The High Drama of Decision Making - Bill Hybels

Smart/Funny things Bill said:

- We dumb nothing down for the girls, or the Canadians.

- Leadership's highest usage is to advance the purposes of God in this world.

- Great book on decision making: "Judgment" by Bennis and Tichy

- Christian leaders ask 4 questions when faced with a decision:
(1) Does the Bible weigh in?
(2) What Would Smart Advisers Advise me to do?
(3) What have you learned from past Pain/Gain/Experiences?
(4) Is the Holy Spirit Prompting me?

- Every leader has scars on his body. I have many scars. That's the only reason I'm speaking with a shirt on.

- Leaders must be adding to the vault of wisdom in decision making through their experiences day after day, year after year.

- (Paraphrase) Sometimes it's helpful to make a trial decision and walking around with it for a while to see if the decision is leading to life and peace (Romans 8:6) or anxiety and fear.

- Taking responsibility for poor decisions allows you to keep the wisdom intensity growing in your own life. If you're fuzzy on owning the responsibility for a poor decision, you will be fuzzy on the lesson to be learned.

- [The best] leaders learn how to condense the four questions [above] and compress them into self-composed leadership proverbs/sayings/axioms that give them microwave wisdom for their leadership decisions. (Example: The best way to turn my enemy is to turn my enemy into my friend." "Promote a clash of ideas." "Reward good performers by removing non-performers.")

- Do not believe the lie that avoided problems go away. Unattended problems grow fangs.

- A couple of Bill's own axioms:
(1) Vision leaks
(2) Get the Right People around the Table
(3) Facts are your friends.
(4) When something feels funky, engage.
(5) Leaders call fouls. Sometimes even on yourself.
(6) Take a flyer (calculated risk) every once in a while.
(7) This is church - Don't get caught up in "leadership" to the point that you forget the early church ate meals together. That was church. Look for "this is church" moments.

- You will never know life at its fullest until you are fully and uncompromisingly yielded to Christ, and fully and uncompromisingly getting about God's purposes in this world.

Ending with a special music group singing "Send Your Rain." Wow.