the journey, not the leaders, • point always to Christ, • encourage one another and foster hope, • promote playfulness and laughter along the way.

14. Develop shared directions • encourage people to contribute, • value people’s contribution and encourage them when they fail or fall short, • create space for others to move in and contribute, • trust in God and in the community Strength 6: Empower people to contribute

15. Create a secure base • ensure everybody knows what is expected of them • establish clear boundaries and transparent processes • make systems simple, predictable and intuitive • give honest and open answers Strength 7: Create clear positive structures

16. Create a secure base Strength 8: Develop reliable communication • provide information to people as early as possible • create diverse means of information flow • establish varying forums of dialogue • check how others hear what is being communicated

17. Create a secure base • move beyond a ‘problem focus’ in planning to a ‘possibility focus’ • help everyone to acknowledge and develop their strengths • create a safe place where people’s hopes can be aired and explored • challenge attitudes of helplessness • share stories of small victories Strength 9: Build a culture of optimism

18. Make things happen • develop a solid basis of trust • check who is ‘around the table’ and draw in those who are missing • work with motivations and passions rather than needs and fears • be ready when the moment of action arrives Strength 10: Move to action

19. Make things happen Strength 11: Maintain resolve • accept the responsibility that comes with making decisions • model clarity of purpose • be prepared to adjust direction to the vision in the light of new realities • embrace difficult issues rather than retreat from them

20. Make things happen Strength 12: Learn & Grow from experience • model humility and a willingness to learn • seek wisdom in every situation and every person • be comfortable with complexity, ambiguity and diversity • grow enthusiastic curiosity and foster it in others

21. Personal Foundations 6 Personal Foundations underpin the 12 Leadership Strengths

22. Personal Foundations Our Personal Foundations Sustain us over the long haul Protect us against burnout Help us maintain our enthusiasm Shape our values and our priorities

23. Personal Foundations • Spiritual foundations • Clarity of purpose • Sense of self • Integrity • Supportive relationships • Balance and boundaries

24. Personal Foundations Healthy and sustainable leadership spends time developing all six of these Personal Foundations

25. The Strengths Appraisal Process Personal appraisal Online appraisal Peer appraisal

26. The Strengths Appraisal Process

27. Lead With Your Strengths Name our Strengths Build up the Strengths we have rather than pouring our energy into Strengths that don’t come easily to us

28. Developing your leadership strengths • Monitor and refine • Reflect and pray • Re-read the chapters • Choose one strength to act on • Evaluate each day • Discuss

29. Leadership Teams NCLS Research findings affirm the effectiveness of Leadership Teams. Why do you think this is so?

30. Leadership Teams Leadership Teams gather diverse Strengths into one unit that is • supportive • empowering • dynamic • organic • more than the sum of their parts

31. Leadership Teams Processes for Leadership Teams • Team Appraisal Process • Team Mapping Process • Matching Strengths to Projects • Using Team Strengths best

32. Where to from here?