tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88396681973974523072024-03-13T02:06:16.953+00:00Mark SherrattMark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.comBlogger633125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-43316941822781616552024-02-23T18:16:00.002+00:002024-02-23T18:16:41.882+00:005 WAYS TO FIND HAPPINESS AT WORK<h2 style="text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">A great post by Dan Rockwell. Apt for all of us!</span></h2><div><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Happiness at work escapes you when you think, “I’ll be happy when.”</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">I’ll be happy when I earn a promotion.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">I’ll be happy when I’m on vacation.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">I’ll be happy when this project is done.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"></div><h2 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">The danger of “I’ll be happy when”:</span></h2><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">“I’ll be happy when,” is dangerous when it means you can’t be happy now. You endure today’s work because tee time is at 4:30. You endure the week because the weekend is coming. Living for the weekend is no way to live.</span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: url("images/lgn_quote.png"); background-origin: padding-box; background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-left: 0px; orphans: 2; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-left: 40px; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">“I’ll be happy when” is a lie.</span></p></blockquote><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Desire runs one step ahead of attainment. Earning a promotion is a temporary bump in happiness. Before long, you think about the next promotion. The end of this vacation makes you count the days till the next.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">The more you get the more you want and want is dissatisfaction in disguise.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"></div><h2 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">5 Ways to find happiness at work:</span></h2><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">#1. Stop worrying about happiness.</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Worrying about happiness makes you unhappy. Focus on contributing what <em>you</em> have to offer.</span></p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">#2. Choose happiness now.</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Reasons to be unhappy are everywhere.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Find reasons to be happy now. Don’t ignore difficulties and challenges. Find reasons to enjoy work anyway. Notice the taste of coffee. Appreciate that people showed up. Respect people who want to do well.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"></div><div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__supports-newline wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__container is-not-subscriber"><form accept-charset="utf-8" action="https://wordpress.com/email-subscriptions" data-blog="10864390" data-post_access_level="everybody" data-subscriber_email="" id="subscribe-blog" method="post"><div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__form-elements" style="align-items: flex-start; display: flex;"><p id="subscribe-email" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto; flex-grow: 1; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px;"><label class="screen-reader-text" for="subscribe-field" id="subscribe-field-label" style="border: 0px; clip-path: inset(50%); clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow-wrap: normal !important; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; width: 1px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Type your email…</span></label></p></div></form></div></div><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">#3. Focus on things you control.</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Don’t focus on making others perform. Focus on being a leader who brings out the best in others.</span></p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">#4. Enjoy small wins. Reach for big goals.</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">You don’t need a touchdown. You need a first down.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"></div><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">#5. Choose today’s big rock.</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">What’s one thing – beyond daily responsibilities – you will achieve today? Aiming at everything is exhausting.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="color: white; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: white;"><a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/07/22/happy-here/" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Robert Ingersoll</a> </span><span style="background-color: black;">said, “The time to be happy is now; the place to be happy is here; and the way to be happy is to make others happy.</span></span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-23407190326329562012023-10-17T13:07:00.000+01:002023-10-17T13:07:03.325+01:003 consequences of unhealthy conflict<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> An excellent post by Mac Lake....</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">If you are paying attention to your team at all, you've likely experienced the reality that<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"> conflict is unavoidable</strong>. </span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">So, how do you navigate conflict?</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Do you ever see <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">positive</em> outcomes from it?</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I've learned it's essential to <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">understand the consequences</em></strong> of poorly managed conflict so I can be more ready to <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">accept the wins</em></strong> that can come from navigating it well!</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Here are <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">three losses you will experience if you mismanage conflict:</strong></span></span></p><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Loss of relationship</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Loss of respect</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Loss of momentum</span></span></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 12px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">If you're seeing any of those outcomes on your team, it's time to get focused on how conflict is dealt with.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I want to offer you encouragement, though. There are significant wins to be experienced on your team as you learn how to <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">effectively</em> manage conflict. </span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Healthy conflict leads to</strong>:</span></span></p><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Greater understanding within your team</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Deeper relationships on your team</span></span></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Supernatural momentum</span></span></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 12px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">To experience these benefits, I encourage you to focus on two things: Understanding the communication styles of your team and having the courage to seize opportunities for reconciliation. </span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Too often, leaders are afraid of conflict.</strong> </span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">They can be timid to broach topics that may ruffle feathers. They can dread the strong emotions and opinions of those in disagreement.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">But I want to encourage you to do what often sets great leaders apart from the rest– look ahead to the overarching story. See the beauty of reconciliation. See the strength and respect gained. See the depth your team can reach together. </span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(92, 92, 92); font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">It's worth it. </span></span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-62482537088091689912023-10-12T14:44:00.004+01:002023-10-12T14:44:56.352+01:00LET GO WHEN YOU’RE AT THE END OF THE ROPE<p> </p><h2 class="postitle" style="background-color: #ececf3; color: #171717; font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-transform: uppercase; widows: 2;"><br /></h2><div class="single-metainfo" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">A great post by Dan Rockwell!</span></div><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Grit says, “When you’re at the end of the rope, tie a knot and hang on.”</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">What if it’s time to let go? It’s dangerous to be tenacious and lack wisdom.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">You need grit to hang on. You need wisdom to let go.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><figure class="aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><img alt="Sometimes you should let go when you're at the end of the rope. Image of a knot at the end of a rope." class="wp-image-63703" data-attachment-id="63703" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="<p>Sometimes you should let go when you’re at the end of the rope. Image of a knot at the end of a rope.</p>
" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?fit=620%2C414&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?fit=3720%2C2483&ssl=1" data-orig-size="3720,2483" data-permalink="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2023/10/12/let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope/" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" height="414" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" src="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=620%2C414&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?w=3720&ssl=1 3720w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=768%2C513&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=1536%2C1025&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=2048%2C1367&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=1200%2C801&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=290%2C194&ssl=1 290w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?resize=960%2C641&ssl=1 960w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sometimes-you-should-let-go-when-youre-at-the-end-of-the-rope.jpg?w=1860&ssl=1 1860w" style="border: medium; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 4px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="620" /></span></a></figure></div><p class="has-text-align-center" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Image attribution: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hand_rail_(AM_1965.78.815-2).jpg" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Auckland Museum</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons</span></p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">When you’re at the end of your rope…</span></h2><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">#1. Let go of foolish hope.</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Nietzsche said, “Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.”</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Hope makes you hang on too long.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">I know a woman who was passed over twice for the COO position. She stopped hoping for the position and resolved to do a great job where she was. She earned the COO spot after she let go of hope. Eventually she earned the CEO position.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Hope deferred produces despair.</span></p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">#2. Let go of corrosive bitterness.</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">You might feel bitter because you received less of a good thing than you deserved. You didn’t receive proper recognition, for example.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">You might feel bitter because you received more of a bad thing than you deserved. You received blame for something you didn’t do, for example.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">You might feel bitter when someone else receives good that should have come to you. The boss takes credit for your work, for example.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">People don’t always get what they deserve.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Bitterness corrodes life. It…</span></strong></p><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Drains resolve.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Impedes growth.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Weakens relationships.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Poisons environments.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Sustains learned helplessness.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Breeds victims.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Disrupts contentment.</span></li></ol><div class="wp-block-image" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"></div><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">#3. Let go of destructive hostility.</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Lashing out is living in the past. The past controls the present until you stop trying to change what can’t be changed.</span></p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Conclusion:</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">When your mind’s set on one thing it can’t consider another. Things to consider…</span></p><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16.9px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2;"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Commitment to thrive regardless of what happens to you.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Forgiveness that releases offenses.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Generosity to do good in an imperfect world.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Resolve to stop living in the past.</span></li></ol>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-2856365484564013542023-10-12T10:02:00.002+01:002023-10-12T14:46:54.564+01:00 A STRONG SENSE OF CALLING! IS IT THE MISSING INGREDIENT IN TODAY’S LEADERSHIP?<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">A challenging post by Dave Kraft!</span></p><p><span face="Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: black; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); color: white; font-family: arial;">Over the years, I have come to a few conclusions about leadership. As a leader and a leader developer, I am always thinking about various aspects of leadership: What characteristics make a good leader? What are the some of the best practices of good leaders?</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-4331" decoding="async" height="200" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src="https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Look-at-life-300x200.jpg" srcset="https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Look-at-life-300x200.jpg 300w, https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Look-at-life-768x512.jpg 768w, https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Look-at-life-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Look-at-life-1080x720.jpg 1080w" style="border: medium; display: inline; height: auto; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; max-width: 560px; outline: currentcolor; padding: 0px;" width="300" /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">One of the aspects of leadership that, in my opinion, is often missing, overlooked or not considered important, is a sense of “Calling.” At times I’ve gotten pushback when suggesting that a leader needs to be called into leadership. Some feel I’m advocating a sort of Pauline experience which is not normative; Moses and the burning bush.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">I devoted an entire chapter in my book <em>“Leaders Who Last”</em> to calling. If you were interested in pastoral ministry during the days of Charles Spurgeon and wanted to attend his college, you did not get in until Spurgeon himself had a conversation with you and was convinced that you were “called.” </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Calling has to do with the God of the universe speaking into your life and circumstances, expressing His will and desire for you. Suffice it to say that every Christian should serve the Lord by functioning in the body of Christ. At the same time, I believe that those who are serving in major leadership roles should have a strong sense of calling on their life (however that call is ascertained and experienced.) There is too much at stake to simply fill a slot or assume a responsibility based on feeling, desire, or ambition.Here are three aspects of “calling that I have been thinking about lately:</span></p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;"> 1. WHAT ARE YOU CALLED TO DO?