LeadershipConneXtions

Is Your Work Killing You?

Growing Stress in the Workplace

David Posen is an M.D. who writes about stress. See his great little book on relieving stress for lots of insights and best practices.

In his latest book, he talks about our growing STRESS in the workplace.

Here are five problems contributing to burnout, low productivity, dissatisfaction and turnover.

1.  The volume of work is increasing. So much for the silly people who thought we would one day have an eight hour workweek! Talk about COMPLETELY missing the mark! Instead, due to downsizing and fewer personnel, those who are left have MORE TO DO.

2.  The velocity of work. In other words, the speed at which things need to be done is faster than before. Plus, change is accelerating. We are constantly facing a learning curve with new procedures, new products, new technology . . . and this is NOT going away.

3.  Growing rudeness. We are becoming an "un-civil" people. We see this everywhere in our culture. It is in the workplace as well. Check out Os Guinness for a deep consideration of this problem in the North American culture.

4.  Multi-tasking. Which is really not what is going on. Instead, we are switch-tasking all the time in the workplace. Switch-tasking is tiring to the brain. See The Shallows for much more on this. While there are many reasons for this - the internet based way of work is a main one.

5.  Multiple and Confusing Priorities. With more to do... and with fewer people to do it... and with a growing complexity in the workplace... there is a growig problem with "what should I do first?"

These are five of the problems creating growing stress in the workplace. 

Which ones do you experience?

How are you coping (or not) with them?

What other problems create stress for you?
 

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
BrianRice@lcileaders.org 

Innovation Usually Doesn't Happen in Committees

 

Here is a great short reflection on how innovation does not work. It is from Fast Company and as usual - worth some thought.

Download Why Innovation By Brainstorming Doesn't Work

I have to admit, I rarely have innovated in the moment and on the spot... most of my innovation is exactly how this article describes. 

But . . . then, I have advanced the innovation in good conversations.

Hope it stirs some innovative thinking for you.

Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions Intl
BrianRice@lcileaders.org 

When You are in the Zone

 

You have certainly heard of being in the ZONE.

You may also be familiar with the idea of FLOW
which Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi made popular.

Perhaps you remember
The Hedgehog Concept
by Jim Collins.

What about Buechner's idea of "vocation"
or where your deep joy meets the world's great need?

These are all great ideas that describe the same reality. This is the reality of being at a place of great fittedness... you are suited for where you are and what you are doing is suited for who you are.

There is enormous congruence and overlap of your platform, your role, your strengths, your competencies, your passion . . . oh yes, and you can actually make a living doing this.

What an awesome place to be!

I just had a conversation with a leader who in the ZONE, loving it, being extremely fruitful, full of emotional intelligence, and contagious with his Vital Optimism.

A few days before that I had another conversation with a leader who feels absolutely stuck in the wrong job/role, in an organization/platform that is a serious values clash with who he is. But it pays the bills. It is income! For now - he is staying there because of the money it generates! He is not sure how long he can do this!

This is when work doesn't feel like work - it feels like privilege.

This is when the sacrifices don't seem so bad - more like opportunities.

This is when you give a full and dedicated day and you are not that tired at the end of it.

This is when you wake up excited about the day that lies ahead of you.

This is when you are challenged past your abilities, but not so far past that you have anxiety about being able to do what is asked.

It is not EASY to get to such a place... in fact, many of us cannot get there on our own. We need a great deal of self-awareness and insight that comes about through a wise process of guided discovery.

We often have to make hard choices to say no to some things, even good things, so we can reach out and seize hold of the right option, the highest good, the great thing that awaits us.

It will often require FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, the help of GOOD FRIENDS and the GRACE of God.

But it is so worth it . . .

I pray you are in this ZONE and FLOW . . .

And if you aren't, that you are seeking it . . .

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions Intl
brianrice@lcileaders.org 

 

 

 

Ramping Up Your Leadership in a Changing World (pdf article)

 

This is a more substantial artile on transformative leadership ways that are necessary for our emerging world which is very different from the previous world in which we lived (ten years ago).

