Leading with Exponential Impact

Leading with Exponential Impact was the workshop I presented at the recent Exponential Global Conference* in Orlando, Florida. Exponential gathers 6,000 church planters, church leaders and ministry leaders from across the U.S., together with a scattering of participants from other countries (like me). The theme for this year’s conference was Good, Great, Greater, based upon Jesus’ words in John 14:12:

‘Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.‘

The plenary sessions applied the theme to leadership, church planting and urban mission. A couple of hundred workshops helped delegates explore various aspects of the theme. I attended diverse workshops relating to spiritual growth, developing diverse teams and event management. One of the highlights for me was being part of the ministry team that prayed for hundreds of people on the final morning, commissioning them for greater impact in their lives and ministry.

In my workshop, I built upon the Effortless theme (which I’ve previously written about on this blog – click here for the articles) and considered our biblical mandate to lead with exponential impact, meaning fruitfulness beyond our efforts. The mainstream view of leadership suggests that rewards are directly proportional to our efforts. However, as Christ-centered servant leaders, I believe the Bible teaches us to expect greater fruit, not in the form of personal rewards, but in the impact we have for the Kingdom.

For this to happen, we need to have a paradigm shift in how we lead. In my workshop, I proposed that this shift has three key elements, as illustrated in the image below.

I will unpack each of these shifts in upcoming articles. However, to pique your interest, you can view my slides from the presentation by clicking the download link below.

The worship, the opportunity to engage with passionate believers, and the pursuit of the Holy Spirit made this conference an incredibly valuable experience. My biggest takeaway can be summed up by this quote from Andrew Murray:

‘God’s children, in the first place, require a revival – a new revelation by the Holy Spirit of what is the hope of their calling, of what God does indeed expect from them, and of the life of power and consecration, of joy and fruitfulness, which God has prepared for them in Christ.’**

*For more information on Exponential, please see https://exponential.org/

**Leona Choy, Andrew Murray, the Authorised Biography.