Six leadership themes you can expect at the 2015 summit

GLS2015GLANCE
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Every year, God “shows up” at the Summit.  Sometimes these moments come in ways we expect – but more often they do not. There always seems to be a specific inspiration, a message, a skill or a conviction that gets cemented in our hearts during the event.

Those of us who plan the conference have always resisted the temptation to create a “theme” for the Summit.  Our biggest goal has always been to bring the best, most current, most relevant, leadership learnings to faith-centered leaders. And there is nothing worse (and we’ve all seen it!) than when a conference tries to stretch a theme to fit a speaker’s topic or when they ask a speaker to change their expertise to fit a theme.  So we reject the idea of theme – and instead like to say:

Our theme is leadership—plain and simple.

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Having said that, we often see sub-themes emerge in unexpected ways. We like to think that is the Holy Spirit – weaving the right messages that He wants to bring to faith-centered leaders during this season.

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Here are some themes we see emerging for the 2015 conference.

  1. Feedback.  Have you ever had someone ask, “Can I be honest with you?” or “Can I give you some feedback?” and you got that lump in your stomach?  Sheila Heen will describe the research from her book Thanks for the Feedback. And Ed Catmull will describe how feedback works during the creative process at Pixar.
  1. Resilience.  Failure is an inevitable part of the leadership journey.  Brené Brown will share her most recent research on failure out of her soon-to-be released book, Rising StrongSallie Krawcheck will talk about lessons learned in the last turbulent decade in the financial sector. And Brian Houston will describe the highs and lows of his incredible 30-year run at Hillsong Church.
  1. Service. Jesus introduced the concept of “servant leadership” long before it became trendy in business circles. Horst Schulze will express the Ritz Carlton philosophy on how to treat people with the highest level of service.Sam Adeyemi will describe how to give power away. And Jim Collins will share his recent experience at West Point where the cadets’ dedication to service gave him a more complete understanding of what it takes to go fromGood to Great.  
  1. Effectiveness. Leaders only have so many hours in the day.  So how can we make the most of them? Craig Groeschel will describe ways that he has been able to expand his leadership capacity. And Adam Grant will comment on his research into the efficacy of work relationships between givers, takers and matchers.
  1. Learning Agility.  Is it better to hire someone who knows all the ins and outs of a job – or someone who has a strong capacity and ability to learn?  Hiring experts believe that learning agility is one of the most desirable skills for a 21st century workforce.  Liz Wiseman will describe how to keep your learning agility regardless of how long you have been in leadership. AndAlbert Tate will explore how God can take our small efforts and turn them into something amazing.
  1. Grander Vision. There is a reason why God made you a leader. He has a purpose for you to live full-out for Him, wherever you lead.  This year we will feature five stories of people who are living the Grander Vision. Leaders profiled include a prison warden, a small business owner, a pastor, a CEO of a public company and a mid-level executive who had to lead up to accomplish the grander vision God had given him for his company.

Now – those are some themes we can get behind!

How do you anticipate God will speak to you at the 2015 Summit?

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One Comment

  1. I have been contemplating on whether to attend the GLS 2015 and finally I bought the ticket. I am looking forward to the event since it will be in Soweto for the very first time and I believe that God will speak directly into my life, my situation and the vision He has in store for me as an aspiring leader.