</span></h2><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">As a leader we need to spend time discovering our spiritual gifts. This can be accomplished through an inventory, by responding to questions. It can also be ascertained through feedback from those who know you well, along with your own evaluative experience. Additionally, ask yourself what are you passionate about and care deeply about. What keeps you up at night, or gets you up in the morning? Gifts, passion, burdens can very well point to what the Lord is calling you to do.</span></p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">2. WHERE ARE YOU CALLED TO DO IT?</span></h2><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The world is a big place, and you can’t be everywhere. Do you have a particular burden for a certain part of world? Do you seem to have an unusual interest in one country over another? Some, from early on, are drawn to Asia or Latin America or Africa. Others are even more specific and have a strong interest in a specific country but are not quite sure why. Jim and Elizabeth Elliot would be an example of this. Hudson Taylor and his interest in China or William Cary and his feeling drawn to India would be two more such examples.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The Holy Spirit could be placing an interest for a geographic region on your heart and that might be his calling for you.</span></p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">3. WITH WHOM AND FOR WHOM ARE YOU CALLED TO DO IT?</span></h2><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">What you may be called to do and where can then be followed by what kinds of people you feel called to invest in. Mother Teresa was called to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, India. Here we have a country and people type. Some have a burden for parents, for successful business people, for the homeless, for unwed mothers. You get the idea.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">When you think, pray and discern what, where and whom, it can get pretty exciting. Personally, I feel called to work with aspiring and emerging leaders. My purpose statement, born out of my calling, is: “To equip and empower the next generation of leaders in local churches by coaching, writing and teaching.” I don’t have a geographic aspect to my calling other than I want it lived out in local churches.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">I would like to see the concept of calling revived so that it receives some fresh and creative attention. It could very well be the missing link in God-anointed ministry. Calling can help you stay the course when you are tempted to quit. It can anchor you in the grace and empowering of the Holy Spirit as you persist and don’t give up. (I Timothy 4:16)</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">As stated above, all Christians are called to serve (Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4); but, in another sense, there is the need also for a new generation of visionary leaders who are clearly called by God to lead the charge in a powerful new way.</span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-24559597270886703622022-11-14T14:28:00.000+00:002022-11-14T14:28:32.976+00:006 Sustaining Lifelines for Leaders<p><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">A great post by Dan Reiland.</span></b></p><p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The path of leadership is never constant; there are always highs and lows, good days and bad days. The challenge is to remain<em style="box-sizing: inherit;"> consistent</em> through it all. Consistency elevates people’s trust and confidence in your leadership. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">We are different in our wiring and current circumstances, but there are clear patterns in the conversations I’ve had with more than thirty church leaders over the past two weeks. As an overview, they tend to group up like this.</span></p><ul style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px auto 1.5em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">For some, it’s about great momentum, progress, and keeping up—more success than setbacks.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">For others, it’s more about struggle and maybe discouragement. More questions than answers.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">For all, it’s about solving problems, making decisions, and carrying pressure.</span></li></ul><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Church leadership always carries with it seasons of success and setbacks, momentum and grind, joy and discouragement. Yet, we all do better through those seasons when we have learned the <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">rhythms of resilience — the lifelines we need</em>.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The highs alone are not enough to sustain you through the lows.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Even if you have been blessed with great success and sustained momentum, certain lifelines allow you to keep going with depth, meaning, and joy.</span></p><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">6 sustaining lifelines worth fighting for:</span></h2><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You’ll notice that <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">this list isn’t about more to do but enables you to do more.</em></span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">1) Margin to think</span></h3><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">One of the highest priorities in a leader’s life that ministry can steal from your calendar is time to think. Fight for that time.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Dedicated think time is essential. Don’t fall into the misconception that we are thinking all the time. We are not. Our minds are like powerful software that functions on autopilot for much of our day. Set aside time to think.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Problem-solving is the primary way we as leaders invest most of our focused think time. Other specific categories of thinking are, for example, writing a talk, spiritual and self-reflection (including scripture,) and discerning culture.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The desired outcome of intentional think time is <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">new insight</em> that guides your decisions and informs the direction of your leadership.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">New insight doesn’t mean a thought never before conceived, but fresh and relevant solutions, personal insight, increased self-awareness, and understanding of culture.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>2) Reason to laugh </b> </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">It’s unfortunate to go a whole day with no reason to laugh. Yes, there are days with a full agenda and nothing particularly light-hearted, but even on those days, there is reason to smile if we look for it.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Some leaders have personalities that find laughter quickly. Others need to work at it. Neither is right nor wrong, but it’s always true that laughter is a great medicine and a powerful leadership lifeline.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Because of my passion, schedule, and sometimes intensity, there are days I can become overly focused. So, one of my reminders is a little smooth stone on my desk that literally has the word “laugh” painted on it.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Kind of dumb, I know. But it works.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">I see it and smile. It reminds me that no matter the circumstance, I have much to be grateful for and that joy is a choice.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">How about you? Do you look for laughter and create light-hearted moments?</span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">3) Permission to rest</span></h3><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You don’t need anyone’s permission to rest, but that’s not the problem. But, unfortunately, we often don’t permit <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">ourselves</em> to rest. Is that a struggle for you?</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">A great deal is written about the importance of nightly sleep, but I’m referring to periods of your working day where you have some time to catch your breath.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">I will admit this is not one of my strengths, so I’m writing out of some failure and some success, enough of both to know that running at full speed is not a lifeline to longevity or effective ministry leadership.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Rest during the race of leadership is about learning your rhythms of intensity. The goal isn’t to empty your calendar; it’s a rhythm of leadership activity that allows you to catch your breath before the next more intense engagement.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">It could be doing thirty minutes of email before a long, complex meeting or exercising before several more intense meetings. On the other hand, it might simply be twenty minutes of quiet reflection or taking a walk outside and returning to write a message. These kinds of ideas are practiced in weekly and monthly rhythms as well.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>4) Space to heal </b> </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">It’s impossible to lead and not be hurt. The real issue is knowing how to heal and return to soul-level emotional and spiritual health rather than becoming withdrawn or even bitter.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Emotional and spiritual space to heal starts with grace for your soul. There is no need to manufacture it on your own; God gives you this grace. Your job is to receive it.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">These 4 steps are not easy, but they are as simple as they appear. Don’t make them complicated; lean in.</span></p><ul style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px auto 1.5em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Admit when you are hurt. Don’t stuff it in an attempt to be a strong leader.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Do not put energy into revenge or withdrawal. Instead, face the hurt and have the honest conversations.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Give yourself space and time to heal; this is a true leadership lifeline, but don’t let yourself get stuck there. (You may need some counseling.)</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Choose a coach or mentor to test your resolve and closure, so you know you are fully ready to forgive and move on. The baggage of carrying hurt (pain) is too heavy to carry and lead simultaneously.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><b style="background-color: black;">5) Time to pray</b></span></li></ul><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Time to pray may be obvious, but I mention it for two reasons.</span></p><ul style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px auto 1.5em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Many leaders confide that they are unhappy or satisfied with their current prayer life.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Prayer is the most powerful asset we have.</span></li></ul><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">That being the case, it is always good to call attention to prayer, a true lifeline!</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The good news about prayer is that it’s not a performance thing. It’s a relationship with God, who loves you and desires to bless you. Time is needed, but it’s more about time to sit, reflect, listen, and drink in the presence of God.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">I encourage you to pick a time that works, a place that is conducive, and find a pattern you find personally helpful.</span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">6) Initiative to grow</span></h3><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Your desire to grow as a leader is deeply connected to your calling, passion, and gifting. A lack of desire to grow signifies deeper things that require your attention first.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The desire alone to grow as a leader isn’t enough. True desire reveals itself through initiative. Action plus effort and energy are required to grow.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The great thing about your development as a leader is that your church is automatically the environment of your growth. Your job allows you to practice the skill or ability you are working on and measure improvement regularly.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You can begin by identifying a specific area you desire to grow and focus on. If you are not sure, ask your boss or a trusted advisor.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Don’t make a long list of all the things that you want to get better at. Pick one. Maybe two. The way to distill your list is to discern which one or two will help you advance your organisational responsibilities the most.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px auto 1.6em; max-width: var(--wp--custom--ast-content-width-size); outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">In this way, you grow, <em style="box-sizing: inherit;">and</em> the organisation does too. That’s a huge win-win.</span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-11058960934240322642022-08-01T12:13:00.001+01:002022-08-01T12:14:46.440+01:00LEADERS ARE CHEERLEADERS<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span>A great post by Dan Rockwell! Everybody craves encouragement. People thrive when they are encourage and cheered on! </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Success is about freedom to serve others.</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Cheerleaders encourage people to succeed.</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">All of life’s great battles are within. </span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Among others, my battles include, selfishness, the need for the spotlight, and the need to control things. <b>Put succinctly, I “prefer” that others don’t outshine me! </b>When I lose those battles, I’m an insignificant leader with a title but little positive influence.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: 12.5pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Resentment of other people’s success prevents leaders from becoming cheerleaders.</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><b>Cheerleaders smile when others succeed.</b></span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Leaders are cheerleaders</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">The stereotypical cheerleader is cute and dumb. (Cheerleaders, please forgive me!) </span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Influential leaders are smart cheerleaders. Better to stop making inane suggestions that slightly tweak another’s work, behavior, or words and start giving out atah boy’s, great job’s, and you are da bomb’s to others, especially those who outshine you.</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Leader’s reach higher by helping others reach higher.</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><b>Be a cheerleader to 10 people today. </b></span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Shine the light on something you see in another that outshines what you see in you. Note: don’t mention yourself while doing it. For example, don’t say you are so much better at listening than I am. Do say, I really admire your ability to _______ (fill in the blank). </span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;">Here is a list of potential candidates: spouse, son or daughter, boss, co-worker, a service provider, client, parent, employee, public servant, checkout clerk, or …</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin: 0cm;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12.5pt;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Is there a danger of too much cheer leading?</span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Work Sans"; font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-14226519394066317352022-04-21T14:28:00.004+01:002022-04-21T14:28:49.216+01:003 WAYS TO MANAGE YOUR CALENDAR<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"> Great advice from Dan Rockwell</span></p><h2 class="postitle" style="text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">3 WAYS TO MANAGE YOUR CALENDAR: DEAR DAN, HOW DO YOU PRACTICE AN OPEN-DOOR POLICY</span></h2><div class="single-metainfo" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;"><a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2022/04/11/dear-dan-how-do-you-practice-an-open-door-policy-and-manage-your-calendar/" rel="bookmark" style="text-decoration: none;" title="6:31 am"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2022-04-11T06:31:00-04:00" pubdate=""></time></span></a></div><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">A world without boundaries can’t exist. </span></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You can’t manage your calendar until you set boundaries.</span></p><figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 13px auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?ssl=1" style="border-radius: inherit; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><img alt="A world without boundaries can't exist. Image of a tennis ball just inside the line.
