LeadershipConneXtions

Hard Work: Lessons From the World of Bass Playing

 

We are the culmination of all our influences.  

James Booker  
New Orleans Jazz piano player

 

I'll just add one ammendation to this. We are the culmination of all our influences and the hard work we do to integrate those influences. In the world of bass music, this is seen in players like:

Hutch Hutchinson bass player for Bonnie Raitt (and everyone else).

Jazz, funk, soul, pop, rock, groove, blues, rhythm and blues

A "select discography" has 50 different MAJOR artists he has recorded for on albums. You can read a brief profile of Hutch here.

Artie Reynolds who is the bass player for the American Idol Band. This band has to be able to play ANYTHING and in any style.
 

 

Mark Kelley who is the bass player on the Roots Crew for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. While the Roots Crew tends to lock in on a narrower style, Kelley's background had him ranging over a wide terrain of musical styles.
 

Incredible versatility, amazing skill, innovative, and a unique voice they have crafted.

That comes from a wide variety of influences and a lot of hard work.

I'd like to suggest that what is true for musicianship - is true for leadership.

Read widely, learn from diverse sources, experiment outside your areas of familiarity, innovate, make your way and find your voice.  

And to do this - it just takes (I'll say it again) a lot of hard work.

So who is influencing you and what hard work are you going to do this week to benefit from their influence?

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

 

Life Long Learning and Reinventing Your Self

 

 

Len Sweet made an interesting comment in Viral that got my attention.

"In my lifetime I will need to learn six or more different preaching styles to keep the break of life hot from the oven" (34).

As I thought about his comment, I realized that I am in about my fourth major reframing of how I communicate. About three years ago, as I studied communication and culture, there were a few things that very absolutely clear. 

We live in a highly visual age where multi-media is dominant. Merely speaking (orality) is no longer the primary way people learn. If the sermon is mainly an oral experience, we are then neglecting vital insights about communicating and learning. So I made a shift to try and create visual learning experiences when I preach and teach. 

This was in part fueled from a word from Len Sweet back then, when he referred to E.P.I.C. ways of communication. The (I) stood for Image-Rich presentations.

And the reality is that most of those who are trained to be biblical communicators are NOT trained to be visual communicators. That is another skill set(s) that many of us do not have. It takes time to learn them. And to be honest, it takes a team of other people are good at those things to partner with you to provide what you probably won't be able to do.

A second change was in the use of story in communication. Story is talked about so much, but most of us aren't natural story tellers. And even when we tell a story, that does not mean we are telling a good story (or the right story). A weak story and a wrong story or even a good story but at the right spot - all up to NOT A GOOD STORY.

And it is not easy being a "good" story-teller, that is a skilled story teller.  There is a whole skill set needed to be a good story teller. Like all other things, it takes practice.

There are plenty of books available for those who want to learn how to improve in telling good stories.

But the point was the need for constant learning, a constant upgrading of your skills and abilities (your paradigms and models) and a re-inventing of yourself.

Continuous improvement as long as that works. 

Then, radical, discontinuous change when it is needed.

Life Long Learning -- what's on your agenda in 2012 for your own Personal Growth?

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

A Time and Ministry Assessment Tool That is Easy To Use

 

Getting Perspective
at the Different Altitudes

I have a friend in Mexico, Roger - who is doing some real innovative leadership as he seeks to find new models for the theological training of pastors and other church/mission leaders. The system in Mexico is extremely broken and band-aids will not fix what is wrong. For that matter, neither will a splint and cast.

But that isn't what this post is about. Several years ago, Roger shared a "time assessment" mindset that he uses. He borrowed it from another person (David Allan and his book - Getting Things Done). From time to time, he pulls out this tool and does some assessing of what he is doing with his time. The idea is there are different levels of altitude from which we assess our life and our daily activities.

 

50,000 ft:  Your calling and mission in life.

40,000 ft:  Where you want to be in three to five years.

30,000 ft:  What you hope to accomplish in the next one to three yeras.

20,000 ft:  What are your current areas of focus and responsibility.

10,00 ft:  What projects do you have on the front burner right now.

Landing:  What is in front of you today.

 

It is worth reflecting on each of these altitude levels, since each one is important and each one has bearing on the others.

What happens when we don't reflect like this, we begin to live with major disconnects. Our daily routine is disconnected from the bigger picture. We then begin to live and lead, more from a sense of the immediate and urgent and not out of the important and strategic.

I have leaders draw a five point star and give each point an altitude. Then begin to jot down your best thoughts about that altitude. In the center of the star, that is where you look at today.

Try this little reflection and then determine - what are the next steps to which God is inviting you to move in being profoundly self-aware, highly intentional, wisely strategic and deeply surrendered.

 

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

Permanent "Beta"

 

 

You Are Always in Process

Beta Testing and Permant Beta!

I've been involved in a few beta tests. These are the unfinished products that are sent out for the purpose of preliminary testing and feedback, so that the product can be improved.

I've had the opportunity to read a few books that were "beta" editions (pre-publication).

I have been using this approach for The Exercises for the last two years.

We had some wonderful friends in a missional organization who were willing to be in "Permanent Beta" Mode with us as we field tested the initial versions of The Exercises with them.

We kept changing, improving, deleting, morphing, upgrading . . . all as we received feedback, found what worked, what didn't work, how it could work better.

It has been a great process to be in (and we are still in it) although for some of the materials we are nearing the End of Beta.

But you know something?

When it comes to yourself, you are never Near the End of Beta. 

Instead, you must be in Permanent Beta (a tag line from Reid Hoffman).

