Another very important leader in my life was my first real “boss” in my first full time ministry.  I started at Southland during my senior year in college and went from weekends to full time that summer after graduation.  My first boss was Todd.  Of course at that juncture of ministry, I learned a ton.  But when I try to boil down what was probably the most important thing I learned from Todd’s influence on my life, it’s a no-brainer because Todd was awesome at this.  One simple, yet incredible piece of learning I received from Todd is a very important important and high priority for me in my leadership today.

Todd taught me the value of excellence in everything we do – setting the bar high and working hard to make excellence a priority.  This is huge.  Perfection is impossible, but excellence is expected.  Although there may have been times when Todd expected perfection, it was never a question that he expected excellence.

In those days, we were doing Children’s Ministry together so we hosted a ton of big events.  We were always….ALWAYS prepared and ready.  The environments were clean, set up – and set up very well, and screamed “we are expecting you….and LOTS of you.”  Then when it came time to execute our program, it was always done with excellence.  I can remember riding on the back of a wagon as we filled a huge piece of farm land with candy for kids to go collect, hearing Todd yell, “NO CLUMPING!”  If the candy was clumped, we’d have to go back and de-clump so that everything was evenly spread.  That may seem over the top, but the reality is, the details mattered.  Even the smallest details.  Those small details are what go into making the environment and experience excellent.  The big details are made up of many smaller ones.  And they all matter.

So I know that now I drive my teams crazy when I nit-pick about what may seem to be small things in our environments.  And I may not make any fans as I push to be sure environments and experiences are ready – and ready for a crowd – way before the first guest shows up.  And I may come across as “anal” as I critique our execution (which usually is reflective of our preparation).  But all of this matters.  And my teams can thank Todd for grinding this principle into my leadership.

Set the bar high.  Pursue excellence.  Be ready for a crowd.  Communicate that we were expecting you.  Do what you do with a tone of competence and excellence.  Prepare extremely well.  Work hard.  Have clean and neat environments.  Be organized.  De-clutter.

Thanks Todd!