" class="wp-image-49096 jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled" data-attachment-id="49096" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?fit=620%2C465&ssl=1" data-lazy-loaded="1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?fit=3300%2C2475&ssl=1" data-orig-size="3300,2475" data-permalink="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2022/04/11/dear-dan-how-do-you-practice-an-open-door-policy-and-manage-your-calendar/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist/" data-recalc-dims="1" height="465" loading="eager" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" src="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist-1024x768.jpg?resize=620%2C465&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=290%2C218&ssl=1 290w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?resize=960%2C720&ssl=1 960w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?w=1860&ssl=1 1860w" style="border-radius: inherit; border: none; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 4px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="620" /><p style="line-height: 19px;"><em>Dear Dan,</em></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><em>I am learning how to manage my calendar and priorities. How would you suggest I manage the calendar and still continue to practice an open-door policy? I feel that limiting available time to “office hours” would then be perceived as limited openness and availability to personnel.</em></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><em>Jasmine</em></p></span></a><div class="wp-block-image" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?ssl=1" style="border-radius: inherit; text-decoration: none;"></a></span><figure class="aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/a-world-without-boundaries-cant-exist.jpg?ssl=1" style="border-radius: inherit; text-decoration: none;"></a><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Manage your calendar by setting boundaries. Image of a tennis ball inside the line." class="wp-image-49099 jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled" data-attachment-id="49099" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="<p>Manage your calendar by setting boundaries. Image of a tennis ball close to the line.</p>
" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?fit=620%2C447&ssl=1" data-lazy-loaded="1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?fit=300%2C217&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?fit=3300%2C2383&ssl=1" data-orig-size="3300,2383" data-permalink="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2022/04/11/dear-dan-how-do-you-practice-an-open-door-policy-and-manage-your-calendar/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries/" data-recalc-dims="1" height="448" loading="eager" sizes="(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px" src="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=620%2C448&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?w=3300&ssl=1 3300w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=300%2C217&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=1024%2C739&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=768%2C555&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=1536%2C1109&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=2048%2C1479&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=1200%2C867&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=290%2C209&ssl=1 290w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?resize=960%2C693&ssl=1 960w, https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?w=1860&ssl=1 1860w" style="border-radius: inherit; border: none; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 4px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="620" /><p style="line-height: 19px;">Dear Jasmine,</p><p style="line-height: 19px;">I respect your desire to be available. Isolation is the enemy. </p><p style="line-height: 19px;">In a turbulent world you’re always learning to manage your calendar.</p><p style="line-height: 19px;">I suggest you include boundaries along with your commitment to be available. People will understand that you cannot be available at their beck and call.</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;">Boundaries are essential to healthy relationships.</p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 19px;">Gather the team for a boundary-setting discussion. The following topics are relevant.</p><h2>3 ways to manage your calendar:</h2></a></span><h3><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/manage-your-calendar-by-setting-boundaries.png?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;">#1. Manage your calendar for </a><a href="https://amzn.to/3Kv7JB8" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">deep work</a>.</span></h3><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">How will the team allow people to engage in deep work?</span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Deep work requires uninterrupted time. </span></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">It sounds good to be available to everyone at the drop of a hat, but it’s not effective. It gives too much power to others.</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Exception: The exception to closing the door once in a while is someone whose job requires constant availability. When a doctor is on-call, for example.</span></p><h3><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">#2. Manage your calendar with closed doors.</span></h3><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Discuss creating times when people are allowed to be NOT AVAILABLE.</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You already practice being not available. When you’re in the middle of doing things you deem really important, you prevent interruptions. Sometimes you leave the office to get deep work done.</span></p><h3><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">#3. Establish open-door hours.</span></h3><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Discuss times of day an open door seems most effective and efficient. How much open-door time seems realistic?</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Enable people to know when popping in is appropriate. Suppose every morning from 10 to noon and in the afternoon from 2 to 4 is pop-in-time. </span></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Closed door time could be from 9 to 10 a.m. and noon to 1 p.m.</span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Expect people to adjust their expectations. </span></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 19px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Tip:</span></strong></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">No rule is unbreakable. If the house is on fire, go ahead and barge in.</span></p><h2><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Model boundaries:</span></h2><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Model healthy time management for your team/organization. You want people on your team to take care of themselves. Why would you treat yourself otherwise?</span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">It’s OK to value yourself.</span></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 19px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">How do you balance availability with boundaries?</span></strong></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Tips:</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Defeat distraction and manage your calendar: <a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2016/03/11/how-distraction-addicts-find-focus/" style="text-decoration: none;">How Distraction-Addicts Find Focus</a></span></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Live the big rock life: <a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2021/09/24/put-one-big-rock-on-your-calendar/" style="text-decoration: none;">Put One Big Rock on Your Calendar</a></span></p></figure></div></figure>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-11316203392857513042022-03-29T12:20:00.004+01:002022-03-29T12:20:39.843+01:0020 QUESTIONS YOU CAN USE TO AUDIT PERSONAL ENERGY<p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: black;">Big thank you to Dan Rockwell for this post. These questions are so valuable!</span></span></p><div class="single-metainfo" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;"><a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2022/03/24/20-questions-you-can-use-to-audit-personal-energy/" rel="bookmark" style="text-decoration: none;" title="6:31 am"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2022-03-24T06:31:00-04:00" pubdate=""></time></span></a></div><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">“Being an energizer is 4X more important than your title, position in a hierarchy, position in an influence network, or your position in an information network.” <a href="https://amzn.to/3CZVPfP" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kim Cameron</a></span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Teams with one deadbeat suffer a <a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2021/08/06/4-steps-to-dealing-with-a-bad-egg-on-the-team/" style="text-decoration: none;">performance disadvantage</a> of 30 to 40 percent compared to teams that have no bad apples. <a href="https://amzn.to/3IJM5HX" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Good Boss Bad Boss</a></span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Personal energy is more important than skill, talent, or resources. High talent and low energy disappoint. Low energy people earn low-level opportunities.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><figure class=" aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/personal-energy-is-more-important-than-skill-talent-or-resources.jpg?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><h2 style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">20 questions to audit personal energy:</h2><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">(Ask team members to assess their ability to manage personal energy. Use a 1 to 10 scale.)</p><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" type="1"><li>I know my most productive time of day.</li><li>I typically stay on task until I need a break.</li><li>I regularly express gratitude.</li><li>I feel my boss seeks my best interest.</li><li>I take breaks during the day.</li><li>I eat healthy food.</li><li>I have a consistent bedtime.</li><li>I know what today’s priority is.</li><li>I frequently do things I love to do.</li><li>I feel like I’m heading in a good direction as a person/employee.</li><li>I usually get the day’s work done.</li><li>I understand and embrace organizational purpose.</li><li>I use my strengths every day at work.</li><li>I feel like I make a meaningful contribution every day.</li><li>My work aligns with my values.</li><li>I feel like my boss listens to me.</li><li>I enjoy a hobby.</li><li>I exercise regularly.</li><li>I feel like I’m growing as a person.</li><li>I hang out with fellow employees outside of work hours.</li></ol></span></a><div class="wp-block-image" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><figure class=" aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/low-energy-people-earn-low-level-opportunities.jpg?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><h2 style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Questions for discussion:</h2><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><li>What did you learn after completing your energy audit?</li><li>Which items most influence your energy in a positive way? Negative way?</li><li>How might you better manage personal energy?</li><li>What’s one thing I could do to better fuel your energy?</li></ol><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin-left: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Successful leaders help people manage personal energy.</p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong>What questions would you add to the above personal energy audit?</strong></p></span></a><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/low-energy-people-earn-low-level-opportunities.jpg?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;"></a><a href="https://hbr.org/2007/10/manage-your-energy-not-your-time" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time</a></span></p></figure></div></figure></div>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-80896466687499864932022-03-17T11:05:00.001+00:002022-03-17T11:05:24.548+00:00HOW BUSY MANAGERS PRACTICE PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT<p><span style="font-family: arial;">A challenging post by Dan Rockwell...... Great advice for all leaders!</span></p><div class="single-metainfo" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;"><a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2022/03/17/how-busy-managers-practice-people-development/" rel="bookmark" style="text-decoration: none;" title="6:31 am"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2022-03-17T06:31:00-04:00" pubdate=""></time></span></a></div><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You hire the best, but the best can always get better. All organisations are in the people development business. </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>People development is the heart of organisational development.</b></span></p><div class="wp-block-image" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><figure class=" aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><h2 style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">People development is:</h2></span><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" type="1"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/people-development-is-the-heart-of-organizational-development.jpg?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;"></a></span><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/people-development-is-the-heart-of-organizational-development.jpg?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;"></a><b>Equipping people</b> to do things without you.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Cheering and affirming more</b> than correcting.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Respecting and maximizing</b> potential.</span></li></ol><div class="wp-block-image" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><figure class=" aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><h2 style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">10 reasons busy managers care about people development:</h2><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;" type="1"><li>Values. People matter.</li><li>Multiplication. Develop people who can develop people.</li><li>Capacity. Expand contribution.</li><li>Efficiency. Develop people to the place where they need little oversight.</li><li>Agility. Keep up with changing environments and new technology.</li><li>Aspiration. Good people care about personal development. Provide development opportunities or they will go where they can get it.</li><li>Potential. Bring out untapped potential. <em>The person you hired can contribute more than you expected.</em></li><li>Productivity. Everyone feels good when they’re productive.</li><li>Fulfillment. It feels good to help someone make greater contribution. <i>You have a problem </i><em>if holding people down is enjoyable.</em></li><li>Innovation. Learning enables innovation.</li></ol></span><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large; text-decoration: none;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><u><b>Giving direction as a form of people development!</b></u></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>1. Competence and giving direction</b></span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Giving direction is development when you speak to ignorance, inexperience, or lack of skill.</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Over-direction produces lack of initiative. Why bother taking initiative if you’re going to tell everyone how to do their job.</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You prolong incompetence when you give unnecessary direction to competent people.</span></p><h3 style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial;">2. Goal of giving direction</span></h3><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-decoration: none;">Giving direction is development when the goal is to stop giving direction. </span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You might feel important when you give direction, but you’re successful when you don’t have to.</span></p><h2 style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/leadershipfreak.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/the-greatest-ability-is-the-ability-to-develop-abilities.jpg?ssl=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial;">Questions to ask yourself </span></a></h2><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">How can you work yourself out of some aspects of day-to-day work?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">How can you work yourself out of repetitive tasks?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">How can you do things that can be done only by you?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">How can you become the dumbest person in the room?</span></li></ol><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">How might busy managers practice people development?</span></strong></p></figure></div></figure></div>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-4948383809359764462022-02-07T16:08:00.001+00:002022-02-07T16:08:00.259+00:00 10 CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERS WHO LAST<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);">Most of you know that I wrote a book, “Leaders Who Last.” I always find it helpful to run across lists of characteristics that enable leaders to finish their race well. I love what Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Chuck Lawless shares ten characteristics of leaders who last–good and helpful insights.</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"> </span></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Originally published by <a href="https://davekraft.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4d1c5138a28c4710d33abc112&id=effec316a6&e=0c81ae6745">Chuck Lawless</a></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">As a seminary professor, I work with young leaders. I have learned the most, though, from leaders who have been long-term leaders. Admittedly, these findings are anecdotal, but here are ten common characteristics of those long-term leaders from whom I have learned.