If I asked you to rank your top five favorite leadership responsibilities, attending meetings probably would not appear on your list. It’s not that some meetings aren’t enjoyable; it’s just that there are plenty of other activities that leaders find more thrilling, fun, or productive.
That said, there is one kind of meeting that I absolutely love, and that is a creative meeting.
For example, I once spent about four hours in a room with 11 people, doing nothing but talking about books. We discussed how to write better books, and we talked about which topics would add value to people’s lives. In the process, we challenged each other. We built on each others’ thoughts and ideas. We argued. We laughed.
Now I realize that to some of you, spending four hours brainstorming about books might sound about as exhilarating as watching paint dry. But for me, it was incredibly exciting. By the time I came out of that room, it was 5 o’clock in the afternoon. After a marathon meeting like that, a guy my age ought to be getting little tired. But I was charged up and ready to spend the evening writing.
There’s just something about meeting with a group of positive, energetic, creative people that stimulates my thoughts and spurs me to greater growth than I would be capable of on my own.
On the other hand, being around negative people—in a meeting, over lunch, at a football game, etc.—just sucks the life right out of me. Talk about a thought buster. Negativity tops the chart when it comes to the forces that can stifle thought, squelch creativity, and shut down idea generation.
We all know people who regularly use phrases such as “it will never work,” “I’m never going to be able to get that done,” “it’s too hard,” and “there’s no way we can do it.” These people don’t build us up or encourage our development; they drag us down with their incessant complaining and constant negativity.
If you place a high priority on creative thought, do whatever you can to limit your time with these folks (unless, of course, you’re related to one, in which case you’ll have to come up with an alternative solution).
On a more positive note, another step you can take to increase your thinking power is to put yourself in a growth environment. If negativity is a powerful thought buster, a growth environment is an even stronger thought booster. Here are eight characteristics of a growth environment:
- Others are ahead of you. It’s a sad day when you discover that, in every group you’re in, you’re at the top of your class. Such superiority might be good for your ego, but it’s not healthy for your mental development.
- You are still challenged. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are—if you’re bored, you won’t grow.
- Your focus is forward. There’s nothing wrong with remembering the past, especially if it increases your confidence or helps you to avoid repeating costly mistakes. But growth is impossible if you think your best days are behind you.
- The atmosphere is affirming. Think of how you felt the last time someone affirmed you when you were struggling with a difficult assignment or situation. I’m sure you’ll agree that encouragement is a powerful motivator, especially in the midst of challenging circumstances.
- You are out of your comfort zone. It’s much easier to stick with what you know, but nobody ever achieved greatness by doing that. This is one of the benefits of working with creative thinkers—they stretch you and force you to look for answers outside your normal frame of reference.
- Failure is not feared. You may be hesitant to venture out of your comfort zone because you’re afraid you’ll fall flat on your face if you take a risk. But as Henry Ford once said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”
- Others are growing. Yes, growth can be a group activity. It’s often precipitated by less-than-ideal circumstances—increased competition, an economic downturn, the loss of key players, etc. But from a leadership standpoint, few things are more rewarding than watching your team become stronger through adversity.
- There is a willingness to change. In a growth environment, you’ll never hear anyone say, “But we’ve never done it that way before.” Not everyone embraces change with the same level of enthusiasm, but people who are committed to growth don’t try to run away from it.
If you are not currently working in a growth environment, I encourage you to do what you can to make it one. Take the lead, and others will follow. When it comes to growth, there’s definitely a trickle-down effect.
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John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.
While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.
Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.
In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.
As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.
Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.
John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.