LeadershipConneXtions

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

Hungry Learners

 

"Show me a great leader
and I'll show you a
hungry learner." 

Henry Blackaby

In Leading Across Cultures, James Plueddemann tells the story of a little boy from the cattle-herding Fulani people of West Africa.
 

Like children on a trip often do, he asked his father, "How much longer until we get there?"

To which his father said, "Never. We are nomads."

 

What a great attitude for leaders. We are never "learned." Instead, we are always learning. On this side of the promised city, we do not arrive. Instead, we travel hopefully and purposefully. (Hebrews 11)

I have spent an enormous amount of my life - learning. I've made some big mistakes along the way in my approach to learning. One of the biggest is taking in WAY too much information and not doing nearly enough processing and reflecting on that information. 

These days I concentrate on fewer ideas and more time delving into those ideas. I want to soak in the wisdom of a few really good ideas instead of wading around in the vast shallow end of a pool of knowledge.

What are the few really good ideas you are sitting with these days, ruminating over, chewing on, soaking in and absorbing into your soul? What are the few really good ideas that are beginning to transform you? And what are you passing on to those around you?

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renovation of the Church (A Significant Book for Leaders) and a Few Other Recommendations for You

Here is a book that I highly recommend to all leaders who are interested in spiritually forming congregations (and other organizations). It is the story and wisdom of two co-pastors, who lead their church into a new paradigm of spiritual renewal and formation.

It resonates deeply with me. My story is similar. They tell their story with grace and insight. 

It is hard work - spiritually forming congregations.

I feel we have done major, good work in this at Living Word Community Church, which has always graciously been a "guinea pig" (okay, guinea sheep") but wide open and seeking on these things for the last (now almost) ten years.

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

There are other good resources that you should read for your own stimulation and formation.

For example . . .

There was an outstanding follow up discussion to Renovation of the Church that took the form of a symposium recorded in the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, Fall 2011.  By the way, if you are a leader or teacher involved in the ministry of spiritual formation and direction, there are two journals I really recommend to you. They are different in makeup, but they are wonerful complements to each other.

The Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care is one of them. It is robustly evangelial, biblical and theological (but always accessible). It provides food for mind and heart as those of us who do this important work must be alert, wise and always grounded in the Scriptures.  It is published twice a year.

Here is the link for the website where you can subscribe to this journal on Spiritual Formation and Soul Care.

Another resource is Conversations: A Forum for Authentic Transformation, also published twice a year. This journal is written for a broader audience, although it is generally agreeable for evangelicals. Although there are a number of leading non-evangelicals who write for this journal and they are authors who would be pretty critical of evangelicalism. Still, it is generally a good journel. And since it is a conversation, simply converse (critically) back with all these authors.

Here is the link for Conversations.
 

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

I have a second blogsite where I post once a week on matters of spirituality, especially as they connect with Ignatius, the Jesuits and the Spiritual Exercises. It is:

Evangelicals on the Ignatian Way and every Monday morning I have a reflection/essay about spiritual formation.

I think we would all agree that the spiritual formation of congregations, so they experience the transforming presence of Christ and join with him in missional service to the surrounding world, is of paramount importance. To do tht work well, we need to be doing all we can to be dreaming, praying, learning, growing, reforming leaders and teachers.

So at the start of this new year - be highly intentional, wisely strategic and deeply surrendered as a learner/leader.

In the grace of the Risen Lord Jesus . . .
 

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

van Gogh With a Word for Preachers and Teachers

"You have first to experience what you want to express."

This is a simple idea, but a profound one.

While I can't always do this as fully as I like, for the most part, I only teach/preach on the things that I am personally wrestling with in fresh ways. 

To think academically and theoretically about a topic is good and needed, but it is not enough.

One must engage it experientially, personally, up close . . .

The communicator must live into the reality of that theme . . .

The idea must be fleshed out in the personal story of the one who wants to imprint it on others.

One old definition of preaching said, "Preaching is truth illumined by personality."

That was a start. I'd like to say, "Preaching/teaching is truth illumined by personal experience."

