Bob Fuhs

Roger Hershey on Building Movements

Roger Hershey, a campus ministry guru, recently addressed the Cru team leaders in the Pacific Southwest Region. Here are the MP3's of his 2 talks:

Download Roger Hershey Movement Building #1 P

 

Download Roger Hershey Movement Building #2 P

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Comm Lab Day 2

We just wrapped day 2 of the Comm Lab. Who knew communication would be so intense? I really need to get to bed, but here are some quotes from today:

From Tim Downs' first message:

-"How you say what you say is as important as what you say."

-"If all we have is content, we die."

-"The non-Christian world is happy for us [Christians] to exist as long as we are marginalized."

-"The church must be profane." (Profane-meaning "outside the church." In other words we must go to the people and not wait for the people to come to us.)

-"If Christ is not significant outside the church, He is not significant inside the church." RC Sproul as quoted by Tim Downs

-"Paul's model was to first persuade, then if that's not working to proclaim."

-"Public speaking is dying to yourself in front of a group of people."

-"Think of the spotlight as an x-ray...The longer you stay in it you'll get a deadly disease."

Tim Muehlhoff talked about "The Power of Human Communication."  Here are some quotes:

-"Most of us take communication for granted...I mean, we've been communicating our whole lives."

-"Dialog is to love what blood is to the body." (quoting another author)

-"Communication is God's gift to form connection."

Honestly, Muehlhoff talked about so much that it's hard to break it into some quotables.  He really drilled down into the theory of communication on a deep level, asking "what is communication?" The whole point being we need to understand how complex it is to actually communicate with another person. Like he said at the start, we've done it our whole lives that we just take it for granted. And that's why most of us stink at it.

He just published a new book called "Authentic Communication" that we all got that I am very excited to read and recommend. You can buy it here if you like.

We also spent time in our coaching groups working on eye contact and gestures. We want to teach communication like you would a sport, so we are doing lots of hands-on coaching and drills in speaking mechanics. My group really made me proud as they stepped out of their comfort zones and tried some new skills.

So far the Comm Lab has exceeded my expectations! I'm beat, so it's off to bed but there will be more to come tomorrow...

Comm Lab Day 1

I am in Westfield, Indiana for a training event for Campus Crusade staff called the Comm Lab and I'm hoping to post some of my learnings throughout the week. The Comm Lab grew out of a training program CCC used to offer for staff and students that I went through during the summer of 1991 in Colorado as a senior in college. I came out of that training with 2 talks I wrote designed to present the message of Christ in a relevant way to groups like a dorm floor or a fraternity. My last semester in college I spoke to groups in every dorm on campus and that training changed my life. Now I am part of the faculty and design team providing the training. Wow...how time has flown! Content will come mainly from Tim Downs, speaker and author as well as Dr. Tim Muehlhoff, a professor at Biola University and a popular speaker in his own right. I'm excited to share with you ove the next couple days some of the insights from these two stellar communicators. To be continued...

Book Review: Obstacles Welcome by Ralph de la Vega

Obstacles Welcome is part autobiography and part leadership wisdom.  Ralph de la Vega not only shares his story of escaping Fidel Castro’s Cuba as a 10 year old without his parents, but also the principles used to lead Cingular Wireless and now ATT Mobility as President and CEO.

I am a business-book junkie and, while it wasn’t in the top 5, I really enjoyed it.  I especially appreciated the visuals laced throughout the book.  Each chapter includes a diagram illustrating some business process or model, such as: “The Success Framework,” “The Learning Cycle,” and “Operating Plan Elements.”  Seeing these inspired me to diagram some of my own leadership challenges and thoughts.

I would have appreciated more details regarding the inner workings of Cingular and ATT.  Ralph seems to skim the surface of major decisions and certain business challenges.  More details would have helped better translate the principles to my work.  Also, the book doesn’t cover anything about Ralph’s faith or make connections between faith and leadership. I would have liked some of that.

Overall I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for practical management and leadership wisdom. I’d also recommend it for those looking for a compelling story about overcoming adversity as an immigrant and ethnic minority.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Adding Play to Your Work

You know what they say about all work and no play making Jack a dull boy, right? I say that all work and no play makes work dull as well.  So why not try adding some play to your next meeting?

I learned this from my friend Vicki Guinn who now works with Campus Crusade's music and arts ministry called Keynote.  To keep the creative juices flowing at meetings she would bring in things to play with like modeling clay, finger paint, markers, jacks, etc...  At one meeting she had someone craft a replica of a 1700's sailing ship out of popsicle sticks!  For the more creative people, instead of this being a distraction, this actually helps them stay engaged in the discussion.  And it sends a signal that says, "We don't want business as usual here.  We want you to think creatively and out of the box."  

If you're a CCC staff person or student reading this, odds are you have some lengthy planning meetings coming up here at the end of the semester or quarter.  Why not stop by the dollar store on your way to the meeting and pick up some play things?  Throw them out at various points in the meeting to stimulate fun and creativity.  Who knows, you might actually have people saying, "That all day meeting was fun!"

(If you are reading this on Facebook, this was taken from my blog at http://bobfuhs.typepad.com)

Failure Redefined

"Failure is not an option." 

We've all heard this phrase before, haven't we?  Sadly, as a leader I live by this adage way too much.  In my best moments I only subject myself to it, and in my worst, I project it onto others that I lead. 

For some reason I've been thinking about failure lately and I remembered a quote from someone (John Maxwell, I think) that goes something like this:

"Don't ask, What would you attempt if you knew you would not fail? But instead ask, What would you attempt if your view of failure was different?"