Always learning.
Always adapting.
Always upgrading.
Always changing.
Always improving.
Always becoming (never stuck in stagnant being).

These are the leaders and individuals who are going to survive and thrive and make a difference.

Yes it means work, hard work, and lots of it.

That's what leaders do!

So - what are you testing and trying, tweaking and enhancing, learning and developing today?

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

Needful Things - Two of Them

 

Short, Simple, Sweet

The Two Needful Things

No warm up today. Just diving right in . . .

First:  To Know God.Truly, intimately, fully, comprehensively.
Not just the little "pieces" or "tidbits" that appeal to us... but the vast ocean of God's character, will and ways.

Second:  To know yourself in light of Knowing God.
Humbly, accurately, painfullly, sorrowfully and yet...
Wildly hopeful and vitally optimistic

You will never really know yourself, find yourself, come to yourself until you first discover/know God.

The more shallow and narrow is your knowing of God... than the more inconsequential and insubstantial is the knowing of your self.

It is impossible to become fully human and fully alive (an old John Powell book) apart from Knowing God in Christ.

The less you know Christ - the more faulty, dangerous and even deadly is the knowledge you have of your self.

Not knowing God is calamity and tragedy.
Not knowing God is terror and horror. 

But knowing God is life and joy and beauty and truth and goodness and grace and EVERYTHING ELSE worthy.

The great devotional classics, written by the saints, sages and mystics (many of them really, quite ordianry people but with an extraordinary knowing of God and themselves) have been of the greatest help to me.

Whereas the plethora of contemporary self-help advice is at best a distraction and detour.

Even a reading of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis may jump start the Needful Things... 

Which will then deserve reflection, prayer, spiritual conversations with friends... 

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

Burnout

 

The 21 Hour Workweek!

It is probably more likely that you'll have
a 21 hour workday before you have
a 21 hour workweek!
Unless you are under-employed! 

Overwork and stress have increased. Downsizing did not mean there was less work. It meant there were fewer people to do the same amount of work that had previously been done. And those fewer people had to get that additional work done.

It is not just more work. It is more responsibility, more pressure, more deadlines, more expectations, more consequences -- and this means MUCH more added stress. You can find this image on this site, along with some good quotes on stress (click here).

 

BUT WAIT, THERE IS MORE.
Now to that problem, add this . . .

The proliferation of intrusions via the ubiquitous internet.

We are never unplugged, at least for long. Emails, Facebook updates, twitter, calls, texts. Computers turned into laptops which became notebooks and smart phones. We carry the instrument of our distraction and interruption with us everywhere. You can get this image as a "mousepad" (here) and it might be a good reminder of what constant connectivity is doing to you.

I intentionally put my phone on silence mode. I intentionally do not answer my phone or even look at it for periods of time. I do a lot of work on my computer and it is always a struggle to shut down the internet connection and work undistracted. But I actually do that. And I want to do it more.

If you haven't yet read it, check out: The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Your Brain. When I read that book, it led to a half dozen or more posts. Not only are many of us overworking, but while we work, we also experience constant interruption and switch tasking that leaves our brains that much more tired and distracted.

THE RESULT OF OVERWORKED AND CONSTANTLY DISTRACTED:
Here are a few stats quoted in Taking Your Soul to Work.

A study by the Center for Work-Life Policy, found that 8 out of 10 people say their jobs are affecting their health.

New York Times reported that 62% of people say they have had an increase in their workload in the last six months.

More than 50% say work leaves them excessively tired and overwhelmed.

BUT WHAT TO DO?
Here is the fact. Most of us do not have the ability to change our work environments. We don't have the position that gives us the power and authority. Work life has changed in the 21st century. It is not foreseeable that it will change back. In most cases, you don't have the luxury of just quitting, of opting out.

And to be honest, even if you are able to transfer, where you go will most likely be to a similar scenario.

The only way forward is to cultivate rhythms… make certain choices for the reordering of your life… so you have the resources of spirituality, emotion and intellect.

There is no short cut to this. It is going to take time, energy, diligence, patience . . . and some wisdom about the way of formation . . . and a generous lavishing of God's grace. You can count on the last one. The middle one is there for the finding. If you need help, drop me a note. You will have to supply the former. But God can help you with that one as well. 

 

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

With a Little Help From My Friends

 

 

You Can't Get There
on Your Own

On Good Mentors, Creative Colleagues
and Spiritual Friends:
the ConneXtions that matter.

 

Here is the follow up to a recent post on lessons about excellence seen in Brad Paisley (Diary of a Player) who knew the power of

10,000 hours of practice.

But not just any kind of practice.

Good practice.
Smart practice,
Progressive practice.

For that Brad knew what he had to do (and what you need to do as well).

 

FOUR:
Find the best teachers and mentors you can find. 

Learn from the best people you can find.
Learn from as many people as you can find.

Seek out intentional mentoring relationships.  
Respond to spontaneous opportunities for conversations with mentors. 

Here is the CORE QUESTION:

Who is mentoring you?
And - how is it going?

If you don't have a mentor/coach - when are you going to get one and where are you going to look for one?

Mentors are invaluable in accelerating the pace of learning, insuring the quality of learning and being an overall stepping stone in learning. Take two people of equal ability, give one of them a good mentor ... and every time, that one with a mentor will grow further, faster and better.

It was awesome to see the mentors/teachers that made a real difference in Brad's life and career. Without them . . . we would not have Brad Paisley. And Brad tells us so.

 

FIVE:
Be around those who more know than you, are more skilled than you are, more experienced than you are . . . Allow them to motivate you, inspire you and guide you in your own learning. 

