LeadershipConneXtions

Life as an Experiment

 A. J. Jacobs has written three tasty books.

The Know-It-All, where he read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A - Z so he could become the "smartest" man in the world.

The Year of Living Biblically, where he tried to obey every rule in the Bible (he makes a list of over 700 rules from the Bible).

And his most recent: The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment.

I just finished reading the GPDs and it was a fun book. More importantly, A.J. got me thinking about life.

I think we spend too much life spectating. We watch from the sidelines. Sometimes for entertainment, and other times, just as the critic.

Life is meant to be lived.

So, inspired by A.J.'s experiment, I wanted to throw out his personal idea to the readers of this blog.

2010 is almost here. 
Why don't you make this new year a year to try six or eight, month long experiments.
Try a half dozen or more things that you think would be fun, good, healthy.
Try some experiments that will mean change... getting out of the comfort zone a bit.

 The possibilities are endless.

If you are in introvert - try a month of Living Like an Extrovert.

If you have a habit of frequent criticism and complaining - try a month of speaking only words of gratitude, encouragement and praise.

Try a month of serving others, with a different person and a different act of kindness every day.

Try a month of memorizing a part of the Bible.
(or)
Try a month of reading the Bible every day for an hour. See how much you can read.

Try a month of daily exercise, especially if you never exercise.

Try a new spiritual discipline for a month. Get a book on the spiritual disciplines. Pick one and give it a try for the month.

Try a month of living according to the Sermon on the Mount as much as possible.

Try a month of complete abstinence from buying things (except necessities). Declare a moratorium on consumerism.

Like I said, the possibilities are endless.

 Here are a few things to keep in mind.

(1)    It is an experiment. You might not succeed, but that is not the point. The point is to experiment, experience and learn.  The point is to live, to engage, to try, to get in the game.

(2)    Keep some notes, or a journal on your experiences.

(3)    Work real hard at it for the month. After all, it is only a one month experiment. You can do anything for a month.

(4)    It will help a lot if you do some planning for how you will do your experiment. Take a day or two and think it through, plan it out and then dive in. Give it your full attention and your high intentionality.

(5)    If one month's experiment isn't a real good experience, at least you had that experience and you learned and lived through it. Move into the next one.

(6)    Talk to others about your experiments. Encourage them to do the same.

And finally, share your Experiments with us in the comment suggestion area. 

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com
 

For a Better Church You Need Better Followers of Jesus...

For a better church, you are going to need better followers of Jesus. And while I do not want to ignore the fact of community, we need to turn the gaze inward first, before we start to put the blame on how others are inadequate.

I've been on a bit of rant and rave lately, thinking about the critics who love to complain and put the blame everywhere but on themselves. In a post a few days ago (What is Wrong With the Church: Dear Sirs...)  I mentioned that this is bad psychology, spirituality, theology, etc. Here are the insights of a few others on this issue:

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.  Marie Curie 

I like this word from Marie Curie quite a bit. If you don't like something you are a part of, then get to work to make it better… but first, make sure you are becoming a better person yourself. If that (you becoming a better person) doesn't happen, it is doubtful that you will be able to make a better world (or church, or team, or mission, or organization).
 

Huxley, in the same vein, had this to say:  
I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.  

And for every one who has worked very hard to change your "self" you know how hard it was/is just to change your self...  Now, think about trying to change an entire organization of "selves!" That is a whole lot harder.
 

And how about this thought from Erich Fromm. 
Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself. 
I don't think I go quite as far as to say this is THE main task in life, but it sure does rank pretty high and deserves a spot on the short list.
 

Neither Curie, Huxley or Fromm are talking about a narcissistic self-centered preoccupation with one's self that ignores community. They are describing the Brute Fact - that if any external, organizational change is to happen, it is launched from within, by changed individuals.

My friend Brian Newman talks about the need to move from Critic to Contributor. I think a huge part of that process is the journey of self-awareness and personal development of one's inner world.  

Brian K. Rice  

Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Buechner on Your Deep Gladness and the World's Deep Hunger

Here is an extraordinarily moving reflection by Frederick Buechner about our calling and vocation.

The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done....The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.

This is one of those core ideas that really shape our engagement with the world. When God puts you in a place where your deep gladness (and passion and giftedness) converge with the world's deep hunger (sadness, need, and brokenness), are are truly at a place where we are able to create a pocket of greatness (Jim Collins) or a pocket of fruitful faithfulness (if you like that language better).

It is one of my great joys and privileges that I experience a lot of convergence between my deep gladness and the world's deep hunger. 

May you have the same joy this week.

And thanks to my friend Kevin for finding this quote for me.

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

What Do You Have Going for You?

It was a verrrrry long time ago, in a place far, far away when I first heard the story of Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC). 

Sanders was a retired postal worker, recently retired and already bored, wondering if there was more for the rest of his life than sitting on his front porch on the rocking chair. He decided to make a list of all that he had going for him. On that list was the fact that he was the only one who knew his mother's secret recipe for fried chicken. He decided to make some and see if people would be interested in buying it . . . and the rest is history.

I was fascinated at the time, and still am, by the fact that he sat down and did a personal inventory of his strengths, capacities, competencies, what he had going for him. Out of that, came inspired action.

Here is one of those exercises that beg for us to do some reflection and then implementation. Get out some paper, or your journal if you use one, and start making a comprehensive list of your assets. You may work on this for several days, or longer, if you like. Get input from those who know you. You should have a pretty substantial list.

