Neverland Fabric | Tommy Bowman's Weblog » Leadership

Start With Why

Tommy Bowman — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:12:08 +0000

One of the most inspiring videos I’ve seen in a while…

Help Me Help You

Tommy Bowman — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:42:09 +0000

You know that scene in Jerry Maguire… Jerry is pleading with his client, “Help me, help you”.

Great scene. I recalled it this morning as I reflected on how Restore served the community this past month through Replenish.

There is something great about serving your community but there’s something greater to leading your community to serve itself.

The question about community service needs to shift to a focus of lasting impact and momentum.

You can give a child school supplies or you could:

ask the question and identify the specific need in your school district
recruit your church, teachers, & community organizers to go into the community to…
enlist residents of a school district to meet the needs of under-resourced students in their district

Along with meeting the need, you’re helping your community practice generosity. So maybe it goes beyond just helping our community, and instead (in a less desperate way than Jerry Maguire) helping the community help themselves.

Here’s one of the school drop-offs. The teachers we’re lined up at our trucks to collect the supplies. I’m really proud of Patrick O’Connell who led this and the whole team of volunteers who carried this out.

Wrestling with my leadership style

Tommy Bowman — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:12:28 +0000

We tend to equip people to lead… don’t we? If I can teach this person this, or show this person that, then they can lead others.

I’ve done it. It works. From “I do, you watch, we talk” all the way to “You do, I watch, we talk”. But have I done this to a fault? I wonder if I’ve tried to put too many square pegs into round holes.

What if we started with: “How has God equipped you?” & “What are you most passionate about?”

I believe that God is big enough to bring us people who’s gifts align with the vision He has given us for our churches. I wish I had the answer of what this looks like…and it scares me a little…

What if people’s unique gifts shaped how I lead them instead of me leading people into the mold that I’ve made for them…I need to continue wrestling with this.

What’s your take on this?

Keeping influence with your First Team

Tommy Bowman — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:36:24 +0000

Church planting teams are small, or they start small. There’s an all hands on deck sort of feel for quite awhile. While possible, it’s tough to silo yourself in the beginning. Your influence on each other can be so strong as you strive to maintain a we’re all in this together attitude.

As the church grows, each team member builds a team of his or her own. When this happens, how do you maintain influence with your First Team?

There’s many ways, but one that I reflected on today and wish to pass on is this: Practice caring more about your teammates ministry than they show interest in yours.

Make it a priority & block out the necessary time, to genuinely care for and serve your teammates and their ministries.