The Best of Catalyst Conference Atlanta 2012
October 9, 2012
Have you ever been to a Catalyst Conference? If it not, it is a breeding ground for personal, leadership and spiritual growth!
I don’t know about you, but many times I find people go to conferences or retreats focused on what they want to take away or work on. They might even be diligent to action what they learned right away. However, I find it more rare for people to share what they glean openly with the world around them. It should be more freely done, and I can testify to that in my own life. I have been selfish in my learning many times when I should have more freely shared with the world. That is my goal today, to share the highlights from my recent trip to Catalyst Conference (Atlanta 2012). I pray it is a blessing of wisdom, knowledge and growth for you!
Highlights from a Wave of Amazing Speakers
I felt like my mouth was hooked up to a fire house after being at the conference for the first 24-hours. There was so much wisdom and knowledge poured out that it was tough for me to soak it in all in despite my copious note taking. I admit there were several other amazing speakers that might not be referenced here; however that doesn’t mean they didn’t impact my heart or thousands of others in attendance in a meaningful way. Below is a brief snapshot of some of the best of what I gleaned that I felt led to share with you today. I pray it is blesses your life and meets you right where you are today professionally and personally.
Andy Stanley – www.northpoint.org / www.andystanley.com
- “The greatest impact we might make maybe not anything we do, but rather who is watching us do what we do.”
- “Leaders are made one response at a time.”
Patrick Lencioni – www.thetablegroup.com
- Organizational Health = Not a smart, but an actually healthy organization. A healthy organization is one that: has minimal politics, minimal confusion, high morale, high productivity and low turn-over. How does your company match those standards today if you are honest?
- “We need to be able to disagree with one another in love (the issues not the person).”
- We want our team to be willing to disagree with one another.
Bryan Stevenson – www.eji.org
- “When you realize you are broken, you see/hear things you wouldn’t see else wise.”
- “We are all more than the worse thing we have done.”
Perry Noble – www.perrynoble.com / www.newspring.cc
- “How can God trust us with greater things if we can’t be trusted where we are at right now?”
Christine Caine – www.equipandempower.org / www.thea21campaign.org
- “It is better to be marked by God than marketed by man.”
- “Your talent will get you to the stage, but only your character will sustain you”
Francis Chan – www.francischan.org
- “Make sure we are always setting Jesus name as Holy and separate.”
- Never allow your name or accomplishments to get on the same plane with Him.
- “Win people’s hearts first (intentionally focus on that), and then perhaps we can hope to be used to win some for the kingdom of God.”
Matt Chandler – www.thevilliagechurch.net
- “Our identity is found in the Holy Spirit within us, not our external roles, no matter how much success we have.”
- “Don’t desire to look Godly, be Godly first.”
Simon Sinek – www.simonsinek.com / www.startwithwhy.com
- “I’d rather disappoint someone with the truth than please them with a lie.”
Also, here are some final business leadership take-ways from the introduction and conclusion segments by Andy Stanley:
What makes a leader?
- Unexpected opportunity – “it’s our response to them that matters”
- Unavoidable adversity – “this is when God does the most in us”
- Unquestionable calling – “pay attention to our internal tensions”
How do you build a high-performance team?
- Hire action-oriented people with a lot of clarity about what, why and how we do what we do.
- Hire performance-oriented people – doers not thinkers. Doers will not need constant motivation.
- Organization charts are our enemy. Don’t keep people in positions of leadership or in key areas of growth simply because they have been there for a long time. Truly put your best people on your current team in your greatest areas of need.
- You can’t succeed if people don’t understand why and what others on the team do and how everyone plays hand in hand to succeed. You need to help each team member to understand the other’s value. All of your team needs clarity to the firm’s what and why and be able to easily articulate it.
So, what hit home most with you today? What can you do within your business or personal life to take action towards change today and see the greatest beauty occur in response? May you be inspired to become or maintain your focus as a life-long learner and share in the passion that was renewed in me during this visit to Catalyst Conference.