If you aren't secure enough to admit others are more gifted, more experienced, smarter, and more capable - then you probably aren't even reading this blog. But if you don't see the resources around you that God has placed for you to learn from - bluntly - open your eyes. 

If you don't see those people, usually it doesn't mean they aren't there... it means your ego can't recognize them... or if it does, it can't benefit from them.

I have had the privilege of being around some really smart, really gifted, truly conpetent, highly successful, profoundly deep leaders. Thank-you to each one of you.

They set the standard high. 
They model the way (Kouzes and Posner).
Their excellence is inspiring.

The greatest teams everywhere are a great team. It is long past the time when we stop being mesmerized by superstars, or thinking you can be a superstar. And it is time to start thinking in terms of being a part of a Great Team (Warren Bennis).

By the way, Organizing Genius by Bennis is on great teams and is one of the most brilliant, inspiring and plain fun leadership books I have ever read.

Brad rejoices in the great collaborative community of musicians he has been privileged to partner with. Man, in a competitive industry, he just doesn't compete against others. He just pushes himself to be the best he can, he celebrates the skills and accomplishments of his peers. You know what? I just think Brad has a heart full of love and respect for that community of colleagues.  

SIX:
Bs surrounded with good friends, collaborate with others, compete with your self.

Here I am going agains the prevailing ethos of the age. In many things, you definitely compete against others. But in many other things (and I'll say in the most important things) you need to collaborate with others.

If you want to compete - compete against your self. Compete against your previous best. Push yourself to a higher goal. 

And work together with as many good (even great) people as you can. For the sake of the team and the organization, be inspired to be as good as you can be.

Make sure you have some deep spiritual friendships of love, accountability, mutual learning, edification and encouragement.

It was illuminating how Brad Paisley's life had mentors, colleagues and friends, each of whom contributed to his ongoing journey to excellence.

It was also striking to see the profound grace, humility, gratitude and generosity that grew deep in Brad Paisley because of it.

Be inspired. Be motivated. Be informed. Get going . . .

 

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

 

 

 

 

Hard Work and Life Long Learning

 

Finding Inspiration in Unlikely Places

Hard Work, Good Learning and Love
Brad Paisley Models the Way 

 

I've been reading a number of biographies and autobiographies this month. A fun one was by country superstar entertainer - Brad Paisley.

Now, I am not a big country music fan, although I do like a number of the new "cross-over-artists" in that genre . . . and one of the biggest is guitar slinging, Telecaster wielding Brad Paisley. He is simply outstanding, creative and fun on his paisley Telecaster.

Here is the inspiration I took away from the book.

Wow did Brad ever work hard to get where he is.

Wow is he an example of the passionate pursuit of excellence.

Wow is he a life long learner.

Here are a few "lessons" that were my "take-aways" from Brad's story.

ONE:
Brad is the first to say he WAS NOT a natural when it came to playing guitar. He became a GREAT guitar player by hard work... and more hard work... and the more hard work.

Brad is a firm believer in the 10,000 Rule.

If you read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, you know what the 10,000 Rule is.

Invest 10,000 hours of learning and practice in ANYTHING YOU CHOOSE and you move to the highest levels of competency and expertise.

That's a big number.
Let's break it down.

1000 hours of practice a year for TEN years

That is three hours of practice (or time invested) in that "thing" every DAY of the year.

Three hours of practice every day for ten years!

Why in the world would you ever do that?
What would possibly sustain you in doing that?
That leads to a second lesson from Brad.

TWO: Love what you do and grow to love it the longer you do it.

Some people invest hard work sustained over time, for their own sake, their own ego, for their own glory . . .

But that isn't the best motivation to pursue excellence. Love is.

Love what you do. Love what you do for its own sake. Love what you do because Christ has created you to do it. 

And do it because you love others who will be blessed by what you do with excellence.

Brad started to love the guitar... love playing it... love the sounds it made... loved the joy it brought people... 

Do you love what you are doing?
If not - then why are you doing it?
How well are you doing it?
How long do you think you'll keep doing it? 

THREE:
Be patient with not being very good.  

Because you won't be very good. That's why you need the practice. And that's why you need to love what you do.

Brad Paisley was not very good . . .
and then he became passable, average, okay . . .
and then he became better than average . . .
and he kept working hard, learning every day . . .
and eventually he became pretty good . . .
and then really good . . .
and today he is GREAT . . .

and tomorrow he will be even better . . .

Because he is still practicing and improving . . . because he loves even more today then yesterday - what he is doing.

He loves playing the guitar and making music.

What do you love?

Back on Monday with a few more thoughts from Brad on how he had more than a little help from his friends.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Paradox of Developing People (Competency and Dependency - a Reverse Correlation)

Here is a paradoxical and disturbing thought I have had  of late. The greater one's giftedness (talents, intelligence, tools, resources) the greater the tendency that you will have for independence from Christ.

And I am in the "business" of developing people:

Mentoring leaders.

Teaching the community of God's people.

Empowering colleagues.

Training the trainers

Always seeking to help each one become more gifted and competent in what they do and how they work/lead/serve.

Baron von Hugel says personal limitations "are more easily accompanied by simplicity, naiveness, recollection, absence of self-preoccupation, gratefulness . . . which dispositions are necessary for the soul's union with God (by which he means progressive sanctification)."

In other words, those with less gifts and fewer advantages seem to have a set of qualities necessary for the formation of the inner life . . .

. . . and those who have more going for them, who appear to be more impressive, who surely have more to offer and more they can produce - they are the ones who will struggle more in the way of Christ-likeness.

