Who needs discipline?

A brilliant post by Dave Kraft (Leadership from the heart) A must read for the person committed to the leadership journey for the long haul.

Discipline, the Flagship Virtue

Okay, today we’re going to deal with the subject that many don’t like to think about, but most of us need to work on.   DISCIPLINE!  Wait! Wait!  Before you close this and move on, discipline yourself for five minutes and keep reading. You can do this.
 

In some quarters the subject of discipline is treated with loathing and disdain and is suspect of flying in the face of the gospel!  Yet scripture is explicitly clear on the subject: In the quintessential passage on leadership, I Timothy 3, verse 2 we find the words self-control.  In the second most referenced chapter on leadership, Titus 1, we read: “He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.”  Much of this screams discipline!
 

“In a race, everyone runs but only one person gets first prize. So run your race to win. To win the contest you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best.  An athlete goes to all this trouble just to win a blue ribbon or a silver cup, but we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win. I’m not just shadow boxing or playing around. Like an athlete, I punish my body, treating it roughly, training it to do what it should, not what it wants to. Otherwise I fear that after enlisting others for the race, I myself might be declared unfit and ordered to stand aside.” I Corinthians 9:24-27 (The Living Bible) Emphasis added.  “The road to life is a disciplined life; ignore correction and you’re lost for good.” Proverb 10:17 (The Message) Emphasis added.
 

The longer I live, the more I’m convinced of the need for discipline in the leader’s life. In actuality, the road to anything and anywhere of significance is paved with the asphalt of discipline. Any leader trying to pursue anything will need to learn discipline in:

Time

Money

Emotions

Exercise

Eyes

Ears

Eating

speech

You can add a few of your own to this list

My former co-worker, Scott Thomas, said this in a recent tweet: “Just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean you have to share it.” I thought long and hard on that and then added this for myself: Just because you have an emotion doesn’t mean you need to show it. Both of these have to do with discipline--of my tongue and of my emotions.


How many leaders have you known, read about, or heard about who disqualified themselves over the lack of self-discipline? How many leaders have fallen well short of their potential in making a significant contribution over the lack of self-discipline? How many leaders in their 40s or 50s are in such poor health due to the lack of self-discipline that they are not able to continue to minister with energy, joy and enthusiasm? And yet we are clearly and categorically told that one of the qualifications for leadership is self-control and discipline. We ignore this clear admonition at our own peril.


Look again at the list above. 


How about picking just one of these and making it a focus and priority for the next six months? In what area do you desire and need God’s grace?


Don’t think in terms of perfection but of progress through the enabling of the Holy Spirit and a few good friends to hold your feet to the fire.


Set some goals. Make yourself accountable. Memorize some passages of scripture. Depend on the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. Pray focused and regularly about this one area. Watch what God does!

7 Payments to Passion October

This is a brilliant post and a must read!  Thanks to Dan Rockwell.

 

The trouble with passion is the cost. Telling people to follow their passion is irrelevant in a world where they actually do.

The deeper question isn’t what’s your passion, it’s what are you willing to pay.

Passion is good, even essential, but it takes more than passion to succeed.

7 payments to passion:

1. Failure. The possibility of painful failure is the price of passion. Those unwilling to pay fade into oblivion.
2. Investment. Passion gives energy but it also demands energy. Invest your energy in your passion and it gives energy in return. Neglect passion and energy declines.
3. Restriction. The more passionate you are the narrower you become. The opportunity of passion is it’s power to enable “No” with clarity and conviction. Lack of focus destroys passion.
4. Action. Action fuels passion like gas fuels fire. The more action you take the hotter passion grows. Apart from action, passion turns into frustration and eventually depressing ambivalence.
5. Approval. When you act on passion, friends try to fuel or cool your passion. Many are perfectly content to let others waste life.
6. Control. Passionate people are control freaks.
7. Trust. The price of taking passion to the next level is building a team – trusting others. The roadblock to trust is the conviction that others don’t have as much passion as you.

Passion is good but _______ is better:

1. Grit.
2. Commitment.
3. Integrity.
4. Action.
5. Character.
6. Purpose.
7. Dedication.
8. Tenacity.
9. Persistence.
10. Discipline.