This is the workmanship of your life, which God is building and will continue to build. And you are invited to cooperate with God in the working out what he has built into you.

Here are several pretty important questions. 

When you look at the total package of your assets - how much are you living and leading out of those assets? 

Do you have significant strengths that you are not using? 

What new avenues may give you the opportunity to begin using more of what you have to offer on behalf of others?

Here is an idea from a post a week or so ago. If you don't attend to this, there is NO ONE ELSE who is going to do it for you. This is surely what Paul had in mind when he wrote to  Timothy and told him "do not neglect the gift that is in you" (1 Timothy 4:14).

Have fun doing this. Be excited, be grateful, be expectant. And then find ways to use what you have to add value to those around you in the name of Jesus.

Brian Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

The Difference Makers: Incubate and Implement

Let me use HYPERBOLE to drive home my point.

There is nothing more important for you to do then incubate and implement. 

Here is what you do not lack. You do not lack good ideas. Good ideas are everywhere. Great information is all around you in endless supply. These days, it is only about three clicks away on your computer. 

Ideas do not change the world.
Ideas do not change you.
Ideas do not change your situation.

But . . . 

Ideas you understand and implement, well that is another matter altogether.

It was about 15 years ago, when I was trying to understand how transformation takes place, and why it seems so little transformation is taking place in the church (which is above all, about transformation), I discovered a few things.

(1)  Information by itself is not enough. The church (like many other organizations in our world) specializes in information distribution. We have tons of information. In the church we call it Bible teaching.

(2)  Information by itself does not lead to transformation. If it did, after every Sunday morning message, the following week would be full of transformation. And we all know that doesn't happen. In fact, not only is transformation not occurring, but the studies tell us that people don't even remember 95% what was talked about 24 hours later!

(3)  A middle step was missing. A core ingredient was missing. The process was lacking something. And then, I don't remember the circumstances, the word INCUBATION came to my mind... and suddenly, I knew I had found the word that described the missing piece in the process. Here is what I wrote down.

Information   ----   Incubation ----  Transformation

As time went on, I fleshed out this idea in much more detail. You can find a one page summary overveiw in chart form by downloading this PDF.

(4)  Ideas need to be incubated. An idea is the seed, but the seed is just a seed. There is the potential of great fruit in that seed, but the seed must be placed into a place, an environment, a process of germination or incubation. 

(5)  Incubation/germination simply means you have to spend time thinking about an idea. Seeing it, understanding it, "getting it," knowing it. You have to ponder, consider and reflect on that idea. Not just the idea in theory, but the idea as applied to your life. 

• What is the idea all about?
• What difference will this idea make in my life?
• How will I use this idea in my life?

(6)  As the incubation process goes on, you begin to work it out in life. Reflection leads to action which leads to more reflection which leads to adjustments and so on. This is the implementation step. All true incubation is loaded with activity. Reflecting and learning are not simply cerebral activities. They are holistic - involving mind, emotions, will, action. And this very process is the way to transformation.

(7)  Here is the bad news. 1000 really great ideas will mean nothing for your life if those ideas are not incubated and implemented. Most of us are going through our lives being exposed to great ideas after another. And we remain unchanged.

(8)  Here is the really good news. If you find five or a dozen of the most intriguing, really great ideas... and if you devote lots of time to reflecting and acting on your reflection, those ideas will become truly transformative. Most great lives are simply the end product of the person finding those few truly great ideas that resonate, and then spending the REST OF YOUR LIFE incubating, implementing, going deeper and going further.  I have about a dozen really great ideas that I just never stop working with and working out into my life.   

And a side note... this is how knowledge becomes wisdom. 

(9)  QUESTION:  Do you know your really great ideas? Have you identified them? Do you know what is calling to you and inviting you to spend a lifetime processing and implementing?  

(10)  EXERCISE: Write them down. In a phrase or a sentence. No need to long explanations. Just make a list of the really great ideas that are changing your life because you are incubating and implementing them.

(11)  You don't know them? Well then, it is time to start finding some. 

(12)  You know them but you aren't doing much with them!  Well then, it is time to start working the process.
 

 

In the next few days, I am going to give you some ideas on this.

Tomorrow's Post:

So, What All Do You Have Going For You?  
Time for a Personal Inventory

Brian K. Rice  
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Try Something New

Do you want to jump start your stalled engines of learning? If so - try something new. For example . . .

1.  Rearrange your office or your living room.

2.  Go to a new restaurant and order something really different.

3.  Pick up a magazine or journal at a newstand (Borders or Barnes and Nobles have large selections) that is really different from your normal interests and read it cover to cover.

4.  Read a book that is an entirely different genre than you usually read. Or if you don't read books, go get one and read it.

5.  Listen to music that is written outside your listening interest.

6.  Go to an event (a trade show, a community event, a seminar, a sports program...) that is not your usual fare.

7.  Hang out with some people who are really different than you and who think very differently.

The common thread is to break out of the routines we are trapped in, be exposed to different sources of stimulation and work hard to notice, pay attention and to understand.

If you do this on a weekly basis (a daily basis would be even better) you will see yoru persona growth and energy accelerate.

Have fun.
And tell me what you did that was different.

Brian K. Rice 
Leadership ConneXtions International 
www.lci.typepad.com

On Being Stuck

Is anyone feeling "stuck" these days?