</span></p><div class="wp-block-image" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></figure></div><ol style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);" type="1"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They begin with a determination to finish well</strong>. They run the race with the end goal in mind. They establish appropriate boundaries to maintain their integrity, and they continually push themselves to improve.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They always have a vision bigger than they are</strong>. Their vision is so big – so “God-sized”–that relaxing makes little sense as long as more remains to be accomplished. Nor do these leaders ever want to fail morally or ethically; their task matters too much to let that happen.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They take care of themselves spiritually</strong>. They read the Scriptures, pray, study, worship, fellowship—and lead out of the overflow of their walk with God.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They take care of themselves physically</strong>. The long-lasting leaders I have met eat properly, exercise regularly, and sleep well. They cannot avoid the effects of aging, but they don’t contribute to poor health by making bad decisions. </span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They invest in their family</strong>. My experiences reveal a common pattern: leaders who last are good spouses and parents. They work hard at their profession, but not at the expense of their family. </span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They treat people well</strong>. To put it simply, these leaders are nice people. They respect others, including those who disagree with them. Long track records of strong, healthy relationships give them credibility as they lead over many years. </span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They share the workload</strong>. These leaders delegate well without shirking their responsibility to lead through influence and vision casting. They have learned that failing to share the work is not only exhausting, but it is also arrogant. </span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They do not let discouragement set in</strong>. It’s not that they don’t get discouraged; it’s just that they don’t wallow in that emotion. They deal with fires of conflict before they become consuming. They do not like failure, but they know failure is seldom the end of the story. </span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They have genuine friends</strong>. Their friendships may not be numerous, but they are nevertheless real. Because they have friends, these leaders know they always have a support system. </span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>They have learned to laugh</strong>. Some of the best long-term leaders I know are also the ones who most readily laugh. Somehow, they are deadly serious without taking themselves too seriously. </span></li></ol><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">I’m grateful for what I’ve learned from leaders who last. Give us your insights so today’s young leaders might remain strong leaders for years to come.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">What have you learned from leaders who have led well for years?</span></strong></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-15819162727135463772022-01-31T15:35:00.001+00:002022-01-31T15:35:00.244+00:00How managers become leaders<p> </p><div class="et_post_meta_wrapper" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 30px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">How managers become leaders</span></h1><p class="post-meta" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 6px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Over the years I’ve done a lot of thinking and writing about managing verses leading. In short, managing is about the present and leading is about the future. Adding to that simple statement, here is Dan Rockwell sharing some great insight about the difference between the two.<span class="comments-number" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></p></div><div class="entry-content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 30px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="wp-block-image" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><figure class="alignright size-full is-resized" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: table; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.5em 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-6799" height="238" src="https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Leadership.jpeg" style="border-bottom-left-radius: inherit; border-bottom-right-radius: inherit; border-top-left-radius: inherit; border-top-right-radius: inherit; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="358" /></span></figure></div><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Originally published by <a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2021/11/19/how-managers-become-leaders/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dan Rockwell</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Only 1 in 10 managers actually have the <a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2018/11/02/only-one-in-ten-have-the-talent-to-manage/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">talent to manage</a>. But lacing on leadership shoes is like discovering you’re lactose intolerant after devouring a container of ice cream.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Leaders manage and managers lead. The line between manager and leader is often fuzzy.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The closer you stand to the frontline, the more the needle shifts toward manager. But the needle always shifts toward leader when you move up.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Moving from management to leadership requires letting go of activities that earned you a promotion in the first place.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">John Kotter explains the difference between manager and leader <a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2018/01/16/how-to-know-if-youre-a-manager-or-a-leader/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">here</a>.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Leaders who struggle after being promoted manage too much and lead too little.</span></p><h2 id="the-more-and-less-of-becoming-a-leader" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 26px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The more and less of becoming a leader:</span></h2><h4 id="manage-projects-less" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Manage projects – less.</span></h4><h4 id="develop-people-more" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Develop people – more.</span></h4><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You’re great at managing projects. Now you manage people <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">who manage projects</span>.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">When you don’t make the transition well, you disempower your team with meddling.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Both managers and leaders develop people, but successful leaders spend more time developing people. I heard Jack Welch say he spent at least half his time as the CEO of GE developing people.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Leadership challenges become opportunities when you enable talented people.</span></p><h4 id="solve-problems-less" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Solve problems – less.</span></h4><h4 id="help-others-solve-problems-more" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Help others solve problems – more.</span></h4><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Leaders create environments where people solve problems, instead of solving them themselves.</span></p><h4 id="give-answers-less" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Give answers – less.</span></h4><h4 id="ask-questions-more" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Ask questions – more.</span></h4><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You aren’t the expert anymore. You have a team full of experts.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">A leader who knows too much is a pain in the butt. If your boss did your job before she was promoted, I pity you.</span></p><h2 id="7-shifts" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 26px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">7 Shifts:</span></h2><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Michael Watkins, author of, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1633690350?ie=UTF8&tag=leadefreak-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=1633690350" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">The First 90 Days</a>,” describes 7 seismic shifts managers face after they’re promoted. (<a href="https://hbr.org/2012/06/how-managers-become-leaders" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">HBR</a>)</span></p><ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 26px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: inside; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px 0px 23px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="1"><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Specialist to generalist.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Analyst to integrator.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Tactician to strategist.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Bricklayer to architect.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Problem solver to agenda setter.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Warrior to diplomat.</span></li><li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Supporting cast member to lead role.</span></li></ol></div>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-33062114002110932072022-01-28T15:34:00.003+00:002022-01-28T15:34:43.393+00:00HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’RE A MANAGER OR A LEADER<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">A great post from Dan Rockwell.</span></p><h2 class="postitle" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; text-transform: uppercase;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’RE A MANAGER OR A LEADER</span></h2><div class="single-metainfo" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;"><a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2018/01/16/how-to-know-if-youre-a-manager-or-a-leader/" rel="bookmark" style="text-decoration: none;" title="7:18 am"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2018-01-16T07:18:46-05:00" pubdate=""></time></span></a></div><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You’re not managing just because you run meetings or have a title. </span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You might own the place, but that doesn’t make you a leader.</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Think of leadership and management as distinct ways of showing up.</span></p><h2 style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Manager or leader:</span></h2><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">John Kotter’s book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399563946?ie=UTF8&tag=leadefreak-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=0399563946" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">That’s Not How We Do it Here!</a>” is a fable that addresses tension between the divergent functions of management and leadership. The following lists are inspired by his work.</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You’re managing when you:</span></strong></p><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Plan and budget.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Solve day-to-day problems.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Track processes and measure results.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Hire, fire, and concern yourself with job descriptions.</span></li></ol><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You’re leading when you:</span></strong></p><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Set direction.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Align people.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Inspire.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Seize opportunities.</span></li></ol><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Insights from Warren Bennis:</span></strong></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">“Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.” </span></p><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You’re managing when you concern yourself with how and when questions.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You’re leading when you concern yourself with what and why questions.</span></li></ol><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Over-led organizations end up chaotic. </span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Over-managed organizations end up bureaucratic. </span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Which is better:</span></strong></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Leaders need managers and managers need leaders. It’s a matter of context. </span></p><ol style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Leaders drive change.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Managers require stability to deliver results reliably.</span></li></ol><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Small organizations in stable environments need manager-leaders. But you can’t manage your way out of a crisis.</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Chaotic organizations need management. </span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Stagnant organizations need leadership.</span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Vision is a fundamental distinction:</span></strong></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Managers concern themselves with execution. Leaders concern <em>everyone</em>with purpose and direction – vision.</span></p><blockquote style="background-image: url("images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Ask management to craft a vision and they make a five-year plan.</span></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Vision includes the practical question, “Where can the horses in the barn take us if we all pull together and stretched our capacity?” </span></p><p style="line-height: 19px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">“What’s crucial about a vision is not its originality but how well it serves the interests of important constituencies – customers, stockholders, employees—and how easily it can be translated into a realistic competitive strategy.” John Kotter</span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-52937732686708439272021-10-02T15:06:00.000+01:002021-10-02T15:06:32.789+01:00How to shoot yourself in the foot as a Pastor<p><span style="background-color: black; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: arial;"><span style="color: white;">In my opinion, ever pastor and leader should reflect on these questions regularly and be truly honest with yourself! Remember, the worst person you deceive is yourself!</span></span></p><div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: black; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">A great post by Ron Edmonton. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: black; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);"><br /></span></span></div><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">1) Do life alone, trust no one and have no “real” friends.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">2) Question everyone’s motive in the church.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">3) Don’t learn or get to know know key stakeholders in the church.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">4) Constantly compare the success (or lack there of) your ministry to other ministries.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">5) Refuse any outside critique or evaluation.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">6) Keep your family life always second to the church.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">7) Take personal pride in numbers.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">8) Believe you have to do everything, be everywhere and never say “no”.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">9) Spend time with God only when preparing for a message.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">10) Ignore the warning signs of burnout.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">11) Pretend you’re good when you’re not. Always protect your image.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">12) Ignore personal health.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Anything to Add?</span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-74738935518392864482021-09-09T14:19:00.001+01:002021-09-09T14:19:00.190+01:00The ABCs of useful feedback<p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Feedback is <em>essential </em>for growth and development. The only way to grow is to receive feedback that works.</span></p><p><span face=""Exo 2", sans-serif" style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b style="background-color: black;">'Humble aspiration craves useful feedback.'</b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Exo 2", sans-serif">Julie Winkle Giulioni recently published,</span><span face=""Exo 2", sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/blog/career-development/the-abcs-of-soliciting-and-accepting-feedback/" style="text-decoration: none;">The ABCs of Soliciting and Accepting Feedback</a><span face="Exo 2, sans-serif">. The below is adapted her approach below.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 19px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Abilities</span></strong></p><ol type="1"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What do you see me doing when I’m most energized?</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What strengths or skills enable my most important contribution?</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What can you always count on me for? <a href="https://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/blog/career-development/the-abcs-of-soliciting-and-accepting-feedback/" style="text-decoration: none;">Giulioni</a></span></li></ol><p style="line-height: 19px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Blind Spots</span></strong></p><ol type="1"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">How might I get in my own way?