Posts Tagged ‘Work’

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Reflection Empowers Your Day, Your Life

June 19, 2015

Life requires a rhythm. Almost all successful people rise early and get important thought work done. They are in bed by 10.

I usually am up by 5:30. Make coffee and a piece of toast. Read from various sources, meditate & pray, plan the day. Usually I write this blog. Then I am off for a workout–run in the park (or a treadmill), weights 3x per week, short Yoga series. Then off to the coffee shop to write.

There are three pauses that can make all the difference in your effectiveness, balance, and outlook. They are daily, weekly, monthly. I also set aside a couple of days between Christmas and New Years to think about the coming year.

The monthly pause comes easier for me. Take a Sunday evening at the end of a month. Gather you to do lists and notes. Review your lists and notes–checking what you’ve done, not done, and wish you had done. Take a longer view of what you wish to accomplish this year and where your focus should be for the month. Perhaps take a note card and write six things that you wish to devote energy toward in the coming month. Carry this card and refer to it daily. This period of reflection could last an hour or two. Probably no more.

The weekly pause comes less easy. Sometimes Sunday evening comes with a sigh of relief, and I unwind and go to bed. But even 15-30 minutes to review the coming week’s calendar and to do lists before you go to bed will feed information into your unconscious mind and help you start the week productively.

Benjamin Franklin kept a meticulous time planner. He asked himself daily two things. When he arose, he asked, “What good shall I do today?” At the end of the day he paused to reflect, “What good have I done today?”

Sometimes days and weeks get hectic. We fall into bed exhausted. We awake exhausted.

Sometimes we take that pause for reflection. It calms us and focuses us. And we are better prepared for the day.

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Distraction Blocks The Heart

June 17, 2015

A brother came to visit Abb Sylvanus at Mt. Sinai. When he saw the brothers working hard, he said to the old man: “Do not work for food that perishes, for Mary has chosen the good part.”
The brother was shown to a cell, and when the time had passed for the meal, he came out and asked the father if the monks had eaten. “Of course we did,” was the reply. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“You are a spiritual person, and do not need that type of food; but since we are earthly, we want to eat, and that’s why we work. Indeed, you have chosen the good part reading all day long, and not wanting to eat earthly food.”
The brother heard these words and repented. (from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers as told in The Celtic Prayer Book.)

Some time ago, I taught on the story of Martha and Mary. My friend wrote to say she hated that story because pastors taught from the point of view of that brother. Surely, she wrote, they all ate the food that Martha prepared.

Yes, they did. With great appreciation, I’m sure.

One thing that disturbs me about modern America concerns the large number of uneducated people running around with university degrees–indeed, even advanced degrees.

Any reading of the story must assuredly come to the point that Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.” What’s the key concern? Worry and distraction.

Have you ever attended a family gathering or a dinner party where the hostess has prepared a great meal, and yet, she is focused on serving the guests? She involves people, sometimes, in the preparation and setting out. She makes time to acknowledge everyone.

Martha lost her focus. On the other hand, the brother in the story above thought of himself as superior. “I’m spiritual; you’re not.” He is Mary gone bad.

Both attitudes detract from our spiritual formation. We work, we serve, we do it all focused on what is important. The people I met last week doing business as mission know the meaning of work as service. They are not worried and distracted by many things. They are working and serving with the right attitude. A great example.

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Doing The Difficult Thing Adds Value

March 25, 2015

There are two types of organizations. Two types of churches. One assumes customers or members. Its leaders see their role as stewards of what is. Others believe passionately about their mission. Their products will change the way people live for the better. Their gift of spirit will lead people to better lives.

The first is easy. The second one often challenging. The first leads to the path of decay and organizational death. The second leads to energy, growth, kindling that passion in others…and others.

Seth Godin made his mark as a marketing guru in high technology. He wrote recently:

Of course it’s difficult…
Students choose to attend expensive colleges but don’t major in engineering because the courses are killer.

Doing more than the customary amount of customer service is expensive, time-consuming and hard to sustain.

