This is a book I read a few months ago.  Since then, I have read it multiple times.  It is from Andy Stanley and the guys at North Point.  We actually read it as a staff at Washington Avenue.

There are tons of great points from this read, and I highly recommend it, but here are my primary takeaways:

• You have to know where you are going – Leadership has to be crystal clear and united on this.  This is no “kool aid-free” zone…everyone in a leadership role has to be smoking what you’re selling.  The tiniest degree of variance in vision can result in egregious differences down the road.  There is just no wiggle room here.  Team members may have to be replaced in order to solidify unity.
• You can only do a few things great – I was just reminded of the basic principle that the more you do, generally speaking, the less attention to detail you are able to give to everything.  In other words, there is an inverse relationship between number of programs and the quality of those programs.  This is relative to human resources in each setting…but most try to more than capabilities or resources allow and quality suffers.
• You never “arrive” – There is never a time when it’s ok to sit back and relax.  We will be done when we get to Heaven.  Until then, there is much to do and no time to waste!

There is a lot of good stuff in here…these are just the BIG ideas that I walked away with.