1) Carve out as much time as possible to watch live. Grab your team and cancel your appointments.
2) Keep streaming tweets while watching OR if you can't watch live. Since I blogged on this innovative way to attend a conference click here to read more. The hashtag for the event is #nines2012
3) Zero in by asking for the Holy Spirit to help. Okay, if you are a church leader you are always praying for other people. Like me, you might forget this little step when it comes to learning. Pray for God to deliver the arrow of truth that you need to penetrate your heart.
4) Think beyond the given topics and categories. This is where the value proposition of the NINES gets exponential. When you hear a dozen to one hundred snapshots of passionate, persuasive nuggets from really smart leaders, look for the common themes and shared angles of the content. This is what all futurists and visionaries do. They are not just seeing what others see. They are organizing and articulating in new ways what other people have seen but have not fully appreciated.
5) Focus reflection. All of this great content must translate, at some point, to meaningful take-aways based on the clarity of your own calling. My personal strategy will be to take hand written notes, that I will group eventually into no more than three categories. In my experience, if a leaders tries to carry more than three ideas, thoughts, or actions away in their wheelbarrow, he or she risks tipping over and having nothing.
6) Improve communication. As you watch dozens of speakers trying to deliver the goods in five minutes, observe what style or strategy connected with you best. How can you adapt your communication? What one thing can you try?
7) Act immediately. Perfect learning is the enemy to good execution. The truth is that you don't need more information to do a better job as a leader. You need perspective, conviction, passion and stretched imagination. Your leadership will be measured, NOT by the length of your NINES notes or the number of your compelling retweets. Your leadership will be measured how you act with what you gain. What will you need to stop, start, enhance, plan for, or discuss immediately with your leadership team as a result of what you learn?