Fount 2024 Initiatives

Sep 5

Introducing the Liberating Leaders Network - L2 Network - where we guide leaders in their adventure to a healthy soul because “well-developed people make more effective leaders” (Venessa Kiley’s publication, “Driver’s of a Leader’s Effectiveness”).

The outcomes of this proposal are intended to strengthen the disciple-making leaders within the KC Underground and those who orbit into our ecosystem. It is ultimately intended to strengthen disciple-making leaders at large, beginning with those in our city.

A liberating leader is a disciple-making leader committed to their own leadership health in God and multiplying that health in the leaders around them. The sustainability of our network hinges on the health of our leaders and their ability to multiply that health. The recent report "Driver's of a Leader's Effectiveness" published by Vanessa Kiley from an analysis of over 20,000 data points of business leaders "declares unambiguously that well-developed people make more effective leaders", especially those who are "inwardly sound" and "others focused". The Harvard Business Review published the results of a study by KRW International which confirmed Vanessa's findings. The study calculated the the quality of CEO's and their senior teams on integrity, responsibility, forgiveness and compassion and then compared those ratings to each organization's financial performance. They discovered that the bottom 10 CEO's / teams experienced a return on assets (ROA) of 1.93% while the top 10 experienced an ROA of 9.35%. That's nearly a 400% difference. If that isn't enough to inspire us, Human Synergistics analysis of 2 million data points across several decades and most major global cultures made these findings definitive. In fact, their volume and diversity of data classified the conclusion as a “normative group”, meaning definitively that how well-developed we are as people is the most significant determiner of how effective we will be as leaders.

Vanessa Kiley, KRW International, and Human Synergisitcs discovered what Jesus already declared to be true in his teachings and trainings with his followers. Jesus regularly called people to become a distinct kind of person and people; and, that made all the difference. Because kingdom reproduction is about the quality or “kind”, the L2 Network has a passion about multiplying a certain kind of disciple and a certain kind of leader. As disciple-making pastor, author and global leader, Edmund Chan states, “disciple-making is all about a certain kind of person, radically committed to a certain kind of purpose, who through a certain kind of process, reproduces a certain kind of product / person”. Our city-wide disciple-making movement necessitates a "certain kind" of healthy leader who reproduces a "certain kind" of healthy leader. For the L2 Network, that "certain kind” is a liberating leader, which is the genesis and impetus for our initiative.

A liberating leader's interest is in the highest and best of others. Leaders create the culture where they lead. The texture of their lives determines that leadership. The quality of a leader’s life, therefore, defines their culture and ultimately shapes the DMM that flows from their efforts.

Specifically, the marks of an L2:

SECURE
They are increasingly at home in the love of God. They are clear and settled in their own identity and direction. They walk (live and lead) at the pace of love.
SAFE
They are emotionally present to themselves and God; and physiologically safe to others. They are accessible and approachable bc they consistently attuned and attach in relationships as an overflow of a healthy union with God and a close community of allies.
SKILLED
They understand that 75% of their leadership effectiveness stems from who they are, not what they do. And yet, they have the wisdom to know that the 25% is necessary for effectiveness. Therefore, they are increasingly growing in their leadership acumen and real-world application.
SPIRIT-EMPOWERED
They are self-aware and understand that they not only have natural strengths but also real human limitations. They trust that God’s strength is made perfect in their weakness. In fact, they embrace their neediness for God and for others. They seek to be filled with the Spirit daily, led by the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit moment by moment bc they acutely understand that life and leadership doesn’t work without intimacy and regular engagement with Holy Spirit.

Toward these ends, the L2 Network seeks to strengthen these “certain kinds” in disciple-making leaders through life-on-life engagement in four environments:

Come Home (3 day/overnight retreat)
Design Your Life (2 weekend retreat - not overnight)
Activate Your Genius (quarterly workshops)
Become Worth Following (weekly cohort)
L2 Guide Certification (by invitation)

The L2 Network is committed to guiding leaders on their adventure toward begin well-developed people, and ultimately leaders. $25k will help us lay a strong foundation for this initiative, namely . . .