Download Leadership in Transformation: Building Capacities for a New Age

Very Worth Reading.

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

The Power of Emotion in Creative Communication

 

Check out this one on how to appeal to emotion. It is always a fine line between appealing to, moving, persuading and manipulating / playing with emotions.

Download Hijacking Emotion Is The Key To Engaging Your Audience

 

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

Mission Drift and Leaky Vision ?!?

 

Pushing Hard on This One
We need some fresh thinking about vision.

 

Drifting away from your mission!
Losing your vision!

Really . . .

Does that really happen to you?

Do you forgot your mission?
Does your vision leak away?
Do find yourself depleted of personal mission and vision?

Really?

If so - I don't get that.

Now I can understand if you tell me you get tired... and frustrated.... and disappointed... even angry, confused and disillusioned . . .

But that is because you are passionate about your vision/mission, you are committed to it, you are willing to pay the price, offer the cost, make the sacrifice... and be confronted by the counteless obstalces working against you... and have to deal with falling short of what you desire.

I understand that. That makes complete sense. That happens to me. Often. 

And I'll make some mistakes and go in some wrong directions that I think are vision/mission related, only to find out they were a detour. 
 

*********************
But drifting and leaking...

If that happens easily or often, then I suspect the problem is that your vision and mission is not YOUR vision and mission. It is the vision and mission of some one else. And you've been pulled in to THEIR vision and mission. You've been handed THEIR mission. You've been recruited by a Vision-Caster who needs you to help them get to where they want to go.

And you are not that enthusiastic about it.
Not that committed to it.
Maybe you are there for the paycheck. 

If so - then now I understand drifting and leakage.

In fact, I just don't understand it - I EXPECT IT!

**********************
Here are two applications.

FIRST:
If you regularly deal with drifting and leakage when it comes to personal vision/mission - almost certainly, you don't have YOUR own... you are caught up in the wake of someone elses vision.

So- what are you going to do? I can guarantee this, you will keep drifting and leaking, as long as it is not YOUR vision and mission.

If you have signed on for someone else's mission/vision and it is not your OWN, and you haven't internalized it - what are you going to do about this?

Please do something!

SECOND:
Leaders - you have a lot of followers who have drifting/leaking problems. I guarantee it. And the standard answer you read in the typical leadership literature is: 

"keep casting vision, about every 30 days, because by then it has leaked out and your followers need re-filled."

Stuff and Nonsense. Leaders, the problem is you think your followers exist for the sake of YOUR vision. You've pulled them in to your thing. You expect them to be charged about your project. You are using them for your own personal agenda. You will spend the rest of your life having to recharge them.

BUT . . .

What if they don't exist for your sake! What if you exist for the sake of RELEASING their dreams and visions and empowering them for their missions in life.

What if you need a complete reordering of why you exist as a leader and a reconfiguring of your leadership to empower and raise up as many others as possible, and help them discover the dreams God has for them . . .  and help them begin to live wisely and well in the pursuit of those God-given visions. 

What if that is what leadership is all about?

Can I borrow and butcher an old familiar ideas.

Give a man a fish and you feed him today.

OR . . . Teach her to fish and she eats for a lifetime.

Cast your vision to a follower of Christ and they will do your thing, half-heartedly for a bit, and then you'll have to psych them up again.

OR . . . help them discover the vision that God has placed inside them, empower them, cheer them on, resource them with what they need and they will serve the purposes of God in joy and gladness for the rest of their lives.

So - what are you going to do?

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

 

A Theology of Hope Made Simple

 

A Little Theology of Hope
Can Go A Long Way

On a weekly basis, I have convesations with people who need hope. Life is hard. It is not working out the way they want. Struggles in marriages. Children problems. Financial problems. Fear. Anger. Depression. Anxiety. Doubt that God is going to come through for me in the way I want Him to. How do I engage with these "doubters and hopers."