</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">How might my strengths work against me? <a href="https://www.juliewinklegiulioni.com/blog/career-development/the-abcs-of-soliciting-and-accepting-feedback/" style="text-decoration: none;">Giulioni</a></span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What am I missing? (Put this in a context like leading meetings.)</span></li></ol><p style="line-height: 19px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Conditions</span></strong></p><ol type="1"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What do I complain about?</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What’s happening when I’m at my best?</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What situations seem to drain me? Energize me?</span></li></ol><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><strong>Tip</strong>: Adapt the above questions when you give feedback. For example, “You seem most energized when you ________.” Include the follow-up, “What makes that so energizing for you?”</span></p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-78058851601226936862021-09-01T18:38:00.008+01:002021-09-01T18:38:00.206+01:007 ways to overcome distraction<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> <span style="font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em;">Great tips!</span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">1. Establish “no respond” hours in your office.</span></strong></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">You can’t do important work and respond immediately to email and text. In other words, expecting immediate responses trains people to spend time on trivialities and urgencies.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">2. Use the stuffed dragon method.</span></strong></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Give everyone in your office a stuffed dragon. Put the dragon on your desk or in front of your door when you’re doing priority work.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">You invite interruption when you leave your door open. Give everyone permission to carve out uninterrupted work time.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">3. Turn off notifications.</span></strong></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">4. Keep a notebook on your desk.</span></strong></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Don’t chase random thoughts, record them.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">5. Stop making everything a priority.</span></strong></p><blockquote style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Any boss who believes everything is a priority has a team that can’t focus.</span></p></blockquote><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Deadlines often establish priorities. All assignments need a deadline. The next time you assign a task, discuss and establish a deadline.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">6. Discuss commitments.</span></strong></p><blockquote style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Over-commitment is distraction.</span></p></blockquote><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Don’t make new commitments without discussing your current commitment-load.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">“I have these five commitments. Where would you like me to place this new commitment?”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">7. Schedule a five-minute buffer.</span></strong></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">Schedule five minutes between meetings. Take a breath, a short-walk, or just put your feet up.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">One person closes their door and turns the lights off in their office for a few minutes.</span></p><blockquote style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: medium;">You will get more done if you don’t run from one task to the next.</span></p></blockquote><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; font-family: "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; caret-color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: inherit; font-size: large; font-style: inherit;"><span style="color: white;">Others control your time when you rush from one urgency to the next!</span></span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-31660185223708000742021-08-23T12:27:00.004+01:002021-08-23T12:27:00.179+01:00Leadership Might be the Lid to Growth<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></p><div class="post-content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 21.359375px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: source-sans-pro, Georgia, serif; font-size: 44px; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 20.078125px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">6 Common Leadership Lids:</span></h2><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: source-sans-pro, Georgia, serif; font-size: 32px; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 33.453125px 0px 20.078125px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">1) When you stop growing. </span></h3><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">One of the surest predictors of an organization that will eventually stop growing is that its leaders stop growing.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Life moves forward, and culture changes; the church today is not the same as it was years ago. We as leaders must continue to grow and get better at our work if we want the church to continue to thrive.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Growth as a leader requires learning and change. How are you growing?</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Do you have a plan for growth? A coach? A supervisor that helps you become a better leader?</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">If yes, you can break through this lid. You can always begin to grow again.</span></p><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: source-sans-pro, Georgia, serif; font-size: 32px; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 33.453125px 0px 20.078125px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">2) When your insecurities rise above your calling and gifting.</span></h3><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Insecurities are common amongst leaders, now perhaps more than ever.</span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">All leaders have insecure moments; that’s very different from being an insecure person.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Of course, there are insecure moments; if you are leading, you are taking people somewhere you and they (together) have never been before. It’s uncharted territory, and you’re not always sure what to do.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But remember, <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">just because you don’t know what to do, that doesn’t mean you don’t know what you’re doing. </strong>You can figure it out!</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Every time you solve another problem or challenge (figure it out), you break through the lid of insecurities, and you develop authentic confidence.</p><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: source-sans-pro, Georgia, serif; font-size: 32px; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 33.453125px 0px 20.078125px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3) When you don’t develop and empower leaders. </h3><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A vision big enough to be worth pursuing requires more leaders to achieve it.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As an organization grows, it becomes more complex and requires more leaders to take it forward.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Developing leaders isn’t complex, but it does require relentless commitment and ongoing intentional effort.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The results are incredibly worthwhile.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If I can be overly candid here, if you are too busy to develop leaders, you are too busy. It’s time to hand off some of your work to others to make sure this happens.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One sure way to breakthrough this leadership lid is to develop more and better leaders on your team.</p><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: source-sans-pro, Georgia, serif; font-size: 32px; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 33.453125px 0px 20.078125px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4) When your people no longer know that you care. </h3><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No longer genuinely caring about the people you serve is unlikely, but here’s how it can seem like you don’t care.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You can become exhausted from solving problems, hurt by so much criticism, overwhelmed by pressure, or struggle with a personal issue – perhaps a family member who is ill.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Any of these can consume so much time and personal energy that you drift in your closeness and connection with those you serve. If this becomes prolonged, it produces an almost imperceptible lid on your leadership.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you sense a drift from those closest to you, take some time to discern the cause and focus on the remedy. Then, let a few of those closest to you in on what’s going on. A few honest conversations will go a long way.</p><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: source-sans-pro, Georgia, serif; font-size: 32px; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 33.453125px 0px 20.078125px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5) When you stop hearing from God. </h3><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">All leaders experience dry periods in their spiritual life when for a season, it seems as if God’s voice is silent.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If a spiritually dry season becomes prolonged, it can become a lid to your leadership, but there is no need to fear this.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">God is still with you in spiritually dry times, and you can lean into the wisdom He has already given as well as seek wise counsel from your trusted advisors.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In my experience, a spiritually dry season always comes to an end, and I learn again that God never drifted from me; it was I who needed to draw near to Him.</p><h3 style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: source-sans-pro, Georgia, serif; font-size: 32px; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 33.453125px 0px 20.078125px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">6) When you don’t have clarity of vision.</h3><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This final potential leadership lid pertains mostly to the senior leadership team, but it certainly impacts the entire team and church.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Any time you no longer have a clear vision, your leadership will become a lid to the church’s growth.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Over the past seventeen months, vision has been challenged. We have learned how to cast vision for shorter periods, but it’s still challenging.</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #404549; font-family: open-sans, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you are unclear about your vision, your best solution is to embrace the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) as your vision until you have clarity for the unique expression of vision for your church.</p></div>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-20028882610786779712021-08-16T11:44:00.000+01:002021-08-16T11:44:35.485+01:00THE 4 SECRETS OF GRACEFUL LEADERSHIP THAT PROPEL YOU TO THE NEXT LEVEL<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> Another great post by Dan Rockwell!</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;">Passive patience disappoints. Grace sweetens bitter.</p><h2 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;"><a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2021/08/10/how-to-lead-with-patience-and-not-get-walked-on/" style="color: #ee5611; text-decoration: none;">Patience</a> with people is:</h2><ol style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px;" type="1"><li>Accepting slower than expected progress.</li><li>Withholding negative consequences for disappointing performance.</li><li>Making room to learn from mistakes.</li><li>Allowing poor performance with the view of improvement and growth.</li><li>Realizing that everyone isn’t good at everything. Exploring reassignment or <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/03/what-job-crafting-looks-like" style="color: #ee5611; text-decoration: none;">job crafting</a>.</li><li>Permitting time for people to find their greatest contribution.</li></ol><div class="wp-block-image" style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><figure class="aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg" style="color: #ee5611; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Cranberry Tea
Grace sweetings bitter." class="wp-image-44200" data-attachment-id="44200" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="grace-sweetens-bitter" data-large-file="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg?w=620" data-medium-file="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg" data-orig-size="3300,2183" data-permalink="https://leadershipfreak.blog/grace-sweetens-bitter/" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" src="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg?w=1024" srcset="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg?w=150 150w, https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg?w=300 300w, https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/grace-sweetens-bitter.jpg?w=768 768w" style="border-bottom-left-radius: inherit; border-bottom-right-radius: inherit; border-top-left-radius: inherit; border-top-right-radius: inherit; border: none; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 4px; max-width: 100%;" /></a></figure></div><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/195090637X?ie=UTF8&tag=leadefreak-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=195090637X" style="color: #ee5611; text-decoration: none;">John Baldoni</a> writes that grace, “… is the disposition to do something more for others.” He goes on, “Grace is the essence of life that enables us to see the world not simply as a place for us but rather a place for all of us.”</p><h2 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;">4 Secrets of graceful leadership:</h2><h3 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;">#1. Grace is more than patience:</h3><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><strong>5 ways grace exceeds patience.</strong></p><ol style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px;" type="1"><li>Patience withholds. Grace gives.</li><li>Patience permits. Grace provides.</li><li>Patience tolerates. Grace innovates.</li><li>Patience is restraint. Grace is intervention.</li><li><span style="color: initial;">Patience is reactive. Grace is proactive.</span></li></ol><h3 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;">#2. Grace is about the giver.</h3><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;">Do the graceful thing because it’s who you are, not for benefits you might receive. However, in a world of limited time and growing opportunity, focus grace – when possible – on responsive people. (Read, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143124986?ie=UTF8&tag=leadefreak-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=0143124986" style="color: #ee5611; text-decoration: none;">Give and Take</a>, by Adam Grant)</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;">An open heart takes you further than a clenched fist.</p></blockquote><div class="wp-block-image" style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"></div><h3 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;">#3. Grace doesn’t obligate.</h3><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;">Generosity with strings is manipulation. Kindness that mposes obligation is barter.</p></blockquote><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;">Seek the best for others. Appreciation may return to you. It may not.</p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;">Think of grace as a gift. Grace that focuses on response from recipients ends up frustrated and disappointed.</p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;">Employee turn-over is one area where leaders learn to be graceful. You pour into someone who leaves. Now what? Grace keeps pouring out after disappointment.</p><h3 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;">#4. Grace corrects.</h3><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;">The point of graceful correction is improvement, not punishment. Consequences co-exist with grace. “You fell short. How can I help?”</p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;">Grace is the context of high performance, not the endorsement of incompetence.</p></blockquote>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-26059148532659469032021-08-05T12:35:00.001+01:002021-08-05T12:35:00.211+01:00Four Ways to Lead With Integrity<p><span style="background-color: black; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">On this critical topic, Rick Warren shares four ways to lead with integrity.</span></span></p><div class="entry-content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 30px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized is-style-rounded" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-6893" height="301" loading="lazy" src="https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/kelly-sikkema-u8FRCb7FQDI-unsplash-1536x936-1-1024x624.jpeg" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 9999px; border-bottom-right-radius: 9999px; border-top-left-radius: 9999px; border-top-right-radius: 9999px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="494" /></span></figure><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Originally posted by <a href="https://pastors.com/four-ways-to-lead-with-integrity/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Four+Ways+to+Lead+With+Integrity&utm_campaign=MT+04+21+2021+Four+Ways+to+Lead+With+Integrity+%2B+Lessons+for+Leaders+on+Character" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rick Warren</a></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You don’t need to read much of the Bible to realize that God cares deeply about his reputation. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">For example, the Bible says in Ezekiel 20:44,<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> “Then you’ll know that I am the LORD, when I will have dealt with you for the benefit of my own reputation and not according to your evil attitudes or corrupt practices” </span>(ISV).