H3 Leadership is a book that tackles three crucial character traits of great leaders: being humble, staying hungry, and always hustling. Humble asks “who am I” Hungry asks “Where do I want to go?” and Hustle asks “How will I get there?” Leadership is more than hard work; it’s habitual work. Brad tells us that “Nearly half of your day will be determined by the patterns you’ve either intentionally created or passively allowed.” The patterns we harvest and create will mold the kind of person we become. If we want to change, we must make a decision to do so. “Habits take an idea and convert it into results.” Each chapter dives into a habit that leaders can implement to grow in their leadership and success.
During my time in The Fellowship Residency Program, I read a long list of powerful books. To read more about my residency experience click here. One aspect of my assignments is to summarize and write key takeaways from each of the books. This is a summary of "H3 Leadership". by Brad Lomenick.
Humble: Who are you?
Chapter One: A Habit of Self-Discovery – Know who you are
An interesting thought came to me as I was reading this chapter. One of my biggest strengths is that I am able to adapt to what other people need me to be or whatever the season demands. One of the greatest struggles in that is that I struggle to know who I truly am in that adaptability. Knowing who you are can alter your scope of influence. The question I need to ask myself is if I am brave enough to be who I am versus who other people want me to be? Self-discovery is an ongoing process not a one-time event. Self-discovery can happen through personality tests, regular retreats, making an identity list, leading yourself, and being more of yourself in all areas. Our identities are unchanging and being us should always come before doing. Instead, who we are should determine what we do. “We don’t find out identity; we receive our identity from God.” It is helpful to practice Sabbath, journal and dialogue with God, and be with honest community. I should ask myself, “Am I making this decision out of a desire to be loved or be loving?”
Chapter Two: A Habit of Openness – Share the Real You with Others
Once we become self-aware, we should move towards becoming more confident in self-disclosure. People prefer real over perfect every single time. Strategies for this include asking others if they think you are isolated or connected, improving intimacy, answering even the personal and difficult questions, investing in long-term friendships, being willing to confess and say sorry, and finding a trusted confidant. We impress others by our strengths but find connection in our weaknesses. Authenticity is built by and on trust. Be you in your faults as much as your strengths. For vulnerability people must ask themselves tough questions, choose courage over comfort, stop to teach, and be willing to fail. Being willing to fail is a huge area of development for me.
Chapter Three: A Habit of Meekness – Remember It’s Not About You
First, we remember that everyone wants to be needed. It is normal to want to feel valued. Practicing meekness demands that others are able to make decisions and allowed to be more talented then you in many areas. We must be wary of the platform, invest in those who have nothing to give us, reward those who are brave enough to fight back, pass down ministry and power, and always remember it isn’t about us. Humility demands that we are last to speak up, we look for good ideas from others, and we give others opportunities even if we think we know the right answer. We should remain in worship where our gaze is on Jesus and not our own pride.
Chapter Four: A Habit of Conviction – Stick to Your Principles
“The best leaders are people of integrity and principle who know the difference between principles and preferences.” First, we must identify what principles we absolutely refuse to compromise. Once those are established, we should pay careful attention to the gray areas, treat every assignment as if our legacy depends on it, commit to do what we have said we will do, use safety measures to protect our integrity, don’t let the negativity distract us from what we know is right, and make sure that character is always prioritized above competency. To drive character building, be sure to learn new information every day by partnering with character building people, stretching yourself, and seeking criticism and feedback. When we are willing to do what no one will do, we are eventually able to do what everyone wants to do. Lean in to criticism rather than putting up the defense. Seek greatness in others. Tell the truth even when it would be easier or more comfortable to lie.
Chapter Five: A Habit of Faith – Prioritize Your Day So God is First
Understanding the Bible requires it to be heard, read, studied, memorized, and meditated on. In the meditation, we are able to internalize the scripture and allow it to transform us. Faith allows us to quit focusing on what people are thinking or saying about us and look to what God may be saying to us. Developing a habit of faith will require work. First, we must simply expect that God will show up and avoid “going through the motions.” Secondly, we must unplug our ears to hear from the Lord. Doing so will require that we have a place that God meets us in. However, we must be sure to be flexible in our spiritual practices so that they do not grow boring or monotonous and look for God everywhere we go. When this becomes hard, we must lean into our Christian communities to support us. However, we cannot allow our work in ministry to fuel us. Only time with God can do that. A major takeaway came when I read, “As you focus on your inner life, you’ll find that your influence will likely expand too.” Focus on the faith, and the success will fall into place.
