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Leadership, Goals, and Mini Golf

Leah Hallahan
Aug 15, 2016
4 min read

My husband and I spent a few days in Lancaster, PA last week attending The Global Leadership Summit and man, was it a good one. Dave is a youth pastor, and every August we travel with our pastor, children's pastor and their wives to a host site to attend The Global Leadership Summit put on by the Willow Creek Association. The six of us use these few days as a "getaway" and a time to come together as a staff of our church. We spend a lot of time together, catching up and discussing the upcoming year before school starts and we typically get into "the grind."

Our first night in Lancaster, Competitive Mini Golf :)

If you haven't heard of this conference before, I highly recommend it. While it takes place in a church and emphasizes the effect of Christ-centered leadership, it is mainly a conference that is beneficial to anyone in any position of leadership. This conference, since its start in 1995, has over 450 host sites around the country and reaches 110,000 leaders. And that's just in the US! It is also translated into 59 languages and is in 125 countries (over 675 cities) and represents over 90 denominations. What the what?!???

Bill Hybels, Founder of the GLS and Senior Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church

The first three years of us attending this conference, I was attending as Dave's wife and fellow youth group leader, but also as a sixth-grade teacher, my previous career. I took note of a lot of leadership techniques I could use in my classroom and in my school district. I was also easily able to hear the messages through a lens of youth ministry and church leadership.

This year however, was the most excited I have been to attend this conference. I have a full year of Settled In under my belt and have successfully started up my own working business. I have read a lot, learned a lot, and now have a general feel for how this business ownership thing works. I came to the conference this year with experience and a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses as a business woman.

We heard from some of the top business people in world, including Alan Mulally, the President and CEO of Ford Motor Company, Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Foundation, and Horst Schultz (crazy name, right?), who is the Founding President of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Group. Yah, these people are big time. Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church and Founder of The Global Leadership Summit, also spoke throughout the conference and, of course, didn't disappoint. It was awesome to hear from so many successful people who have "made it" but on a more meaningful level, are changing the world and empowering people.

Something that's discussed most years at The Summit is the importance of having clear goals for your company. Coming back to our hotel room each night, while my brain was mostly fried from listening to some of the world's brightest minds all day, I would sit for a minute and think about what my goals should be for Settled In this year. Year one was a learning curve, but turned out more successful than I really imagined it would be. I completed nine interior decorating jobs while technically working part-time, since Dave had two full-time jobs and I had Riley most of the time. This year however, Dave will only be at the church, and he and I can work out Riley as well as two full-time careers with incredibly flexible schedules. It's pretty much going to be the best year of our married lives. :)

So now that I'm home and my brain has regained its strength, here they are, my business goals for the 2016-2017 year. I am telling all of you so that you will hold me accountable, as well as encourage and pray for me as I continue on this path God has started me on....

1. Complete 20 decorating jobs from September 2016 - August 2017.

2. Design new website/blog and have it up and running by October 2016.

3. Write a weekly blog-post (this one scares me, but in a good way).

4. Cut the cord from HomeAdvisor.com (my main source of advertising this past year) and up my online presence through blogging and social media to keep the same influx of leads but with less cost to me and more targeted client advertising.

I'm excited about the year ahead, and look forward to sharing it with each of you. If you are in a position of leadership, which basically all of us are, consider making some goals for yourself this year. Make a list of the things you are dreaming to do this year, put a timeline on them, and write down the name of someone who will keep you accountable. If you're feeling brave, share some of your goals here and we can keep each other accountable throughout the year. And remember, if your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough. :) Here's to a great and successful year ahead!