I have found in my own life and in so many leaders with whom I have worked, that the more gifted we become the more self-confident we become. The more skilled we are, the more likely that we move toward self-sufficiency. The way of self-reliance is not the way that Christ is formed in us. 

The dilemma of personal development is that it works! You become more skilled, more competent and therefore, generally more fruitful and effective in what you do. You are inevitably tempted to trust in the horses and chariots of your own skills and intelligence rather than in the Lord God. 

Your corruption is well under way. 

So Paul's thorn in the flesh was a gift of incalculable worth, for that Apostle was magnificently blessed with skills and capacities most of us lack. That thorn MADE HIM dependent on Christ, and on all sufficient grace and for power made perfect in weakness. 

Your personal growth and development into maturity of skill and contribution is vital and it is willed by God. What is also willed by God is a simultaneous growth in grace, dependency and intimacy with Himself. This will only happen if you maintain a holy obsession to know Christ and all of Christ and the vigilance to maintain true humility. 

Sadly, some of the most gifted leaders I know have moved far into the ways of:

• self-sufficiency, 
• prayer-lessness, 
• a reliance on natural talent, 
• trust in the cleverness of their minds 
• and a preoccupation with the latest methodology that promises results.

Screwtape and Wormtongue are still working their conspiracies among us.

 

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

Some Lessons That Are Not Easily Learned by the Young . . .

Humility, trust and gratitude are not often, virtues found in the young.

By saying this, I have no desire to be mean, critical or insensitive. It just that humility is learned from many failures. Humility is learned when you powerfully discover your personal limitations, when you gain a true knowledge of your deficiencies, and deep awareness of how much you do not know, what you cannot do and what you will not achieve in this life.

Humility also comes as we realize that most of what we think we have gained and acquired is not only due to personal hard work. It takes an extended season of life to learn that all that we have is gift and that we are much more grace-made than self-made.

Humility comes as we learn that apart from God we cannot do much (even that word may be unusually generous). We are far more dependent on God than we naturally recognize or easily admit. He is after all, the one in whom we live and move and have our being, as he sustains the universe with his power.

The lessons of life (failure, limitations, deficiencies, weaknesses, foibles, proclivity to temptation, proneness to wander, weak before our besetting sins) take time.

And they take a sustained, penetrating reflective posture.

These lessons, when they are given, often go unnoticed by those in younger adulthood. For that is the season of life when we are most able to perform, most confident in our selves, when the world seems large before us, full of endless opportunity for those who have the will to seize it. And when we are most action prone and averse to extensive reflection.

It is only later . . .

as disappointments accumulate

as we collect the pain of multiple failures

as doors successively close and options dwindle

as personal limitations become more pronounced . . .

that humility MAY be gained.

Of course, anger and bitterness or the lethargy of depression may be chosen instead of humility.

But if we go the pathway of humility, we are posied to gain wisdom:

That all of life is indeed gift and grace 

That we are invited to live in faith and trust, dependency and surrender to God.

And that gratitude for what we have, not grumblings for what has been withheld, is the only way of emotional health. 

At 55 years of age, I am still working on all these things, some days being much better than others. I am hoping that the days of my younger naivety are soon over. 

 

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

 

Becoming an Expert (or Really, Really Good)

Competition is hard and it will only get harder.

Good jobs will be increasingly hard to find 

There are more qualified people out there looking for work, than there are positions for those people.

And, to make it worse, the job you have right now, is not even remotely secure.

At one time (in the U.S.A.) it was mainly blue collar jobs that were being lost to overseas competition. Today, in the information society, it is just as easy for white collar jobs to be outsourced internationally.

Here is the simple reality: The more competent (and generating of results) you are, the better for your organization and the better for you.

The more competent you are in the core of your "business" - the better . . .
This is the EXPERT...

 

The more competent you are in multiple areas of interest - the better . . .
This is the DEEP GENERALIST...

How competent do you NEED to be"
How competent to you WANT to be?
How competent will you be? 

 

Just good enough, about average?

A little better than average?

Pretty good.

Quite good (very good).

Highly competent.

Extremely competent.

And I'll use the word - EXPERT level of competence.

 

So what do you desire?

Now, the only remaining question is - will you be disciplined enough to pursue what you desire? It will take (1) lots of time, (2) lots of hard work, (3) money, (4) letting go of other stuff you prefer to do, (5) a mentor or three to guide you on this learning journey, and (6) good old fashioned faith and courage.

 

Here are a few questions to launch you on the latest part of this journey.

* What are the 3-4 areas where you most need to be HIGHLY competent?

* What have you been doing to grow in those areas?

* How much time are you investing doing this?

* What are the next steps to generate new and powerful learning?

* How will you know if you are making progress?

 

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

 

 

A Size or Two Too Big . . .

This is an idea I just received from Baron von Hugel's Letters to a Niece.

The Baron was talking about the spiritual life, the journey and about how growth takes place.

He believes that when we find new themes, new insights, when something grabs hold of our attention, it should be a size or two, too big for us.

It should be bigger than you currently are.

It should stretch you, challenge you, push you (at least a little).

For here is where the growth is.

Now, if it is a dozen sizes too big, that is intimidating, overwhelming, and inaccessible. It is confusing and discouraging if it is too big. (See the image below for shoes that are waaayyy too big.)

But a size or two too big - that's exactly what you need.

When something is within your reach with some work, you will go for it.
When it is almost understandable with some work, you will "get it."
When it has real potential and promise with a little time, you'll find or make the time.