The Word has become "flesh" in the life of the one who communicates.

And when this is taking place, there is a new level of "unction" that carries those words to the hearts of others.

What are the implications of this for your own work in leading/teaching?

 

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 

 

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
 

Your Idea Network

There are some people who do their most brilliant thinking, isolated, alone and in solitude. Some of the world's greatest thinkers have done their conceptualizing and envisioning in the privacy of their inner world. I am one of those people who do some of my best thinking alone (with authors) and lots of quiet time for reflection.

Most of us are not like that!

And, when it comes to leadership, some of the very best leaders are action oriented, people oriented and those leaders will have their best ideas, not in quiet solitude, but in the engagement of life that involve people. I am also fortunate to have a wonderful network of really smart people... creatives... dreamers... visionaries... and our conversations are stimulating.

So, here are a few guidelines for you to do a simple, but useful, exercise. Get a pen and paper (or your journal is even better). You are going to map out your "Idea Network." You are going to identify the conversation partners and learning catalysts that are in your life. These are the people who are a part of the seeding and incubating process of new ideas.

You have complete freedom to map this out in whatever way you like. 
Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

1.  Put yourself in the center of the page and you will build a map that will indicate the closeness and the priority of these "idea people" to you.

2.  Start thinking of who the idea stimulating people are in your orbit. Don't think just of relationships in general, but think in terms of - who is around me that really stimulate me with ideas? Who are the people I like to talk to about ideas: both my own ideas and to find out their ideas?

3.  Begin writing names and locating them on your map around you.

4.  As you think, you should add books, blogs, conferences/seminary, team members . . .

5.  Think internally (those people who are a part of your organization) and externally (those peole who are outside your organizatin).

6.  Begin to identify on your map, if there are other avenues or sources of idea inspiration. Things like being in nature, music, experiences, certain times when you are in the "muse zone."

7.  Cluster people and items together if you can. Look to see if there are relationship there.

8.  If you can, find ways to indicate the strength of the influence and the number of ideas.

9.  Jot down a few Key Words to indicate particular breakthrough ideas or vital lessons that are associated with people and items on your Map.

10.  Pay attention to what sociologists call "weak ties." These weak ties are definitely outside your internal organization and closer connections. They are most likely along the periphery and they are responsible for many of our best ideas. The reason for this is that within organizations, you will often find "ingrained, in-grown" thinking.
 

FINALLY . . .

11. As you are creating and refining your Idea Network Map, start to look for bigger picture meaning. Jump up to a 25,000 or even 50,000 foot altitude.

What do you see?
What is significant?
What is strong?
What is lacking?
Where needs added?
What is God saying to you?

And what are you going to do next . . . ?!?!

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

The great image to the right is found here.

You can find several of these great idea network images here.

"F" Reading on the Internet

This post is what is called an "internet page."
Do you know how long the "average view" of any internet page is?

10 Seconds !!!

So, if you are like most people, then you will give ten seconds of your time to reading this post.

And how you read material on the internet is different from how you read a book. They call it:

F Reading.

It is F reading, because the letter F is the pattern for how your eyes move through internet presented information.
 

We know this: You don't read internet presented information in a way that is methodical and comprehensive. 

You don't read line by line.

Instead, you skim and scan, quickly, through text.

You skip and dip down the page.

You glance across the first few lines entirely.

Then your eyes drop down the page. You scan about halfway across a few more lines.

Then you drift down the rest of the page, catching only a few of the first words.

 

Get this . . .

For every 100 words of text, you spend 4.4 seconds reading them! 

18 words in 4.4 seconds!

That's what accomplished (really good) readers can read

That means your internet reading engages less then 20% of the content of a page! And this is a very generous overstatement of how much you get.
 

Net Reading is actually a misnomer.

Internet reading is not reading as the word has been defined.

Even less is it reflective and contemplative of what is being read.

Let's call it what it is.

Net Browsing.


 

Let's mourn what is lost in the act of browsing . . .

*  Comprehension . . .

*  Enlightenment . . .

