I love adding value to church leaders, pastors and marketplace leaders.

In an effort to add value to their lives, I decided to attend Pastor E. Dewey Smith's One Day Leadership Summit in Atlanta, Georgia.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of John Maxwell. In fact, his 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, along with Bill Hybels' Leadership Axioms, travel with me everywhere I go. Attending conferences that equip me to influence the influencer fulfills John Maxwell's 15th law, "The Law of Contribution—Growing Yourself Enables You to Grow Others."

I must confess that, in the beginning, my motivation for personal growth was selfish. I wanted to grow, so I could be successful. There were goals I wanted to accomplish and milestones I wanted to achieve. But along the way, I made a life-changing discovery. My progress in personal growth also opened the doors for others.

Therefore, I'd like to share the top leadership lessons from one of the greatest leadership minds in Christianity, Dr. E. Dewey Smith Jr.:

One-Day Summit Leadership Lessons

1. Intelligence is knowing what to say; wisdom is knowing when to say it.

2. Leaders: Protect your calendar! If it doesn't fit the vision, why is it on your calendar?

3. Multitasking is a myth. Focus on one thing at a time.

4. We spend 80 percent of our time on things that only bring 20 percent return.

5. A first step in finding balance between family, ministry and personal needs is to consider that you are part of the problem.

6. Stop all activity for a period to assess what you are doing with your time and why.

7. Consider how the pace at which you're operating impacts your family, ministry and health.

8. Ask, "Will these things matter eternally?"

9. From the outset, just about every God-ordained vision appears to be impossible.

10. There are always more questions than answers when God births a vision in our hearts.

11. Vision unfolds when the right person is doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason.

12. A man or woman with a vision usually feels alone.

13. Vision-casting is the idea of communicating the vision (goals) that one believes God has given to the church or ministry (Hab. 2:2-3).

14. God is using your circumstances to position and prepare you to accomplish His vision for your life.

15. Balance is the management of imbalance.

16. Become more intentional about in what and where you invest your time.

17. If it's not connected to my vision, why is it on my calendar?

18. Leaders: If your staff doesn't believe in your vision, they can't help you fulfill it.

19. There is a thin line between faith and foolishness.

20. There are a people who need your ministry.

21. Vision-casting involves warfare. Remember: Your senses are weakened when you're at war.

22. Be yourself. As leaders, God calls you to be you. Don't duplicate others in ministry.

23. Good ideas vs. God ideas—good ideas are limited to our potential, connections and resources.

24. If it is your idea, you will need to devote a great deal of time and energy trying to figure out how to pull it off.

25. A divine vision is limited only by God's potential and resources—which means it's not limited.

26. If it's a good idea—you make it happen.

27. If it's a God idea—you stand back and watch it happen.

28. The main challenge with using Personal Theology as the basis for Public Policy is this issue—"Whose theology will we use?"—Dr. E. Dewey Smith Jr.

29. Personal theology is an individual's system of beliefs and practices based on his or her study and understanding of God.

30. Public policy is the fundamental policy on which laws rest; a course of action adopted and pursued by a government.

31. Personal Theology vs. Public Policy. You can't legislate morality; you must demonstrate morality.

32. Our focus has been more on legislation then demonstration.

33. Draw circles, not lines: building bridges. Because Christianity proclaims exclusive truth, Christians must know how to build bridges to the postmodern world. Christians must understand this world and know how to make connections to it, while at the same time maintaining their distinctiveness as Christians. As Jesus counseled, we must be in the world but not of the world. 1 Peter 3:15 will be our paradigm for building bridges.

The One Day Summit 2015 was amazing and I hope you have enjoyed the leadership lessons.

Rev. Clarence E. Stowers Jr. succeeded his father, Dr. Clarence Stowers Sr., as the pastor of the historic Mars Hill Baptist Church of Chicago in 1999. Mars Hill has experienced phenomenal ministry growth under his visionary pastoral leadership since then. Follow Rev. Stowers' blog, The Urban Pastor or check out Mars Hill's website.

For the original article, visit cestowers.com.

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