Chapter Six: A Habit of Assignment – Live Out Your Calling
We must not confuse who we are with what we are made to do. Our identity is who we are, but our calling is how we practically live that out. Our jobs are also not our callings but our temporary assignments. “Calling is where your greatest strengths and deepest passions come together.” It is easier to move into unknown assignments when we are confident in our callings. Jobs however should not simply be means to an end that we endure but something that we love.
Hungry: Where are You Going?
Chapter Seven: A Habit of Ambition – Develop an Appetite for What’s Next
Ambition has never been something that I personally struggle with, but I enjoyed how much this chapter focused on developing healthy ambition. It described it as being, “never satisfied, but always content.” Ambition should be an understanding and hunger for what is coming up next while tending to the present. Ambition must be fed in a healthy way to yield healthy results. You can do this by sketching future goals that are good and SMART, celebrate the victories, create healthy competition, find the right people to support you, take on the next level of work before you are even there, and don’t stop. A “no” may mean you are one step closer to a “yes.”
Chapter Eight: A Habit of Curiosity – Keep Learning
Learning is one of my absolute favorite things in life. I have a hunger for knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. This chapter affirmed that I am on the right path. “Change makers lean in, shift their weight forward, and stay hungry even when coasting is infinitely easier.” Part of being curious is asking strategic questions that matter. Along the same lines, we should listen more than we talk. Real growth happens when we listen. We should seek out people who are different than us and surround ourselves with people who are far more brilliant than we are. Find podcasts, books, or Ted talks to listen to and spend a great deal of time reading. Schedule lunches with people for the sole purpose of learning, and at the end of every single day ask yourself whether or not you learned something new today. If not, find an interesting article to read before you go to bed. Seek to be interested more than being interesting.
Chapter Nine: A Habit of Passion – Love What You Do
Leaders should aim to have as much passion for their work as they do for their favorite sports team. “Your passion gives permission to those around you to express theirs.” Passion comes from talking about the victories, learning to love what you do rather than simply “Making it through the day.” Passion stays when you remember that you as the leader will always have the most passion of anyone in the room. Feel comfortable showing your humanity through emotions, stop to recharge when needed, and get someone who can coach you. When we allow God’s presence to saturate our daily lives, our passion will naturally arise. We express this passion to Him through prayer, worship, proclamation, and activism.
Chapter Ten: A Habit of Innovation – Stay Current, Creative, and Engaged
Many people automatically assume that they are not creative or innovative, but innovation can be learned and born in everyone. It demands courage, failure, stamina, and spark. When those four things come together, it can be successfully manifested in almost anyone. Innovation requires change and changing often. Creativity in itself can become exhausting, because it is more of a process than a one-time event. A habit of innovation is developed through “intentional, systemic processes and attention to the rhythms of your life and workdays.” We can build our innovation by budgeting for innovative ideas and development, mixing small and simple things up to keep the energy exciting, emphasizing fun, and moving our body often. Innovative leaders are often times “architects of yes” rather than “masters on no.” They give their creatives healthy boundaries, and persevere when they feel stuck. To keep meetings exciting bring in outsiders, exclude some negative Nancy from innovative meetings, allow for rabbit trails, and write down the important ideas so they are not forgotten. It is much easier to real in creativity than to motivate or initiate it. One of the ways it suggests to view innovation is as another form of problems solving. I do not usually consider myself innovative, but I liked how the chapter encouraged innovation development by working to solve a problem in three different ways. When you practice that skill, other necessary skills will shortly follow.
Chapter Eleven: A Habit of Inspiration – Nurture a Vision for a Better Tomorrow
“Influencers who want to develop a habit of inspiration must craft a captivating vision for the future and a persuasive plan for how to get there.” One of the more important aspects of inspiration is having a vision. A vision statement must be optimistic, focused yet far-reaching, simple, personal, and flexible. Inspiration is developed not only in the crafting, but also the casting of the vision. To cast vision, we must invite participation, tell meaningful and captivating stories, test the limits, incentivize progress, encourage growth, seek out dreamers, execute in small ways to build momentum, and evaluate yourself, your team, and your progress consistently. Vision is more than hope, because hope only dreams or suggests a future, whereas vision declare the future. We must remember that vision comes from God, so we should seek him as well as other visionaries to develop ourselves in this area.