When I work on learning new music - this is exactly where the best growth takes place. From time to time I try to work on a piece that is way beyond me and all that is - is frustrating.

So when you find this thing that is a size or two too big, you will have to "let it simmer in the heart... really come home..."

This is the work of listening, waiting, receiving, and then reflecting, discerning, praying... This is where growth takes place.

So . . . what is around you that is just a size or two too big and that is what you are engaged with?
It is calling to you?
It is intriguing?
And you are doing something about reaching for it?

And for those of you who train and mentor others - how well are you doing at giving them something that is a size or two, too big?

If there is nothing like that right now, start looking around and start asking God to send something your way that is just a size or two too big.

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

 

A Few More Thoughts on Aging

I am turnign 55 this year and I noticed that some of my best friends are keeping up with me. A few are running ahead and a few lag behind . . . So I've been musing a bit on growing older.

Here is a follow up to yesterday's post on AGING. Again, these are some misc. thoughts to be stepping stones for any reflection you think worthwhile.

Your brain continues to learn as you grow older. And your work of exploration, discovery, and learning stimulates your brain and keeps it healthy.

Learning ANYTHING is good for your brain and therefore, good for your entire life.

Keep on being interested in life and its many mysteries as you grow older and you will continue to be an interesting person.

How sad to grow older but not wiser.
How sad to be aging but not deepening.

Taking care of your physical health is vital for the aging process. The sins of youth manifest with a vengeance as we age. But it is never too late to begin TODAY to make changes in your physical routines. Get physically healthy. Exercise. Eat well. Rest when you need. Find good rhythms that will sustain you as you age.

God has wired together our physical, emotinal, intellectual, relational and spiritual lives. For one to be healthy it is vital that all be healthy. 

Leaders, I always remember Gordon MacDonald's words. If we stay healthy and keep our bodies fit, the decades of our 60s and 70s and 80s can be some of the most profitable and enjoyable years of life.



 

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

Aging

Here are some misc. thoughts about aging (especially for those readers who are over 40). For those younger - come back to this in a few years.

Reflect, enjoy, and may we all ripen into a maturity that is pleasing to Christ.

Forty is the old age of youth.
Fifty is the youth of old age.
Victor Hugo

I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.  Lauren Bacall (I Love Lucy)

I want to die young at a ripe old age.  Montagu

I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates.  T.S. Eliot

How pleasant is the day when we give up striving to be young.  William James

It's sad to grow old but nice to ripen.  Bridgette Bardot

I'm very pleased to be here. Let's face it, at my age, I'm very pleased to be anywhere. George Burns (at age 100)

The first 40 years give us the text;
the next 30 supply the commentary on it.
Arthur Schopenhauer

 

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

 

Learn to be yourself . . .

This one may seem a bit "obscure." I hope it is helpful for you. It launchs much reflection for me.

Learn to limit yourself,
to content yourself with
some definite thing
and some definite work;
dare to be what you are
and learn to resign with a good grace
all that you are not.

Henri Frederic Amiel
Amiel's Journal Intime 

 

Leaders have so much drive, so much energy, so many visions, a multitide of interests . . .

Leaders are absorbed in so many things, pulled in diverse directions, fueled by a legion of needs . . .

We are in danger of over-extending our grasp.
Of too many beginnngs, but not enough endings.

We need to be in too many places.
We have too much need to be needed by too many people.
To be in the center of too much attention. 

Some of the most important inner work you will do is to learn to limit yourself... to focus on the one best thing (okay - the few best things)... and to let go of the many things. Allow them to settle into the hands of others to be their thing.

We must discover who we are, the specific workmanship of God,

made like this and not like that,

and made for this and not that.

When we know who we are and who we are not
and what we are to do and not to do, then we must,
by God's help, resign ourselves with a good grace
and let go of all that we are not.
 

 This is a journey of many long years . . .

But today is a good day to answer in fresh ways, the question . . .

 

. . . and start to let go, with good grace, what you are not!

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

 

Zappos on Leadership Development and Training

May we all be inspired by the example of Zappos!

You don't know what Zappos is?

Read Here to Learn More About Zappos and their mission to deliver happiness.

Zappos is serious about its mission.

Which means Zappos is serious about leaders.

Which means Zappos is really serious about training its leaders.

So . . .

Zappos has developed a comprehensive curriculum to develop leadership skills in its leaders.

The FIRST course is 200 hours of class time.
They read NINE business books "outside of that classroom time."
Lots of practical, hands-on work is included in this. 

WOW!!!

Think about this for a minute. A company that exists to deliver happiness via a shoe (and more) shopping experience commits major resources (time, money, energy) to training its leader!

How much more so, should the church and missional organization devote to training its leaders for the mission of delivering Edenistic Happiness (borrowing from Reordered Love, Reorderd Lives by David Naugle)?

At the core of my personal mission at both Living Word Community Church and with Leadership ConneXtions International, is the developing of transformative learning environments for leaders.

Reading about Zappos has really fired me up for pursuing even greater excellence in doing this.

And as I always do - here is a question for your reflection.

What are you doing for your own leadership development?

Leaders - what are you doing to train leaders at your places of work and ministry, whether in the marketplace or in the world of church and mission?

Have at it . . .

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

 

Disciplined Training Program

Here is the full video on this rigorous training program that prepares trainees for the rigorous work of being a navy diver.

Think of the discipline, the hard work, the time that is needed to reach this level of capacity!

The questions are simply:

What do you desire?
How much do you desire that thing?
How will you achieve what you desire?

The final question is always the question of - what discipline is needed to achieve what I desire and to become what I desire.