Raising money for short-term urgent projects is easier than finding support for the long, difficult work of changing the culture and the infrastructure.

Finding a new path up the mountain is far more difficult than hiring a sherpa and following the tried and true path. Of course it is. That’s precisely why it’s scarce and valuable. 

The word economy comes from the Greek and the French, and is based on the concept of scarcity. The only things that are scarce in the world of connection and services and the net are the things that are difficult, and the only things that are valuable are the things that are scarce. When we intentionally seek out the difficult tasks, we’re much more likely to actually create value.

Think of his comment about raising money relative to your church or non-profit. I am. It is condemning of the approach I took over in my ministry. Buffeting from project to project. No real stability or plan for growth. No real involvement from the larger group. No commitment to the hard work of a sustaining ministry.

What is scarce these days is attention. I wrote yesterday about distraction. We have so much information–24-hour news channels, 24-hour sports, the Internet, apps, check Facebook every couple of minutes–when do we have time to put our attention, our focus, on what’s important?

What sort of leader are you? Do you need a kick start? Take time to focus our attention completely, if only for 30 minute time slots, on thinking about the long, difficult work? Or just slide along becoming ever more comfortable in a state of distracted disinterestedness?

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Blessings For The New Year

January 1, 2015

Relax.

Refresh.

Renew.

Pause today to reflect on the past and future before we jump into living in the moment during the year.

What Great Work will define us this year?

I have chosen mine. I will ask each day, “Does this activity relate to my Great Work?”

Simplify and prune the unnecessary activities.

May your 2015 be Blessed.

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Leadership Lessons From A Recent Mission Trip

July 11, 2014

The church had a leadership void in a ministry area. I accepted a lunch invitation and wound up agreeing to fill that void. The position was leader of our missions ministry. Lunch was just over a year ago.

Last week a team of eleven people returned from a week working at an orphanage and women’s shelter operated by the Tijuana Christian Mission. We have had a longstanding relationship with TCM, but the leadership void had caused a break in the relationship.

We had a similar relationship with a mission in Haiti–also serving youth and orphans in that country. Same situation–but I’m still putting together a team for that trip.

This seemed like a good time to reflect on the past year and share some leadership thoughts. None of these are ground-breaking ideas. Humans have known about doing leadership for thousands of years. We just need reminding and encouraging.

Vision

I had a vision of restarting the relationships and trips to Tijuana and Haiti. Circumstances pointed to Tijuana as the best place to start.

My “reach” vision is to start new relationships leveraging two groups with ties to our church with ministries in Africa–Kenya and Ethiopia.

Obstacles

One of the staff people strongly suggested that the first thing I do is form a committee, hold committee meetings, build a formal organization with all manner of job descriptions–just like the business she had come from.

Then when I told her that I was organizing a trip to Tijuana, I was told no. That was not in my area of responsibility.

Then I found other leadership problems–mostly apathy of senior staff.

Gathering advisors

So I started finding advisors and helpers to tackle the various obstacles so we could get moving. There were internal leadership advisors and advisors who could help me plan and prepare for the trips. Such help was invaluable.

Recruiting a team

Approvals received. Dates for the trip established. It was time to recruit. Once again getting help from other leaders was essential. Circumstances beyond my control dictated a trip with only three months to recruit, plan, fund raise and go.

But a group was recruited and we began to prepare them for the trip.

Planning to smallest detail

Here are some of the planning details. We had to plan around several unknowns, but we do that in business all the time.

  • develop budget
  • agree on projects with TCM
  • budget time and money for the projects
  • plan air travel for a group
  • make sure all had passports
  • plan each day’s activities–when we eat out, when we eat at the orphanage, when we work on projects, when we work with the kids, when we arrive, when we leave

Flexibility

There are many circumstances that cannot be planned. Vans may not be available just when we think we need them. Meals may be later (or earlier) than we planned. The scope of the project may change. We had to be flexible to go with the flow and accept schedule changes.