</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">But God doesn’t just care about his reputation. He cares about the church’s reputation, too. This is taught throughout Scripture. As Christians, we are “little Christs” who represent Jesus on earth. We can either bring him fame or shame. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">This is important for all believers, but it’s particularly crucial for those of us who lead. We must be people of integrity. The world is watching how we respond to the tests and trials in our lives. We either draw people to Jesus or repel them with our lack of integrity.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">To have a ministry of integrity, make these four commitments:</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>Speak the truth plainly. </b></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The Bible tells us in James 5:12, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned”</span> (NLT). </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">James isn’t talking about profanity. He’s telling us to avoid a different kind of swearing. We’re not to take an oath. If you don’t have enough integrity to do what you say without swearing, you have a problem.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">As a follower of Jesus, your word should stand on its own. Others taught the same truth in Scripture. Paul wrote similar words to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:17-19, and Jesus said it in Matthew 5. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">When you read something more than once in the Bible, you better pay attention. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ starts with having a faith that says what you mean and means what you say.</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>Share the truth completely. </b></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Lying is when you intentionally mislead others by either falsifying or concealing information. If you deliberately hold back part of the truth, you’re lying. Half the truth is a whole lie. To be a person of integrity, you don’t play games with the truth.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Proverbs 10:10 says, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Someone who holds back the truth causes trouble, but one who openly criticizes works for peace”</span> (GNT). Pastors, there are many ways we can hold back the truth. Sometimes we need to have hard yet honest conversations in our families and in our churches. If we shrink from these conversations, we can’t call ourselves people of integrity.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Sometimes you may be tempted to hold the truth back because you want to be kind. But after 40+ years of leadership, I’ve learned this always backfires. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 28:23, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery”</span> (TLB).<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Truth often hurts, but dishonesty leaves lasting scars.</span></p><h3 class="has-medium-font-size" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;"> <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Use the truth tactfully.</span></span></span></h3><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The Bible never tells us to use the truth like a club. In fact, Ephesians 4:15 says, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Speak the truth in a spirit of love” </span>(GNB). </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">People change faster and easier when the truth is wrapped in love. Truth without love is always seen as an attack.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Without love, all of our actions mean nothing. If you don’t love the people you’re sharing the truth with, stop sharing it. You’re just a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal (1 Corinthians 13). Your truth-telling will never produce lasting fruit.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">If you’re just trying to get something off your chest, you’re not speaking in love. Just because you’re willing to share the truth doesn’t mean the other person is ready to hear it. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The solution to any conflict in your ministry or your family is not deception; it’s tact. You can use your words to heal or hurt, make a point or make an enemy.</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>Live the truth consistently.</b></span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Integrity isn’t being honest 80 percent of the time. Partial honesty is dishonesty. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Paul writes in Ephesians 4:15, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Let our lives lovingly express the truth” </span>(AMP). When we let the Bible permeate our lives, I believe many people would listen better to what we have to say about Jesus.</span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Integrity is a requirement for leadership because all leadership is based on trust. If people don’t trust you, you can’t lead them. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The Bible says of David, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“He shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands” </span>(Psalm 78:72 NKJV). David demonstrated two important components of leadership—character and competence. Both are essential to leadership. One without the other is a disaster. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">More than anything else, I want to lead my church with integrity and skill. </span></p><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">How about you?</span></p></div>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-33001378576423489382021-07-29T15:45:00.004+01:002021-07-29T15:45:00.173+01:007 Encouragements for Worried Leaders<p><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"> A good read from Ron Edmondston!</span></span></p><div class="row" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 24px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="col span_9" id="post-area" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-style: inherit; margin: 4px 17.171875px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 20px 0px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 639.953125px; z-index: 10;"><article class="regular post-67454 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-church category-church-revitalization category-leadership category-organizational-leadership category-team-leadership" id="post-67454" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="inner-wrap animated" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="post-content" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; min-height: 98px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="content-inner" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 50px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: right; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-share-button twitter-share-button-rendered twitter-tweet-button" data-url="https://ronedmondson.com/2021/07/encouragements-worried-leaders.html" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.06c6ee58c3810956b7509218508c7b56.en.html#dnt=false&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fronedmondson.com%2F2021%2F07%2Fencouragements-worried-leaders.html%3Futm_source%3Dfeedburner%26utm_medium%3Dfeed%26utm_campaign%3DFeed%253A%2BGracedAgain%2B%2528Ron%2BEdmondson%2B%2529&size=m&text=7%20Encouragements%20for%20Worried%20Leaders%20-%20Ron%20Edmondson&time=1626792289838&type=share&url=https%3A%2F%2Fronedmondson.com%2F2021%2F07%2Fencouragements-worried-leaders.html" style="border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 20px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: visible; width: 61px;" title="Twitter Tweet Button"></iframe></span></span></div><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Most leaders will have occasions of worry. Worry is an emotion. You can know all the principles of leadership and still struggle with occasional worry. I would love to offer some encouragements for worried leaders. </span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I’ve talked to some who say at least one day a week they are consumed with anxiety and fear. It’s the kind of frustration which, left unchecked, makes them almost want to quit. I talked to a pastor not long ago that was struggling with stomach problems (I won’t get more graphic than that), because of the worry he is dealing with as a leader.</span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The fact you worry shows you are normal, human, and conscientious as a leader.</span> You want to be successful and the natural reaction is to worry when you feel you may not be.</span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">But emotions play tricks on us. They’re fickle and unreliable. Our desire to do well, causes our emotions to produce worry. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Constant worry can destroy a good leader, because it will control how the leader responds to others.</span></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Obviously, Jesus said, <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Do not worry!</span>” We probably know this truth, believe it and want to live it. So, what’s the practical side of Jesus’ command in leadership and how do we actually live out the command?</span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Here’s something you need to know – or may need reminding. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Having a strong faith is no guarantee your emotions – worry – won’t play tricks on you at times.</span></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">All of us worry, but how you respond when you worry seems to control you as a leader?</span></span></p><h2 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 35.7px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">7 encouragements for worried leaders:</span></span></h2><h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Pray and Bible study.</span></span></h4><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">You knew I’d say this, didn’t you? Worry is, by definition, a misplaced trust. Ultimately your answer is in God’s ability and His control, not your own. If worry is consistently plaguing your leadership, you need to fill your mind with truth through Bible study and prayer is step one.</span></span></p><h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Remember your purpose.</span></span></h4><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">You have to remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing. When worry hits you, you need grounding to something more permanent than your worries. You have a life purpose. Likely you believe in a vision. Hopefully you have some goals. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You need to remember what fuels your fire and why you are willing to take the risk of leadership.</span> If worry has gotten to the place where you’re not sure of your purpose anymore, stop everything and find it again. You can’t afford not to.</span></span></p><h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Contact an encouraging friend.</span></span></h4><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I always find other leaders can speak truth into my life just when I need it most. God uses relationships to strengthen us and make us better. I have to be bold enough to text a friend and say, “I could use some encouragement”, but I’ve never been disappointed when I’ve been that bold. If you don’t have someone like this in your life that’s your assignment. The goal is to find the person and build the relationship before you need them.</span></span></p><h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Review your track record.</span></span></h4><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Most likely you’ve had success which led to the position you have now. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You can do it again.</span>One reason I keep an encouragement file is so I can read through the positive things I’ve done on days when nothing seems positive.</span></span></p><h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Count your blessings.</span></span></h4><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">And name them one by one. There are always others who would love to have what you have. Someone is always worse off than you are. Most likely, even outside the position you have as a leader, God has blessed your life. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Spend some time remembering the good God has allowed you to experience.</span> The list is probably longer than you think and will help you avoid worry as you recall what God has already given you.</span></span></p><h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Get some rest – and hydrate.</span></span></h4><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Worry is more present when you are tired. I’ve learned we are often dehydrated and it makes an impact on us physically and emotionally. You may have to quit for the day so you can prepare for better days. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The depth of the worry should determine the length of the period of rest.</span> I’ve also learned part of being fully “rested” also includes making sure you are as healthy as you can be by eating the right foods and exercising, especially during the busiest seasons of life.</span></span></p><h4 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Rationalize.</span></span></h4><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">People who most need to rationalize hate this one, but most of the things we worry about never come true. Is your worry based on reality or based on your emotional assumptions? Dismiss the things you can’t control, aren’t certain will go wrong, or the unknown.<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The more you limit irrational thoughts, the less for which you’ll have to worry.</span></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 27px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Let me also say that if you are suffering from serious anxiety – to the point of being depressed, that’s not what I’m addressing in this post. <span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Don’t ever be afraid to get professional help.</span></span></span></p></div></div></div></article></div></div>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-18194856385481268072021-07-22T11:37:00.001+01:002021-07-22T11:37:00.216+01:007 QUALITIES A LEADER CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO HAVE<p><strong style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">There are certain non-negotiable qualities every Christian leader needs to possess and grow in. Carey Nieuwhof shares 7 of them you can’t afford not to have.</span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><strong>Originally posted by </strong><a href="https://davekraft.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4d1c5138a28c4710d33abc112&id=a3f58cbefe&e=0c81ae6745">Carey Nieuwhof</a></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">How do you know you’re a leader worth following?</span></p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" class="wp-image-6799" height="173" loading="lazy" src="https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Leadership.jpeg" style="border: none; display: inline; height: auto !important; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; max-width: 560px !important; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="260" /></span></figure><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">By definition, that’s what a leader is: a person whom others follow. (If no one is following you, you’re probably not a leader, unless you’re pre-launch, but even then, look back at your life. Has anyone followed you… ever?)</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Naturally, you can gain a following through a variety of means. Not all are great.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Dictators gain following. So do cult leaders. So do criminals.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Not all leadership is great leadership.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Which raises the question, how do you know you’re a leader <em>worth </em>following?</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">If you’re a Christian, I think this adds another dimension to your leadership. You need to model leadership in a way that reflects the character and heart of Christ.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">So what exactly does that look like?</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">I’ve met thousands of Christian leaders in my two decades of leadership, and when I think about the leaders I believe are worth following, seven qualities keep rising to the top:</span></p><h3 style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">1. HUMILITY</span></strong></h3><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Of all the qualities and characteristics I see in great leaders, humility is one of the greatest. It’s also rarer than it should be, even amongst Christian leaders.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Christians don’t always do humility well. Sometimes we equate humility with groveling or low self-esteem. It is neither.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">C.S. Lewis said it so well when he wrote that true humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">God gifted you for life and ministry. But the point is that <em>God </em>gifted and equipped you for ministry, you didn’t. The gift always says more about the giver than it does about the recipient.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Trying to take credit for your gifting makes you like a song that ignores its composer. It doesn’t make the song less powerful; it just distorts what’s going on.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Any alternatives to humility lead straight to arrogance. And as even Jim Collins’<a href="https://davekraft.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4d1c5138a28c4710d33abc112&id=309f2cce87&e=0c81ae6745" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"> research</a> has discovered, humility is the primary differentiator between good leadership and great leadership. He argues that ego-centric, celebrity-style leadership is the antithesis of great leadership.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Struggle with ego? Be a little less impressed with yourself and more impressed with your team. Better yet, be deeply impressed with God.