Filed under Leadership …

Feb 23 2011
Leave a comment
Church, Leadership

Stand Out

In today’s market you have to do some really stand out things to get noticed.

It doesn’t matter what your job is, or what you know. Paper goes through a shredder, so the only thing that travels is word of mouth.

I’ve been asked before why I’m so easy to work with. I’ve been commanded a couple things, to live humbly and to show the grace that I’ve been given. If you can live by those two simple rules then you can work with anyone (almost, there are ALWAYS exceptions). This also goes to how you stand out.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Whatever project, meeting, conference, situation, etc that you are finding yourself in that person is the most important person in the world, no matter how much it pains you.

That is the word that travels about you. That is what make people stand up and take notice of you. Not that you have worked in the industry 12 years (or the required 5 years), that you’ve got a list of ink below your name that would make a college freshman blush or that you’re awesome, or can talk like you’re awesome.

Talk is cheap and a lot of people do it better than you. So walk it out, live it. Take a few simple rules in the Bible to heart, whether you believe it as truth or a good moral book those are principles anyone can live by.

99% of the people that do what you do are either on level or better than you.

It’s time to stand out.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Feb 09 2011
3 Comments
Communications, Creative, Leadership, Reviews

Rework Review

I think Rework might be a book a lot of people would overlook simply because it was written by a small company that writes web based apps for other businesses. Who wants to read about ideas centered around web based apps or small business? Coding for me would be extremely boring, I’m not running my own business and even then wouldn’t I want to grow a big business?

Cover to cover it’s an extremely easy read because it is written in short format blog post style blips. So you can pick it up read a page or two, and when you put it down you’ve gathered one complete thought from the book.

Now on to content, it isn’t a tech book or a business leaders book, this isn’t John Maxwell you’re going to be reading here. This book was written with anyone that has a brain and is a working part of society in mind. Sure there are trade tips on how to run a small business but it’s also applicable to you who manage a couple people in any scenario. It speaks to creatives, those in customer service, marketing, communications, business executives and the list goes on.

I think what is most incredible about this book is that it totally blows up traditional concepts that most industry is built on. If you’re looking for a game changer in the way that you view work, your industry, how you approach leading people or running a business pick it up. Another game changer is Linch Pin by Seth Godin. Yeah these books are geared towards the business and were not written specifically with churches in mind but 9.9 times out of 10 the way you manage people and run a church is the way you run a business and leadership practices and structure ideals are something we should be reading too.

Pick it up, it’s not expensive and if you don’t have time it’s a great read in short bursts!

Tagged , , ,
Feb 08 2011
Leave a comment
Communications, Leadership, Rants

Two-Fifty Tuesday

I think to many times we run around dealing with emergencies and looking out for number one that many times we come across as self-righteous jerks that really don’t give a crap. If you have a tendency to treat people like that you’re going to loose friends, clients and relationships. It isn’t that hard to figure out and fix. If people give you the cold shoulder or your finding it increasingly difficult to communicate (or you don’t communicate) this may be your sign.

“You can’t apologize your way out of being an a$$” – Rework (censored for those faint of heart please use your imagination)

Since you can not apologize your way out of it move on but try harder next time.

You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks but you can identify behavior and begin to try and catch yourself at less than ideal moments, or keep your mouth shut.

I bring this up because I have had several dealings with Guitar Center where I should have received genuine apologies and simple rectifications that would cost them nothing.  Instead I’ve been given a bad taste locally and corporately.

It seems that whether you go  into the store or deal with them online they really don’t care about giving you a good experience, instead of a genuine I’m sorry it ends up being a ‘we’re sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced’ which negates their fault and I still don’t have a fix.

I will now go out of my way to avoid them everywhere.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Feb 01 2011
Leave a comment
Creative, Leadership

Wide Awake

I’m going to be honest, I did not like the book Wide Awake when i started reading it.

I’m not able to follow Erin McManus’ writing style very well. Nothing against him, just hard for me to track with his flow.

I’m in the third chapter and it kinda hit me upside the head. Especially since I read it after writing my blog on dreams for my life. I’m not going to promise the rest of the book isn’t a struggle since I haven’t read beyond it.

So I’ll just leave some tidbits from this chapter I read today.

Life is not a stationary experience. When you stop dreaming you stop living.

Life is not a color-within-the-lines project;
You must be willing to get paint all over you.
Change requires humility
Sometimes you need to bring change
Sometimes you need to be changed

Many of us need reinvented lives. We are living a rerun, and we need fresh stories, maybe some new characters to enter our story.

You must build on the past but live for the future.

When life is overwhelming, it provides the context for you to experience something truly breathtaking.

If you’re not living the life of your dreams, if you wake up with that little bit of sadness in the mornings because you know you’re underachieving, living a life of mediocrity, and choosing average, it’s easy to blame everyone else for your condition. You’re not called to settle for the good life; you are called to a life of greatness.

Part of learning how to reinvent yourself is learning how to be teachable, resourceful, and flexible.

Adaptability requires teachability. The ability to change comes form one core characteristic, and that is simple humility. Humility keeps us flexible. It serves as an oil that keeps our hearts open to change and able to adjust.

This doesn’t always mean you will be the best in the world at what you do, but you are supposed to be the worlds best you.

Living a life of flexibility doesn’t mean you don’t have convictions but that you understand what your nonnegotiables are. Some things are your core; everything else can change.

if you’re going to be a follower of Christ, get ready for change, because who you are today is not who you will be tomorrow. You are changing. The world is changing. You are a change agent. Allow your dreams to unleash the endless possibilities. Keep fueling your insatiable curiosity. Then look at your circumstances as the crucible from which your dreams will be forged into reality.