• Stuck in a rut.
• Stuck in a hard place.
• Stuck in a holding pattern.
• Stuck in a dead end job.
• Stuck in a box, confined, limited.
• Stuck at a glass ceiling and unable to move up.
• Stuck in a bad relationship.
• Stuck with a debt you can't get out from under.
• Stuck with a bad deal you never should have made.
• Stuck in an old paradigm.

Stuck . . .
It is a very bad place to be.
(The poor fox has its head stuck in a tire...)

Stuck is demotivating. Stuck is depleting and draining. Stuck is discouraging and depressing. Stuck is monotonous and boring. 

Stuck is a very bad place to be.

For when we feel stuck, we become desperate.

When we feel stuck, we are prone to bad decisions. We act rashly and impulsively. We are more likely to do foolish things when we feel stuck.  You know that "mid-life" crisis thing you hear about? And how people (especially, but not only men) make really stupid decisions in a mid-life crisis time. Well, the mid-life crisis is, in part, about feeling stuck... trapped... same ole, same ole...

Stuck is not where you want to be.

We are stuck for many reasons. Some of them are external conditions and limitations. Some of the reasons are internal constraints we have that keep us where we are.

 

 

If you are stuck, you are most likely the only person who will take responsibility for getting you unstuck. It is unlikely that anyone, other than Christ, is going to to initiate you into a "getting unstuck" process. So, here are a few suggestions for getting unstuck. Get your pen and a piece of paper or journal and start working through them.  Do all of what follows in a spirit of prayer.

ONE:  Where are you stuck and how long have you been stuck. Describe exactly and fully your experience of being stuck.

TWO:  Why are you stuck? How did this happen? What are the external forces contributing to your being stuck (bad economy, bad boss, etc.) and what are the personal forces (fear, discouragement, not trained in a field, a particular character flaw, etc.). It is important that you have clarity about these external and internal forces in light of the next point.

THREE:  What can you do to get "unstuck?"  Part of this will be coming up with solutions to the causing factors you have just identified. At least on paper, you are going to trouble shoot, problem solve and do some creative envisioning.

FOUR:  After you have some decent ideas down on paper, process all this with a friend for their assessment and input.

FIVE:  Come up with an Action Plan that has the steps you are going to take to deal with constraints and to move forward.

SIX:  Implement this plan relentlessly.

And may Christ be powerfully at work in this "un-stucking process."

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International  
www.lci.typepad.com

Participation Alone Does Not Produce Maturity

A few years ago (2007), Willow Creek issued a report of a study they had done on the maturity levels of their congregation. They studies how mature their congregation was becoming, how this was happening, what was working, what wasn't working.

Here is the "working assumption" that Willow Creek, and in fact, most churches have.

We create a variety of programs and services for people to participate in. . . . This is our strategy: We try to get folks who are far from God involved in these activities. We believe the more people are participating in these sets of activities with high levels of frequency it will produce disciples of Christ...

After surveying 15,000 people at Willow and 25 other churches, here is what they found.

Increasing levels of participating in these sets of activities does NOT predict whether someone's becoming more of a disciple of Christ. It does NOT predict whether they love God more or they love people more.

Bill Hybels described it as the "wake up call" of his life.

Of course Willow got a lot of flack for this. The critics of Willow's success swarmed gleefully around this announcement which fueled their own blindness about the same realities being present in their churches. For this is not a Willow Creek problem. This is an issue that is endemic and systemic throughout conservative Christianity.

A few of my observations are this.

(1)  Actually, participation is very important. It is just the nature of their participation and the nature of what it is that people are participating in determines the outcomes.

(2)  For many years, we have been designing transformative processes (vs. learning events) for people to participate in. Unfortunately, the conservative church has been obsessed with transferring information to the minds of people and believing that leads to renewal and maturity. It does NOT. I'll say it again. A teaching event does not lead to transformation. And teaching events are our bread and butter model in the evangelical church. 

(3)  We have been thoughtful about helping people know how to participate in (engage, experience, respond) to what it is they experience.

(4)  We equip them with spiritual formation skills and perspectives.

(5)  We design curriculum that guides them in the exercise of these skills.

(6)  We provide leaders who facilitate the process and mentor them through their experience.

(7)  We have outcomes that are our aim and regular feedback assessment for progress toward those outcomes.

(8)  We have the desire of helping people learn how to be with Jesus (together with others) in relational encounters.

(9)  It takes an enormous amount of hard work. If you want to do this well, you have to understand the dynamics and processes of leadership development, spiritual formation, mentoring and pedagogy.

(10)  And I do think we live in a culture that is increasingly interested in entertainment, who functions mainly as a consumer, and who prefers products that are fun, fast and easy. None of this is conducive to making disciples.

Obviously, we don't do all of this even close to perfectly. We have a "bell curve" of quality of experience and results seen in our attempts to do this. But we are getting better and better at it.

And it sure helps if the Holy Spirit shows up. After all, the original 12 disciples had everything mentioned in the above paragraph and they showed a remarkable lack of maturity during the days surrounding the death of Jesus. Pentecost made the difference.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Ten Thousand Hours to Achieve Expert Level

I have been a student of "success" and "expertise" for many years now. I love thinking about how one moves past mediocre to good and on to greatness. 

From past studies into this topic, there are some things needed to move to high levels of accomplishment and success.