</span></p><h3 style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">2. INTEGRITY</span></strong></h3><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Most of us think integrity is a good thing, but what does the term mean?</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">On the one hand, it means that who you are on the inside matches what you appear to be on the outside. You are consistent to the core.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The concept of integrity springs from the original Latin root of the word, which means ‘intact.’ In other words, can you withstand the crisis intact? A house with integrity (a solid foundation that is what it says it is) will withstand a storm. A house with a flimsy foundation won’t.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">‘Normal’ doesn’t test your integrity. A crisis does. If you want to see how deeply your integrity runs, just look at your last crisis.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">If you want to improve your integrity, take the steps you need to ensure your private walk matches your public talk.</span></p><h3 style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">3. A PASSIONATE FAITH</span></strong></h3><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">These points are in no particular order, but still, you might wonder why a passionate faith isn’t #1.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">First, people would expect it to be #1… so to sound fresh and make sure you don’t skip it; it’s #3.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">A passionate faith <em>is</em> the ultimate hallmark of Christian leadership.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">But the part that lags in many leaders is the passion part. Leadership can make you weary. Like paint, passion fades over time.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">It’s so important to make sure your passion stays fresh. (Here are<a href="https://davekraft.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4d1c5138a28c4710d33abc112&id=254c5ac234&e=0c81ae6745" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"> 5 signs your passion is white-hot</a>.)</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Your team will only ever be as passionate about the mission as you are. So do whatever it takes to stay passionate.</span></p><h3 style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">4. EMOTIONAL HEALTH</span></strong></h3><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">There are a lot of emotionally unhealthy leaders in leadership, but if you want to be a leader worth following, get healthy.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Your health as a leader impacts your entire church regardless of the size.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">I am part of a church that’s home to over 2000 people. I don’t know many of them by name. But I do know this: the health of a leader impacts everyone in the organization. <em>Everyone.</em></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">If you’re healthy at the top, you’ll be healthy at the bottom. If you’re unhealthy at the top, you’ll be unhealthy at the bottom.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Emotionally healthy people recognize, understand and manage their own emotions and reactions. They also know, understand and can (appropriately) influence the emotions of others.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Think about it. Isn’t that what the majority of church conflict is about? Exactly.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Your church or team will only be as healthy as you are. Why?</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Because eventually, healthy people won’t serve under an unhealthy leader. And unhealthy people won’t stay for long under a healthy leader unless they want to get well.</span></p><h3 style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">5. TRUSTWORTHINESS</span></strong></h3><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Trust is confidence, and in leadership, it operates at two levels.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">First, there’s personal trust. Personal trust is about:</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Telling the truth.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Character.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Integrity.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">We’ve already talked about that.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">But there’s another element to trust, and that relates to your performance.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">There are more than a few leaders who personally have solid character but are untrustworthy as leaders because they don’t deliver.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The key to instilling confidence in your team as a trustworthy leader is simple: do what you said you were going to do when you said you were going to do it.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">If you’re sloppy, undisciplined and miss deadlines, your team will never fully trust you. And they’re right not to.</span></p><h3 style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">6. TEACHABILITY</span></strong></h3><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You may be the leader, but you also need to continue to be a learner.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Being an effective leader is not as much about being the teacher as it is about being teachable.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">If you’re not learning, you’re not growing.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The truly exceptional leaders allow their teams and followers to teach them too. This isn’t just about peer learning, or learning from mentors, conferences or books.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">It’s about a posture of openness.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The more teachable you are, the more people will love being led by you.</span></p><h3 style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><strong><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">7. CLARITY</span></strong></h3><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">One of the most challenging aspects of leadership is establishing clarity.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Think about it. Leadership is complex with many variables. Your head spins from the uncertainty involved. I get that.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">Leaders worth following, though, do the hard work of creating clarity.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">You can’t always be certain. But you always have to be clear.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">The alternative is ambiguity. No one can follow or get excited about ambiguity. And ambiguity doesn’t change the world.</span></p><h3 style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial;">HUMILITY, INTEGRITY, AND TRUST ALL BOIL DOWN TO YOUR CHARACTER</span></h3>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-49471752826063293132021-07-15T15:05:00.001+01:002021-07-15T15:05:00.188+01:00 10 WAYS TO RECOGNIZE OUR ARROGA<p><span style="font-family: arial;">A great post!</span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was the late John Stott who said that pride is our greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend. The book of proverbs reminds us that pride goes before a fall (Proverb 16:18). It would seem that we are seeing more and more gifted leaders fall prey to pride and self-implode at some point. </span></span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chuck Lawless shares 10 ways to recognize our arrogance.</span></span></p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="" border="0" class="wp-image-6700" height="225" loading="lazy" src="https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Test-of-Christian-Leadership.jpeg" style="border: none; display: inline; height: auto !important; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; max-width: 560px !important; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="491" /></span></figure><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> Originally posted by <a href="https://davekraft.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4d1c5138a28c4710d33abc112&id=674c6a64e0&e=0c81ae6745">Chuck Lawless</a></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’m writing this post for me as much as for anyone. Some years ago, I re-read Jim Collins’ <em>How the Mighty Fall</em> and Tim Irwin’s <em>Derailed.</em> Both of these gripping studies review decline in leaders and organizations, especially in leaders who perhaps once thought themselves invincible. Using these potential markers of arrogance help me to evaluate my own life.</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #1: You believe few people are as smart as you are. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not many people actually say these words, but honest leaders must admit they sometimes think this way. Some reveal this thinking by their ridicule of anybody else “not quite up to my level.” Others assume they should be part of almost every discussion, regardless of the topic. </span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #2: Your first reaction to negative is to be defensive or to cast blame on others. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If anything adverse (e.g., a lack of growth in the organization, a divided leadership team, a failed program) is <em>always </em>somebody else’s fault, you might see yourself as above such declines. </span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #3: Titles matter to you. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I realize folks work really hard to earn titles – but, if your title has become your first name, you’ve crossed the line.</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #4: You assume your organization cannot fail.</span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The bottom line for you is this: your organization cannot fail because you don’t fail. Your track record is so filled with successes that failure is unimaginable. </span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #5: Not knowing “insider information” bothers you. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Arrogance is characterized not only by a belief we know almost everything, but also by a desire to know the “scoop” before others do. If you get frustrated when you’re not in the information’s inner circle, you may well be dealing with arrogance.</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #6: You are disconnected from your team members. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If you see your team members more as cogs in a system than as valuable partners – or worse yet, if <em>they perceive you view them that way</em> – you may be haughtily operating as “a steam engine attempting to pull the rest of the train without being attached to it.”[ii]</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #7: Spiritual disciplines are secondary, if not non-existent, in your life. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If you are leading externally without spending time with God privately, you are leading in your own strength. That’s sin.</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #8: No one has permission to speak truth into your life. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Leaders who fall are often not accountable to anyone. If no one plays this role in your life, your lack of accountability is likely evidence of pride.</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #9: Other people see you as arrogant. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Take a risk – ask others what they really think about you. Be specific in asking, “Do I ever come across as arrogant?” Even the most emotional (and perhaps exaggerated) responses likely reveal some level of truth. Hear it.</span></p><p class="has-medium-font-size" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial;">Marker #10: This post bothers you . . . or <em>doesn’t </em>bother you. </span></strong></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-size: 10px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If these words bother you, you may be coming face-to-face with reality in your life. If they <em>don’t</em> bother you, you may be failing to see the arrogance that characterizes all of us.</span></p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-28313332577249402912021-07-08T07:31:00.001+01:002021-07-08T07:31:00.205+01:00THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON YOUR “JOB DESCRIPTION.”<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I recently preached about the importance of Listening to God and to others like Jesus did. We all need develop the skill of listening. The next morning I read this email from Dave Kraft, a brilliant read. Thanks Dave!</span></p><p><span style="color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: black; caret-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">........</span></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: large;">At some point in my seminars, I always say that as a staff worker (volunteer or paid) you hopefully have a ministry (or job) description. The most important thing that should be on that description…your first, and primary responsibility as a leader, is to hear from God. This is sometimes assumed or flat out neglected.</span></p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img alt="" border="0" class="wp-image-6764" height="307" loading="lazy" src="https://davekraft.org/wp-content/uploads/Hand-reaching-for-the-cloud-in-the-sky-000068460247_Medium-1024x1017.jpeg" style="border: none; display: inline; height: auto !important; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; max-width: 560px !important; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="309" /></span></figure><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The most important thing about your job is not what you do, but who you are in Jesus. We increasingly discover this as we take time to hear from him.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">First Samuel chapter three is very instructive on this issue. Verse one tells us that during that particular time period messages from the Lord were rare and visions quite uncommon. The bottom line was nobody was hearing from God or had received a vision from God as to what He wanted to do. The problem was not that God had nothing to say, but that no one was truly listening.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Along comes Samuel. God speaks to him as he is sleeping. He thinks it’s Eli. Both of them soon realize that God is speaking to Samuel. In verse 10 Samuel says, “<em>Speak, for your servant hears.</em>” (ESV) In some translations it says, speak for your servant is listening. The Message has it: “<em>Speak for your servant is ready to listen.</em>”</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The most important thing you can be/do as a leader is be ready to listen to what God wants to say to you–and through you. In verse 17, Eli says to Samuel, “<em>What was it that he told you?</em>” (ESV).</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This is a question that all leaders should be challenged to regularly ask each other: What has the Lord been showing you, teaching you, making clear to you? What have you been hearing?</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We live in a fast-paced culture with lots of “noise” constantly coming our way. There is a good chance your ministry context is also fast paced with more going on than you think you are capable of handling. We all desperately need to hear from the Lord. For me personally I want to be:</span></p><ol style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Intentional about listening</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Ready to listen</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Eager to listen</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Motivated to clearly hear (and respond) to what he is saying to me</span></li></ol><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Because of our propensity to keep super busy, feeling like there doesn’t seem to be enoug hours in a day to get everything done, we need to:</span></p><ol style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><em>Be quiet and know that he is God.</em> (Psalm 46:10)</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Gain perspective when we feel like we’re living and ministering in a fog. We might not always get clarity or answers, but we can get perspective.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Know what we should be doing at any given moment.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Be reminded of the cross, the resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit in our life.</span></li></ol><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48);"><em><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Jesus, forgive us for traveling so fast that we, at times, figuratively leave you in the dust and ignore you. Forgive us for worrying ourselves into a frenzy and forgetting that you are God. Forgive us for calling you father on Sunday and then acting and ministering the rest of the week like we’re orphans. Please give us a fresh desire to know you, being ready to listen to you. Thank you that you desire for us to have perspective, peace and power in our lives.</span></em></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-18409121206325082282021-07-01T07:32:00.001+01:002021-07-01T07:32:00.178+01:00The Dark Secret of PATIENCE<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white;">A must read for every leader by Dan Rockwell!</span></span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Speaking softly while red-faced with anger isn’t patience. Self-control proves you aren’t a two-year old.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">You can’t be patient and upset at the same time.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Impatience is frustrated with delay and annoyed with disappointment. I hate waiting in lines! Pasting on a smile doesn’t turn self-control into patience.</span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Patience doesn’t pace the floor while tamping down disappointment.</span></p></blockquote><div class="wp-block-image is-style-default" style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><figure class="aligncenter size-large" style="clear: both; display: table; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/patience-doesnt-pace-the-floor-while-tamping-down-disappointment.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: white;"><img alt="Disappointed puppy.