Chapter Twelve: A Habit of Bravery – Take Calculated Risks
I never have viewed myself as brave, but this chapter really opened my eyes to the bravery that God has gifted me with. Bravery’s biggest obstacle is fear, but often facing the fear directly is the best way to overcome it. “Bravery is not the absence of fear but rather the commitment to face fear head-on, control it, and eventually, overcome it.” It is good to know that, “life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” After all, “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.” If you want to develop a habit of bravery, begin by talking small steps that lead to brave bounds. Learn to embrace the uncertain and the uncomfortable. Learn to calculate costs, and delegate appropriately in both responsibility and authority. Encourage risk-taking among your coworkers. Above all, keep risking. Even if you fail. Especially if you fail. “I would rather fail at pursuing my calling with courage and passion than succeed at something that doesn’t really matter.” Courage will sometimes lead to wild success and other times lead to crippling defeat. But both experiences will grow and shape you as a leader. So simply put, go.
Hustle: How Will You Get There?
Chapter Thirteen: A Habit of Excellence – Set Standards that Scare You
We must set standards of excellence that are competing not against competition but against perfection. Pursuing excellence should scare us. It begins with being efficient, effective, and congenial. Remembering people’s names and looking into people’s eyes are crucial for excellence. It communicates that you value them and their time. Learn to anticipate what tomorrow will bring. Be one step ahead. Embrace disagreements, pushback, and tension. Excellent leaders also demand feedback and come to meetings thinking of solutions not simple ideas. To remain excellent will require taking on additional responsibility, constantly seeking growth and pursuing consistency in the excellence. “Serving God should elevate our level of excellence in every part of our lives, not lower it.” Excellence should not be confused with perfection. Excellence is simply giving all we have to God. To be excellent, we must stick with something even when we don’t want to, make it known publicly, seek accountability, and track the results.
Chapter Fourteen: A Habit of Stick-with-it-ness – Take the Long View
I often forget that most success comes from years of working through the grind. It is also important to remember that new is not always better. “True creativity is discerning, and it balances the need for ‘new’ with patience and perseverance.” Leader need to be disciplined in the now, the small, and in the important. Discipline at the cost of family, friends, and faith is not true discipline. Remember to have persevering discipline towards the same goal. The what and why of sticking with it are easy. The how is where it becomes more challenging. Discipline is “doing what has to be done when it has to be done as well as it can be done, and doing it that way all the time.” We can begin to implement discipline by managing the schedule of our days, remove temptations, push through the quitting moments, allow flexibility, and focus on both the daily and the legacy goals.
Chapter Fifteen: A Habit of Execution – Commit to Completion
We absolutely must choose to outwork everyone on our team. Afterall, execution is one of the most important traits. Anyone can think of ideas, but few can see the idea from conception to completion. I discovered that creatives thrive more on ideas than they do the process. As a result, it can be frustrating for those of us who are more process oriented. To help with execution, it is important to create a plan and develop accountability around that plan. Identify when you are most productive and lean into that. Reward completing jobs as much as we reward ideas. Focus on being a problem solver and solution crafter. Hire people who will walk the walk not simply talk the talk. Encourage your team to manage upwards. Remember that your actions are as important as your words. Kill projects that aren’t working, but make sure you aren’t killing good projects due to a lack of execution. Leaders don’t wait for others to give them the next step. They seek out other ways to move things along and are energized by the execution.
Chapter Sixteen: A Habit of Team Building – Create and Environment that Attracts and Retains the Best and Brightest
If those around us are not flourishing, then we are not being effective leaders. We must ask ourselves, “what is it like to be on the other side of me?” We are there to shepherd our people not make ourselves shine. A habit of teambuilding ultimately prioritizes fun. This is especially emphasized when leaders remember that they get to lead rather than a position of “having” to lead. The best test for a healthy team is healthy morale. A simple morale booster is asking people’s opinion and seeking their input and advice. It is important to avoid being the fun police, scheduling too many meetings, failing to appropriately recognize team members, having a lack of self-awareness, or making unmet promises. You can combat these moral issues by trusting people, developing a “we” mentality, remembering when the team wins, we all win, allowing for flexibility and pushback, giving the team decision-making permission, and paying people a fair wage. Leadership ultimately is about casting vision and championing momentum. “Use what’s in your hand to fulfill what’s in your heart.”