It is time for a "bit" of theology. So bear with me and I think you will appreciate the different a little bit of good theology makes (as well as see the problems of "bad" theology). I'll do this with a number of short statements that will add up to a bigger picture understanding of hope.

1.  Hope is always about a desired future reality. It is future because it is not yet. It is a better future because we desire it and usually we desire what we value and affirm as good. It is a reality because we really want it. Not just in theory but in actuality. A single person "may" desire to be married. An out of work individual desires a job. A childless couple desires a child. In each case, what is desired is seen as better and satisfaction will happen when the preferred future actually comes about.

2.  When it comes to God and the things of God, we may broadly speak of "the kingdom of God." The kingdom of God is when the presence of God, the activity of God, the will of God and the "rule" of God are in operation. All Christian hope is hope concerning the kingdom of God coming on earth as it is in heaven.

3.  Concerning the kingdom of God, there is ALWAYS an 

Already but Not Yet

tension we experience. God's kingdom is already here, but it is not yet fully here. God's will is already being done, but only imperfectly and sporadically. God's will is already being done, but only by a few and only at some times. Christian hope is concerning what is NOT YET here.

4.  Hope will be generated either from the promises of God's future and coming Kingdom, or from the energies of this world as it offers options and possibilities.

An improving economy may be the source of hope for a person. Improvements in medical technology may be the hope for a sick person who cannot currently be treated. A dating service may be the source of hope for the person looking for a partner. A peaceful settlement among disputing grops may be grounded in the work of political peace-making efforts. The needs are real - but the source of hope is found in earthly powers.

5.  All hope that is generated from earthly sources is finite, temporary, limited, and tainted with inadequacy. It is a fragile and tentative hope. Human history is littered with the wreckage of this tenuous fragility. 

6.  Still, it is the work of God's people to labor on earth for the sake of truth, beauty, goodness and love and do that in and through the systems of this earth. In other words, we engage in political, economic, legal systems to accomplish things we believe are good and worth fighting for. Even temporary shalom is better than no peace.

7.  We have a future/eternal perspective. So as we work for the sake of hope, as we pray for God's grace to make real what we work for, we also know that the FULNESS of what we seek is NOT YET here and will only be FULLY here at the consumation and renewal of all things. 

In other words, we can experience the down payment (the first fruits) of what is hoped for, but the full and final possession (the rich harvest) is eschatological.

Christian hope is inescapably eschatological. It is rooted in the future fullness of God's kingdom. But Christian hope is never escapist. We never capitulate (give up) and we never cease in our labors as we wait hopefully for the coming of the King and His kingdom.

8.  We do not over-invest our hope in earthly, finite resolutions and outcomes. To do this is to set oneself up for a life of disappointment, dismay and despair. (A growing problem for so many). We are not inordinately attached to the things of (values, solutions, methodologies, promises) this fallen world.

9.  And, we rightfully and appropriately appreciate and receive with thanksgving, all limited hopes as they come our way and still know a better future is yet to be. Humility, prayerfulnes and thankfulness are the way to cultivate hope.

Now, with this biblical framework in place, what are you hoping for? And what are you hearing from God about what you hope for?

p.s.  This was A Theology of Hope Made Simple. If you want to chew on the meat of these things, there are two thoughtful books that will take time and work.

Surprised by Hope by British, New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright
A Theology of Hope by the German theologian, Jurgen Moltmann 

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

 

 

 

Christian Hope

 

What Are You Hoping For?

 How long have you been waiting? 

What have you have stopped "hoping for" because you know it is not going to come about? 

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

This is just one of the many passages we could use to talk about hope, and the distinctive way that Christians understand hope.

First:
God is the source of hope. He is the God of hope and it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we become hopeful people. All true Christian hope has its source in God, the power of God, the love of God, the goodness of God. We do not manufacture hope on our own. We do not deliver hope on our own. In a very real way, the work of Christian leadership is to connect people with the true source of hope.

