Reading Schedule for COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP

By September 30th - Introduction through Chapter 3
By October 31st - Chapter 4-6

By Final Signet Conference - Chapter 7-13
Remember to blog your review by those dates.

Omaha - Women of Faith Event

My first impression of the Women of Faith organization was great.  The stage set and production quality was fantastic.  The staff were professional, personable, and likeable.  The flow of the event was very smooth and the schedule was adhered to.  The merchandise tables offered great resources and the staff were very helpful and courteous.  The Qwest Center facility was ideal for this event and their staff were also very helpful.

I have to say that the musical guests were my favorite element of the event.  Mandisa kicked off the weekend on Friday night and she brought the house down!  She was fun, energetic, and really able to connect with the audience.  She has tremendous talent and a sweet heart.  Sandi Patty and Amy Grant were both great, but I definitely enjoyed Amy Grant more.  She brought her band with her and really shared from her heart about her personal experiences.  It was really cool to see those two women - who were contemporary Christian music pioneers.

They had a great line-up of speakers.  Patsy Clairmont and Andy Andrews were easily the best in my opinion.  They were captivating and informational.  I was inspired and challenged as I listened.  They used a great balance of personal life experiences with some very practical application of the Word of God.  They clearly love God and passionately serve Him.  Both of them kept us laughing too!  It was really interesting to hear from Lisa Welchel.  I was a big fan of "The Facts of Life" as a kid, and it was cool to see her standing right there.  She's beautiful and really spoke from her heart.  Marilyn Meberg is a very intelligent woman, and a good communicator, but I didn't had a difficult time connecting with what she had to say.  It may have been a generational gap - I'm not sure.

The one critique I had about the event was the worship.  The team was comprised of beautiful women with amazing voices.  But they sang to a track and they had choreographed movements around the stage.  To me, worship is an intimate time with God...and it's sometimes unpredictable.  With a live band, the worship team can flow with what God is doing right in that moment.  That was not an option in this case.  Everything was so rehearsed that I had a hard time feeling like it was inspired.  I'm a worship leader myself, so I'm sure my own bias plays into that.  But I did hear the same thing from other women in attendance as well.  That really was the one factor that I would love to see improved.

Overall, it was an anointed, beautiful weekend.  The WOF team are really trying to reach the hearts of women to share Christ.  I was glad I was able to go!

Natalie's Chapters 8 & 9 Relational Intelligence

The chapter disproportionate investor is all about learning to invest our time in others who will also reproduce good works so that in the end our influence will be greater than we could have done by ourselves. Unfortunately the hard part is determining who to invest in and who to let go. I think we have all encountered those "consumers" the author describes. These people can never have enough of your time and efforts. I think the important thing to take from this is that there are times when we have to realize when someone is trying to use us and not willing to give out to others. I think it is something that we recognize fairly easily. On the contrast, as leaders we need to invest our energy into people who are also going to give out.
I think this chapter is a good reality check because although we want to believe that everyone has good intentions, there are some who will just use and use and don't want to give anything back. But thankfully, more often I have encountered those that really do want to live a life for God and make disciples like Jesus said so I feel that my investment in those people have been totally worthwhile.
I have enjoyed learning from this book. It has a lot of good ideas that I would not have thought of but totally make sense. I would recommend this book to other leaders who want to learn how to be smarter in relationships.

Jodie's Chapters 8 & 9 Post

The Disproportionate Investor:  Do we really need to choose who we converse with or invest with?  How do we  know if that wasn't a 'God ordained conversation'?  How can anything we say or do be wasted unless it's in  a  relationship that is already built up or is it zapping lots of your energy.  When you invest in someone and they are consumers - don't they need you to help or is there someone else out there for them to 'suck the life out of.'  Will they turn around, be encourage or will they naturally go on to consume over and over again?  Where do we spend our energy?  What if we spend 80%  of out of our time in relationships that are based on healthy (fun) relationships and the other 20% was invested in being the eyes of Jesus and LOVING on these people.  They need Christ and if we can't give them alittle,  who will?

Chapter 9 :  The Last Word
Now putting it all together.  My prayer daily is 'Lord, who do you have for me today'?  Not even 'What' you have for me it's 'Who' you have for me.  We all face trials and situations or circumstances daily - most of the times it is dealing with people.  Jesus will walk us through them - how we handle them will make the difference.
New Notecards to keep in my Bible:
1.  Approachability:  Be available (no 'walk by' conversations)
2.  Conversations:  Be fully engaged, ask challenging questions.
3.  You are an Evangelist!  use your gifts,  listen when the Spirit of God prompts you.
4.  Look at them through the eyes of Jesus.  Love on them!