*  Integration . . .

*  Transformation . . .

Whatever else we may gain from Power Browsing and Net Reading, I'm not sure it is worth the exchange!

Brian K. Rice 
Leadership ConneXtions International 
www.lcitypepad.com

 internet surfing image found here

power browsing image found here

 

The Gutenberg Elegies and Curious Learners

Since I love learning and since reading is a primary pathway for me to learn; and since books are what I most love to read; and because I have a few Sabbatical days devoted to reading and writing, I was intrigued by some insightful words from the delightful book, The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age by Sven Birkerts.

". . . knowledge was less a means to an end than a matter of self-cultivation, a way of transforming the experience of the daily. To be curious, to study, to find out - this was the path to the world. Knowledge exposed connections, imparted significance to the incidental" (pp. 60).

Birkerts is writing his assessment (and lament) for what the electronic age has done to reading and learning. It is a collection of essays by a writer who has a brilliant way with words. I find every page of his prose to provoke by imagination. 

Curiosity and learning . . . may you be touched by the Muses.

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

How TED Connects the Idea-Hungry Elite | Fast Company

Inside the World's MOST EXCLUSIVE (and Most Accessible) CLUB with SPECIAL GUESTS including

via www.fastcompany.com

One of the big themes for LCI is the need for life long learning. And to be the kind of learner who has a wide diversity of interests. I have to admit, I dip into TEDS all the time. Here are some of the smartest, most creative people on Planet Earth, giving short, focused talks on their speciality.

If you are not a regular visitor to the TEDS site . . . this is really worth doing in 2011. And here is a nice article that helps you understand about the "Idea Hungry Elite Leaders" of the world.

Are you hungry for the best ideas?
I hope so.

Check out TEDS

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

10,000 Hours by Age 21

That's how many hours of video games the average male has played by the time they reach the age of 21.

Why does this hit me?

It's because that is the "magic" number of hours of practice needed for someone to reach the level of expertise in any area of field of interest.

Of course you need the right kind of practice. 

And the right kind of practice involves:

(1)  incrementally more difficult assignments which progressively develop your capacity and competency, and

(2) coaching/mentoring what provides feedback assessment, correction and assistance.

Do this for 10,000 and you hit "EXPERT STATUS" in your field.

I find myself thinking - what else could those 10,000 hours of time have been invested in by age 21.

Come to think of it - what am I investing my time in right now, so I can get really good at that "thing?"

How about you?

What hours are you putting in?
What are you putting them toward?
Who is helping you along the way?

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

Areas Where You Need to be Very Good (and Smart Sure Helps As Well)

If you are a leader who wants to be a very good and possibly great leader, then you need to get really good at a number of things.

ONE:

In leadership. Read and study and practice and implement as much as you can and as widely as you can in the area of leadership. You can't learn enough about leadership. I was always impressed by how much Bill Hybels studied leadership. He read (year after year) the best books out there and talked with some of the best leadership gurus around. He was relentless in learning leadership. Read about change, teams, vision, values, strategy, motivation, marketing, persuasion, conflict, mentoring, developmental issues, staffing/hiring and the list goes on.  

I don't read as much in leadership as I use to, but I'll still read 15-20 of the best leadership books every year.  I have several good books just waiting to be read.
 

TWO:

in the area of communication. All truly great leaders are truly gifted communicators. Leaders have to communicate in a wide variety of venues and through a diversity of avenues. Public speaking, team leading, one on one, through writing, teaching, short posts, longer articles. You have to educate, motivate, persuade, explain, debate… and… listen, learn, dialogue, ask questions… You can be a very talented leader with excellent ideas, but if you can't communicate -- you are stuck!  

Every year I give time and energy to learning how to become a better communicator. One of my projects early this year is to work through the audio and book collection: Speeches That Changed the World, and The Greatest American Speeches.  

I also recently read the outstanding book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience.  If you read 2 or 3 books like this every year and work to implement the best ideas in them, you'll really improve.

