I know people in leadership positions who believe in taking big risks. They are visionaries, painting big pictures in broad strokes. They are dramatic; they are bold. They put everything on the line, follow their passion, trust the universe. These people are like those athletes for whom an entire game, an entire season, comes down to one play. These people lead in ways that attract our attention. They are mesmerizing. It is all or nothing. We cannot take our eyes... Read more
I love words. Words are important to me. I have always been more of a word person than a number person. I have been an attorney, a policy analyst, a university professor, and an executive. Now I am a leadership and organizational coach and a spiritual life mentor. I write and read. I talk to people and I listen to their words. My life is filled with words. I enjoy how words sound. I care about what words mean. I... Read more
No one is excellent at everything. Leaders know their limitations. Leaders know what they do well, better than anyone else. Great leaders surround themselves with people who do different things well. I know people who believe they must do everything well. One friend of mine believed that he probably needed to leave his career as an accountant because he was afraid of public speaking. A woman I know tried to compensate for her own imperfections by pointing out the weaknesses... Read more
Several of my friends have been urging me, and their other friends and followers, to help them move up the list of Christian Blogs You Should Be Reading. Maybe it says something about the people I know through social media. I am very happy that StrategicMonk is not even at the bottom of this list. It may be that StrategicMonk is not overtly Christian enough, or it may be that they do not think you should read it. Whatever the reason, the... Read more
Exploring the Depth can be hard work. It does not require a lot of research, though preparation can be helpful. You do not need any special equipment. You do not need to go anywhere, so you do not need directions or a ticket. Actually, you do not need to buy anything. Exploring the Depth can be hard work because we get in our own way. We live in a world filled with Depth. We are surrounded by the Depth; saturated... Read more
I rely on my ability to pay attention, to focus. Concentrating has served me well, delivering significant benefits in school and in my career. Studying, reading carefully, listening closely, not letting my mind wander, remembering; I was encouraged to do all of these as my intellectual abilities developed. These skills helped me gather a lot of information. Focused attention helped me find answers to a lot questions. Fitting the puzzle pieces together in new ways helped me find new results,... Read more
Leadership is not about logical, rational arguments. Leaders usually do not persuade me through reasoned argument or clear, cogent thinking. Leadership is not about well designed, well built structures. Leaders really do not motivate me with supporting organization or effective administration. Leadership is not about personal, emotional appeal. Leaders generally do not encourage me by being my friend or getting me to like them. The leaders who inspire me reach deeper than that. For me, there are few things more... Read more
There are times when I would really like change to be easy. I just want things to be different. That often means that I wish I were different. Not different as in wacky or zany; I would like it if I had made different choices that had resulted in different circumstances. Part of the challenge of change is that circumstances have deeper causes. Things do not just happen. We make choices, and our choices affect the rest of our lives.... Read more
We live in a time of increasing self absorption. Our worlds revolve around us. We are the centers of our own universes. We construct electronic networks of the false selves we want people to see, just as we present the selves we want people to know in person. We manage our virtual lives in the same way we manage our face to face lives. We wrap ourselves in photos and video, words and music, likes and follows. We create images... Read more
Leadership is about learning how to dance. Being a leader is not about making us all be the same. Leaders are not about measuring our efforts and getting rid of whoever does not measure up. Leadership is not about making other people try to be more like me. I have worked with people in positions of responsibility who acted like the most important thing they could do was impose and enforce rules. They tended to approach leadership like it was organizing orderly... Read more
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