Passion makes the previous list relevant. Thanks to Facebook fans for filling in the blank. More on the Leadership Coffee Shop.

Lots of people want something but only those willing to pay move toward getting it. Those who refuse to pay grow frustrated.

Anger is paralyzed passion that won’t pay the price of responsibility.

Passion, when put into action, offends mediocrity.

What does passion cost?

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Kryptonite: The Thing That Weakens Leadership

An excellent post by Dan Rockwell

Kryptonite is mythical material from Krypton that drained Superman of his superpowers.

The belief that self-evaluation trumps the evaluation of those directly impacted by your leadership weakens your leadership. What you think of your leadership isn’t as important as what others think.

Leadership is about others.

The people around you know what they think of your leadership. But, when they’re “wrong” you marginalize their feedback and move on.

Minimizing the perception of others gives you permission to ignore them.

Leaders who spout, “I don’t care what you think,” are asses. They often don’t have the courage or honesty to face hard truths about themselves.

You’re not as great as you think.

You have one or two outstanding leadership qualities. Anything beyond that and you reached divine status.

Benefit and danger:

The benefit of over-estimating your strength is the courage to try big things. The danger of over-estimating your strength is ignoring others.

10 ways to solve the kryptonite problem:

1. Keep your big ego to yourself. Don’t talk about self-confidence. Self-confident leaders express confidence in others.
2. If you are a leader with confidence, you aren’t as great as you think. (Meditate on that.)
3. Say thank you when receiving feedback.
4. Celebrate the strengths of others. Great leaders see greatness in others.
5. When someone says, “You seem harsh,” for example, believe them.
6. Treat others as more significant than yourself.
7. The people around you are reluctant to tell you the brutal truth, even when you invite it. Work hard to get feedback.
8. Listen to those who share your values and commitment to your organization.
9. Listen to those who are committed to your success.
10. Keep saying to yourself, “I could be wrong.” Keep asking others, “What do you think?”

You need enough ego to believe you matter but not so much that you ignore others.

Essentials for Developing Leaders

A great post by Dam Rockwell.

It hurts when those around you don’t believe in you. Leaders sell themselves short when they undervalue those around them.

The first step toward leadership is believing you matter; believing in someone else is the second.

The greatest opportunity of leadership, after developing yourself, is developing those who aspire to lead.

3 enemies of development:

The enemies of development are personal ease, coddling by others, and education without experience.

Growth hurts.

McCall, Lombardo and Eichinger’s survey of high-performing managers revealed the most effective way to develop others is to challenge them. 90% of development happens in real life, 10% from books and in classrooms.

1. 70% from tough jobs.
2. 20% from people (mostly the boss).
3. 10% from courses and reading.

Bill Hybels offered five ways to develop leaders in his 2014 Global Leadership Summit presentation.

5 essentials for developing remarkable leaders:

1. Put them in high-challenge roles.
2. Assign them to a short-term task force.
3. Give real-time feedback.
4. Provide them with coaches and mentors.
5. Offer them classroom courses and seminars.

The best way to develop emerging leaders is to put them in short-term high-challenge roles.

Growth requires you do what you have’t done before.

Hybels went on to describe five ways to design short-term tasks that develop leaders.

5 marks of developmental tasks:

1. Success or failure must both be possible.
2. Emerging leader must have full charge.
3. Must work with a large variety of people.
4. Must have real pressures and a deadline.
5. End result must be evaluated by a senior leader.

Frustration:

Frustration in stretch-assignments is normal. Don’t help too quick. But, frustration that hampers performance indicates:

1. Too little preparation.
2. Confusion about results.
3. Misalignment of strengths with tasks.
4. Meddling by senior leaders.
5. Not enough support.

Surrender

The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message" "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north."

The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!" Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am seaman third class Jones."

Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship." Then the reply came "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse." - Paul Aiello, Jr.

There are many people who want full control of their life. They refuse to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When we don’t listen to God’s instruction in our lives …WE CRASH! If that ship’s Captain refused to alter his course he would have crashed right into the rocks below the light.

YOU?