1. Lots of time.
2. Gradually (incrementally) more difficult assignments/lessons/challenges/problems.
3. Feedback assessment.
4. Mentoring.

If these four factors are in place, then the student has what is needed to move to high levels of performance.

It is not that practice makes perfect. It is that best practice makes perfect.

In Outliers, (a great book by the way) Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000 hour rule. Simply stated, it means - you need to practice for 10,000 hours if you want to achieve expert levels of accomplishment. Now, Gladwell is only dealing with #1 (lots of time) and not talking about the quality of practice or the other components. But I was fascinated by this.

10,000 hours!

It is why the best guitar (or any other instrument) prodigies are not prodigies by accident. They start early and they practice a lot. 

It is why the best athletes go over the same drills, over and over and over.

It is why Larry Bird shot hundreds of foul shots day after day.

It is why chess players play thousands of games.

It is why doctoral level studies require years of research, thinking, and study.

Expertise does not just happen.
Mediocrity happens.

Excellence does not just happen.
Average happens.

Success does not just happen.
Only getting by happens.

When I work with leaders who are interested in being developed, I always ask a few questions:

How good do you want to be?
How far do you want to go?
How deep would you like to build?

And how much time do you think is going to be needed for that?

I have yet to talk to someone who tells me, "I aspire to be mediocre. Average sounds pretty nice. Just getting by is okay." No one says that. But, on the other hand, rarely do I hear someone say to me, I am going to put ten hours of work in a week to get better in something. I am going to study ten hours a week. I am going to improve my _________ and I'll give ten hours a week to doing that.

So we don't make commitments to put in the necessary time, and so we really don't improve that much.

Here it is asked in a slightly different way: 

How strong a spiritual life do you want to have?
How strong do you want to be in this thing called prayer?
How holy do you want to be?
How Christ-like are you aiming for?

You aren't going to drift there, meander there, coast there, or just happen to stumble to any of those good places. 

The ten thousand hours are waiting. Let's start putting in the time.

If you want to read more, here is a nice article on The Power of Practice and the 10,000 Hour Rule. My friend Miriam sent me this link after we had a discussion about this.

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

 

Continuous Personal Improvement

I am a huge fan of continuous personal improvement. It is the impetus behind all my mentoring. I want to become the very best I can be and I want to help others become the very best they can be. That means always pressing on through continuous personal improvement.

Don't "most of us" hope that our favorite athletes, musicians and other performers continue to improve? 

When Toyota began, they had their Five Founding Precepts. One of those precepts said, 

Be ahead of the times through 

endless creativity,

inquisitiveness and

pursuit of improvement.

The only way to stay "up with the times" much be ahead of them is through continuous improvement.

Yes, that idea was originally applied to companies, but I think it applies to people just as well.

Work today to be better by the end of the day.

Do the same tomorrow.

It is that simple . . . and it is that hard.

We are talking discipline, planning, focus, dedication, commitment, purposeful living, high intentionality, and wise strategy.

If you and I were having a conversation right now,and I asked you, "What is your personal plan for continuous improvement?" -- would you have one? Do you have a plan for learning and growth that you are actively implementing?

I am at least a bit obsessive on this issue.

For the life of me, I can't understand why someone would not want to grow to their full potential. I mean, is anyone really interested in a plan of stagnation and mediocrity. That would be an interesting mission statement.  

I am fully committed to a life of mediocrity 

and will do anything necessary to be that!

At times we may be lazy, or excessively busy, or unmotivated, or discouraged by failure or lack of resources or whatever . . . But those should be the exceptions.

The fruitfulness of your life and the abundance of your life are dependent on your continuous improvement.

If you want to learn how to develop a plan for personal growth, but don't know how, email me at lcibrice@gmail.com and I'll send you some materials.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Moments of Truth

Jan Carlzon was the president of Scandinavian Airline (SAS) which he took from a struggling state run airline and turned it into one of the biggest and best airlines in Europe, opearting over 1000 flights a day.

A Defining Moment is when we have an experience that fundamentally shapes and alters who we are and how we live and lead.

Carlzon had such a Defining Moment early in his presidency. Once he was promoted, he began to lead out of an ethos of superiority where he had all the answers and solutions to every problem. In other words, he was the typical, highly directive style of leader.

An associate took him aside and told him he was promoted to the role of president, not to have all the answers, but to be a supportive presence for others to find the answers.

That encounter became a Defining Moment, a turning point, and a moment of truth for Carlzon. It set his presidency on a new path.

He changed from an instruction giving, answer providing, problem solving traditional mode of leadership to a new kind of leader who creates the environment, who reminds everyone of the vision and values, and supports the team moving in the right direction.

Oh yes . . . and he wrote a book with this theme as the title.

When I mentor and coach, one of the things I am always seeking to do is help people get in touch with their Defining Moments and make sure they have really processed them well. In addition, I help people be ready to engage with new Defining Moments that are coming their way.

How about you?

What have been the most important Defining Moments of Truth that were the turning point for how you live and lead?

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

What Makes a Leader a Really Good Leader

Robert Kelley and his team of leadership researchers conducted a project in the mid 1980's that was of great interest to me. They were interested in finding out the characteristics of truly superb leaders. They used the language of "star performers." 

Like good researchers, they did a survey to find out what both middle and senior management thought was the difference between average and star performers!  That is exactly the question I asked a number of years ago. I just used the word "leader." The survey responses had things like this. Star performers would be smarter, they would be better problem solvers, more driven, more outgoing, greater risk takers and other leadership skills.

Kelley and his team then created a series of tests and gave them to "stars" and to average performers. The results were surprising for Kelley, for there was no measurable difference on these items between the good and the average performers.

Here is what I think. I think they identified the wrong core qualities. When I did my own processing on this issue I came up with a different core list. For those who have been through the leadership materials we teach via The Leading Edge Ministry of LWCC and Leadership ConneXtions International, these four are no surprise.  Really good leaders usually have these four traits that average workers rarely have:

Profoundly self-aware

Highly intentional

Wisely strategic

Deeply surrendered

In the last several months I have been walking a number of leaders through the Focused Life process. This tool or process is designed to stimulate all four of those mindsets in the one who is working through the material. And time and again - that is exactly what takes place.

Problem solving is a good thing. Knowing how to lead change is a good thing. Vision casting is a good thing. Being an outgoing conversationalist is a good thing. But none of these or many others like them are what makes a leader a really good and perhaps even a great leader. I think it is the four items listed that will make you stand out in your leadership.

So - how are you doing on the four items and what are you going to do to improve in each one?

By the way, here is a "bit" sarcastic cartoon on self awareness.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Where Will You Be Five Years From Today?

I heard about this book a few weeks ago when I was asking for book recommendations for 2009.

It is a hard cover workbook of about 70 or so pages.

It covers many of the themes we cover in the course on Self-Leadership.

For anyone who wants to get serious about growing as a  steward - get this. Very useful tool. Enjoyable to read and to look at. Immensely practical.

I'd recommend you do it with a friend. Do it together. Compare ideas and thoughts.

This is one of the most accessible resources I have found that will help you develop a vision and plan for growth and service.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Grow the Distance (Sunday message Resources)

Here are some resources that were used for the Sunday message today and some ideas for learning and growing. The theme is about personal development, becoming all you were meant to be.

Here is the "stethoscope" video that reminds us of what is inside us. It is 2 and 1/2 minutes. Watch it through to the end.

Here is the prayer/poem read on Sunday by Pastor Aaron Kunce. It comes from Guerillas of Grace by Ted Loder.

Download I Praise You For What Is Yet to Be. Download a copy of it. Use it as a prayer each day this upcoming week. If possible, say it aloud and hear the words. Buy this book and use it as part of your devotional resources.

Here is a video clip of the Take My Life song. You may want to watch/listen to it again. It is a song of consecration. Our life is not our own. We belong to Jesus by virtue of creation and redemption. This is our prayer response back to Him.

Here is a pdf file of the song.  Download Take My Life

Here are some quotes that inspire me about the learning/growing process. Download GrowthQuotes

Here is a link for a free online Learning Style Inventory. I have used this with quite a few people and it is helpful to get you started understanding how you learn.

Click here for some suggestions on using devotionals for your spiritual growth. 

Click here for a challenge To Spend One Hour a Day in intentional learning.

Finally, here is a PDF of lots of suggestions from about 25 friends who are devoted to growth and learning. Skim over it to see what they do for learning.    Download LifeLongLearningGrowing

We are made for so much more than we are right now. We already possess so much more than we see or realize. And Christ has given us this beautiful life to become all that He has downloaded into our lives.

So, this is a new week. May it be a week of learning, listening, discovering, growing, stretching, and becoming. If that happens, this will be a really great week for you.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Continuous Improvement

I always think I can do better. Even when I think I've done a pretty good job, I think I can do better.

I think I'm a pretty good leader. But I know I can be better.

I think I'm a pretty good communicator, but I spend every year reading and working to get better.

I get frustrated with myself when I haven't done a good job on something. A few things have come to my attention recently that have been "half-done" jobs. My fault. My blame. My responsibility to do it better.

Hard work is a value for me. The old adage, "if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right" is a belief I hold to. I agree wholeheartedly with Qoheleth (writer of Ecclesiastes) "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your strength." 

This work ethic is in no way a "works mentality ethic." If anything, it is an extreme "gratitude ethic" that launches responsibility. Jesus is worth it and Jesus deserves it.

I guess I have a question. Why would someone not want to improve? Why would anyone not want to be the very best they could be? And the only answers I come up with are bad ones.

Busy... and therefore, it just isn't a priority

Laziness... just don't want to do the work needed to improve.

Fear... afraid you can't or won't get better and don't want the disappointment.

Apathy... just don't care.

Ignornace/uninformed... want to but don't know how.

Lack of resources... want to get better but don't have the help you need.

 

Every year in either late December and/or early January, I do some hard work of reflecting on my performance, my critical growth paths and areas of interest.  In essence, I ask - where do I want to grow? Where must I get better? And then I start to map out my plan for 2009 in terms of what I must do to stimulate growth.

What to study, read, discuss, assess, critique, get feedback on, get mentoring for... ?

Where will I find (or most likely make) the time in my schedule to do this... ?

So the reflection questions for you are:

• How are you doing on this "continuous improvement" issue?

• Where do you see the need for improvement?

• What resources are you going to use to improve?

• When are you going to get started?

And believe me when I say this. 

May God Richly Bless You On This Endeavor, For His Glory.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Learning Plans & Critical Growth Paths (Tis the Season to Start Thinking Ahead to 2009)

Wow!  It's Christmas week. This week is going to fly by. Counting today, in eleven days we have a New Year. A brand new year with a clean slate and a fresh start to become a new kind of leader.

In December of every year, I spend time mapping out my personal learning plan for the upcoming year. I review what I did in the current year in terms of learning and growth. I look ahead, reflect, pray and strategize about what 2009 should involve.

This month is moving by quickly and I feel a little behind in doing this. I never feel pressure to have everything fully in place by January 1st. There have been some years when I was still doing a lot of thinking about this near the end of January. But I like to be pretty much ready to launch a new year of growth and learning when the new year begins.

If you are a frequent visitor to the Leadership ConneXtions International blogsite, then you know life long learning is a core value and a regularly discussed topic. I remain fully convinced, both by personal experience and through the observation of many leaders - that the best leaders are life long learners.

In his book Axioms, one of his final reflections was on reading. Bill Hybels had this to say:

"Read all you can."

"Leaders have a responsibility before God to constantly get better."

"I have little patience with leaders who get themselves into leadership binds and they confess they haven't read a leadership book in years. If you're a serious minded leader, you will read. You will read all you can."

A new year of leadership responsibility is upon us. And in light of our uncertain, economically challenging times, leadership in 2009 is going to be even more difficult and riskier. Our organizations, our teams, our ministries, our churches, and our people need us to be at the Top of our Game.

That means continuous improvement, a commitment to personal growth and a love of learning and the transformation it brings.

I am putting together an essay on life long learning that also serves as a plan you can use, tweak, morph in whatever ways you like to launch and sustain your growth throughout 2009. It will be posted by the end of the year.

But for now, get out your journal or some paper and start reflecting.

Blessings on your musings...

Grace for your learning journey...

and Spirit empowerment for your transformation.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

When It's Time to Leave

I have a "blog" folder where I keep some ideas for "later on." I am interested in the idea, but at the time, I don't have the time to process them more fully.

I recently pulled out that blog folder and spent some time thinking about the subject of - when is it time to leave a position or role? These ideas are not original with me. I jotted them down from somewhere else, but failed to note the source.

The answer to this question is rarely simple, often it is messy and complicated. But here are some "telltale signs" that are important.

• When you are no longer excited about the mission or vision of the organization.
• When you no longer look forward to coming to work but experience dissatisfaction and tension (even anxiety).
• When you no longer have the strength to deal with the challenges and conflicts in your workplace.
• When your joy and gratitude levels are low and your appreciation and respect are in decline.
• When you have stopped learning.
• When you no longer enjoy and love the people with whom you work and serve.
• When you are no longer praying diligently for your people and about your mission.
• When you find yourself complaining and criticizing more than celebrating and encouraging.
• When integrity issues begin to arise and are not easily resolved.
• When you feel you have hit a ceiling that limits your capacity to contribute.
• When you must compromise your core values to fit in or accomodate to the organization.

All the above signs are RED LIGHT INDICATORS that something is definitely amiss. Still, they may be the occasion for reflection and action. If that does bring some positive resolution for you, then it is quite possible that God is using this to move you on to a new platform in the pursuit of your calling.

On the humorous side, check out this website for funny resignation letters.

Brian Rice

Vocation and Calling

Robert Greenleaf  (pictured to the right) said:  "The work exists for the person as much as the person exists for the work."

Studs Terkel said:  "Many of us have jobs that are too small for our spirit."

Poet Marge Piercy said:  "The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real."

In their own ways, each reflects the Scriptural truth of vocation and identity.

Perhaps the Apostle Paul summed it up best when he said:

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

We are made to work and to do work that is meaningful and central to our identity and creational makeup. God has created our work and crafted us for specific work. One of the joys of mentoring is to help leaders move into deeper levels of self-awareness about their identity and design and in light of that move into ongoing exploration of their calling and vocation.

I've designed a comprehensive curriculum that is based on the work of both Peter Drucker and Bobby Clinton (the Focused Life) and added some more of my own stuff into that mix. This is one of core methodologies I use in developing leaders.It is also one of the core modules of Leadership ConneXtions International as we do graduate education in Latin America.

All mentors should have their own methodology for doing this, whether you are doing life coaching or leadership coaching.

Brian Rice

Discipline and Freedom

I've been thinking a lot about discipline in recent months. I've been thinking about it from a developmental viewpoint and from a spiritual formation viewpoint.

I presented a model of the practice of discipline (concerning the spiritual disciplines) in the Spiritual Leadership Course in Puebla. One of these days I'll put that model in a chart form and post it.

Plantinga (pictured to the right) says that discipline is the basis and presupposition of both freedom and power.  For example, musicians who spend years working on scales and arpeggios one day have the freedom and power to play beautiful music. If you don't spend the time in disciplined practice, you will not be free to play complex music.

Freedom is not only the absence of restraints that keep you from doing something you want. Freedom is also the presence of attributes that enable you to do what you want.

I am free to run a marathon (in terms of absence of restraints) but not free in terms of the presence of the necessary attributes of stamina, cardiovascular fitness, and muscularity. The only way to gain those attributes is through disciplined practice.

The spiritual life is the same. It must be carefully cultivated through consistent and incremental practice.

So - in what areas are you not free to do what you really want to do?

What do you want to do that will require careful cultivation of necessary attributes?

And when are you going to get started in the cultivation work?

Brian Rice

When It's Too Late...

Here was a profound thought, near the end of McLaren's book, Finding Our Way Again.

He talks about when it is too late. When we experience a crisis event of some sort, at that moment it is too late to develop what you need to go through the crisis.

When the doctor says the tests indicate you have cancer, it's too late to learn how to trust.

When a family member dies unexpectedly, it's too late to learn how to have peace in the storm.

When a great temptation is upon you and no one will ever know and it is the one you are most bothered by, it's too late to learn holiness.

When you must make a great decision that will have long lasting repercussions for your life and ministry, it's too late to learn how to live and walk by faith.

We don't develop what we need to be faithful and pass the test on the spot.  Those things are learned by the steady practice of the thing needed in the months and years before the crisis. If you don't have what you need in any of the situations mentioned above, then you struggle at that crisis and that is when the disciplined practice begins.

This was an issue we covered in the Spiritual Leadership course at Puebla Biblical Seminary.

I am interested in a lot of things. I am interested in running a marathon, interested in playing a very complicated piece of classical music on my guitar, interested in having a loving marriage, a strong faith and wise leadership.

I am interested in all those things, but as I pursue them, I run into difficulties, challenges and I find it is a struggle to do them. Now I need an act of the will that arises out of great desire for them. If I have that will and join it with the act of disciplined practicing of the thing I want, then it begins to grow in my life. I get better at it.

That is how we develop faith, peace, holiness, and all good things. They do not suddenly spring into existence out of nowhere in the middle of great need.

So, here's the process:  Interest encounters difficulty and struggle. At that point, interest must become desire and the will to achieve the thing desired. Desire then moves into disciplined practice and the eventual fruit of that is competency and capacity.

Don't let yourself be found in a situation where you realize, It's too late . . .

Brian Rice

Practicing Our Beliefs

I have been interested in quite a number of things, all of which required practice. I loved tennis, water-skiing, racquetball, basketball, guitar, bass guitar, chess and more. It was one thing to "play" those things. It was quite another to be good at them. And, in every case, greatness eluded me.

Because . . . I never practiced any of them enough.

You know the saying:  Practice makes perfect.

An acquaintance of mine who is a professional music instructor modifies this a bit and says it this way: The right kind of practice makes perfect.  By this he means that repeatedly practicing wrongly will not lead to good performance. In fact, one of the hardest things to do is to UNLEARN wrong practices so you can learn good ones. Talk to anyone who has had to unlearn a tennis serve or a golf swing!

I don't remember where I read the quote that follows, nor do I remember who David Dark is, but I love what he says:

The world is the place where we get to practice our beliefs. (David Dark)

Christianity is more than a belief system. It is a belief system lived out in the setting of a relationship with Christ and in the context of the world.

We get to practice our Christianity, in the world.

We get to practice our relationship with Jesus, before the world.

We get to practice our leadership in the name of Jesus, as the world watches.

We get to practice . . . integrity, courage, faith, hope, love, grace, trust and so much more, in the midst of a world that needs to see these things.

We get to practice the presence of God, in the world.

We are not naturally good at any of those things. We must practice them all. But we practice them, not in seclusion or in private, but very much "out in the open."

Jesus said, they will know you are my followers by the love you have for one another. Not because of your belief system or theology of love, but because of your love that is practiced before the world.

What are you practicing today?  How consistently are you practicing? And how well are you practicing it?

And - are you helping anyone else practice something before the world?

Brian Rice

On Practicing by Artur Rubinstein

Artur Rubinstein was/is one of the great pianists of the last century. He is renowned for both his artistry and his technical competence. But it was not always that way. Here are Rubinstein's words about practice.

"When I don't practice for a day, I know.

When I don't practice for two days, the orchestra knows.

When I don't practice for three days, the world knows.

I must confess with sorrow that I was not very proud of myself. The dissipated life I was leading . . . never allowed me to concentrate on my work. I prepared my concerts using the large repertoire I had accumulated but without the urge to play better, without referring to the text, relying entirely on my fine memory and my cleverly acquired knowledge of how to use certain encores to arouse the audience to the right pitch of enthusiasm.

To put it in a nutshell, I couldn't boast of one single piece which I played entirely faithful to the text and without some technical shortcomings . . .

I knew I was born a true musician but instead of developing talent I was living off the capital of it."

At the time of this realization, Rubinstein then devoted himself to excellence through practice. Afterwards, he maintained a high level of performance through his 70's and 80's leaving a legacy as one of the greatest pianists of recent times.

Check out this website for a very nice introduction to Rubinstein.

Click here for a video of Rubinstein playing.

I am struck by several things:

ONE: If the secret of success in real estate is location, location, location, the secret of success in life and leadership is practice, practice, practice.

TWO: It requires discipline and devotion if one is to sustain a commitment to practice.

THREE:  Natural, raw talent is not sufficient. I think God gives us gifts/talents and then expects us to multiply/develop/enhance them. Practice is the only way to do this. Without practice, we squander what God has given us.

• If you are called to preach and teach - you need to be constantly developing your skills as a student, a preparer of the message and then as a communicator.
• If you are called to lead - you need to be constantly increasing your strengths to new levels, and when possible, adding new ones to your toolbox.

FOUR:  It is never too late to begin a new devotion to practice.

FIVE:  If you need to - get a mentor. A mentor will know how to help you develop practice routines so you can grow from average to good and from good to great.

Brian Rice

Experience: The Best Teacher?

How many times have you heard it said that "experience is the best teacher"?