 

THREE:

In an area of speciality. For example, if you have a passion and gift for evangelism - then learn as much as you can, practice as much as you can and go as far as you can in that areas of interest. The same thing is true if your passion is cross-cultural missions… or working with teens… or understanding post-modernity… or being a theologian….  Whatever it is - get very good at it.  (By the way, the speciality to the right IS NOT one of mine.)

Here is a nice article by Laura Spencer on becoming and then positioning yourself as an expert. The image was found at this blogsite as well. 

FOUR:

And then develop another speciality as the years go by.  Eventually develop several areas of speciality. And then another... and then another. As you do this, you will become what Peter Drucker calls a "deep generalist."  Drucker believes that in a world of very narrowly focused specialists/experts, we need a class of well rounded, multi-disciplined deep generalists.

Over the years I have put a lot of energy in to:  (1) New Testament studies, then (2) theology, then (3) missions, then (4) leadership, then (5) postmodernity, then (6) spirituality…  When I say that, it means that was my main area of focused learning for a 2-5 year period of time. 
 
In the last two years I have been working on a new speciality, a much more focused one - Ignatian spirituality. In fact, I am more focused and strategic in approaching this area of study than I have ever been and the results it is generating are significant. This will be an area of intense learning for the next 3-5 years.

As I have tried to gain some measure of expertise in a new area, I find it stimulates and fertilizes other areas of learning that I already have.
 

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Leaders - put some of your best energy into life long learning and growing. Grow as far as you can and as deep as you can. Then you will be well resourced to do the best work of leadership you can.

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

Being the Best You Can

 Yesterday was National Motivation (or Inspiration) Day.

So in the honor of that day, here is a reflection for the day after.

What are you pretty good at?

Now, what will be needed for you to become really good at it?  What can you do to make the jump from pretty good to really good? And - do you want to be really good at that thing?  What are the benefits that come about if you make the jump from pretty good to really good? 

Well, I can think of a few.

Personal satisfaction that comes from seeing improvement.

How about more results that come about from better performance?

More people that benefit from what you are doing?

Increased opportunities 

And most important, God is glorified when we do our best.

So what keeps you from doing better (much less doing your best)? What keeps you from moving from being pretty good to really good?  In some cases, what is keeping you from moving from really good to truly great?

 

Is it that you are too busy? 

That you don't believe you can make the jump? 

That you just don't want to do the work? 

That you are afraid of failure? 

That you're not sure it is worth it?

That you are just satisfied with the status quo?

With the world changing as rapidly as it is, many of us are going to have to figure out how to make the move from pretty good to really good… and further if possible.

This is our challenge for the New Year that is upon us... 
 

The people who make the jump from pretty good to really good and from really good to truly great - these are the people worth following, worth imitating, worth listening to. May you become such a person for others.
 

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

 

Life as an Experiment: Sermon Resources

Here is a link to the Living Word website, sermon files. The audio file will not be available until the middle or end of next week, due to the Holidays. It may be included in the Christmas series, or it may be a stand alone when they put it up.

Living Word Sermon Archives
 

This is the file for Direction for Making Bold Experiments. 
Download DirectionsExperiments 
 

This is the file for Suggestions for Bold Experiments. It is meant to jump start your thinking about possibilities.
Download SuggestionsExperiments
 

This is the file that is just a Month at a Glance for doing the Benjamin Franklin approach.
Download FranklinMonthPlanner
 

This is the Power Point file that has Six Slides to a page. Note, it is not the power point itself, but a pdf version of the power point.
Download ExperimentsPowerPointSixPerSlide
 

This is the Power POint file that has Three Slides to a page.
Download ExperimentsPowerPointThreePerPage
 

Here is a prayer you may want to pray often as you conduct Bold Experiments:

O God, give us courage: Courage to make experiments, and not to be afraid of making mistakes; courage to get up when we are down; courage to work with all our might for the coming of Thy Kingdom on earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   anonymous
 

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

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
 

Some Thoughts on Reading Good Books

I wanted to take a break for a day or two on my reflections about the church,  Quitting Church, renewing the church... This theme is on the front burner for me right now and I have a lot of things I want to share (whether you want to read them is quite another matter). But they will be mixed in with other topics that are on my mind as well.

