October 28, 2017 Pastor Frank Damazio - Become a Game Changer Leader Session Notes Hunger demands something happens. The 5 Levels of Game Changers: A Self Changer is someone who sees themselves in need of change and changes what they can. A Place Change is someone who changes the atmosphere and the people around them. A Game Changer this level can t happen until you know how to change yourself. A Nation Changer we need some leaders to come and find a new future for the nation of Canada A World Changer Every one of us can be a game changer. Examples are in the areas of sports, business (cf. 1-800 Got Junk), politics, world Missions, leadership, leadership teams, and churches. Game Changers lift everyone to their best. A Game Changer Defined: a) A leader who dramatically changes the way something is done, thought about, or strategized. b) A leader who thinks differently, explores continuously, breaks old molds, inspires faith, and impacts future. To live in the future is uncomfortable - you have to release everyone to think and imagine and have an exploring spirit. What steps do we need to take to understand and impact the nation of Canada? A game changer has to push the boundaries consistently. You can t just dream about getting out of the boat and walking on water. For you to think strategically you are going to have to create something that doesn t exist, not just to keep what you have but to multiply what we want. There is a definite DNA to a game changer that can be identified.
12 Characteristics (Genetic Code) of a Potential Game Changer: (12 Researched Identifiable Characteristics) 1. Very Strategic Big Picture thinker - not just their department but bigger Creative Idea Generator - not afraid to say something that sounds stupid Obsessive drive to succeed Great at articulating vision Strong influencer of people - the ones that people want to be around (Charisma) Passionate about an idea Risk Takers - love to take risks - saying why wouldn t we risk that? or We are all ready on a losing streak why not try it to see if we can win High on vigor - high energy Likeable - not people who dominate - a leader who is not liked is not followed Excel in tough times - the more pressure the better they do. They take people with them - if promoted they take their team to the next level too. A Game Changer Leader is about taking people to the next level, they want all to win. Which ones of those are you? Do you even want to be a game changer? Do you want to be uncomfortable? Could you if needed reinvent myself? Could I change so these would be high on my list? What if these characteristics are high on your list but the corporate message is these aren t valued qualities? If you are waiting for people to come to your church service you will be the same as you are now next year. Most Canadian churches have plateaued. The churches that are reaching culture are changing? How do you solve connecting to people when they don t want to be here? You can t create a new future using an old past.
12 Biblical Identifiable characteristics 2. God encounter: A life that has encountered God and God has encountered them. In choosing leaders they need to have first encountered God, not just having skill. The church needs spiritually better speakers/thinkers. 3. Adversity journeys: Those that have gone through adversity are seen as safer than those who haven t. (Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, Paul) A person that has experienced adversity has had things changed inside of them. Ask the question: What have you gone through? Everybody starts with the same colours, but not everybody can use those colours the same way - not everyone becomes a Rembrandt. He produced art out of brokenness. 4. Supernatural Faith: This is a scriptural leader - hard to lead a church when you haven t encountered the supernatural. Miracles are missing in Canada. Culture doesn t argue with miracles, and Jesus built his ministry on miracles. Jesus prayed for healing with those who weren t believers. He didn t engage with the cultural stuff he changed the empire by focusing on the message and not the issues of the day. The message was the gospel, the vehicle was the miracles and the church grew outside of the walls. 5. Sees the invisible: Understand there is a spirit realm 6. Driven by purpose: The kingdom of God, the purposes of God, the purposes of the mission. 7. A Dreamer: All leaders in scripture had the ability to dream 8. Passionate Leader 9. Breakthrough attitude 10. Gathers great leaders 11. Resilient beyond normal: Pressure is a sign you are making progress, comfort means you have given up. If you do that you are forfeiting the future for a comfort zone. If you don t press into the pressure you won t make it to the next level 12. Makes big things happen 13. No sacrifice too much: Leaders give their lives for what they believe. Sacrifice has its own timetable. God doesn t judge fruit by how long you live but by how much impact you made. What can I do to train others?
Game Changer Actions: The relent pursuit with unwavering commitment of the out-of-reach things others do not see or have given up on. Seeing what doesn t exist and going after it. It all comes down to how you think. The difference between good leaders and great leaders is their thinking. All leaders think, but they don t think equally. We must recognize the mindsets and patterns of your thoughts. Your predictable pattern is discernable. It is how other people know you will deal with various situations. Two things will happen to a person who tries to enlarge their thinking: exhaustion, and discomfort. At that point you are changing mindsets. For example: I will not hire who is available, I will hire who is best. Albert Einstein: The world we have created is a product of our thinking, and it cannot be changed without a change to our thinking. The thoughts of yesterday will not take you into the new tomorrows. If you think that we will build the future with the church of the past, it won t work. 3 Levels of Thinking 1. Low Level Thinking Leader a) They are not a gatherer of knowledge; they do not pursue knowledge and are satisfied with everything they know. They do not gather other people s thoughts; they only read to find people who agree with them. b) They do not analyze of things or experiences. They do not pursue new insights and they do not grow. Insights: means: inward sights. They don t try to interpret what happens to them, they do not have a THEREFORE. c) They are not a synthesizer of things. They do not see the big picture they don t put all the pieces together. They do not comprehend things. They are myopic. Never thinking outside of their department or sphere of influence. They cannot see every part as affecting the whole. Who are you trying to reach? Be specific. We tend to reach who we already have sitting in the pew. Who likes your church the best? Age? Demographic? Why are you trying to reach them? If you don t know the demographics of the people you want to reach you can t reach them. If you have a small window to push everyone into then if they don t fit it they won t come. Why are we making the window of reach smaller by shrinking the model, instead of larger? People don t like the same things that leaders like.
2. The Progressive thinking Leader a) Is an absorbing thinker, they learn in context and engage a lot b) Is a strategic thinker, asking the WHY and the WHAT c) Is a cathedral thinker, seeing the whole and not the part - (wall vs. cathedral - start with why, Simon Sinek) 3. The Game Changer Leader a) The breakout thinker - goes outside the box consistently b) Faith compass thinker - their core is towards the word of God c) God Thoughts Thinker - every decision is started with a God Thought You can change your thinking, enlarge it, and ask questions. Get outside your own little box. It starts with thinking bigger rather than smaller. What would it take for everyone to come up one level of thought?