I had the opportunity to attend a round table discussion with about a dozen other pastors and church leaders in Chicago this past week.  Bill Hybels hosted the event and it was a great opportunity to listen and learn from other church leaders.  We examined several important topics:

·         What’s involved with developing vision and creating strategies for casting the vision?

·         How can we maximize our people’s personal development?

·         Where are we on the growth curve and how can we continue to grow?

·         What are the primary responsibilities of the senior pastor?

Bill asked some great questions, one of my favorite was when he asked us to share what significant books we’ve recently read.  He talked about the importance of personal leadership development (speed of the leader, speed of the team – Axiom #29).  Bill emphasizes the importance of leadership development so much so that he is inviting his entire church to attend the Leadership Summit.  We have a great line up of Summit speakers this year and I will be featuring some of them in upcoming blog posts this spring. 

I find it a stretching experience to dialogue with other church leaders how we can improve our leadership skills and see the church do a better job at fulfilling the great commission.  Mark Batterson says it well,

“Change of place + change of pace = change of perspective.”

I agree with Mark, I love what I get to do!  It’s great to attend conferences and workshops to grow and gain a fresh perspective.