The Apostle Paul uses the technique of, "if the lesser is true, think how much more true is the great."

For Paul, the lesser is  the world of physical fitness and health . . . and the greater is the realm of spiritual fitness and health.

If people will work this hard to be a navy diver . . . then . . .

. . . how much harder should leaders be willing to work to become all that God desires us to be?

. . . how much more time, energy and commitment should we invest in the spiritual journey?

 

   

In about two weeks I have a post on The Six Components of Transformative Learning that will post on the Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way blogsite.

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

Choices

It is not just what you think that matters.

It is not just what you dream about that matters.

It is not just what you long for that matters.

It is what you choose to do about what you think, dream and long for that matters.
 

Existentialist philosopher, Albert Camus said, "Life is the sum of all your choices." 

 

Your choices lead to actions.

Your actions repeated lead to patterns or routines of behavior

Routines continued over time become habits.

A collections of habits becomes a lifestyle or a way of being in the world.

A lifestyle or life-way sustained produces a legacy.
 

"We choose our joys and our sorrows long before we experience them."   Kahlil Gibran  

It all starts with choices. Which is why Eleanor Roosevelt understood that, "One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes." 

Therefore, what you choose to do is supremely important. There is a dynamic, synergistic connection between being and doing. Too often people make naive comments that being is more important than doing.

I'd like to suggest this instead.

What you do (i.e. choose to do) shapes who you are and who you become. Thus, it is crucially important that, "We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves."  Thomas Merton
 

So - what will you choose today?

It matters.

It really matters.

It matters far more than you think.

The Old Testament leader, Joshua, challenged his people (and us) "Choose this day who you will serve."

Some choices are more important than others.
 

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

 

 

 

 

Be Interested (and so become Interesting)

This is the last post that has emerged out of my reading and thinking about The Idea Hunter.

It is one of the "core ideas" from their model.

The core idea is that great leaders are curious leaders, they are inquisitive, exploring, learning, discovering kinds of people.

Great leaders are just INTERESTED in so many things.

Here is a hodge-podge of ideas for how you can become a more "interested" leader. Some of them come right from The Idea Hunter. Others are my paraphrase of stuff from The Idea Hunter. Still others are my own thoughts.

1.  Ask lots of questions.

2.  Listen much more than you speak (especially once you ask a question).

3.  Pay attention to details that others overlook.

4.  Take notes.

5.  Ask why and why not - often.

6.  Hang out with smart people. Make sure some of them are smarter than you are. Especially, find people who are truly smart in areas where you are not smart.

7.  Be self-aware enough to know your limits, strengths, weaknesses and needs.  "Be critically suspicious and skeptical about what you think you know"  (me).

8.  Don't ever say, "We don't do it that way around here."  This kills learning. It shouts, "I am not interested in change and newness."

9.  Remember, conventional wisdom is wrong - a lot.

10.  Think continuous improvement and wonder what can be improved next and how will we do it?

11.  Look for paradox, puzzles, conundrums, problems and mess . . . this is where some of the most fertile soil is and where you fill find some of the most interesting stuff there is.

12.  Don't take up the burden of having to be original. There are few truly original people. Find good ideas and just be personal in how you can use them, tweak them, morph them and improve them.

13.  Therefore . . . beg, borrow, steal (and cite) all the time.  "Good artists copy. Great artists steal" (Picasso).

14.  Fully engage the process.  "Something magnificent happens to a curious, fully engaged mind" (Tom Peters).

15.  Read. Read in your area of interest. Read outside it. Read stuff you would normally not read. "Done well, reading gives us a deeply meaningful framework for living" (M. Jackson, Distracted).

16.  Prioritize life long learning. Learners are inevitably curious and interested people.

17.  Regularly TRY new things. Experiment. Act. Do - new stuff. Don't be afraid of failure.

18.  Relentlessly build your network of idea generating people.

19.  Be a daredevil, a misfit, a black sheep - at least occasionally. Go outside the status quo, push the envelope, stir up a little trouble, buck the system . . . 

20.  Recognize the power of analogies and metaphors. Mix things up. Crash strange ideas and images together and see what happens.

Now, do you want to this to be a learning experience? If so, read on:

To really maximize this exercise, you want to revisit it.

Copy and paste the 20 ideas into a Word document and print it out.
Put it in your journal.
Jot down a few thoughts as to which ones already describe you.
Which ones are you really lacking.
Which ones do you need to work on and develop.

May Christ make you an ever more Interested Leader and in so doing, transform you into a really Interesting Leader.

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

A Reluctant Pastor (By the Grace of God)

Sometimes, I feel acutely and painfully, my failures as a Pastor! 

If failure is too strong of a word (and I am not sure that it is too strong), then inadequacies and bumblings and stumblings are certainly appropriate.

Eugene Peterson’s, The Pastor: A Memoir, has been a time for much personal reflection and prayer about my pastoral vocation.

You know . . . I never planned on being a pastor. There were two reasons.

First, I wasn’t that impressed with the local churches I visited in my early years as a Christian (save the one that I eventually joined). Second, I was even less impressed with the pastors I met in my early years. There were only two pastors that I liked and respected.  (One of them being my former and current “boss,” pastor and friend – is pretty unusual to have one person in all three roles).

It wasn’t anything personal about most of the pastors I met in those years. It was just, how they pastored, the “act” of pastoring, the “work of pastoring” . . . they just seemed cut from a very different cloth then I was. What they did and how they did it . . . seemed weird.

