The word “accountability” in English comes from the fourteenth century word accounts, meaning a record of money received and paid. King James II of England was the first to publicly use the term “accountability.” In 1688 he said to his people, “I am accountable for all things that I openly and voluntarily do or say.” In short, the word [...]
Malcolm Webber
The most effective leader development efforts are conducted within a living community of people in which the emerging leaders function and participate. In many traditional systems of education, the individual students arrive at the class, sit at their separate desks, listen to the lectures, participate in whatever group tasks are [...]
Malcolm Webber
“Groupthink” is a well-documented phenomenon that teams must vigilantly avoid. It occurs when a group of people strives to minimize conflict at the expense of critical analysis and evaluation. Groupthink happens when the members of a team try so hard to get along that they never disagree, which results in a stagnation of ideas. [...]
Malcolm Webber
For a team to be effective, its members must share both long-term vision and short-term goals that genuinely represent the will of God for the organization. When this is in place, the team can move ahead with a common working approach. We’ve discussed common vision and common goals. This week, we discuss developing a common approach. [...]
Malcolm Webber
For a team to be effective, its members must share both long-term vision and short-term goals that genuinely represent the will of God for the organization. When this is in place, the team can move ahead with a common working approach. Last week we discussed common vision. This week, we discuss shared goals. Common goals make the vision [...]
Malcolm Webber
Someone said, “God gave us two ears but only one mouth. Some people say that’s because He wanted us to spend twice as much time listening as talking. Others claim it’s because He knew listening was twice as hard as talking.” We’ve discussed before the many barriers to listening. But how do we overcome these barriers to improve our own [...]
Malcolm Webber
Effective listening is not and never has been easy. Norman Weiner wrote, “Speech is a joint game between the talker and the listener against the forces of confusion. Unless both make the effort, interpersonal communication is quite hopeless.” In order to improve our listening, we must first identify the barriers we encounter to [...]
Malcolm Webber
Community serves a twofold place in the life of the leader. First, the healthy leader is built in community (Eph. 4:13-16). No healthy leader will ever be developed in a vacuum. The hottest ember grows cold in isolation. When we come together we are given copious opportunities to be patient, kind, forgiving and loving, to walk in [...]
Malcolm Webber
In a time of so much uncertainty, it’s comforting to know there are some rock-solid, absolutely guaranteed methods to destroy the culture of whatever it is you’re leading. Here they are. Try them out! Be so busy with your great vision and your amazing ministry work for God that you have no time for God Himself. You’re changing the world, [...]
Malcolm Webber
In our last Letter, we saw that self-giving love is at the core of healthy Christian leadership. For the healthy leader, the “fundamental focus shifts from what we need and from what others should be doing for us to what we can do to serve them… [This] is the very essence of what Jesus did in His life and ministry and it is at the heart [...]
Malcolm Webber