2012 Global Leadership Summit Session 1: Bill Hybels

Founder and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church – South Barrington, IL

• Founded The Global Leadership Summit, now in 200+ U.S. sites, 260+ cities worldwide, and 85 countries
• Committed to developing and mentoring leaders worldwide, including those in some of the most difficult, overlooked and under-resourced countries
• Best-selling author of more than 20 books including his most recent release, The Power of a Whisper

Session Notes 

• Luke 8, parable of the sower.
• Everyone’s life would be better if God was at the center of it.
• Man lost his cat on Willow campus and didn’t even know it was a church. Bill realized they needed to “sow more seed” and reintroduce themselves to people in the community through a mailer.
• Willow started the Alpha course. First class 1/3 of people decided to follow Christ.
• Started “Getting Started” after services to introduce people to Willow.
• Pastors, your whole church takes its seed sewing que from you.
• We must insist on a non-stop series of experiments in our churches to sow more seeds.
• Everyone wins when a leader gets better.
• Sow more seeds!

• The work habits of a leader
  • You are the most difficult person you will ever lead.
  • Many leaders have told Bill this is one of their biggest challenge
  • A leaders most valuable asset is not their time but their energy & ability to energize others.
  • Bill asked himself what are the 6 biggest things I could accomplish this calendar year (with 6 weeks remaining). Most of them involved energizing. Put those 6 things on an index card. Felt energized by the clarity and focus it brought. Accomplished 5 of the 6.
  • You can’t sprint for 6 months but you can sprint for 6 weeks.
  • Willow’s staff has been operating with 6×6 plans
  • God didn’t make you a leader to respond to stuff all day. He made you a leader to move things forward. 
• Succession planning
• • A high percentage of mega-churches were started by pastors who are approaching retirement.
  • Willow’s succession plan
    • Phase 1: planning – Who will select successor? Time frame? How will pastor be honored? Will the current pastor continue to have a role? +many others
    • Phase 2: Want to find an internal candidate
    • Phase 3: If an internal candidate can’t be found, look for an external candidate
    • Phase 4: Actual succession, ~18 months
  • Board members – understand how deep feelings run in your pastor. Don’t have a person with low emotional intelligence.
  • Pastors, once you get to your late 50s, understand that your greatest legacy is going to be transitioning the church to your successor.
• Moving people from point a to point b, here to there
• • God didn’t make you a leader to preside or pontificate.
  • Don’t talk about “there” until you make the case that staying “here” is intolerable.
  • When is the vision most vulnerable – beginning, middle, near end? B – middle
  • As a leader, when have I been most vulnerable? B – middle
  • Bill is energized to finish his leadership at Willow well.
  • “What a privilege it is to be a leader”
  • Savor every day you have the privilege to lead.

What impacted you from Bill’s talk?  What action will you take as a result?