 

Second:
Hope is generated as we TRUST in God the source and provider of hope. There is a choice you and I make. That choice is to have faith in, believe in, trust in God and His promises. For the skeptical and cynical, for the doubting and the disappointed, for the angry and discouraged - this is understandably hard. It will be a process of learning to trust in the God of hope.
 

Third:
Joy and peace (two highly valued affections of the heart) depend on hope. Now, when everything is going fine, what life is on cruise control, when everything is working out, that is not when we even think about hope. Instead we are satiated and full, satisfied and content. It is when life is not working out, when things are hard and the prospects dismal - that we lose our joy and peace.

Your joy and peace will be at the mercy of changing circumstances, UNLESS you have the presence of hope as your companion. Christian Hope makes it possible to have steadfast joy and peace even when life is hard. If you are lacking in peace and joy during a hard time of life, that is an indicator of misplaced hope and a mistaken trust. 

I'll come back to that thought tomorrow as we finish this short look at HOPE.

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

Choosing, Sowing, Reaping...

 

Choices matter. It is that simple. 
The only real questions are: 
 

What Are You Choosing
and Why?

Here is the biblical affirmation of this is simple and stark language.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good . . .  Galatians 6:7-9

 

Here are a few quotes from others who affirm the biblical teaching.

You choose, you live the consequences. Every yes, no, maybe, creates the school you call your personal experience. Richard Bach

Life is the sum of all your choices. Albert Camus

The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.  John Dewey

If you are leading others, then your choices are even more important. For your choices affect those who trust you enough that they follow you.

• What are you choosing?
• Why are you choosing those things?
• How long have you been praying about those choices?
• What decisions will you make this day? 

 

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

 

One More Thought on Feedback and Metrics

 
One Last Word (for now) On

Measuring and Metrics
for Desired Results 

 

After I re-read the post from last Friday, I realized I needed to say a few more (AND FINAL) things about METRICS.

First, it hit me that there is hard work involved in this and that is probably why we rarely do this kind of work. Most of us are busy and this seems way too demanding. So we neglect it and just chug away, doing what we have been doing. And assuming that we are generating results.

If you can, be sure to read, Good to Great and the Social Sectors by Jim Collins. It is a short monograph where Collins applies his awesome principles in a way they are more useful for the church and missional organizations.

There are a few guidelines to remember as you determine your METRICS.

I'll use a case study for brief comments. We are in the process of planning new short courses on a vareity of spiritual disciplines for the sake of spiritual formation at our church.

First, it costs time and money to do the work of evaluation and measurement, so make sure you do it in a financially wise way.
 

Second, be sure you are measuring what is important. Don't measure the wrong thing. As the last post suggested, numbers are the easiest thing to measure, and in the case of the Social Sector, not the right thing to measure. 

One course we are designing is a new one on Lectio Divina (a way of spiritual reflection on the Scripture). It could be useful to measure how many times a person does Lectio Divina. If our goal is to have people doing it three or four times a week, it is easy to measure if they are doing that. However, that is a quantitative goal. What if our goal is that people have the experience of personally connecting with the leading of the Holy Spirit as they read the Scriptures? That is more subjective and harder to measure. But, it is a better metric than simple number of times they practice lectio divina.
 

Third, realize how easy it is to talk in generalities. More, less, greater, larger, smaller, etc. are much too imprecise to be helpful. All they "may" do is point in the direction of movement (for better or worse). 

Our goal is for you to be "more loving."  Or "more in tune with God's Spirit." Or to "have a greater sense of God's presence with you." Now, this may be helpful, but it is very generic, quite nebulous and therefore, capable of great misinterpretation as to what is actually happening. We need to find ways to assess if someone is becoming more loving... or more in tune with God's Spirit... or living with a greater sense of God's presence.
 

Fourth, do your measuring and assessing at appropriate times. Frequent assessent is needed. For example, we are planning some new courses for spiritual formation. It will be appropriate to do assessment work at the end of EACH course.
 

