Next Generation Leader Quotes

“As I listen to leaders tell their stories, I hear very little about strategic planning and goal setting. I hear a lot about identifying and acting on opportunities. Strategies and goals have their place. But they don’t define leadership. Leaders see and seize opportunity. And in most cases, the opportunities take them by surprise.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Wherever there is fear, there is opportunity. Wherever there is great fear, there is great opportunity.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“sheep. But David was a leader-in-waiting. God had gifted him with the skills necessary to lead a nation. Furthermore, God had chosen him to be the next king. But how do you work your way up from shepherd to king? Besides, everybody knows that the king’s son is next in line. Not some filthy shepherd boy. The thing that makes David’s story so relevant to our discussion is the role his courage played in distinguishing him as a leader. David’s leadership was established through his courage—not his talent or even his calling by God. David’s talent would never have been discovered apart from his courage. One courageous act thrust him onto the stage of national significance in Israel. His courage to act on what he saw was the catalyst that set in motion a long series of providential events.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“You can’t lead without taking risk. You won’t take risk without courage. Courage is essential to leadership.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“simply a lesson in things not to repeat. Leaders can much more easily live with the prospects of having tried and failed than not having tried at all. Leaders fear missed opportunity more than they fear an unsuccessful enterprise.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“individual does. Here’s the difference: Eventually a leader’s lust for progress overwhelms his reluctance to take risks. In other words, failure to move things forward is the type of failure most feared by the leader. For the leader, failure is defined in terms of missed opportunities rather than failed enterprises.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Seasoned leaders rarely regret having taken risks. Even the risks that didn’t pay off directly are viewed as a necessary part of the journey. A leader’s regrets generally revolve around missed opportunities, not risks taken. Many of those missed opportunities would not have been missed had they been willing to push through their fear and embrace what could be. Fear, not a lack of good ideas, is usually what keeps a man or woman standing on the sidelines.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“An unwillingness to accept risk has swamped more leaders than anything I can think of.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“The leader who refuses to move until the fear is gone will never move. Consequently, he will never lead. There is always uncertainty associated with the future. Uncertainty presupposes risk. Leadership is about moving boldly into the future in spite of uncertainty and risk. Without courage we will simply accumulate a collection of good ideas and regrets. What could be and should be will not be … at least not under our watch. Eventually somebody else will come along and seize the opportunity we passed up.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage assumes fear. If we had waited for our fear to subside before we took that first plunge off of the high-dive, we would all still be standing there waiting. We just jumped anyway. Courage is the willingness to strap on your fear and move ahead.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Doing it anyway” is really the only way to ensure that fear doesn’t rob you of an opportunity. “Doing it anyway” is the essence of courage. Courage is the willingness to move in a direction in spite of the emotions and thoughts that bid you to do otherwise.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Leaders are not always the first to see the need for change, but they are the first to act. And once they move away from the pack, they are positioned to lead.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Leaders are not always the first to see an opportunity. They are simply the first to seize an opportunity. It is the person who seizes the opportunity who emerges as the leader. But fear has kept many would-be leaders on the sidelines, while good opportunities paraded by. They didn’t lack insight. They lacked courage.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“For this reason it is the dark that provides the leader with his greatest opportunities. It is your response to the dark that determines in large part whether or not you will be called on to lead. For the darkness is what keeps the average person from stepping outside the security of what has always been.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Fear defies logic. Information only goes so far. Even when armed with all the reasons why we should not be afraid, the fear remains.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“in the dark. The darkness is the uncertainty that always accompanies change. The mystery of whether or not a new enterprise will pan out. The reservation everyone initially feels when a new idea is introduced. The risk of being wrong. When my children”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“In this way, courage establishes leadership.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“A leader is someone who has the courage to say publicly what everybody else is whispering privately.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“The leader is the one who has the courage to act on what he sees.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Keep in mind that everything you loathe about your current environment or organization was originally somebody’s good idea. At the time it might have even been considered revolutionary. To suggest change is to suggest that your predecessors lacked insight. Or worse, that your current supervisor doesn’t get it! Consequently, it is easier to leave things as they are, to accept the status quo and learn to live with it. While that may be easier, it is not an option for a leader. Accepting the status quo is the equivalent of accepting a death sentence. Where there’s no progress, there’s no growth. If there’s no growth, there’s no life. Environments void of change are eventually void of life. So leaders find themselves in the precarious and often career-jeopardizing position of being the one to draw attention to the need for change. Consequently, courage is a nonnegotiable quality for the next generation leader.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Leaders must challenge the process precisely because any system will unconsciously conspire to maintain the status quo and prevent change.”9 Organizations seek an equilibrium.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“SECTION SUMMARY TO BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER … Recognize that you have limited strengths. Do whatever it takes to discover what they are. Once you know, find a work environment that allows you to focus your energies on the few things you were created to do well. Don’t allow your time to get eaten up with responsibilities and projects that call for skills that fall outside your core competencies. That is a recipe for mediocrity. Embrace this truth: The less you do, the more you will accomplish. Narrow your focus to increase your productivity and expand your influence within your organization. Empower the leaders around you by delegating those responsibilities that fall outside your zone. Somebody is dying to pick up the ball you drop. Your weakness is his opportunity. Remember: Great leaders know when to follow. THE NEXT GENERATION CHALLENGE What defines success for you in your current employment situation? Is there alignment between your core competencies and those competencies necessary to succeed in your job? What would change about your current job description if you were given the freedom to focus on the two or three things you do best? What would need to change in your current employment situation in order for you to focus on the things that add the most value to your organization? Take some time to complete the exercises described on this page through this page.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“According to Stephen Covey, delegating to others is perhaps the single most powerful high-leveraging activity there is.8 There are people who love what you hate. Strengthen your team by setting them free to do what only they can do. In that way you will ensure that your organization reflects your strengths as well as the strengths of those around you.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Make a list of your key people and write down what you perceive as their primary value to the organization. Having done that, evaluate their job descriptions, asking yourself this question: “How can I free up more of their time to do the things that add the most value to this organization?” Encourage your staff to rewrite their current job descriptions with the goal of refocusing their time on the things they do best. Lead your key people through a discussion of the principles discussed in these three chapters. Create opportunities for your staff to discuss ways to better leverage their abilities.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“In addition to a job description designed around your current employment, develop what you would consider to be the ultimate job description. This is for your eyes only. The goal of this exercise is to help you identify the niche in which you would feel most productive and consequently most successful. Dream a little.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“We know when we are misemployed. We know when our talents and efforts are being misappropriated. What we don’t know is how open our supervisors are to hearing about it. As a result of this assignment we made some significant changes that brought about better alignment for the entire staff. Furthermore, we stumbled upon a new tool by which to uncover what our people were thinking and feeling.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“What do you want to do? How can I help you find greater satisfaction within this organization? Where are your skills not being put to good use? How can I help you focus more of your time and energy on the thing(s) that tap your core competencies as well as add value to this organization?”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“A third project you can do to help you surface your real strengths is to develop two job descriptions for yourself. Your first one should reflect current reality. The second one, your ideal job description.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“A sixty-hour workweek will not compensate for a poorly delivered sermon. People don’t show up on Sunday morning because I am a good pastor (leader, shepherd, counselor). Ironically, my pastoring skills have almost nothing to do with my success as a pastor! In my world, it is my communication skills that make the difference. So that is where I focus my time.”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader

“Several years ago I concluded that 80 percent of my professional productivity flowed from three activities: Corporate visioncasting Corporate communication Leadership development”
― Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader