When was the last time you were surprised; so astonished by an event that all you could do was stand in rapt attention with your mouth open and your eyes glued to the sights and sounds before you? What was the miracle you witnessed, the unexpected occurrence, or the spectacular beauty that took your breath away? Have you become so jaded in your leadership role that wonders are simply a distant memory?
Christmas eve seems a fitting time to remind ourselves that wonder is all around us. If we are paying attention we will see it in the large and small details of our too busy lives. Reconnecting with wonder could equip us to be more effective and efficient as leaders, far beyond anything we have previously known or anticipated. A healthy and daily dose of wonder might be just the prescription to energize your leadership in 2008.
This weekend my family traveled to central Pennsylvania on two separate occasions for very different reasons. On the initial trip we celebrated Christmas with my wife’s family, a gathering made extra special by the recent birth of the first great-grandchild. As I held this tiny human being in my arms a sense of wonder filled my spirit. More than thirty years ago the miracle of birth and awesome responsibilities of parenthood were new to me. Now those memories were back, reminding me of how vulnerable, dependent, and special we are in God’s eyes.
Our second trip took place during a raging rainstorm to visit my cousin who was badly injured this past week in a workplace accident. His body is now recovering from two broken wrists and a fractured leg that has not yet been surgically repaired. There was a sense of wonder that he was not killed by the fall and a new appreciation for the miracles of medicine that will likely help him to achieve a full recovery.
We don’t need to have a baby or experience an accident to reacquaint ourselves with wonder. There is indescribable beauty all around us every day. Miracles of life and health may grab our attention but it is small acts of love, kindness, and courage that create leadership legacies. Will you be remembered as someone who openly marveled at the unexplainable, encouraged curiosity, and celebrated life?
This holiday weekend reminded me that wonder is a gift we should treasure and preserve. Whether it is the quiet breathing of a sleeping newborn, the healing power of our human body, or the fury of a winter rain let’s stand amazed like the shepherds did more than 2000 years ago when angels proclaimed an amazing event that has changed the course of human history. The wonder of that moment prompted them to act – to go and tell what they had seen and heard. May all who read this weekly journal experience a renewed sense of wonder during this Christmas season and throughout the New Year!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Giving Back
This past week our Chamber of Commerce honored a group of nine students from local middle and high schools for their community service. The awards are given through a nomination process that included assessing the student’s contribution to making their community a better place to live. The recipients each shared the project or work they accomplished to qualify and how it impacted their lives. Ventures included teaching and mentoring children, rehabbing an historical property, and organizing a drive to collect clothing and shoes for needy children in Africa.
As I listened to the remarkably articulate stories shared by each young person who spoke I was reminded that giving back is a fundamental quality of leadership. While the impact of each project was significant, it was how the act of serving changed the hearts and minds of these budding leaders that caught my attention. Their testimonies revealed how insightful they now are about the issue their projects addressed – environmental, social, or historical. They spoke with passion and conviction about how good it felt to give back or to share with others.
In a world where leadership is often defined by the accumulation of power, wealth, or influence these young people have learned a different lesson, one that I hope they will carry with them into their careers and families. Serving others is not just a quality of leadership it is a personal calling for each of us as members of the human family.
The Christmas season is a reminder that the gift we celebrate, the birth of Jesus Christ, came to serve and to teach us how to do the same. Leaders of every age should reflect again on the powerful act of serving others and make it a priority for the New Year. Ask someone, including your employees, “How may I serve you?” When they recover from the shock, sincerely and graciously do what they ask.
Giving back is not some selfish exercise to sooth a guilty conscious. Neither is it about giving in order to get something in return. Serving should be a way of life, a commitment we make to ensure that the communities where will live and work can someday overcome the challenges of crime, hunger, homelessness, abuse, addictions, and loneliness. If leaders took their responsibility of serving seriously we could affect real change with many of these social ills without governmental intervention.
The outstanding students who shared their amazing acts of selflessness give me hope for the future. They have inspired me to reexamine my own commitment to service. I hope that by sharing their story you will be inspired as well.
As I listened to the remarkably articulate stories shared by each young person who spoke I was reminded that giving back is a fundamental quality of leadership. While the impact of each project was significant, it was how the act of serving changed the hearts and minds of these budding leaders that caught my attention. Their testimonies revealed how insightful they now are about the issue their projects addressed – environmental, social, or historical. They spoke with passion and conviction about how good it felt to give back or to share with others.
