Knowing When Its Time To Quit

Posted by on April 7, 2017

As Seth Godin points out we have all heard the expression winners never quit and quitters never win.  In real life that is simply not true because knowing when to quit something that is clearly not working is the secret to winning because it gets you one step closer to the one thing that you were meant to do with your life.

Many times we take jobs thinking that we have finally found the answer to what do I want to do with my career.  Many months later we realize that what we expected was wrong.  We should never quit just because the work is challenging and the people with whom we work are not the best.

However, when you have done your best and the day to day responsibilities that you have been assigned are not bringing any challenge or lasting value then you need to find something that you can be passionate about doing.  Our work should be something we care about, to the point that we look forward to going in every day, because what we do really matters.

Sometimes, we really like what we do but the team of people we are doing it with are merely takers and not givers.  They are out for number one and there is an atmosphere of backbiting , constant stress and negative criticism that drives the culture of the organization.  No matter how much you like what you do if you cannot enjoy the journey with the people you are doing it with it is simply not worth it.

Becoming a serial quitter for all the wrong reasons can be a fatal character flaw that will negatively impact your entire life.  Quitting for the right reason can be the best thing you have ever done because it can lead you to a brighter future.

 

 

 

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The Calling Of The Christian

Posted by on April 5, 2017

The days of build it and they will come are over for churches.  We may not want to admit it but for most Christians when they talk about church in their minds it’s about what happens at the buildings and not out in the community.

We must as leaders move the conversation from what we do on Sunday to what we do every day of our lives.  The Christian life is not just about coming to church but being the church everyday where we go to school, live in our neighborhoods and work in our careers.

I recently met with a very successful committed Christian who is a pediatrician who wanted to grow more spiritually and get more involved in ministry.  It was obvious to me from the very start of the conversation this meant to him taking on more responsibility at the church.

I began to share with him the vision that he could do more through his practice to reach young couples for Christ than we could ever do at the building.  They would not even come to the building to hear Billy Graham but they were several new couples sitting in his waiting room every week expecting their first child.

In this postmodern age, we must never minimize the importance of the church gathered for worship and ministry but we must prioritize the church scattered for evangelism and missions.  We must find new ways to take the gospel to where people live, work and play.

By the end of the conversation the light had come on for my friend because he no longer had a career but he now had a calling.  That’s what happens when you change the definition of success from increasing profits to impacting people.

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The Critical Factor For Meeting Effectiveness

Posted by on April 5, 2017

I have read more information in the last year on this subject than any other.  There are many great things you can do to make your meetings more effective but this one thing is the most significant.  Have separate meetings that cover administrative, tactical and strategic objectives and never combine them again.  This Forbes post is great:

“Meetings to convey information should be different than those to get input or make decisions, which in turn should be different than those to generate breakthrough new ideas or solutions. Deliver those different outcomes with different types of meetings:

1. Level One Meetings: One-way presentations to convey information.

2. Level Two Meetings: Two-way conversations to get input and make decisions. Better approach to most meetings.

3. Level Three Meetings: Joint sense making. Curated co-creation or problem solving.

 In any case, work through context, objective, approach, connecting and impact.
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10 Differences Between Management And Leadership

Posted by on April 3, 2017

The classic difference between management and leadership is that managers prioritize doing things right while leaders focus on doing the right things.  The hard truth is that many times management falls into the trap of building a culture that prevents failure instead of ensuring success.  This Liz Ryan post has some great insight:

“A simple way to answer the question “What’s the difference between managing and leading?” is this:

Managing people means watching them to make sure they do what they’re supposed to do.  The concept of traditional supervision is rooted in the fear that working people will misbehave or make mistakes if someone isn’t watching them to make sure they don’t.

A manager marches backwards, watching their troops like a hawk in case somebody is marching incorrectly. They cannot look out over the horizon when they’re marching backwards!

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The 8 Laws Of Successful Leadership

Posted by on March 27, 2017

Leadership has never been more challenging.  Learning to effectively lead multi-generational teams in the midst of a rapidly changing marketplace may be at the top of the list.  The alignment of demand with capacity without sacrificing opportunity would be next in line for me.  This Forbes post is helpful:

“There are certain laws that all successful leaders follow, whether they are conscious of it or not.

Over the years of working with incredibly successful people, I’ve found that to be successful at anything, you need to work on your internal beliefs in order to create your external reality. Success is about being your best in all areas of life, not just professionally.”

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How To Find Margin For Your Total Life

Posted by on March 24, 2017

If there has ever been a day when the demands of work and home have been greater I am not aware of it.  The sheer pace of life today leaves us emotionally and physically worn out and feeling empty at the end of most days.

Technology keeps us connected all the time and people in the workplace culture almost demand that we stay available 24-7.  Our families are all running on the same high speed treadmill that produces stress in every area of our lives.