Jodie's Chapter 7 Post: The Likeable Hero

Are leaders put into  leadership "just because"?  I think they are drawn there by others because they are likeable and also in ministry because God has given that person favor to be 'drawn' into that position.  These people  are placed in positions because of there likeablility,  it is easy for them to connect with others in all different ways and are generally enjoyable to be around.  Their strengths have put them there.  I like the 5 Signs of Likeability:   Approachability, Stickiness, Trust, Friendliness, Flexible optimism.  I plan on putting these on a note card and review them often,  just to keep myself in check!  Let's not be who we were yesterday,  we are all a 'work in progress.'  Philippians 2:12 says, "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

Allison Chapters 8 & 9

Chapter eight does offer wisdom, although I do not agree that this is a new way of being smart. There is nothing knew under the sun, according to Salomon. Then I have to question the way Steve refers to how Jesus invested in people who were investors themselves. I believe the way Jesus disciples people, is what made many of them move from consumers to investors. I believe as leaders we have a responsibility to recognize the consumer mentality and help them move from that into Investors! Steve also says that Jesus did not heal everyone that he came into contact with merely because they were not investors! When scripture actually says "Jesus walked among the people preaching the kingdom of Heaven and healing every sickness and every disease among the people! (Mathew 9:25)" When he healed the man who was laying at the fountain that man had a consumer mentality and what Jesus said to him directed him to rely on God and not man and to get out of the i.e. consumer mentality! Jesus actually rebuked the religious leaders who we as humans would have viewed as investors in this context and he made unbelievers who were the consumers the disciples. So having said all that! There is definitely a lot of human speculation written as fact in this chapter where I do not see biblical support! But there is definitely some things that are biblical, I do agree that one has to be wise and prayerful about who we invest our time into, not letting ourselves pour and pour into lives just so that they can drain us emotionally. A person needs to recognize when we set the environment for spiritual co dependence in our actions to invest in others. Sometimes the responsibility goes back to the leader and sometimes we do have to walk away from people, which this chapter definitely covers very well. Over all this book offers allot of wisdom but it has to be balanced with reliance and direction from the Holy Spirit! I know that Steve says that Jesus spent allot of time in prayer over which disciples he choose! Though that sounds reasonable enough because we know that Jesus spent allot of time in prayer. But I do not see this, for the times that Jesus choose the disciple were times when he would merely be walking by them and call them to follow him. I believe that showed total reliance on the Holy Spirit that came from times of prayer but that verses what Steve says about Jesus spending hours in prayer over a person being an investor or not. The more I have read this book the more I realized that though there is wisdom mixed in, in the long run it is teaching us how to rely on fleshly wisdom with reference to scripture that in some instances is misinterpreted or misplaced. "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with Power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed with the devil (Acts 10:38). "

Annette's Ch 8 & 9 Book Review

Well we're down to the end...I really enjoyed this book!  Good insight - caused me to really consider some things about myself.

Chapter 8: I laughed to myself when I started reading about the consumers versus investors.  I've talked with a couple of fellow Signeteers recently about the "life suckers".  I felt the author's approach was very balanced. "Consumers are relationally greedy and never satisfied with the investment someone makes in them."  In ministry, you will inevitably encounter people like this. I also appreciated that he said there are exceptions.  "If God calls us to invest in someone who doesn't look or act like the person we think will maximize our invest...this is the spiritual trump card over any leadership strategy of our own."  He wasn't making an absolute statement about all people all the time.  We do have to discern when God is directing us as well.  Sometimes He's going to send us a life-sucker and we have to follow through.  But this was a great principle to think about!  And in fact, it's why I chose all of you for Signet!!  I believe that each of you have influence and I want to help you invest in others.  It also spurs me on to growth at the same time.  This chapter truly was a principle that Christ employed in his life on earth.  He taught and spoke to crowds of thousands, but he personally discipled and invested in 12 men.  The one thing I wish the author would have given more insight about was how to deal with a life-sucker when you know it's a purse with holes.  That can be tough.

Chapter 9: Jesus really did emphasize relationships throughout his ministry.  This is not a concept that we can disregard.  Relationships are the ONLY way we truly influence anyone else - and it is certainly the only way to lead others closer to Christ.  In his words..."It's the way we as leaders serve humanity and God himself, while also creating a distinct and better world."

Mike's Ch 8 & 9 Review

Chapter 8 talked about a topic that I need to work on. Sometimes I feel like the eternal optimist - if there is something I can say or do for someone, to try and help them, in most cases I will do it. At times I need to guard myself from getting spread so thin that burnout can set in. If I am burned out myself, I won't be able to help anybody. As with most things, I feel there needs to be balance. Sometines I feel that if I am able to help someone they may not realize that they in turn need to reach out and help others - giving back to others. Hopefully with time things will change for that person (they will become more of an investor than consumer). Probably an area I need more help with is that in after reaching out to someone and seeing that things are not changing or improving, is to be willing to back away or to stop the investment process rather than to keep going down a dead end road. If the back away steps were needed, I would want to do it in such a way as to keep the communication lines open.

Chapter 9 - The Last Word. The relationships and interactions we have with other people are important. We need to interact with other people in a Christ like manner. We can't just talk about reaching out and helping others, but we need to put actions to our words.