Bill Hybels on Leadership - Moving from Here to There - Day 5: 100 Days of Leadership

In the 2010 Global Leadership Summit, founder of the Summit, Bill Hybels offered four insights into leadership. One of them was that a leader moves people from HERE to THERE. Sounds simple, but the fact is, this is difficult. One may argue that communicating a compelling vision is not enough. A leader must create a sense of discontent with the current circumstances so as to have others even begin to consider moving to THERE. Why move to there, if here is so comfortable? People don’t like change, for the most part, and so there is a need for leaders to communicate and model the benefits of where the organisation is heading.

Moving from here to there can be excruciatingly difficult if the church, business or organisation is failing or dying. In these circumstances, the choice is generally deep painful change or slow painful death.

One may think of businesses over the years that faced a dramatic need to change or suffer bankruptcy. Take for instance when Alexander Graham Bell introduced the telephone. The telegram became obsolete overnight. Western Union (running a successful business using telegrams) surely had to urgently revisit their core purpose to survive. Strong and courageous leadership was needed to move the company into a radical new direction.

What does the Bible say?

Genesis 12:1-3 - The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

 “I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”

What will I do now?

In your context, where is ‘here’ and where is ‘there’? Can you think of a few practical steps you could take to reach ‘there’? What do you need to do, to convince people around you of the need to move forward?