Tagged , , ,
Feb 01 2011
2 Comments
Communications, Leadership, Nonsense

Two-Fifty Tuesday

I’ve posted on twitter a few times about my love for travel.

I’m getting the travel bug again, bad. More than just a wanton desire for an exotic vacation.

Yesterday I posted where I’d like to travel to for the first time, or go back to. Those places include but not limited to, England, LA, NY, Chicago, Australia, Seattle, Italy, Spain, and Germany.

I really want to go back over seas. It really is incredulous how much I’d love to travel the world, that would be a dream job.

What would you do for a job with your passion for worship design you might ask?

Help the global church find their passion for beauty in worship with media and art and music and to help the communicate effectively internally and externally. Why? because those are my passions.

I catch glimpses of what others are doing in their travels around the world with media in the church and it really begins to stir something in me. Who knows maybe one day this direction will be brought to fruition or maybe it is a dream that will push me and shape me and will blossom into something else entirely. I don’t really know.

I figured this is as good as forum as any to start a dialogue about dreams and passions.

What do you see yourself doing? Where do you see yourself going? Who do you see yourself helping?

What are your passions? dreams? Are they bigger than yourself?

Open Discussion, Go!

Tagged , , , , , ,
Dec 22 2010
Leave a comment
Bible, Communications, Leadership, Rants

Two-Fifty Tuesday, on Wednesday

I figured since I didn’t post this yesterday I’d back track a day and do a two-fifty post.

This verse is constantly tumbling around in my head. Something I adopted as “my verse” years ago.

“Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

That entire chapter is crucial on living the Christian life, on being a church, a staff, a community. What irks me is that so many times within the structure of what we consider God ordained we have people who insist on ignoring being like minding with Christ. People who thrive on rivalry, conceit and placing themselves before others.

I think we could all use a healthy dose of humility in our lives to bring us back down to earth. This applies to every Christian, especially lay leadership and more notably paid leadership. It isn’t our ministry, it isn’t our church, it isn’t our congregation, it isn’t our messages, it isn’t our worship, it isn’t our technology.

That is why in persecuted countries Christ prevails. They have no room for conceitedness. In America we’re lazy physically as well as mentally. Because this well oiled machine we built as church just works, we’re allowed to sit on auto pilot and receive the glory for it. I think maybe we should rethink the modern church structure and start over. The gospel does not change but we certainly need to, the goal is to to become like Christ.

It is not about you.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Nov 19 2010
Leave a comment
Leadership, Nonsense, Rants

How to not suck – 101

This blog post could be potentially heinous and offensive to most narcissists. (guess I’m preaching to the choir)

The biggest way you can not suck is be humble and teachable. Duh.

If you’re not willing to take criticism (constructive criticism of course) then to everyone around you, you basically suck. There is also a fine line you walk between taking everything with a grain of salt and taking everything to heart. If you act like you care, nod your head accordingly and never absorb even a fraction of what is being said, it shows. If everything offends you then people eventually stop trying to help.

Be a constant learner!

Be the bigger man. Apologize when necessary and even when it’s not.

Be a team player, and jump in to help with other projects when you can.

 

 

So suck it up and don’t.

Tagged
Nov 14 2010
2 Comments
Communications, Leadership

White Space

I wrote this for Outspoken a while back and after re-reading it am realizing lately I am struggling with this thought of white space right now. How is your white space, is it all colored in?

Take a second and think about your schedule. If you work in a church you are probably thinking about all of the meetings you have yet to attend, the projects left undone and the ministry hanging out there on the fringes. While the meetings have to happen, the projects have to get completed and ministry above all must be done, you have an obligation to your self. I like to call this obligation, creative white space.

White space should not be considered merely ‘blank’ space — it is an important element     of design which enables the objects in it to exist at all, the balance between positive (or     non-white) and the use of negative spaces is key to aesthetic composition. – Wikipedia

It’s not all that difficult to see a need for balance. Burn out happens in churches too. If you’re not taking a moment out of your week to feed yourself intellectually or spiritually then how are you going to be able to continue to produce at high levels?
Scripture talks about white space in Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.” God has many attributes, God is omnipotent, God is healer, God is father but more relative to us here, God is creative and God is communicator. Now read that verse again, Be still and know that I am creative, or communicator (speaking of God). God desires for us to take a break out of our busy schedules and have some breathing room to create and communicate effectively. That looks different for each person, whether that is 10 minutes in a day or an entire day to remove yourself from meetings, distractions etc. and free yourself up to be inspired.

That healthy white space comes from setting yourself apart with God as well. We’re not going to be effective at our job as creator and communicator if we’re not communicating with the one who started it all. So what in your schedule needs deleted, shifted or boiled down so that you can begin to let yourself doodle, scribble, write, engage, read, observe or listen? Can you put it in a consistent spot or will it have to change each week as the dynamic and flexibility of your passion dictates where a white space will land?

Tagged , , , ,
May 07 2010
Leave a comment
Communications, Leadership

The Me In Team

When you’re part of a team generally the feeling you want to create for them is inclusion.  You want everyone to feel comfortable to share ideas, help out pull their weight and feel that when they’re in need they can ask for help. God didn’t intend us to work solo and he outlined that throughout scripture.

If you feel left out of a team you instantly begin to feel like your opinions don’t count. You distance yourself from your team, and before long your sense of worth and identification within that group dwindles. Ideas can spur on other ideas no matter how ridiculous or not thought out they are, if you look at the idea giver like they’re a royal idiot chances are they’re going to stop giving ideas. You quash their creativity.

Unfortunately many leaders treat their team as if it’s all about the ‘me’. Momma always told me there is no i in team but everybody forgot to warn us about the me. Because they are all about the me, they forget about the rest of the team and then the rest of the team eventually moves on looking for that sense of inclusion.

Tagged
Newer posts →
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 704 other followers