Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

I’ll be honest, I don’t particularly like any of those things. Julie Andrews can keep those for herself.

But I’ve been thinking about my favorite things. My thoughts were stimulated last week when a leader at Willow asked me this very question. I’ve spent much of the last few weeks getting to know the staff at Willow as I transition into my new role. Having conducted more than 600 interviews in the past few years, I’ve learned that I love to hear a person’s story, find out how they ended up at this point in history, and what built them into the person they are today. Those stories have been fun to hear.

Last week some of the leaders at Willow turned it around and asked me some questions. My favorite and most thought-provoking…

What are you most excited about as you join our team? What are the things you are most passionate about?

Great question. My quick answers…

I love building teams. I’m convinced anything can be accomplished with the right team. A great team is more important than money or buildings. My mentor, Mark Beeson, used to say, “I’d rather have the right leader standing on a stump with a pencil, than all the buildings and budgets in the world without the right leader.”

I love building culture. An organization that has a strong culture will attract high-capacity team members who will stay a very long time. Culture must be developed intentionally and cultivated daily. A good culture doesn’t just happen. It takes more than an exciting vision or good compensation. It requires great communication, clarity, trust, integrity, good systems that empower leaders to make decisions, collaboration, and more. And, as important as it is to build a great culture, it’s equally important to identify and address elements that are toxic to the culture.

I love developing leaders. I’ve never believed leadership development happens best in a classroom setting. I believe you can grow a leadership development culture that starts with bringing the right people onto the team. When you have leaders on the team who are natural maximizers, rising leaders are given opportunities to grow. And as people are mentored and allowed to try and fail and try again—slowly a leadership development culture begins to emerge. If leaders believe their highest success comes in developing others and seeing them succeed—and if this begins to permeate the culture—nothing can stop this team.

I love collaboration. I love asking questions and finding the genius in the room. I love an environment when the best idea wins. I love working with leaders who are secure, humble, self-aware, committed to the mission more than their image or personal gain. Strong leaders are a dime a dozen. It’s humility and authenticity that win in today’s organizations.

I’m pretty jazzed to get to join Dave Dummitt at Willow, and pour myself into a few of my favorite things. They have a great team already, and I’m humbled to jump in and help them build a thriving local church.

How would you answer this question? What are a few of your favorite things?