Patience doesn't pace the floor while tamping down disappointment." class="wp-image-43358" data-attachment-id="43358" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="<p>Disappointed puppy.</p>
<p>Patience doesn’t pace the floor while tamping down disappointment.</p>
" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="patience-doesnt-pace-the-floor-while-tamping-down-disappointment" data-large-file="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/patience-doesnt-pace-the-floor-while-tamping-down-disappointment.jpg?w=620" data-medium-file="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/patience-doesnt-pace-the-floor-while-tamping-down-disappointment.jpg?w=300" data-orig-file="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/patience-doesnt-pace-the-floor-while-tamping-down-disappointment.jpg" data-orig-size="1688,1125" data-permalink="https://leadershipfreak.blog/patience-doesnt-pace-the-floor-while-tamping-down-disappointment/" scale="0" src="https://leadershipfreak.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/patience-doesnt-pace-the-floor-while-tamping-down-disappointment.jpg" style="border-bottom-left-radius: inherit; border-bottom-right-radius: inherit; border-top-left-radius: inherit; border-top-right-radius: inherit; border: none; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 4px; max-width: 100%;" /></span></a></figure></div><h3 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Impatience with patience:</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Higher ups – whose bonuses depend on meeting the numbers – can’t afford patience.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">I’ve heard braggards spouting off about pressuring people. But I haven’t heard many leaders brag about patience.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><strong><span style="color: white;">Impatience:</span></strong></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Ego considers patience a vice, not a virtue. Arrogance is intolerant and bombastic. Braggards reject patience.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Impatience gets things done. Patience is too slow for ego-driven leaders.</span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Patience is fanciful optimism when everything is about the numbers.</span></p></blockquote><h3 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">5 uncomfortable truths about patience:</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><strong><span style="color: white;">Patience:</span></strong></p><ol style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px;" type="1"><li><span style="color: white;">Rejects the need for everything to be the best.</span></li><li><span style="color: white;">Gives second chances.</span></li><li><span style="color: white;">Tolerates weakness.</span></li><li><span style="color: white;">Accepts irritation.</span></li><li><span style="color: white;">Doesn’t complain.</span></li></ol><h3 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Leaderly patience:</span></h3><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Show me a patient leader and I’ll show you <a href="https://leadershipfreak.blog/2014/11/17/avoid-4-dangers-of-impatience-still-get-things-done/" style="text-decoration: none;">someone people trust.</a></span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Aspiration elevates patience.</span></p></blockquote><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Patience accepts what is <em>and </em>works to improve. Lack of aspiration is lethargy, not patience.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">The ability to respect people and challenge them is leaderly patience. But tolerating incompetence is negligent encouragement.</span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Progress justifies patience.</span></p></blockquote><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Patience dances on the edge of average but doesn’t camp there. Second chances are opportunities to improve, not validation of mediocrity.</span></p><h3 style="font-family: "Work Sans", sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The tough side of patience:</span></h3><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Grit lifts patience above apathy.</span></p></blockquote><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Patience pulls for improvement while accepting current attainment. Beating people up for past failure doesn’t motivate them to reach high in the future.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">You might beat people into conformity, but you lose their hearts. Worse yet, they lose heart.</span></p><blockquote class="wp-block-quote" style="background-image: url("https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/pub/triton-lite/images/lgn_quote.png"); background-position: left top; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 40px;"><p style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Patience practices realistic optimism. </span></p></blockquote><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">It’s not patience to expect performance from incompetence. It’s delusion.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Exo 2", sans-serif; font-size: 16.899999618530273px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: white;">Patience with people means sticking with them while you manage them out.</span></p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-57981358463327218102021-06-24T15:10:00.001+01:002021-06-24T15:10:00.189+01:00Some non-obvious reasons reasons you feel busier than ever<p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some timely advice from <a href="https://www.biblicalleadership.com/contributors/careynieuwhof/" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; text-decoration: none;">Carey Nieuwhof</a>....</span></b></h2><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"></p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">I'm guessing you probably feel busier than ever.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Almost every leader I talk to does.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Dealing with an overwhelming, never-ending list of responsibilities was a problem long before the global disruption of 2020-2021. The disruption made it even more complicated and intense.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The pandemic introduced a strange paradox into our lives. As Adam Grant points out in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">this widely-circulated article</a>, the pandemic gave us more time as the world shut down, but left us feeling overwhelmed, dealing with grief and this feeling he identifies as 'languishing'.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Often I find if I can identify <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">why</i>I'm feeling a certain way, it can help alleviate the problem.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">After all, it's hard to solve a problem you don't understand.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Naming a problem is the first step toward fixing it.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">So, here's the question: why do you feel <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">so</i> busy?</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Here are some non-obvious reasons.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">1. The crisis destroyed your methods</span></p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The first thing to die in a crisis is your methods. The mission continues, but the methods got destroyed.</p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">You couldn't open for in-person gatherings.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Suddenly you're leading a remote team.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">You're not just a parent, you're now a teacher.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Live events suddenly became a thing of the past.</li></ul><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">And even as things reopen, it's not the same. Live events are still wobbly. Some people are raring to go, others are more reticent.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Pre-pandemic, most of us had rhythms and methods that, while perhaps not ideal, gave us a sense of security and predictability.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Even if they weren't perfect, you knew what to do.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The pandemic blew those methods up overnight.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The pain of the moment we're in is that it's not what it was and isn't yet what it will be.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The in-between creates chaos that's beyond your control.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">2. Your mind doesn't really turn off anymore</span></p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Adding to the chaos is that the future is still unknown and uncertain.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Of course, it's always been that way (does anyone really know the future?) But in a more stable period, there was a predictability to life and leadership that's just absent now.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The unknownness of tomorrow forces leaders into a state of constant mental chaos, asking questions for which there are no clear answers and having to change plans regularly.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The mental load you carry as a result means it's hard to turn off your brain or get away from the crisis.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Even if you're not working as many hours as you were a year ago, your mind is always working. And when your mind is always working, you're working.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">3. Your home and pocket are also your office</span></p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The working from home shift disrupted the boundaries between work and life in a profound way.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">But long before the pandemic, your home and pocket were increasingly becoming your office anyway.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">You used to go to the office, but thanks to technology, the office goes to you.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Between your laptop, tablet, and phone, work follows you everywhere.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">If you're a knowledge worker, you know that your work is never really done anyway. When have you done enough customer service, team development, product improvement, pastoral care? Correct…never. These are all infinite games.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">So your work is never really done.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Add to that the fact that you can now do your work anywhere, and you have a toxic cocktail indeed.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The ability to work from anywhere at any time leaves a lot of people feeling like they're never really on and never really off. You're taking breaks mid-day to make lunch for the kids or sweep the floor, and answering email at 10 p.m.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">No wonder you feel like you're never done, because you aren't.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">4. Inbound messages are at an all-time high</span></p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">I'm old enough to remember when you had one inbox.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">At first, it was snail mail, and maybe you got a few pieces of mail a day. Or not.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">In the 90s, email arrived and added a new inbox. In 1996, I think I got about 4-10 emails a day. Rather manageable.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Last year I counted up my inboxes. I have 11. Between social media inboxes, text messages, and a few email accounts, I have over 11 different channels people can use to message me.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Which means pretty much every time I look at my phone, someone is messaging me.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The thing about technology is that messages are always sent at the convenience of the sender, not at the convenience of the recipient, which deepens the sense of overwhelm you have because there's rarely a time when someone isn't trying to get your attention or ask you about something.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">For me, that's meant choosing a few inboxes in which I'll be active while ignoring others (I realize that's not for everyone).</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">It's also meant deciding that I won't always respond when the message comes in but instead when I'm ready and focused to respond.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Obviously, for a few people, I do respond right away.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Here's my rule: the depth of relationship should determine the depth and speed of your response.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">What does that mean? It means my family, team, and perhaps very closest friends get a near-immediate response. Others get a response later when I'm out of my most productive zone or finished down time.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The depth of relationship should determine the depth and speed of your response.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">5. Too much task-switching</span></p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Cal Newport argues, persuasively in my view, that our<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cnlp-403-cal-newport-on-why-youre-distracted-unproductive/id912753163?i=1000512483559" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">minds were not designed to switch constantly between tasks</a>.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Constantly checking email, toggling between Slack and the project you're working on, and pausing to answer texts and take phone calls distracts you to the point where you can't really focus enough to accomplish deep work.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Or as Cal Newport put it, "Slack built the right tool for the wrong way to work' (he <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/slack-is-the-right-tool-for-the-wrong-way-to-work" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">explains why here</a>).</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">I know on days where I'm toggling many things, I can often put in eight or ten hours and feel like I've accomplished nothing at all.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The antidote to constant task-switching is to create deep periods of uninterrupted focus in your work.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Your brain needs to focus to produce quality work and, ultimately, a good quantity of work over time.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">For me, that means almost all notifications have been off on all my devices for years, and I have hours of time-blocked space most days with no or very few interruptions.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">6. You've forgotten that busyness is a choice</span></p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">This is a hard one for me, but the truth is that busyness is a choice.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">You're as busy as you want to be. No more, no less.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Most days this is hard to remember. The vortex of busyness draws you in deeply and regularly.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">A few days ago I was on my front porch early in the morning while the sun rose and I listened to the birds. They weren't rushed at all. Nor were the trees, or the grass. Or the sky.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The chaos I feel is, for the most part, internally generated.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">I'm as busy as I want to be.</p><p class="selectionShareable" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: caslon, Georgia, serif; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">So are you.</p>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839668197397452307.post-33228255604192096412021-06-17T10:03:00.001+01:002021-06-17T10:03:00.193+01:00As a leader, 7 ways to earn trust<p><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> A timely reminder! <span style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Originally posted by </span><a href="https://davekraft.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4d1c5138a28c4710d33abc112&id=82a29d6b2a&e=0c81ae6745" style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Ron Edmondson</a></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">People follow people they trust. And there are ways to earn trust as a leader.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">I’ve found trust develops over time and experience – as we witness trustworthy behavior. Honestly, as a leader, I’ve felt a delicate tension in maintaining trust. People look for a leader to be strong, independent and confident. Yet, we trust people who are approachable, inclusive and humble.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Jesus is the perfect model of this type of trusted leader.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">How do we combine those traits to be trusted leaders?</span></p><ol style="caret-color: rgb(48, 48, 48); font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;" type="1"><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><strong>Display confidence, but never cockiness</strong>. People will trust a competent leader, but one who is arrogant will be dismissed quickly.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><strong>Follow through, which means you never over-commit.</strong> When a leader does what they say they will, people gain trust. When the leader always bails on responsibility – when they have a new idea every day, but nothing ever comes to reality – people begin to doubt everything the leader says.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><strong>Put trust in others, so you’ll have an opportunity for them to put trust in you.</strong> Trust is a mutually exclusive commodity. People won’t extend you trust they don’t feel they receive from you. This means you must not be controlling, micro-managing, or negative towards every new idea they bring to the table. It means you must empower, delegate, and give authority to people.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><strong>Extend grace but be firm in some non-negotiables.</strong> I have written previously about the non-negotiable things for me in leadership – things such as responsiveness and mutual-respect – and I share them often with our team. We should have some standards which are not open to discussion. Those should usually be issues of character, vision or values. But, we need to allow people the freedom make their own way, including the freedom to fail, make mistakes, and be assured we will forgive them if needed.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><strong>Try to be knowledgeable and aware by constantly learning but realize you don’t know everything and you’ll know far more with a team.</strong> People trust a teachable leader. They are leery of a leader who knows it all – or pretends they do. We must ask questions, allow others on our team to teach us at times, continually seek wisdom and develop individually, just as we expect those we are trying to lead to do.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><strong>Exhibit humility but have courage to do the hard things.</strong> A trusted leader is humble enough to share recognition, but diligent to do the things everyone expects of the leader – such as lead through the hard seasons, remain calm in crisis, and encourage others when they need hope.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><strong>Value people more than you value progress.</strong> This is especially difficult for driven leaders. We want success and this often is measured in numbers. But, people trust people they know genuinely care for them. We must see people as individuals, get to know them, and genuinely love the people we are trying to love – considering their interests even ahead of our own.</span></li></ol>Mark Sherratthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07450326684742895808noreply@blogger.com0