Chapter Seventeen: A Habit of Partnership – Collaborate with Colleagues and Competitors
Relationships that you failed to partner on are opportunities that were missed for your organization. It is our responsibility to share our power with others. Many don’t participate in partnerships, because they fear their ideas will be taken, they worry they don’t have resources for the partnership, they don’t click with the people, or they don’t want to share the glory of the success. This was a humbling realization for me as I tend to avoid partnership at the cost of success. Partnerships can be formed due to proximity, pragmatism, or purpose. Those for purpose are healthiest. To develop this habit, always be on the lookout for new partnership opportunities, and don’t count out competitors. Pool info, give before you seek to get, be clear in your expectations, intentionally communicate when it is time to part ways, and don’t be afraid of younger leaders. Often times, our lack of unity comes from a place of insecurity. Be courageous enough to partner anyways.
Chapter Eighteen: A Habit of Margin – Nurture Healthier Rhythms
Too often, we take pride in our stress and exhaustion, but what would it look like if we flipped the model? Leaders must create a margin of time to leverage more effective and healthy management of time. Building a margin will demand stillness, sabbath to connect with God, and space in the schedule “If you don’t control your cadence, your cadence will control you.” Begin by documenting your current schedule and drafting a more managed schedule, prioritize appropriately, allow for interruptions, schedule in fun and rest, commit time to family, friends, and faith, and make sleep a priority. Don’t eat into the margin and remind yourself that fresh time leads to new vision. Finally, remember that rest is more than simply not working. It is replenishing your mind, body, and/or soul.
Chapter Nineteen: A Habit of Generosity – Leave the World a Better Place
When we dive into it, success is more about helping others gain their own success. Focusing on stewardship reminds us that we, “are not the owner, but only the manager of all [we] have.” This allows us to be generous and faithful to what we give. We can either be a giver, a matcher who expects equal return, or a taker who leaches and sucks people dry. Watch how you talk, operate, budget, schedule, and create culture with others to see which one you are. Life cannot be about us. In response, we must be generous with our power, our time, our knowledge and skills, our praise and encouragement, and our reachability. It is so important to say “no” to yourself so that you can say “yes” to what others may need.
Chapter Twenty: A Habit of Succession – Find Power in Passing the Baton
One of the best ways to leave a good legacy is to pass it off to an effective and efficient leader. Too often we wish an organization will crash and burn after we leave so that people see how necessary they are. Instead, we should plan for our succession. Assemble a trusted group to help you in this. Over time, you can begin to let go of the work and seek feedback on the transition. Build a team under you, not one person. Set a deadline for your plan, and leave when it is time to leave. Once you leave, look for new leadership in a new role. Your legacy and success are truly displayed by how the organization manages after you leave.
The Hard work of Leadership
Leading people and projects is hard work. There is no off switch. It is hard to balance and prioritize, changing culture is tough. Long-term focus can fade. It can be hard to lead a life outside of the leader role. Sometimes we need to hold on when we want to let go. Sometimes we will have to lead in the midst of personal crisis. We will have to make hard decisions and lack the wisdom to do so. Learning to say “no” is tough. Stress and conflict come with the job. Staying humble in the midst of praise. Focusing on vision, details, and everything in between. Dealing with messy people. Facing criticism. Balance work, family, and everything in between. Facing your own shortcoming, and handing away responsibility while trusting God. Working with difficult relationship. Dying to self, daily. Facing head on your insecurities and inadequacies. Working through the grind when the newness has faded. Doing things that are not interesting to you. Recognizing the weight and power of the leadership platform. Actually practicing what you preach. Leading your own life well, and limiting what you say “yes” to. Moving from a me to a “we” mentality, having patience in the friend, and recognizing what really matters. Each of these things are the hard parts of leadership. What a rewarding thing it is to overcome these struggles and seek to be the leader that God created us to be.
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