Here is what is funny. As I type pastored and pastoring in the above paragraph and then again in this one, my spelling checker automatically retypes those words as pastured and pasturing. Pastor – it is an odd vocation. As I retype these words to they say what I want them to say, they are now underlined in red to indicate they are misspelled words!  

Maybe the Pastor understands the "I get no respect line" more than most!

(And I need to mention, along the way I have met many wonderful pastors... some who read this blog from time to time, so I hope I do not offend any of you.)

 

**********

And me . . .

I was/am much more naturally a teacher (confirmed by my Strengths Finder 2.0 tests) and a leader. And as the decades have ambled on, I have become a mentor/coach and a spiritual director as well. Some would say I do those roles/works well. From time to time, I feel the need to be a prophet, albeit a curmudgeonly one. Most people are glad I don’t feel that need too often.

I have a passion for the people group known as leaders; many of whom are pastors and missionaries. To and for that tribe, I am drawn and committed. I have offered my life to the work of forming and shaping their lives. Resourcing them with what is needed if they are to finish well that particular race (2 Timothy 4:7).

• For 20 years, I have studied leadership and the training of leaders.
• For almost 30, I have studied the arts of teaching, training and communication, along with the chosen subjects I most like to teach.
• For a dozen years I have been immersed in spiritual formation and direction.
• For that entire time, I have been interested in missiology, both global and local. 

Leader, Trainer, Teacher, Mentor, Strategist, Occasional Prophet, Missionary (non-residential), Missiologist, Spiritual Director – all those roles and titles feel natural and fit well. Vocationally, this is a large part of who I am.

But PASTOR . . .

That ancient, mysterious, odd vocation – Pastor.

I wear that role reluctantly . . .  as an uncomfortable garment.

Maybe that is why God continues to call me to wear it.

For in that role, I am least adequate . . .

And in my inadequacy, that is where I must throw myself at the feet of Christ for mercy;  beg forgiveness (I recently did lectio divina work through Ezekiel 34 – gulp!);  intercede for unnatural wisdom and unworldly unction;  and daily long for necessary grace, apart from which, I am utterly helpless (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

 

**********

I know this. In my struggles to be a Pastor, I have come, as the years lengthen, to love the church more than ever. One of the two reasons why I didn’t want to be a Pastor, is now the second greatest motivation for being a Pastor. 

I have come to believe that the local church is where we practice best that long, slow, halting, messy obedience in the same direction, as we become more of Who We Are – a people who belong to God.

I love that about our church (LWCC). It is a place of great grace and a place where we deeply value community, transformation and mission. By God’s grace (again) we are doing those things reasonably well.

 

************

When Becky and I were in our pre-marital counseling and as we celebrated our wedding, two ideas (among others) were on our minds.

Grow old with me, the best is yet to be . . . (my aging, creaky bone remind me that getting older is not all it is cracked up to be…)

And,

For better or for worse . . .

This is covenantal commitment Becky and I have with one another.

These are also good words for the church.

It is a place to call home, family, community, my people.

It is a place to grow old together with others.

It is place to experience the – for better and worse and the shaping of our lives through that better and worse.

This is the place where leaders named Pastor are called to live their vocation.

This is the place (and not the seminary) where we truly learn our vocation (at best, seminary is Intro 101, and sometimes we must unlearn much of what was taught there).

This is the place where Pastors practice their own, long vocational obedience in the same direction.

This is the place where we learn to run with the horses and not grow tired (Jeremiah 12:5).

This is the place where we grow older with the people we love, nurture and guide.

This is the place where we, like the Velveteen Rabbit, maybe, just maybe, through love given and received, become real.

So even though I wear that Pastoral garment uncomfortably, I continue to wear it. And the Patient Tailor allows me to wear it as He fits my life to match that good cloth.

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

 If you want this as a PDF, here it is:
Download A Reluctant Pastor 

 

 

Why Aren't You Amazingly Good (even Insanely Great) At What You Do?

I know, this is a loaded question. But I am asking it anyway… thanks to Seth Godin who asked it of his readers. Since it bothered me, I thought I would share the discomfort.

So, why aren't you and I amazingly good (even great) at what we do? Seth launched the thinking process and . . .

Here are the excuses which I've heard and which I've given. This is not a comprehensive list, but it is a good place to start.  Check any and all that apply to you. And add any others you know that aren't on this list.

  

1.  You don't want to be amazingly good…

2.  It takes too much time, hard work, energy, commitment…

3.  You are too young and haven't had the time to become amazingly good…

4.  You don't have what it takes, i.e. you don't think you are smart enough, talented enough, gifted enough, strong enough, disciplined enough…

5.  Someone has to be mediocre, life is a bell curve,  we can't all be great, so I'm just in the average middle and that's okay  (see #1 above)...

6.  You didn't have a mentor who invested in you...

7.  You lacked the necessary opportunities of open doors to become really good…

8.  You were/are afraid… afraid to fail… so you hide in mediocrity…

9.  You failed in the past. It hurt. You messed up and were criticized.  It hurt.  So you gave up. And you are still giving up...  (Closely related to #8)

10.  You don't know how to become amazingly good/great, so you have wasted time in ineffective development...
 

11.  You have too many distractions, obligations, pulls in different directions to be focused...  (in other words) you are not profoundly self-aware, highly intentional, wisely strategic, and deeply surrendered - the Four Mindsets.

Some of these are bogus excuses, others are legitimate. But, here is the rub. If you really want to be amazingly good if not insanely great, it comes down to one main thing - your motivation. 

As C.S. Lewis reminded us, for most of us, our desires for what is True, Beautiful and Good are simply too weak. 