In a world where leadership is often defined by the accumulation of power, wealth, or influence these young people have learned a different lesson, one that I hope they will carry with them into their careers and families. Serving others is not just a quality of leadership it is a personal calling for each of us as members of the human family.
The Christmas season is a reminder that the gift we celebrate, the birth of Jesus Christ, came to serve and to teach us how to do the same. Leaders of every age should reflect again on the powerful act of serving others and make it a priority for the New Year. Ask someone, including your employees, “How may I serve you?” When they recover from the shock, sincerely and graciously do what they ask.
Giving back is not some selfish exercise to sooth a guilty conscious. Neither is it about giving in order to get something in return. Serving should be a way of life, a commitment we make to ensure that the communities where will live and work can someday overcome the challenges of crime, hunger, homelessness, abuse, addictions, and loneliness. If leaders took their responsibility of serving seriously we could affect real change with many of these social ills without governmental intervention.
The outstanding students who shared their amazing acts of selflessness give me hope for the future. They have inspired me to reexamine my own commitment to service. I hope that by sharing their story you will be inspired as well.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Leadership by Design
My church has been searching for a new lead pastor since January of this year. In our past history as a denomination we used a process called “casting lots” to choose pastoral leadership. From a small group of nominated persons (in those days only men) each person chose a book. The one whose book contained a slip of paper was considered God’s choice to lead the church. Was this selection method merely a chance process of decision-making or clear evidence that God had spoken?
I never witnessed this technique so it is hard for me to assert this was leadership by “luck” rather than by design. In fact, my faith perspective leads me to believe that coincidence and timing are simply ways that God reveals his plans to us. Unfortunately most of us are too busy plotting our own strategies to notice the signs.
Today’s MBA programs seem to churn out leaders with high ambition and little thought for the important role of mentoring and equipping others to be leaders. In many ways this reminds me of a “chance approach” to leadership. When ego and power serve as guiding influences, success may follow but it is often short-lived. Leaders who consciously serve, and seek to develop other leaders, tend to build successful organizations that can thrive long after they are gone.
What does leadership by design look like? I believe it begins with a high level of self-awareness and understanding of one’s talents. These leaders are vulnerable enough to admit when they are wrong or to ask for help when they don’t possess talent in a particular area. They surround themselves with persons who are not like them and encourage honest feedback from these trusted advisors. Love permeates their workplace – love for what they do, for those they work with, and for the customers they serve.
Leadership by design includes lifelong learning and a willingness to accept the mysteries of life. These leaders protect and share the organization’s stories – those times when everyone was at their best. These success stories drive the enterprise’s vision and daily life.
I am drawn to leaders who see life’s “chance happenings” as more than a mere twist of fate or accident. When leaders take time to reflect and cultivate their faith they can rest assured that God is at work. While they may not always see the evidence or make the right choices their future is in good hands.
In this Advent season we are reminded that God had a design for leadership in mind when he sent the Christ child to earth. The life and ministry of Jesus should be enough to convince all of us that we are part of a much larger plan. If this is leadership by “chance” I like my odds.
I never witnessed this technique so it is hard for me to assert this was leadership by “luck” rather than by design. In fact, my faith perspective leads me to believe that coincidence and timing are simply ways that God reveals his plans to us. Unfortunately most of us are too busy plotting our own strategies to notice the signs.
Today’s MBA programs seem to churn out leaders with high ambition and little thought for the important role of mentoring and equipping others to be leaders. In many ways this reminds me of a “chance approach” to leadership. When ego and power serve as guiding influences, success may follow but it is often short-lived. Leaders who consciously serve, and seek to develop other leaders, tend to build successful organizations that can thrive long after they are gone.
What does leadership by design look like? I believe it begins with a high level of self-awareness and understanding of one’s talents. These leaders are vulnerable enough to admit when they are wrong or to ask for help when they don’t possess talent in a particular area. They surround themselves with persons who are not like them and encourage honest feedback from these trusted advisors. Love permeates their workplace – love for what they do, for those they work with, and for the customers they serve.
Leadership by design includes lifelong learning and a willingness to accept the mysteries of life. These leaders protect and share the organization’s stories – those times when everyone was at their best. These success stories drive the enterprise’s vision and daily life.
I am drawn to leaders who see life’s “chance happenings” as more than a mere twist of fate or accident. When leaders take time to reflect and cultivate their faith they can rest assured that God is at work. While they may not always see the evidence or make the right choices their future is in good hands.
