I would suggest the best leaders make very few decisions. They set direction. They paint a vision for the future. They look ahead for opportunities or threats. But great leaders make very few operational decisions. Healthy leaders are those who empower their team members, allowing them to make important decisions and welcome the resulting outcomes, even if it is a different decision than they personally would have made. They train their staff to make decisions by staying out of those decisions.

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Recent report: Those making less than $25,000 believe they will be happy when they are making $35,000. Those who had a median salary of $65,000 a year said that $95,000 would make them happy and less stressed. And the highest earners in the survey with a median salary of $250,000 believed that $350,000 would bring them happiness.

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As we've all navigated the ups and downs of the past few years, it's crucial that we stay one step ahead by anticipating future norms that will inevitably shape our organizations. And yes, I understand that most of us are not running Fortune 500 companies, but cultural trends are not just for the corporate world. They echo profoundly in our church or not-for-profit staff teams as well.

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I see so much at stake, especially for cause-based organizations like churches and not-for-profits. I've been a part of high-functioning, cohesive leadership teams with "average-talent" team members that crushed their goals and had success that was significant and sustained. I've also been a part of dysfunctional leadership teams with super-talented team members that could never get traction and fell far short of their potential. 

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We’ve probably all worked for a leader who never made mistakes—or rather, one who wouldn’t admit to his or her own mistakes. But mistakes are a part of learning. I love to hear about the accomplishments of a successful leader, but sometimes I learn best when humble leaders are willing to share what they learned when they messed up. Here are a few notable mistakes I have under my belt…

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We live in an era of rapid metamorphosis where the only constant seems to be change itself. Just in the past five years we've lived through a global pandemic that has overhauled the way we live, work and interact with one another; we've navigated social movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter that have awakened a desire in many for justice, equality and change; we've seen our younger generation pick up their bullhorns as it relates to climate change due to extreme weather events; and we've seen technological leaps forward from the advent of 5G to the rise of artificial intelligence.

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One of the habits of a healthy leader is they seek first to understand. When someone disagrees with them, they strive to see the situation through the other person's eyes. When tension or frustration is rising, they drop back to see what they are missing. "What is the context or lived experience of the other individal that I need to understand?"

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Last year I decided to put together a gathering that I would want to attend. It's not a conference. Rather, think “TED Talk meets Roundtable." No endless talking heads or “know-it-all” experts in the room. Intentionally limited to a maximum of 40 leaders. More than that and it starts to feel like an event rather than an intimate gathering where everyone can hear and be heard. The room is safe and the conversations are confidential. 

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I joined the team at Willow Creek in early 2020, and later that year three employees passed their 40-year anniversary on staff. Forty freaking years! And guess what we did to celebrate? Nothing. We didn't even mention it in a staff meeting.

There were a number of reasons for this -- Covid definitely being a factor. But as I asked around, our church never had a history of honoring longevity. The average employee tenure in America is 4.3 years, and yet we had scores of staff members who had been with us through the highs and the lows for decades. As we went to work on improving our organizational health and staff culture, one of the most important things we did was to begin to intentionally say thanks to those who chose to stay on the team year-after-year.

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