What if we, as leaders, really believed that failure was not the end of the road? What if we really believed that failure was really learning? How much would that allow us to extend grace to ourselves and the people we lead?

I remember some advice that one of my mentors, Jim Sylvester, gave me after I was asked to lead the CCC Summer Project in Ocean City, New Jersey.  He told me, "If you're happy, your people will be happy." What he was saying was, even if things go wrong (and they did that first year and every year since!), don't let it get to you. If you panic, the people you lead will too.  They will follow your lead.  But if you are happy, they will be too.  As the leader goes, so goes the people.

Please know, I'm not talking about repeated, stupid failure.  I'm talking about failure that comes from the result of attempting new things that stretch you and your organization.  I'm not talking about "roll the dice and see what happens" type stuff, but about the sort of failure that is normal for most leaders, but at times we avoid because we feel that it will somehow define us or make us look bad in front of others. If your leadership is somewhat characterized by one bad decision after another, you may need to stop embracing failure quite as much.

So, this week, don't get down if things aren't going as well as you planned. Stay happy and your people will follow your lead.

4 Keys To Victory Everyday by Bill Bright by Way of Philippians 4

At the end of Michael Richardson's biography of Bil Bright, called Amazing Faith, he shares short snippets of wisdom from Bill.  Today, I offer you Bill's thoughts on "Victory Every Day."

1. As an act of your will, decide that you are going to be full of the joy of the Lord. You are the one who decides whether you're going to rejoice or be discouraged and sad. (Bill believed that whatever God commanded, He would enable us to do by faith.  God commanded us in Philippians 4:4 to "Rejoice in the Lord always.")

2. Demonstrate before all men an unselfish, considerate attitude. (Philippians 4:5 "Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.")

3. Remember that the Lord can come at any moment and be prepared. (Philippians 4:5 "The Lord is near...")

4. Do not worry about anything. (Once Bill was asked about the problems he was facing in ministry and he responded by saying, "I don't have any problems." He went on to explain that, as a servant of Jesus Christ, it is his Master's job to take care of any problems, not the servant's role.  Of course, we are also commanded in Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing.")

5. Pray about everything. (Again from Philippians 4:6...Are you sensing a pattern?)

6. Thank Him in faith for His answers. (Philippians 4:6 "...with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.")

3 Keys To Aligning

Step 1: Love

The people you are leading and trying to align to a plan or program need to know that you love them.  They need to know that you care about them and their welfare.  If they don't believe that, they are very close to being used and seeing your alignment as simply running them through the meat-grinder. My friend Jim Sylvester used to say, "People will take anything from you as long as they know you love them."

Step 2: Listen

Hear them out.  Listen to their wants and needs.  Ask lots of questions about their work and what they feel is going well or not so well.  This is Steve Covey's "Seek to understand before you are understood" principle.  If you are feeling resistance to a new emphasis in your ministry, perhaps you need to spend more time listening to your people.  They will feel more comfortable with change if they know that you understand them and their concerns.

Step 3: Involve

Nothing creates buy in more than involving people in the change process.  As a campus leader this usually meant involving our leadership students in our strategic planning sessions.  A few years back we were struggling with our weekly meeting space as we grew and could not find a room big enough to hold us.  We got about 20 of our top leaders together and walked through a problem-solving process together. By the end of the time we were all on the same page as to the solution.  That created way more buy-in that if me and the staff team had simply come up with a solution ourselves and told them.

As the adage goes: "Involvement breeds commitment."

So, if you are experiencing alignment issues in your area of influence, odds are the problem can be traced back to one of these three things. Maybe it's time to step back and ask yourself, Do the people know that I love them? Have I listened to them? Have I involved them?

What To Do With Freshmen At A Cru Fall Retreat

It's been said that freshmen are the lifeblood of a campus movement.  I wholeheartedly believe that! Freshmen bring new life and excitement to your movement.  Freshmen are also very strategic in terms of building a movement that will reach the whole campus.  So, as a campus leader I did everything I could to do a better job year-after-year of reaching and involving freshmen.

One of the ways we did that was to pull together the freshmen for a meeting at our Fall Retreat each year.  We actually did what we called "class seminars" which were special meetings for students in each class. This helped to bond them as a class and it helped them see thier unique role in the movement.

Below is an article explaining what I did for that freshman time.  Feel free to copy it and send it along to anyone you think might find it helpful.

Fall Retreat Freshman Meeting Leader's Notes -

Where's the Elephant?

I spent a couple days this past week on the phone connecting with each of the campus ministry leaders in LA and Orange County.  In one of the conversations, one of the leaders said this:

"I just had to de-elephantize it..."

What he meant was, there was an issue out there that he knew would be an issue if he didn't call it out.  There was an elephant in the room.  I loved that phraseology!

I do something like this just after we select our student leaders on the summer project I help lead.  I sit down with the male director and female director and say, "What does the other person need to know about you and how you lead?"  The guy might say, "I'm an internal processor.  So, if I'm quiet, it's not that I don't care, it's that I'm probably thinking." And with that statement, the elephant slowly slinks away...

So, is there anything you need to de-elephantize this week?  Maybe you haven't been honest with your spouse about your spending...Or you need to let a coworker understand who you are a little bit more.  Perhaps, you need to de-elephantize the fact that you are a Christ-follower with you family or neighbors.

The truth is, an elephant takes up a whole lot of room that could be used for other things...