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It is no surprise to readers of this blogsite, that I am a RAVING FAN of reading good books. I also am a collector of quotes and this month I have quite a few quotes on reading and books. Rather than hold them until the first day of the new month when I give all the quotes, I thought I would share these particular quotes a little early. And follow them up with a little encouragement about your reading.

So, here they are:

How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.  Henry David Thoreau

I would rather be a poor man in a garret with plenty of books than a king who did not love reading. Thomas Macaulay (pictured to the left).

A bit of trash now and then is good for the severest reader. It provides the necessary roughage in the literary diet.  Phyllis McGinley

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Reading – the best state yet to keep absolute loneliness at bay.  William Styron

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.  Joseph Addison

The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past centuries.  Rene Descartes

The use of reading is to aid us in thinking. Edward Gibbon

When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before, you see more in you than there was before. Clifton Fadiman

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.  Abigail Van Buren  (pictured to the right)

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I know many people do not like reading… (is abhor the word to use?). I want to make a case that leaders need to get in touch with the most profound ideas you can. If you don't read, you eliminate one of the main ways to get access to life changing, world shaping, leadership accelerating ideas. So - where will you find those ideas? Will it be through talking with another person who has read? That means they are the ones doing the hard work. The other readers are the ones getting the most benefit. 

So, here are a few questions:

What are you reading right now? 

What is on the night stand?

What is sitting on your desk?

What are you learning?

What are you doing with what you are learning?

Leaders are those who read, learn and then lead out of their learning.

The posts I am doing on the church have emerged out of reading one book, which then led to another book and to another. By the time I am done, I'll have read at least a dozen books on this subject in about two months. And that is just some of my reading. 

If you want to stay informed of a wide variety of very good books, you should subscribe to the weekly Book Review by Byron Borger of Hearts and Minds. It is always a great review, usually on a theme and then 5 to 10 of the best books on that theme.  So for example, Click Here to Read About Books on Marriage, the latest one Byron did.

And... if you have a book you want to suggest - do so. Just do it in the comments by clicking on the comment button.  Pass on your best recommendations to others.

A friend (a very good leader by the way) recently sent me a list of leadership books her company passed around. She sent it to me, I asked her for her top recommendations and I am going to read what she recommended.

May you be led to the best book and the worthiest ideas... learn... and then lead with greater wisdom and passion.

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

You Can't Make People Grow . . .

You can't make people grow and maybe you can't even grow people. Maybe everything I am going to say in this post is just a matter of semantics, or perhaps it is an issue of focus.

I wonder if our focus should be on creating environments of learning and putting people in those environments and letting the organic processes take over from there?

What if we should approach leadership and teaching in this way?

What if our focus shifts from the individual to the context?

What if we seek to become Architects of Learning Habitats and let the habitat and the individual interact with one another.

Becky and I are gardeners and it is natural to think that we grow plants. But perhaps that is to claim too much for ourselves. What if we don't grow plants? What if, instead, we create garden habitats full of rich humus, space, light in the right measure, water as needed, provide nutrients when called for and (especially Becky) have copious amounts of pruning and dead heading? Then, if we also remove growth inhibitors like weeds, insects and garden predators like Rabbits (grrrr to all Rabbits except for Bugs Bunny of course).

Now, as I said, maybe this is just semantics. You might say, well that is what one does to grow flowers, herbs, vegetables, etc.  But somehow I think it is a different focus. I want to focus on the environment and not on the ""plant specimum" itself. I want to think in terms of processes and not just the individual.

So I want to create the environment/habitat of learning and discovery, where the God designed growth processes can flourish and then plant people into that kind of place.

Whether you are...

a parent working with your children...
a teacher working with students...
a mentor working with mentorees...
an employer working with employees...
a team leader working with team members...

... think about the environment and how you can improve it. 

Improve the learning environment and I think you'll see learning accelerate.

