Recently I've been absorbing various books on leadership - religious and secular.  Of course, these books are a dime a dozen out there and the vast majority of them say the same sort of thing.  But every now and then I come upon one that sticks out from the rest.  Seth Rogen's Tribes is one of those books, recommended to me by my good friend Ed.  Not only is it written in a very different style (short, quick vignettes; no chapters), but Rogen's philosophy is not heavily nuanced and systematic.  It's more straightforward.  And it resonates with much of what I'm experiencing to be the kind of pastoral leadership that churches need in our day and age, especially with all the good stuff NEXT Church is doing.

After reading the book (146 very short pages), I made a list of "Leadership is/Leaders are...." quotes. I'm holding on to this for present and future reference. Lots of good stuff to ponder here.

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Leaders use every technique possible to communicate their passion, connect people and create change.

Leaders believe. Leaders have faith.

Leadership is not management.

Leadership is about creating change that you and others can believe in.

Leaders use passion and ideas to lead people, as opposed to using threats and bureaucracy to manage people.

Leaders empower the tribe to communicate.

Leaders take risks and welcome the criticism that may come because it means they did something worth criticizing.

Leaders are heretics because they change the status quo.

Leaders don't want attention, but they use it to unite other and reinforce a sense of purpose.

Leaders figure out how to step into the vacuums where nothing is happening and create motion.

Leaders are curious because they can't wait to find out what the group is going to do next.

Leaders are effective when they tighten the group by facilitating communication among its members.

Leaders are curious because they can't wait to find out what the group is going to do next.

Leaders who set out to give are more productive that leaders who seek to get.

Leaders understand what they can and cannot compromise on.

Leaders understand that faith leads to hope, and hope overcomes fear.

Leaders go first.

Leaders pubish a manifesto and make it easy for followers to connect with them and with one another.

Leaders aren't afraid to be wrong.

Leaders do what they believe in, paint a picture of the future, and then go there.

Leaders turn donors into patrons and participants.

Leaders really listen.

Leaders stick with a dream for the long haul.

Leaders give people stories they can tell themselves and tell others.  These stories are about the future and about change.

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So, what do you think? What are some others that you would add to the list?

If you're looking for something crazy and insane to do this summer, how about this:

First, write a theme song for the summer youth conference you're leading music for.

Then, go into the studio to record that song, inviting some good musical friends/former bandmates to join in the fun.  Totally overestimate your own ability on instruments you really don't know how to play (read: mandolin and accordion). Learn the hard way that "faking live" and "faking in the studio" are two very different things.

Next, come up with an idea that, at first, sounds simple enough: since the song is written to be sung in a large group setting, why not ask your entire church youth group to travel down to Winston-Salem one weekday evening and record the choruses in the studio?  And while you're at it, coax your wife and boys to tag along.

After that, schedule a run-through the night before that doesn't even last an hour. Meet in the youth house, sit on couches, play the demo on your ipod. Do crazy stuff like asking them to split into guy parts and girl parts on the middle eight.

And then, to top it all off, ask your DCE to pile them in the church van and a member's minivan and drive them all to the studio.  Which, in this case, is the bottom floor of a two-story garage behind your buddy's house.  He's fixed it up extremely nice as a band room, but never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine 20+ middle and high schoolers cramming in there around a condensor mic. Much less a 15-passenger church van parked out in front of his house.  Hand out three headsets and keep one for yourself, and ask these non-professionals to sing to a track the vast majority of them will never hear.  Wave your arms wildly in the air to bring them in and out and keep them in time.

Oh, and sweat profusely, since the A/C unit has to be turned off during the recording, lest the sensitive mic pic it up and transform it into the sound of a gushing wind.

Ask these kids to be totally silent until the moment they start singing, and then totally silent when they're done.  Ask them to cut their "s's" off at the same time so it doesn't sound like a snake pit.  Ask the young middle school boys to do their best impression of a grown man's deep voice, and ask two of the girls to sing the women's part an octave higher than the others - but not too loudly.

Did I mention the sweating profusely thing?

And then, when it's all said and done, tell them what an incredible job they did and how proud you are of them, because that's exactly what they did, and that's exactly how you feel.

If you can swing that, my friends, then it's already a pretty awesome summer.

 

It'd be nice if they had a standard name for it.  They do for all the others: Guitarist.  Pianist.  Drummer.  Cellist. Mandolin player. That last one is a little clumsy, if not consistent.

But for that four-stringed Hawaiian wonder that seems to be making a comeback of sorts these days, there's no one name.  So take your pick. Me?  I'm going with Uker.  Short and to the point, and it sounds cooler.

My boy got his uke a few weeks ago after pressing me to get him one. I found it for a steal.  He's going to take lessons this summer from George, a fellow Mayberry musician who teaches most anything with strings on it. I wound up getting one myself soon after, and may try to incorporate it into my acoustic gig at Round Peak Vineyards this weekend.  He's already written two tunes that use the same three chords he made up, just switching the order. Oh, and he's tackling Bohemian Rhapsody. Not kidding.

It's a fun little instrument - easy to hold and play, easy on the fingers. I dig the sound that comes from a well-crafted uke - bright when you pluck, percussive when you strum.  The biggest challenge are the chords - they bear a striking resemblance to guitar chords, but it's in a different tuning, so it plays with your mind a bit. A "D" is actually a "G" and an "A" is really a "D". We're working on it.

I don't know what qualifies one to be an expert Uker, but I'm nowhere near that. I'm just meandering around in a new musical arena, like taking a hike on a beautiful mountain trail I've never been on before. I've engaged in this exercise before, with varying results (note to self: there is no way to just "pick up" playing the fiddle).  This time around, I'm going to enjoy the journey and have some fun along the way.

And it's nice to have some company as well.