I had the privilege of attending the Leadercast One Day Event. Often I hear of these events and am not able to attend, instead following the play by play from different bloggers. This time, the event was simulcast in Cape Town. And to top it off, we hosted the session with one of my heroes, Bishop Desmond Tutu! More on that session later!
Andy Stanley started things off. He is hands down my favorite communicator. I would highly recommend his monthly leadership podcasts and even his weekly messages at North Point Church.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Being a Beyond You Leader.”
Andy defined this as, “Beyond You leaders are leaders who fearlessly and selflessly empower leaders around them, as well as those coming along behind them.”
One of the roles of this type of leader is to find next generation leaders and invest in them, going beyond yourself.
Andy challenged us to do this fearlessly because some young leaders may be smarter than us, even eventually taking our job. I was able to personally experience this recently as I walked through a transition.
We must also do this in a selfless way. Andy reminded us that leaders have power and influence. We can use this for our personal gain or we can serve someone else, helping them to advance.
“At funerals we always celebrate generosity, not accumulation. The value of a life is always measured by how much of it was given away.”
Andy gave us three ways we can practice being a “Beyond You” leader
1. Make as few decisions as possible. Say the words, “You Decide”, then back it up. As your authority grows, you become responsible for more things; many of which you have no understanding of. Allow those with understanding to make the decisions.
2. Work for your team. Ask them, “How can I help?“. Leverage your influence to serve others. We often do not want to ask this question because it requires time and effort on our parts.
3. Empty your Cup. Look for way to input to someone else. We all have something to offer.
Andy summed up his talk by saying, “If your leadership isn’t all about you, it will live beyond you.”
He then added, “If your leadership is all about you, it will not live beyond you except to be someone’s bad example.”
What are you doing to be a Beyond You Leader?