In this Advent season we are reminded that God had a design for leadership in mind when he sent the Christ child to earth. The life and ministry of Jesus should be enough to convince all of us that we are part of a much larger plan. If this is leadership by “chance” I like my odds.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Waiting Game
Now that December has arrived our American culture becomes obsessed with counting the days until Christmas. Actually the countdown begins earlier each year; Halloween is the current choice for merchants to roll out the holiday decorations and begin the incessant call to “shop until you drop”. If you are the parents of young children (something that is a distant memory for me) the air of anticipation during this season can quickly turn into tacit impatience.
I must confess that waiting is hard for me, and not just during the Advent season that prepares us for Christmas. I’m guessing that I share this affliction with quite a few other leaders. It seems that “patience as a virtue” doesn’t resonate very well when expectations for results and action are used to measure success for today’s business leaders. Our need for instant gratification is fast becoming part of our society’s DNA as future leaders are fed a steady diet of sound bites, Instant Messages, and access to overwhelming volumes of information in shorter spans of time.
When leaders are faced with hard times or personal challenges the prospect of waiting takes on new meaning. Confidence begins to wane, decision-making can become reactive, and depression may paralyze our ability to see any signs of hope. These “personal pits” become lonely retreats where desperation and fear reign supreme.
The writers of the Biblical Psalms often echo these sentiments in poetic prose. The depth of despair, pain, and suffering ring with prophetic truth centuries after the words were first given voice. One Psalm offers hope for those persons, including leaders, mired in their personal “waiting game”. Attributed to David, the Hebrew king, its message offers a sharp contrast to our typical approach to waiting. “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry,” writes David in Psalm 40:1.
Waited patiently? What does patience have to do with anything? I want my situation to change right now, not a year from now. Endurance and persistence aren’t leadership qualities; they’re something that only an athlete can appreciate.
The text also offers another startling revelation, the writer is expecting God to act, to hear and respond to his cry for help. In the depths of a hard time in his life the Psalmist anticipates that God will do something when he is ready. There is a quiet comfort in knowing that the waiting game will be rewarded. In the verses that follow, the poem offers a vivid and joyful account of rescue and restoration. A leader’s confidence is renewed and his future is secure.
Today’s leaders, including myself, have much to learn about this level of trust in the face of adversity. Most of us don’t really know or understand real suffering. We take so much for granted, including the incredible freedom, wealth, and privilege that are ours to enjoy. Our unwillingness to wait is symptomatic of a deeper need, the need to trust someone other than ourselves. Perhaps the lesson we all must learn about waiting begins with crying out for help.
I must confess that waiting is hard for me, and not just during the Advent season that prepares us for Christmas. I’m guessing that I share this affliction with quite a few other leaders. It seems that “patience as a virtue” doesn’t resonate very well when expectations for results and action are used to measure success for today’s business leaders. Our need for instant gratification is fast becoming part of our society’s DNA as future leaders are fed a steady diet of sound bites, Instant Messages, and access to overwhelming volumes of information in shorter spans of time.
When leaders are faced with hard times or personal challenges the prospect of waiting takes on new meaning. Confidence begins to wane, decision-making can become reactive, and depression may paralyze our ability to see any signs of hope. These “personal pits” become lonely retreats where desperation and fear reign supreme.
The writers of the Biblical Psalms often echo these sentiments in poetic prose. The depth of despair, pain, and suffering ring with prophetic truth centuries after the words were first given voice. One Psalm offers hope for those persons, including leaders, mired in their personal “waiting game”. Attributed to David, the Hebrew king, its message offers a sharp contrast to our typical approach to waiting. “I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry,” writes David in Psalm 40:1.
Waited patiently? What does patience have to do with anything? I want my situation to change right now, not a year from now. Endurance and persistence aren’t leadership qualities; they’re something that only an athlete can appreciate.
The text also offers another startling revelation, the writer is expecting God to act, to hear and respond to his cry for help. In the depths of a hard time in his life the Psalmist anticipates that God will do something when he is ready. There is a quiet comfort in knowing that the waiting game will be rewarded. In the verses that follow, the poem offers a vivid and joyful account of rescue and restoration. A leader’s confidence is renewed and his future is secure.
Today’s leaders, including myself, have much to learn about this level of trust in the face of adversity. Most of us don’t really know or understand real suffering. We take so much for granted, including the incredible freedom, wealth, and privilege that are ours to enjoy. Our unwillingness to wait is symptomatic of a deeper need, the need to trust someone other than ourselves. Perhaps the lesson we all must learn about waiting begins with crying out for help.
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