Count me in. I now know what all the fuss is about.
Went to hear Garth Brooks in concert over the weekend in Birmingham, Alabama. Definitely a step outside of my routine, but anybody with experience I talked to about the upcoming event told me, “It’s one of the best, if not THE best, concert experiences you will ever experience.”
Yeah, that.
Six of us took a road trip with center-section, row 9 seats. Close enough to see the sweat and be covered when the confetti dropped. And as-advertised, it was an extraordinary experience. In part I felt like an outsider looking in because I didn’t know every word of every song like most of the crowd apparently did. But on this night it didn’t matter. I was part of something bigger than myself, regardless of my lack of experience. Garth and his team saw to that.
Now before you “Older Brother” types write me off and resume your search for friends in HIGH places, hang with me. I’ve had some time to think about what we saw and heard that night. I’ve looked at it through several different lenses. A leadership lens. An organization lens. Even a Church World lens. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned that can speak to your world, too. [click to continue…]
Nobody talks about the life-changing leader who helped them raise their umbrella at the beach. Influence happens only rarely in comfort zones or times of ease. Vision is not the starry-eyed product of Monday morning quarterbacks or couch potatoes. Adversity was made for leadership. And leaders were made for adversity.
Seth Godin puts it this way: [click to continue…]
Thi lad I kne – a rathe larg, joll sor – onc joke, “I don’ hav a proble wit diet. I star on ever Monda!”
Th jok, o cours, hint a th proble.
Sor o lik th ki wh joine m scou troo afte bein a membe o tw other an wantin t star ove, workin o th ran o Tenderfoo.
Wh?
H like startin. Bu no pressin o o finishin. [click to continue…]
Tense truth: Since we all have points of glaring weakness, it is far more efficient to focus on our strengths and partner with others to address our weaknesses. But sometimes we can’t escape the necessity of addressing those areas of epic incompetence. The key is discerning when to hunker down and deal with it, and when to hand it off to someone else.
+++++++
Need some encouragement? I can help you with that.
Need to find the right words to express something? I’m your guy.
Need me to remember a meeting or handle a detail I told you I would? Sure hope I wrote it down. With a reminder. In more than one place. Why? Because I’m awful – I mean awful – at details. Just ask some of my students about my “absent minded professor” moments.
Um, better still, don’t. [click to continue…]
Then there was that time I burned a hole in the back of my bathrobe.
Fortunately, I wasn’t wearing it at the time.
For reasons I can’t remember, but that made perfectly good sense back then, I was up in the middle of the night and trying to read. For some reason the light wasn’t quite right, so I threw my robe over the lampshade.
A few minutes later I was interrupted by the unmistakable fragrance of stupid. [click to continue…]
I don’t think I’d have to argue long to convince you we’re living in a dark world. Tune in your favorite news source and it seems that it’s a daily reminder that whatever was dark yesterday has only gotten darker today, and – get this – the only “fix” for it is to change the rules and make yesterday’s “dark” today’s “light.”
Pardon my cynicism, but pay attention to what everybody is calling “evil” today. All other things being equal, a decade from now people will openly declare it as “good” or “right” or necessary.
I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be surprised that the world has its own answers to the messes it’s in. Even now, in the United States of Iowa, one Democrat and 72 Republicans are mixing it up with the locals, presenting themselves as the light of the world.
I think you know better. [click to continue…]
(Or Ministry… Or Job… Or Spiritual Gifts… Or Life Mission… Or…)
Years ago I had the privilege of visiting South Korea and preaching in two different evangelistic crusades. One day our hosts took us to a beautiful national park – a very busy place, with lots of booths, a walkway up a small mountain, and a Buddhist temple.
As we were walking down the mountain and enjoying the beautiful scenery along the wide walkway, a young Korean woman approached me and asked if I was from America.
“Could I talk to you as we walk?” she asked. “I’m learning to speak English and it helps to practice with someone who speaks it.”
She spoke English pretty well, albeit with a beautiful Asian accent.
“What do you do for a living?” she asked.
If you travel overseas or have any experience speaking to an ESL (English as a second language), it’s pretty common to try to simplify your vocabulary in order to be understood. I was a pastor at the time, and was pretty sure she wouldn’t know what a pastor was. So I chose a different word…
“I am a minister,” I said.
Her whole countenance changed. Suddenly she was in the presence of someone important!
“Oh! You are a government official?”
Yes, I know I shouldn’t have… but I literally laughed out loud. Then I tried to explain to her that in the U.S. we use the English word “minister” in a different way.
I think she was disappointed. Anyway… [click to continue…]
Chances are, you instinctively know how important and powerful a little encouragement can be. Now there’s scientific evidence worth paying attention to that’ll back that up.
This was reported yesterday in Fast Company. A recent study published in the Basic and Applied Social Psychology Journal suggests that the more detailed and specific an adviser expressed confidence in a student’s potential for success, the more likely that student would be to take action to pursue that success. [click to continue…]
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…]
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…]