There are several key principles that must be in place if you want to create margin for the people and priorities that you care about the most:

  1.  Lead Yourself First—it is impossible to successfully help lead other people at work or in the home if you are not able to accomplish what is most important in your own life.  You should set specific goals in the areas of health, personal development and faith with the necessary time allotment to make sure they get done.
  2. Prioritize Your Family Next—at the end of your life it will not matter how much professional success you have had if you consistently neglected your role as a spouse and parent.  There are no guarantees that time alone will produce a great marriage and character driven children but without it there is a high probability that both areas could fail.
  3. Choose Right Career—most organizations are looking for people who will perform and improve their bottom line.  However there is a growing awareness that if you want to attract and keep the best people you have to give some deference to work-life balance.  The key is you have to be outstanding at what you do and you have to be in a culture that will reward that effort by giving you more time off and not more projects to accomplish.
  4. Develop Life Plan—it never ceases to amaze me that some of the most effective leaders in the corporate arena do not practice any of the leadership disciplines that made them successful in their home and personal life.  The can lead multi-million dollar projects from start to finish at work but not take more than 30 minutes to plan the annual family vacation.

 

When you develop a total life plan with goals and strategies for everything personal, private and public you just assumed the C.E.O.  leadership role for your whole life.   You will never have a more important job.

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9 Great Paradoxes Of Our Time

Posted by on March 22, 2017

In a day when our calendars are beyond full and yet our lives seem to be empty something has gone wrong.  We in many cases have assumed because we are busy the things we are doing must be important.

We clearly have shifted the focus from being as a person to doing and what we are able to accomplish.  Technology has helped us in many cases simply to do the wrong things faster.

The great paradoxes of our time have been summed up well by the Dalai Lama:

“We have more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees, but less sense…more knowledge but less judgment.

More experts, but more problems.

More medicines, but less healthiness.

We have been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We build more computers to hold more information that produce more copies than ever before, but have less communication.

We have become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods but weak digestion.

It is a time when there is much in the window but nothing in the room.”

For many of us we have been living the script for our lives that were given to us by someone else; parents, peers, friends or the culture we live in.  The time has come for us to have the courage to say no and the passion to write our own.

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Beyond The Walls

Posted by on March 21, 2017

The days of build it and they will come are over for churches.  We may not want to admit it but for most Christians when they talk about church in their minds it’s about what happens at the buildings and not out in the community.

I recently met with a very successful committed Christian who is a pediatrician who wanted to grow more spiritually and get more involved in ministry.  It was obvious to me from the very start of the conversation this meant to him taking on more responsibility at the church.

I began to share with him the vision that he could do more through his practice to reach young couples for Christ than we could ever do at the building.  They would not even come to the building to hear Billy Graham but they were several new couples sitting in his waiting room every week expecting their first child.

In this postmodern age, we must never minimize the importance of the church gathered for worship and ministry but we must prioritize the church scattered for evangelism and missions.  We must find new ways to take the gospel to where people live, work and play.

By the end of the conversation the light had come on for my friend because he no longer had a career but he now had a calling.  That’s what happens when you change the definition of success from increasing profits to impacting people.

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3 Strategies To Become A More Inspiring Leader

Posted by on March 20, 2017

Great leaders always give credit to others when things are going well and they assume responsibility when they fail.  Leadership is about inspiring others and empowering them to reach their potential.  It is also about becoming an example for everyone to see you own your part of the problem and commit to getting better.  This post by Forbes helps in both areas:

“Are you getting the results that you want from your team? Do you blame them for not taking initiative, underperforming, or not completing projects quickly enough? 

As you think about your complaints, think about what your part is in the results. You may be a partner, director, principal or founder, but you should strive to be an inspiring leader no matter what your title. Having that attitude can change what you say, how you say it, and how it impacts your team.”

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What To Do When You Are Stuck

Posted by on March 17, 2017

When some people face dramatic change, they choose to live in denial as if this is not really happening to me.  On the other extreme, others know the change is real to the point of becoming emotionally depressed about their new state of life.

The common sometimes fatal result of both of these mindsets is the paralysis of inactivity.  We don’t want to get out of bed, go to work or even talk with anyone.

We must, as Jim Collins said of effective leadership in Good to Great, be willing to confront the brutal facts that sometimes I cannot return to my life the way it used to be.

I must assume personal responsibility to change myself first and start leading myself by making good daily decisions before my life can begin to turn around in different direction.  The only way to do that is to do what you can with what you have right where you are and do it today with all your heart.

Change always produces movement.  If we let it, this movement can be downward and very destructive.  The only way to stop this negative cycle is to start doing the simple things that you are able to do right now that will allow you to accomplish something good today.

You must get on offense and use the power of the momentum  produced by activity to turn your life in a new positive direction.  You must take some risk today by raising your sails and doing the clear things you know need to be done before you can ever feel the movement produced by the wind taking you to a better place.

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