• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Seabourns

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • About God
  • Give

Leadership

A new chapter in our journey…

August 28, 2013 by Keith Seabourn 3 Comments

In a few days, Kay and I will shake hands, hug Stefan and Marie, and pray with them. Then our 12-year journey of pioneering the role of Chief Technology Officer and founding the Global Technology Office will be over and their journey of leading into the next phase will begin. And we could not be more pleased or more excited about what God is doing.

As we began this global leadership journey 12 years ago, I wrote down 4 things I sensed God leading me to focus on. One of these was:

Identify emerging leaders with a pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit who are willing to claim a part of the technology world for Christ

For 12 years, Kay and I have identified and trained emerging leaders who are stepping into significant leadership roles. About 18 months ago, I felt God saying it was time to turn over my role to an emerging leader. Kay and I talked and prayed.  I informed my boss, the Vice President of Operations. We launched a transition process that selected a new leader from many highly qualified people.  Stefan is that new leader.

The Dell FamilyStefan and Marie are from South Africa, so there have been many things that had to happen for them to exit their ministries and lives in Pretoria and move their family to Orlando. They have two children, Kenneth (grade 5) and Monica (grade 3). We have seen God’s hand of provision in their arrival this summer.

Stefan is not a replacement for me. Marie is not a replacement for Kay. Stefan is a new leader with new ideas and a new calling from God.

So, here we are. Saying goodbye to our team that has journeyed with us. Reflecting on dreams fulfilled. Reminiscing with friends. Moving out of our office cube. Processing emotions that come with change. Anticipating the future.

What will we do next? Kay and I are asking this same question. We are in conversations with a number of Cru ministries who are offering us amazing opportunities. We are taking September to pray and evaluate where God is leading us.

Kay and I value your prayers. Please pray with us as we seek God’s wisdom and leading about our future. Like a two-part episode, this story is To Be Continued…

Filed Under: ccc, Leadership, Prayer Letters Tagged With: Leadership

Asking Who before What

February 27, 2013 by Keith Seabourn 4 Comments

Stan Oakes taught me to ask Who? before I ask What?.

I’m a Birkman red leader. I’m a strategic thinker and planner. I tend to quickly see a path forward and launch aggressively. I tend to start towards a solution quickly and clean it up as I go. My mind gravitates toward questions like

  • What are the success criteria?
  • What are the milestones?
  • What are the next steps?
  • What resources are needed?

When we were conceiving of the Leadership University web project (www.leaderu.com), Stan would always lead by asking questions like

  • Who else should we invite into this project?
  • Who should lead this part?
  • Who can contribute?
  • Who has done something like this before and knows the pitfalls?

And I learned a new leadership focus.

Jim Collins addresses this Who? then What? focus in his powerful style. This is worth 3 of your minutes if you are a leader.

Using Who? then What?, Stan went on to re-launch The King’s College in the most famous address in the U.S., the Empire State Building.

What are you leading that could benefit from a Who? focus?

Filed Under: ccc, gto, Leadership Tagged With: Leadership

Management and Leadership

August 1, 2012 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Bestselling author Seth Godin says:

Management and leadership are totally different things. You think you are being a leader, but you are probably being a manager. Managers figure out what they want done and get people to do it. Managers try to get people to do what they did yesterday, but a little faster and a little cheaper with a few less defects. But this is not leadership.

Leadership is about finding the right people, agreeing where you want to go, and getting out of the way. Leadership means embracing the failure of your people if it will lead to growth. Leadership means not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow, just knowing its going to take you where you want to go.

Watch the video on Michael Hyatt’s blog.

Godin obviously has his preferred explanation of leadership and management based on his successes in life. He didn’t go bankrupt although he almost did. But more startups fail than succeed, so his rosy “Leadership means not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow, just knowing its going to take you where you want to go” is foolish apart from a trust in God’s sovereignty and plan. Perhaps a better philosophy is: Leadership doesn’t meant you know what is going to happen tomorrow, but it does mean you are confident it will take you where God wants you to go.

There are good insights in this video. He actually covers many topics with a common theme of modern leadership.

  • Management and leadership.
  • Being willing to lead through the hard decision to fire unprofitable customers. In my leadership in a non-profit mission organization, I translate this into making the hard decisions to cancel a project or terminate an agreement that has become a barrier to moving ahead with our strategic plan.
  • Do remarkable work that people cannot live without. Don’t settle for being a little cheaper or better than the next guy.
  • Don’t wait for improved conditions, rather ship now, deliver results now.
  • Put your work out there and allow a tribe to gather around who like what you do rather than going after those who don’t like what you do.

Filed Under: ccc, gto, Leadership Tagged With: Leadership

No trash-talking former things

March 15, 2012 by Keith Seabourn 1 Comment

We should not disparage the former as we are casting vision for a new way to do things. This cartoon says it well (click on the image for a larger view):

I was in a meeting recently where vision was being cast for a new way to train others, and a new way to think about building multiplying groups. The former ways were denigrated as part of promoting a new way.

I’m guilty of this sometimes, so I’m not casting stones. We should remember this cartoon and not denigrate previous efforts as we move forward.

Trash-talking former strategies has no place in leading into the future.

We stand on the shoulders of many that have gone before.

How can we lead into the future without trashing the past?

Filed Under: ccc, gto, Leadership Tagged With: Leadership

MinistryNet 2011: From Decisions to Disciples

November 22, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Renner travelled 56 hours. Selegna was refused a visa to enter Thailand. International travel can be uncertain and frustrating. But Renner and Selegna and 170 others from 32 countries felt God had called them to join us. So they persevered.

Renner wrote: I’m now at the São Paulo International Airport. I spent 5 hours on a flight to be here. I’ll wait 11 hours before flying to Amsterdam. Another 14 hours later, I land in Amsterdam. I wait 9 hours for my next flight. Then 17 hours later, I arrive in Bangkok. Yep, I really need to be with you, guys!

See Selegna’s story.

As I watched the next step in a dream that began in 2005 with the first MinistryNet, my mind filled with David’s question from Psalm 8: 4 “What is man that you are mindful of him?” Overwhelmed by God who is allowing me to see a dream coming true — engaging the power and reach of the internet to help people know him and to grow to be like him.

Our theme “Decisions to Disciples,” focused on new ways to move people forward in their journey to follow Jesus.

One of the unique additions to this MinistryNet was spending two hours each morning in small innovative workgroups. We were seeking to solve a problem or develop an innovative approach to moving people from making a decision, to being a disciple of Jesus. Each group developed a short video to present their proposed solution. The best solutions will receive seed funding to develop a prototype. With MinistryNet less than a week old, three groups are already developing their prototypes.

Imagine the power of 170 people returning home to 32 countries with new strategies, new passions, new relationships with like-minded digital ministry entrepreneurs! This is our dream becoming reality.

You can watch many of the MinistryNet 2011 sessions here. [Note: You will need to create a sign-in using TheKey. It’s free.]

Would you like to know more about the diverse projects in internet ministry happening in Campus Crusade for Christ? Visit the MinistryNet Conference Virtual Ministry Fair.

What is your plan to use the opportunities of the internet to deliver the timeless, unchanging message of Christ in fresh, changing ways?

Filed Under: ccc, gto, Ministry, Prayer Letters Tagged With: internet ministry, Leadership

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • …
  • Page 6
  • Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Give a Gift

Sign up with your email address below to read our stories.

Archives

  • July 2022
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • June 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004

Copyright © 2023 · Parallax Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in