I don't think this is true. It is a naive view about learning, growth and transformation and how all that takes place. It assumes that to simply have an experience is to grow! And that is no more true than the old adage, "Time heals all wounds." Both the statement on experience and time reduce the human person to a passive subject and assume that the power resides in either experience or in time.

How many times have you met someone with about 10 (or 20) years of experience but about 2 years of growth or wisdom?

(What I say next is directly tied to yesterday's post).

Experience by itself does not teach us anything. Experience is simply the situation or the occasion that may (or may not) become the LAUNCHING PAD for growth.

Experience needs a response, a reaction, an engagement of the person with the experience. Experience needs an active response, not a passive one.

The active response is one of reflection upon the experience. You ponder, consider, reflect, meditate, assess, analyze, probe the experience itself. You seek to find meaning in the experience. You look for purpose that is latent within the experience. You search for the presence, the work and the Word of God that is contained within an experience.

And you do the same for your reaction to the experience. You ponder (etc.) what is going on inside you in the same way that you consider the external situation.

Then, when there is personal discovery about the MEANING of the experience and the MEANING of your reaction, learning is taking place.

But for growth to occur, one more step is needed. You must now do something with the meaning that you have discovered. That meaning must be acted upon. That meaning must be integrated into your life. Implementation of insight must be the follow-through outcome. When that happens, growth begins to take place.

I think the work of mentors is deeply centered on helping the mentorees discover the meaning within the experience and their reaction to the experience. That means the mentor must first guide the mentoree in gaining reflective, meditative and assessment skills.  Then the mentor must help the mentoree find the "take away" value of the experience. Finally, the mentor helps the mentoree integrate the meaning/value into their life.

I think this is the pathway to growth.

Brian Rice

Margins (and Lacking Them)

Life for me is very full. Mostly it is full of very good stuff, but the point is - it is VERY full. Too full. I guess it is my Type-A personality, fueled by my ENTJ personality, boosted by my dark side drivenness.

It is also complicated by the fact that my full time work is at Living Word Community Church and then I spend quite a bit of my "free time" (especially on my days off) doing LCI work.  And I like what I do. I like it a lot.

The downside result of this is that margins diminish and even disappear. 

If you want to do a little visual exercise to drive this home - do this.

Pull up a Microsoft Word document.  Reformat it with a two inch margin on every side. It has lots of room and space. Now reformat it with a one inch margin . . . now do it with a quarter inch margin.  Your document is looking busier and busier and less attractive.

However, when margins are shrinking due to work, for many leaders, they drop off their hobbies, their exercise routines, their personal developmental time and their friendship/relational times. These are the first things that go.

I have seen each of these things diminish over the last year.

Dr. Richard Swenson has written extensively on Margins.  Swenson's concern is that many of us can live for long times without much margin in our lives. We find ways to live without rest, hobby, exercise, relationship and so on.  And AS LONG AS NOTHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS, then we are think we are okay. But it is the unexpected, the crisis, the emergency that is never planned for, that reveals the problem in living without margins.

Recently, I've had some unexpected emergencies, and boy - does it reveal the problem with minimal margin in life!

I've read several of Swenson's books and found them all good. I especially like his devotional, A Minute of Margin. I think I need to revisit some of his ideas and kick them around a bit.

Theologically, I believe that together with God we are writing our story. Spiritually, let's make sure the margins aren't too crowded out in that story.

Brian Rice

Leaders Need A Theology of Spirituality

Here is a paragraph by Bobby Clinton that, when I first read it, I had an "AHA" moment. Here are his words, which I've broken up into several paragraphs for easier reading.

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Plateaued leadership and leadership which is set aside (disciplined by God) usually can be traced back to problems in spirituality. While there are, of course, some leaders who fail in leadership due to lack of ministry skills, it is probably more true that the majority of failures in leadership come due to failure in the area of spirituality.

Every leader should have an explicit theology of spirituality (emphasis mine) which guides him/her as development proceeds along the three major goals of spiritual formation, ministerial formation, and strategic formation.

As Dallas Willard (pictured to the right) has so aptly pointed out, your thoughtless and heretofore unorganized theology of spirituality guides your life with just as much force as a thoughtful and informed one. (Again, the emphasis is mine.) Kingdom leadership demands spiritual leadership. An informed theology of spirituality is vital to this kind of leadership . . .

Ministry essentially flows out of beingness. You must continually assess your spirituality and maintain it if you are to give spiritual leadership in the kingdom.

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Okay, in those few short thoughts is a world worth exploring at length and in depth.

When I came face to face with this paragraph, my AHA moment was realizing that I had a deficient theology of spirituality which inevitably led to an inadequate practice of spirituality. The last 10 years have been, in part, the exploring of and developing of a thoughful, informed, robust, holistic, biblically based and church history informed theology of spirituality.

To say it another way, I have been pursuing a spirituality that is characterized by relationship, intimacy and transformation. My previoius spirituality, which was unknown to me at the time (i.e. thoughtless and unorganized), was mainly rationalistic, pragmatic and behavioristic. (By the way, two of the categories in my theology of spirituality are that of mystery and messiness. But I am thoughtful about the messy side of the spiritual life!)

My week in India, working with the graduates of ACCS is developed around this theme. With 30 sessions and 30 different themes, I want to help them develop a theology of spirituality that will sustain them for a lifetime of fruitful ministry, the platform to finish well, and to have a legacy worth leaving.

Brian Rice