Reflection

We gathered each day in the morning and the evening to reflect on the trip and our objectives, as well as our personal reactions.

Writing this post is another way of reflecting on the trip–what we did, what we learned. Each team member is expected to also reflect on the trip and feedback thoughts for future trips.

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Posted in Leadership, Mission, Service | 1 Comment »

Making a List And Checking It Twice

December 6, 2013

Remember the song about Santa? “He’s making a list and checking it twice. Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.”

Bet you’re making a list this time of year. Present for Johnny, present for Sue, present for spouse, present for me, too.

I like Jon Swanson’s daily meditations, 300 Words a Day. Someday when I’m making the trip from Sidney, Ohio (with an “i”) to Chicago, I should set an appointment just to meet him. I drive past a couple of times a month. He has written a book about Nehemiah, Great Works, available on Amazon. I have purchased it ($4.99) for my Kindle reader on my iPad just now. Looking forward to reading it.

Jon says in yesterday’s blog post that he was afraid that it might become just a list. Well, lists are not all that bad. One of my favorite writers, Umberto Eco, wrote a book about lists and says that the ability to make lists was essential to the development of civilization. Ben Franklin was a list maker. David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, proposes that we make several to-do lists (one for when available to use the phone, one for when running errands, one for when we’re online, etc.). I am a disciple of GTD, use a software application called Nozbe, and fail to refer to my lists often enough 😉

Lists are how you organize yourself if you are busy like I am (see yesterday’s post). One key is to know your “one great work” and key your essential to-do items to point toward accomplishing your one great work.

Andy Stanley made a verse from Nehemiah one of his key verses for personal life and teaching his children. While Nehemiah was organizing the people for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (financed by the country now known as Iran, by the way), his enemies invited him down to the plain for a “diplomatic discussion.” Nehemiah replied, “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.”

Nehemiah teaches us great lessons. What is your great work? Figure it out and then start making lists.

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Posted in Disciplines, Faith | 1 Comment »

What One Thing Would Make Your Life Better

December 5, 2013

What one thing that, if you gave it up, would make your life better?

I read that statement this morning and started thinking. This is a perfect season of the year to think about this. Those of us who attend any sort of Christian church are going to hear at least one message on simplifying our lives. On not letting pervasive advertising persuade us into thinking giving and getting more stuff is better. It may be better for the economy, but is it better for us individually?

There are now two open seats on the five-member school board in my small city. Bev wanted to know if she should keep the newspaper out for me to read about it when I get home. I told her no. I know as much as I need. I served eight years; I have no interest in going back. Besides, I’m in a season where I’ve become very busy already.

I gave up a job that paid well, but the atmosphere (to me at least) was toxic. For peace of mind as well as the chance to be creative again, I quit. Then I spent several months making money through writing while I invested money in starting a small business. No sooner had that kicked off (finally), when another opportunity came my way. Now I’m executive director (and future owner with my partner) of another business. Meanwhile, I asked an associate pastor whatever had happened to the mission trips that people went on and returned so on fire in the Spirit. No leadership, she said. So…another job. All because a man I know said, “Pray for God to bring people into your life.”

This was a lot to digest over the past 7 months. My thing is to say no to anything else.

I gave up one thing and gained a new life. This year has been a blessing. But I do need to look over everything I own and everything I do and simplify. We call it an iterative process. That means the process is never done. Once you simplify, then you look for new things to simplify. But also to say yes to the appropriate opportunities. Sometimes God’s call is too powerful to ignore.

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Respect for Humanity

November 18, 2013

Some years ago, there was an executive of a major corporation who made himself (with the aid of some skilled public relations people and a couple of books) into a “god” for managers. He had only a couple of big ideas. One was that every manager should rank every employee on a bell curve and fire those who ranked in the bottom 10% regardless of their actual contribution.

Last week, another CEO of an American technology company was exposed of implementing that same philosophy at her company despite the fact that this management philosophy has now been long discredited and dropped by many of its former followers.

