Seventy miles above the earth’s surface, a satellite captures the image of a single majestic sequoia tree, rising 300 feet above the barren wasteland that once was California.
Okay, just kidding.
About California, anyway.
It really is a sequoia tree.
Not 300 feet tall, yet.
More like 3 inches. [click to continue…]
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I don’t knit.
My sister tried to teach me when we were kids.
It wasn’t pretty.
My wife knits.
My daughters too.
Not me.
But you know who else does? [click to continue…]
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In the previous post I started sharing ideas of how you can create multiple streams of income or invest in recession-resistant areas of the economy. And all of this advice came from the ancient wisdom of the Proverbs 31 woman.
The first four income or investment sources were
Here are four more areas to explore how you can generate income, either directly or indirectly through investments: [click to continue…]
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I had an interesting coaching conversation last week. It was about money. “We have re-budgeted and cut just about everything I know to cut,” he was saying, “and we are barely squeaking by. How else can I cut my budget when we’ve done all the cutting we know to do?” I should add that he was trying to avoid cutting his giving to his church.
My reply went something like this: “A man much wiser than I once told me that he found it important not only to budget his expenditures, but also to budget his income. Maybe in an effort to balance your budget, you’re looking on the wrong side of the ledger.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“Your salary is pretty fixed,” I said, “but your wife has two different sources of income where the results vary. By seeing just 10 more clients a month (not a week – a month), you will realize the difference you’re looking for.”
His whole brain re-shifted. Changed his whole perspective. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he said.
There was a lot of energy in that conversation, and I felt useful. And while I mentioned to him the sage advice I received from the businessman, what I didn’t mention at the time was that what most changed my perspective was a girl. [click to continue…]
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It’s one of the loneliest of all encounters,
The most agonizing of all relationships,
Where it seems as though the very air you breathe
Pushes hard against you as you try to move forward.
Yet move you must.
The calling is too strong…
The need is too great…
Press on …
Press on against the wind. [click to continue…]
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It’s been a couple of years now since I repented of New Year’s resolutions. I knew it was time when somebody asked me about mine a few years ago and I said, “Oh, you know, the usual.”
(Totally irrelevant side note: Wouldn’t be funny to go into a gym today or tomorrow and find some dude who’s built like a tank and who looks like he’s lifting one and say to him as those muscles rip through his shirt – “Ya’ know, those New Year’s resolutions never really work.” Anyway…)
That’s why when somebody introduced me to Mike Ashcroft’s idea and book a few years ago it really hit a nerve. The idea is very simple: Build your year around one simple word – one theme that describes who or where you want to be at the end of the year. What amazes me is how easy it is to land on a theme based on what I call my descants of the soul – the themes that seem to be repeating themselves in my life recently.
In 2011, my one word was Finish! I didn’t finish a lot, but it was exciting to think about. Lean was the word in 2013. And my one word for 2014 was One. Both have been helpful in shaping my thinking and focus for the year.
This one is different. It’s more of a call to action, and frankly, a part of me doesn’t like it. I’ve reached a point in my life where a significant part of me is screaming out for quiet, simplicity, retreat, and life on the porch.
Not time for that yet. [click to continue…]
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Have you ever had somebody you wanted so badly to impress that you were sure to set yourself up for disaster?
Not really?
Okay, you can just laugh at my story then.
I was in my first pastorate – a lovely country church just out on the edge of a small town in southwest Alabama. People there were so kind and gracious to us. I was new and eager to impress, plus was passionate and excited about reaching people and seeing the church grow and flourish.
But this isn’t about reaching people or growing churches. It’s about chicken.
Grilling chicken, to be precise. [click to continue…]
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What stockings there are in this house are hung, and most all of the Christmas decorations are out and up for this most unusual of Christmases – one in which we are anticipating the birth of a grandson.
In the kitchen alone, the candles and stuffed carolers next to the miniature street lamp sing in inaudible celebration that it’s Christmas. Five trees of some size or shape adorn the china hutch and island. Candles and ribbons grace the table, and the Santa hat makes a nice addition to the ceramic pig that keeps watch over all things kitchen. A stuffed snowman (that lights up, of course) perches on a chair in the corner. And a healthy collection of Santa-and-the-Missus salt and pepper shakers give new meaning to that cliché of all Christmas clichés – ‘Tis the season.
But what most catches my eye is a little string of letters hanging down from the upper cabinet, next to the stuffed snowman. Those four letters spell the word, H-O-P-E.
Isn’t that the renewable resource that is Christmas – the celebration of the birth of the Hope of the Ages? That however sorry or desperate the world looks (have you read the news lately?), there still is hope?
We live in an age where linkin’ stinkin’ thinkin’ together has become an art form, and the cynics seem to be winning. But this Christmas can be a reminder to me and to you that we’re not done hoping. [click to continue…]
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There’s no question that Anthony is a leader in the making. His dad raised him to think for himself and test everything, and fully expects Anthony to outdo him. And Anthony has accepted the invitation, so to speak. He’s a visionary, a solution seeker, and has a bias for action, not just talk.
That said, Anthony is young and inexperienced. At least that’s what he’s told whenever he offers up an idea to Gary the Gatekeeper, Anthony’s boss and longtime mentor. Anthony does have some experience, and is about to complete his degree in college. But Gary the Gatekeeper still discredits anything Anthony offers by way of vision for the future.
“When I want to take action,” Anthony says, “I have to go to him and wait a month or more before he even looks at it. And so I can’t get anything done!” He adds, “Whenever I offer constructive criticism, Gary acts as though he’s under attack.” Anthony concludes, “What can you do with a leader who won’t let you grow up?”
It’s a fair question. How do you respond to a “leader” who spends more time blocking you than leading you? I should start by saying that such a person is not a leader in the truest sense of the word. The root nature of mature leadership doesn’t seek just to generate blind, thoughtless followers, but to enflame and empower a new generation of leaders. And at some point that requires some letting go.
But what happens when the leader has his own growing up to do? How should Anthony, or any other emerging leader, respond to an insecure control freak who is in a position of power or authority? [click to continue…]
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Maybe it’s because I had another birthday yesterday, or maybe it’s because that birthday was also Election Day. Maybe it’s because I work with a school whose mission reads, in part, to “cherish character.” But lately I’ve had character on the brain.
Character in leadership.
Character development.
Character habits.
Dr. King envisioned a day when Americans would be judged “solely by the content of their character.” Our answer to that culturally is to try and not judge anybody at all. That is, until the tide of public opinion breaks the dam of political correctness. Or the electorate gets a belly full of whoever the incumbent is. Or the arrogant, narcissistic preacher or politician or boss-person overestimates their awesomeness one time too many.
In spite of our fascination with techniques, charisma, methods, or technology, people of influence still have to deal with the Character Connection.
You have to deal with it when you look in the mirror, when nobody else is looking.
You have to deal with it when you’re on the pedestal, when everybody’s cheering.
You have to do it in the outhouse, when everybody’s jeering, or they have forgotten you.
In spite of our efforts to prove otherwise (and we’ve had some pretty spectacular efforts), character earns the politician the right to legislate and pontificate. Character earns the right for the preacher to articulate truth. Character earns the business leader the right to profit in the marketplace of both money and ideas.
And a loss of character can undermine them all.
There are lots of ideas – good ideas – about what forms and sustains character when it comes to leadership. [click to continue…]
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