:: eric michael bryant ::

The teleseminar from Tuesday was a great time! Thanks to all who joined us from Germany, the U.K., Australia, El Salvador, and across the U.S.!

Here were some of the key points for Catalyzing Community:

Principle #1: Cause creates community.
Our cause = moving people to become the person God created them to be.

Principle #2: Meet the needs of those around us.
We need to seek to meet the physical, emotional, economic, and spiritual needs of those around us. We should be pursue helping change the environment and change the individual who is looking for change.

Principle #3:Reach out to Xenos
Hospitality means loving strangers. A similar word, “hospice,” means “a safe place.” Our homes, our businesses, and our churches should become safe places for strangers to experience kindness and love.

Principle #4: Develop authentic friendships with those you know.
OIKOS is the Greek word for household (family, neighbors, co-workers and friends)

Principle #5: Allow people to belong before they believe.
We should never allow our convictions to become a litmus test for friendship. In fact, we should actively pursue friendships with people – even people with whom we may disagree. Go to www.mosaic.org/faq for more on the staff process at Mosaic.

Principle #6: Raise up a team of leaders to replace you
MPAC = Ministry through a pastor, assimilator, and catalyst
We need to make decisions based on who is not yet here rather than who has been here the longest.

Principle #7: Start Over

Listen to the conference call at my site’s audio messages at Catalyzing Community Audio

As always, special thanks to Daniel Decker for putting this together!

Send an email to teleseminar@ericbryant.org if you would like to join us for the next one:

“Moving People from Brokenness to Wholeness” on Sept. 10th at 10am (P.S.T.)- based on Uprising (a.k.a. The Character Matrix)

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I haven’t had a chance to read through the entire book, but I have enjoyed The One Minute Entrepreneur so far!

Here are some insights:

In the US, 1 million businesses started each year. 40% fail within one year. 80% fail by the fifth year. 96% have failed by year 10.

Primary reason for failure: “they are started by technicians - people who are skilled at something and who enjoy doing that thing…. They make the fatal mistake of continuing to do the work they’re skilled at while ignoring other vital parts of the business.” - Michael Gerber

“We are becoming the average of the five people with whom we are most closely associated…. [We should] associate with people we admire and can learn from.”

“You can get what you want in life if you help other people get what they want.”

“Success occurs when opportunity and preparation meet.”

“Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers and creating a motivating environment for your people.”

“The best management includes day-to-day coaching that catches people doing things right and redirects their efforts when they are off base.”

“The wrong leaders can send you off in directions you don’t want to go. The right leader at the right time can help steer things in the right direction.”

“You can’t predict the good that can come from helping or forgiving someone.”

To determine your aptitude as an entrepreneur, take a free assessment at www.estrengths.com (the site mentions a cost, but it still appears to be free)

For books about entrepreneurial leadership, check out Erwin’s books An Unstoppable Force and Chasing Daylight as well as Mark Batterson’s book In a Pit With A Lion on a Snowy Day.

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I would love to connect with you personally next Tuesday, July 15th at 10am (Pacific Standard Time) in our next Teleseminar.

The topic:  Catalyzing Community (starting a small group, a ministry, a non-profit, or even a church).  We’ll also interact and I’ll try to answer as many of your questions as I can.

To Register, email your name and location to: teleseminar@ericbryant.org

A reply will be sent to you via email with call details and dial in instructions.
A recording of the call will be made available 48 hours after the live call is complete.

If you have specific questions you would like to ask Eric during the call, please email those to eric@ericbryant.org.

Be sure to click the “Share This” icon below and invite a friend to join in on this call as well.

Hope to talk with you then!

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These past two days have been really fun as we are meeting with our paid staff at Mosaic for dreaming, investment, refreshment, and recalibrating.  Here are some highlights (mostly from Erwin):

The “conqueror” is the more common strategy for leadership.  The “explorer” excavates the talent of those already there.  We need to become explorers.