Until you truly want to become all that God has intended for you to become - you won't.

Brian K. Rice  

Leadership ConneXtions International  

www.lci.typepad.com

Are You Successful?

Every leader (every person for that matter) has to define what success looks like (as well as the WAY to that success).

If you are to finish well, you need to have a standard of evaluation that is meaningful.

The North American standard of success is loaded with numeric qualifiers.

Success, for most  Christian leaders, looks like MORE . . .

income (offerings),

people,

results, 

conversions,
disciples,

trained leaders,

ministries,

programs,

etc.

This kind of more is often translated into BIGGER. Bigger ministries, bigger audience, bigger building, bigger budgets...

We would like the more to be in terms of BETTER, but that is a more nuanced, harder to measure standard. Yet, some things cannot easily be measured by BIGGER. BETTER is the way to go.

BETTER…

character,

spiritual life,

emotional intelligence,

prayer life,

relationships,

intimacy with God,

and so on.

It is pretty hard for me to qualify most of the things listed in the BETTER column. But this is the most important one for me. I certainly want to see success as it is described in the MORE group, but I MUST have success as it is defined in the BETTER list.

So . . . how do you define success?

And . . . are you becoming successful?
Do you know the way forward in to the success that you believe is good?
 

Or . . . do you think this is not even a worthwhile way to think about life?

Hmmmm…..

If Jesus is going to say "well done good and faithful servant" what criteria do you think he will use to assess your life.  As you think about this one, don't go generic. Don't just say - "fruitfulness" or "faithfulness." Give some specifics so you know what it means to be fruitful or faithful.

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

Seek Out the Challenging and Uncomfortable

Whenever I read a Seth Godin book, I come away with 20-50 ideas worth processing. Here is one of them generated from Linchpin.  

Linchpin, by the way, is the one book by Godin that I most disagreed with… but that is good. Some of my favorite books are ones with which I violently disagreed. My disagreements with Godin are amiable and respectful. But here is no disagreement, just agreement and elaboration.

One of my favorite cartoon strips from Calvin and Hobbes, had to do with Calvin's dad encouraging Calvin to try something hard and difficult - since it builds character. To Calvin, of course, this made absolutely no sense at all.

To Seth Godin, it makes lots of sense (page 115-116).  For when we are comfortable we are coasting. When we are comfortable we are not growing. We need resistance, challenge, discomfort to be stimulated, and roused to growth and change.

Godin also makes the humorous and right on target observation, "Inevitably, we exaggerate just how uncomfortable we are." And our exaggeration of the discomfort creates an even greater avoidance mechanism on our part.

So today's question(s) are obvious:

What is challenging for you these days?

What is taking you out of your comfort zone?

What is, right now, hard to do and perhaps beyond what you can do?

What are the hard, uncomfortable things you are avoiding right now?

And what are you going to do about it after reading this post?

Hey, go out and do something really hard… it builds character.

Brian K. Rice   

Leadership ConneXtions International  

www.lci.typepad.com

FAQs About Vision

This is a follow up post from yesterday's post on vision. If you missed it, go back and check it out first. There are quite a few Frequently Asked Questions that I hear about Vision. Here are six of those FAQs.
 

ONE:
I want to have a vision or find a vision or develop a vision - so how do I do that?
 

TWO:
Is a vision suppose to last for my entire life... or does vision ever change?
 

THREE:
How big is a vision suppose to be?  I've heard of BHAGS - Big Hairy Audacious Goals, but I don't think my vision is that big. Is that okay?
 

FOUR:
Can my vision be focused on my family?
 

FIVE:
I feel stuck in my job and that is where I spend most of my time. It pays the bills, it is actually a decent job, but it isn't at all what I am passionate about, what my vision is and what energizes me. So, what should I do? Quit my job and go looking for one that matches my vision and passion?
 

SIX:
Must my vision involved the church and doing something there? Or does it count as a "Christian vision" if I am doing something out in the world?

And what I do is answer each of those questions on the video below. They are short answers, so it won't take you long to watch it.

  

Like I mentioned in the video, I'll have the resources for finding and developing a vision available within a week.  It will be one or more PDFs you can download.
  

  

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

You Can Learn Almost Anything

Well… almost anything. But let's not worry about the smaller number of things you can't learn, when there is so much you can learn.

If you want to learn you can.  Almost anything…

You can learn new ideas, you can learn a whole new field of inquiry, you can learn new skills, new techniques, new models...

You can learn anywhere... even in a World War I trench.

You can learn at any age.   

Ignatius sat in a 4th grade Latin grammar class so he could go to the university-seminary (which required Latin on the part of all students). He was 33 at the time.

In 2009, Nola Ochs, a 95 year old grandma from Kansas graduated from college.

If you have the motivation to learn, then all you need are the resources and the discipline to use those resources. You will learn faster if you have a mentor helping you. You will learn better if you do it incrementally, progressively adding harder and harder concepts or skills to your current level of knowledge or competency.

These days, it is easier than ever to find the resources you need. They are everywhere on the internet. Seminars are everywhere.  Colleges are more accessible than ever before. Get as much education as you can.

Check out this site on eLearning. Also the source of this image.

Spend one hour a day learning a new area of interest and do that for about two years. You will be very knowledgeable in that field.

Spend two hours a day learning in your area of interest and you soar to high levels.

Spend three hours a day learning in your area of interest, keep that up for several years and you start to move into the elite group of specialists.

On almost anything.

You just have to want to learn, know what you need to learn, discipline yourself to learn, gather the resources you need to learn and then start learning.

Once you start learning . . . don't stop.

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