And an easy way to get started is to pull the involved, impacted people together and just start brainstorming on this question:

What can we do to create a better place for learning in our midst?

Oh, and by the way, it won't hurt to read some Parker Palmer books along the way.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

The Knowing - Doing Gap

Knowing what do to and why we should do it is often not the problem.

Lack of information and a deficit of good ideas is usually not the issue we have to deal with.

We have knowledge in abundance. Information abounds in ways as never before. And our access to information is at an all time high.

I think one of our "gaps," and one of Grand Canyon proportion is the gap between what we know and what we do (or how we live).

If you are a regular reader of this blogsite, this is nothing new. In fact, it is a frequent theme. I was pleasantly surprised to read a review of a business book on his exact topic by the title:

The Knowing - Doing Gap.

One of the questions raised in the book was simply - why does this gap exist? Authors Pfeffer and Sutton give several reasons for the gap. Here are a few of their answers to this question.

(1)  Pointless communication! By this they mean we give out information poorly. We give out too much information. We give it out in boring, non-memorable and non-useful ways. We have lengthy planning documents that no one cares about. 

(2)  History and tradition about how we have done things in the past can easily offset new ideas from being implemented and with our follow-through efforts. The old ways overwhelm the new information and it is aborted and not birthed into reality. Especially in the area of past success does this happen.

(3)  Naysayers. These are the critics, the complainers, the fault-finders, the doom-proclaimers, the prophets of woe (you get the picture) and their loud voices dissuade us from following through with a good idea. 

(4)  Fear of the future, fear of looking bad, fear of failure, fear of other consequences can immobilize us. So we sit with the information, paralyzed, unable to act on the knowledge.

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I would add one more.

(5)  It is easier to hear than to do. It is easier to know than to act. This has always been true and it was addressed by Jesus and by James.

To act, to change, to live differently, to perform in new ways is a greater task than to simply receive new information. It is easy for me to learn something new. I do this every day. But to implement it in my life so it becomes a part of who I am - now that is a very different and difficult matter.  

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Effective Teaching and Great Learning

Effective teachers don't try to come up with the right answers. They focus on coming up with the right questions.

A highly qualified leadership 'guru' (I won't say who) said this and I wish to respectfully disagree. The way this is said, it is an either/or and it doesn't have to be. This leader should have known (hint, hint) it can be a both/and approach.

Here is my approach to creating learning environments where effective teaching is a part of that environment.

I don't start with either questions or answers. I begin with desired outcomes. What outcomes do I want after we are finished our time together? What are the goals, the objectives, the desires results from a time of learning?

Then i ask - what are the right questions that will help a committed and persistent group of people gather together around the great things that matter the most (Parker Palmer language). The great themes of life inevitably give rise to certain questions. And desired outcomes give rise to certain kinds of questions as well.

Then I ask - are there any ballpark answers or insights that would be a part of the learning process that should be considered? A well trained facilitator can guide discussion keeping these insights in mind, while at the same time allowing for additional (even unexpected) insight and answers to emerge from the group.

It takes a lot of hard work to design substantial learning environments with the right outcomes, right questions, right curriculum/content, right process and right people working the process. But when you do - you have the possibility of truly great learning and transformation.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Those Who Know and Those Who Learn

Here was a short but sweet thought from Jim Collins,

(How the Mighty Fall, pp. 39). 

Collins distinguishes between two types of leaders (and we can generalize to two types of people). One group of leaders are the ones who think the Know. They think they know the answers, have the solutions and understand the issues. As Knowers, they inevitably become tellers, usually rather authoritative ones at that.

On the other hand are the leaders who Learn. Even when the learning leader already knows some stuff, because they are a learner, they ask questions, stimulate conversations, are open to being challenged, old their positions loosely (for the conversation) and change when presented with better insights. 

Leaders who Know tend to stagnate. 
Leaders who Learn tend to grow and grow their organizations.

Hmmmm.....

How do I usually act?  Like a Knower or like a Learner?

How about those around me? Are they Knowers or Learners?

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International