The Global Leadership Summit 2010

I attended the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit on 5-6 August. Listening to Bill Hybels speak on Thursday made me realize the importance of not giving up on things that you set your sights on; his humble, honest, and inspiring opening presentation on not quitting was great. His advice on getting off the fence by doing the following tasks was very helpful: Take risks, step up, apologize now, make the tough decision (you know the one), get help, stop running from God, slow down, show your heart, let others lead (for those who are high control), feed your soul, bless the team, make the ask (ask the question), do something more impactful, come clean, speak the truth, count your blessings, end the secret, check your motives, give God your best, set the pace, get physically fit, serve your spouse/family, humble yourself, and finally say “speak Lord, your servant is listening”.

The presentations by Jim Collins, Adam Hamilton, Daniel Pink, Jack Welch, and T.D. Jakes were highlights of the summit for me. T.D Jakes was the last speaker and he was very inspiring. Key points he made are:
• People cannot simply follow, you need to have your own inner passion to lead, imitating is not enough and copying is not sufficient. Leadership is about lighting a lamp that doesn’t go out, if it goes out your staff won’t be able catch the same vision and passion.
• Employers should not tolerate employees who don’t have any passion for their jobs or the mission of the organization.
• Its one thing to stretch people, but don’t rip them apart, ripping them apart will only make them feel defeated
• Deliver on your and your staffs promises; make sure they fully understand your vision.
• Passion is more the emotionalism, it’s the force behind it, but it’s not simply an emotional reaction
• Leaders need to deliver
• Leaders, there are two types; builders and bankers. Builders are ones who start with little and build a great organization or anything they focus on. They are better at building than maintaining. Bankers are maintainers, they are good partners for a builder, but all of one type are detrimental to the organization
• Surrounding yourself with the likes you is not good, you need to surround yourself with people who have other skills that don’t duplicate your own
• Jesus did not pick one rabbi, he picked fishermen…
• A good team completes you and don’t compete with you, they add to you, they’re assets not liabilities
• Confidants are people who are there for you all time, trustworthy, 2-3 a lifetime is a good number, don’t expect more
• Constituents believe in the mission, they are not confidants!
• Need to direct the fighter to the fight, you don’t want them fighting you
• Those that are passionate are effective, when your heart is overwhelmed, go to the rock…God is there to renew your strength

Church IT Management Survey Status

My dissertation research survey in church IT management reached it's objective over the weekend with 72 completions out of 103 invitations, which is nearly a 70% participation rate. Normally the participation rate for Web-based surveys run from 30-60% with they typical on the lower half. The survey is now closed as of today 14 June.

Thanks to all those who participated. I will be posting my findings on the Church IT Roundtable Web pages.

Secure Google Searching

Google finally has a secure SSL encrypted web site for their search engine. Check it out at: https://www.google.com/

Final Church IT Survey Now In Progress

I kicked off my graduate research study in church IT management on 3rd of June, it will run two weeks till the 17th of June. If you are an IT professional (paid or as a volunteer) located in the U.S. and want to participate, check out the data on the Church IT Roundtable web site. The study's targeted population is members/participants of the IT Roundtable.

Thanks to those who have already participated in this survey and my two pilot studies.

SANS Security Architecture Summit 2010

Attended this IT networking summit, details can be found at the following SANS web site:

The 2010 What Works in Security Architecture Summit

While the summit provided lots to think about in terms of network security strategies, there's still so many factors that have to be looked at to tackle this subject...

Final Church IT Survey

Part 1 and 2 of the Pilot Study has been completed, thanks to everyone who participated in helping workout the details of conducting a survey, improving the survey instrument (questionnaire), and checking the processing capability that is to be used for the actual survey.

The actual survey will be released on/or about 1 June for a 2 week window. This is the survey that counts for my research!

More details to follow...

Pilot Survey, Part 2 Launched 4/19/2010

This is part 2 of the pilot study for my research project in church IT management. If you are a church IT professional and have used the Church IT Round Table, drop me your email address and participate in my research.

Thank you to all those who participated in part 1.