The first executive is Jack Welch of GE. He built a house of cards that took his successor several years to fix. Yet many people still extol his “virtues” even until this day.

The second is Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo. She is trying to turn around a failing company. That is hard enough, but she also faces strong competitors and a shortage of skilled people. Seems like she would be better served by doing things to lead her people into greater performance.

Bell curves, as all of us who endured the education system know, inevitably force people to compete with one another. That is certainly not the way of modern, high-performance organizations.

Toyota has long held three principles as its core value: Customer First, Respect for Humanity, Eliminate Waste. Hmmm, Respect for Humanity. Think Mayer missed the plane when that idea went.

When Jesus came along (and you have to read the entire New Testament in this light), the main and only organization was Rome. Its CEO, if you will, was the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace–Caesar. The only value Rome extolled was power. Life was all about who had power over whom.

Jesus turned the entire Roman world on its head. He reversed every Roman teaching and replaced it with Love first. He who would lead must be a servant.

Many of us in management roles have tried to live this one out. Obviously many have not. Even in Christian organizations, power seems to rule over humanity. And where God is in all that, I guess God only knows as the saying holds.

Thought for the day: How are we treating others?

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Trying Too Hard

October 14, 2013

Do you find yourself trying too hard?

Maybe it’s your expectations for your children. Maybe it’s a message that you are trying to get across to others. Maybe it’s an organization that you are trying to move. You sense resistance and you try harder. But the harder you try, the less response you perceive.

I’ve seen this and experienced this. The very first management conference I ever attended, in the mid-70s, featured one of those motivational speaker types. I’ll never forget his core message, though, “Try Easy.”

Of course you should try to accomplish things. You should try to show the way for your children. You should try to move your organization forward. Just don’t overdo it. I’ve seen sales people fail miserably because they press too hard. I’ve seen people burn out because they try so hard they lose perspective.

Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear…. But strive first for the dominion of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6)

I have a picture of Jesus as an intense man. I bet people sensed his intensity from a long way off. And I think there was also a sense of urgency.

Nowhere do I get the picture of Jesus as pressing forward rapidly. He traveled with intention, but never seemed rushed. He seldom lost his temper.

And, he accomplished his mission.

We can also. Know your goal, your strengths, your reality. Just keep moving with intentionality. But don’t go overboard with worry and effort. Try…Easy.

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Set Free The Oppressed

September 2, 2013

We are  observing a holiday in the USA. Labor Day. It’s a day set aside to remember the contributions of laboring people.

The concept and definition of “labor” changed dramatically over the course of the 20th century. The labor movement actually began in the mid-19th century. Originally the term referred to workers in manufacturing. These people were often almost slave labor for the factory owners. Various labor movements sprung up to organize workers. Much of the language used by unions today is derived from the early struggles.

By the end of the 20th century, engineers and managers, sometimes at the prodding of government regulators, had removed most of the hazards of working in plants. By the mid-20th century, factory workers could earn a middle-class income–although that changed beginning in the 1980s as relative wages plummeted due to many factors. But it’s still possible to earn a middle class income as a skilled technician and operator in a plant or factory today.

Management trends, such as the adoption of Lean which puts focus on the value of the individual, have also helped improve the situation for labor.

Oppression

Very early in the growth of manufacturing developed a “white hat” versus “black hat” mentality by people involved. Of course, who wore the “white” had and who the “black” depended on your point of view.

All this is not new, of course. Check out Isaiah 58–my current text for study and meditation.

God tells the people through Isaiah to set the oppressed free.

Is this not the fast (Spiritual Discipline) that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed to free,

and to break every yoke?

If you are a business owner or manager, you will find it morally, ethically and financially rewarding to treat all the people in the company fairly. Treat them as fellow human beings who are children of God.

Since I have worked both as labor and management, I have trouble with the “black hat” / “white hat” way of thinking. I most often think in shades of gray. Some people are more trustworthy than others; but all people are worthy of my respect to the degree that their character demands it. For me, it is not us versus them, but rather “we.”

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