If you keep looking for a new place to speak, you will never become a better communicator.  We need to look for ways to have something important to say whenever and wherever we have the opportunity to speak (one-on-one conversations, team trainings, youth ministry, and so on).

If we don’t translate building community with us, then we won’t be able to do this in our teams.  We need to move fast but never at the cost of creating community!

We think we have to tone down the Gospel to attract people to Jesus, but we actually need to elevate the understanding of the Gospel (to where Jesus intended) to offer life-transformation to those out there who are looking for meaning. 

We need to initiate relationships and conversations with the people others see as invisible.

Not everything has to grow large, but we need to be honest about what we have and are doing and always be a place for outsider.

The more people feel you are speaking to a person, the larger the church can become.  The more people feel you are speaking to a crowd then fewer people will want to come.

We need to ask the question:  “How do I help the people around me become the people God wants them to be?”  We are spiritual leaders, not just leaders.

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Seth Godin pointed me to Scobleizer’s post entitled: “Is getting ‘more traffic’ your real goal?”

He points out that Fred has 45 million viewers, which is really quite remarkable, but what have these 45 million viewers been moved to do (other than laugh)?

Scobleizer writes: “Why not get into the traffic race? Because I’d rather be in the race for a smart, focused audience. That’s where the real action is. If traffic is your goal, here’s the formula. Do something really stupid that’ll make people laugh. Me? I’ll stick with having a few thousand people passionate about learning more from innovative technologists and other leaders.”

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Did you ever participate in those summer reading campaigns at your local library? Do you enjoy reading while on an airplane or in the back of a mini-van or on the hammock in the backyard? There is something about summers that make me want to read!

I have been getting some kind emails from people who have been reading Peppermint-Filled Pinatas on their vacations this summer.

Chuck sent me a really encouraging email and posted this on his Dangerous Dreamer blog: “i put the book down and began to weep. i was so broken…. i was convicted that my ability to “connect” with people doesn’t always have the right motive. i’m sometimes more interested in my agenda and motives than i am in them as a person.”

Joseph at “Seasons of Change” mentioned “Peppermint filled pinatas was a really good reminder of what it means to be relevant to a culture” in response to Craig Groeschel’s post on “Vacation Reading.”

Thanks for the kind emails and posts!

During my vacation last week, I enjoyed reading Seth Godin’s small is the new big and other riffs, rants, and remarkable business ideas plus listening on cd to Wikinomics.

My other summer reading goals include:

Tom Peters’ Thriving on Chaos and The Circle of Innovation
Seth Godin’s Free Prize Inside: How to Make a Purple Cow
Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges
Wide Awake by Erwin

What are you reading and recommending?

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The article I wrote about my little girl’s strong leadership potential (either the next Billy Graham or a dictator of a small country) is featured at Zondervan’s website along with the cutest picture of Trevi we have ever taken. 

Take a look at it here!

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Join us for a free teleseminar on Tuesday, July 15th!

I need your help, post or email me (eric@ericbryant.org) the topics you want to discuss/questions you want to ask and your preferred time of day.

Hope to talk with you then!

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Over the past year, I have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Jon Gordon.
Jon’s next book is called: The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways to Deal with Negativity at Work

Here are some insights I heard him share recently:

More people die at 9am on Mondays than any other time and day of the week. People would rather die than go to work.

Two dogs inside (angry and negative or warm and loving) which will win? The one who I feed.

Positive companies outperform negative ones.

My bus can only travel down one road at a time - either positive one or negative one.

“Stop complaining. 80% of those listening don’t care, the other 20% are glad something bad is happening to you.”. - Lou Holtz

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Have you heard of Kingdom Causes? They “are a non-profit community mobilizing organization with a mission to be a catalyst that inspires, connects, and mobilizes people for personal and community transformation.”

Check out more about our good friend, Mary Glenn at the site devoted to our community, Alhambra.

Mary has done a great job of bringing different groups (churches, non-profits, governmental agencies, etc.) together to meet the needs of our community.  She also officiated my cousin’s wedding and hooked me up with a chance to ride-along with our Alhambra Police Department.

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