Fifth, any evaluating needs to be action oriented. All metrics need to be for the sake of more results.

As we sit down with any person and process their experiences, the reason for this is so they may move more fully toward the desired results

I'll say it one more time. I know this is hard work. But, if you value your work, if you believe in what you are doing, if you truly want sustained results, then you must do this kind of planning and ongoing assessment.

Maybe you simply want to gather a few peope around and throw out this question(s):

So - how are we doing?

And how do we know how we are doing?

Grace and wisdom on this part of the leadership journey.

 

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

 

Feedback and Assessment

 

The Best Plans Go Astray. So make sure you have the right Metrics in place as you do constant

Feedback and Assessment 

 

We started out this week talking about RESULTS. 

Results Matter.

Why do anything if you are not going to get results from what you do?

Therefore, the question became - what do I do so I can get the results I desire?

That led to some thouhts on planning and on being wisely strategic.

Assuming that you are implementing your plan, you are taking steps toward the future you anticipate and want. 

Along the way, you begin to notice something. Parts of your plan are working and other parts are not working. Some things that are working, aren't working as well or as timely as you had anticipated. Some resources you thought would be available and useful - are not. Some people you thought would make a good contribution - aren't!

That means you must begin to make adjustments to your plan.

You must always be ASSESSING how your plan is working, going through FEEDBACK processes to get the necessary information that tells you how you are doing.

This adds another vital theme.

You need METRICS that are measurable. This is involved in SMART goals. You can actually measure results.

I work with many leaders who are simply not disciplined enough to take the time to define metrics or to truly evaluate whether they are actually hitting the mark.

It is also a fact of Non-profit organizations (like the church and mission) that we tend to have the wrong metrics. We focus on quantitative numbers -- like how many programs did we offer and how many people showed up at the program?

We need to focus on qualitative metrics, that is, what actually happened in the lives of those who were a part of the program that was sustained over time.

Honestly -- this is HARD WORK to get these qualitative markers in place. But fundamentally, that is the business we are in. Changing lives, not counting heads. Although, I don't mind counting the heads of a lot of changed lives.

Good planning and good working of your plan means:

having good standards of measurement in place...

constant feedback assessment as to how well the plan is working in reaching those metrics...

regular adjustment of a plan in light of what is and what isn't working.

Yes it is a lot of hard work. If you don't want to do it, then stop leading, get out of the way and allow someone else in who will do the hard work.

If you want to be a leader -- then do the hard work that is needed.

It is simply part of the price of leadership.

But the reward of Mission Accomplished is incredible.

p.s.  It would be worth your time to re-read the five posts for this week.

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

The Authority You Need

 

Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan
and be Sure You Have

the Authority You Need

 

So... you have a pretty good plan mapped out.

You have good objectives (or desired outcomes) thought through. You know that if you meet these objectives, you are well on your way to "Mission Accomplished."

You have developed SMART goals.  See this site for a nice description of SMART Goals. There is a vareity of ways people use the acronymn.

• Strategic
• Measureable
• Action oriented
• Realistic
• Timely 

You have thought about the problems you will face and your plan deals with those problems.

You have considered the resources you need and you have clarity about those things.

NOW . . . 

Do you have the authority to actually carry out your plan?

Do you have the authority to implement what you would like to do?

Do you have the authority to allocate the necessary resources to accomplish your goals and reach your objectives?

It never ceases to surprie me that organizations assign RESPONSIBILITY to its people, but do not always provide the needed AUTHORITY to get the job done.

That is a surefire recipe for frustration and failure.

You should have a meaningful conversation with your supervisor about the plan you have developed and make sure you have the authority to work the plan.

Don't take another stp until you have approval, a sign-off, a commitment and the backing you need to work your plan.

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

How to Get it Done

 

 

Three Things You Must Have

if you are actually going to get the desired results you want.

Here they are. You need . . .

1.  A plan to implement.

2.  The authority and power to control the execution.

3.  Constant evaluation and adjustment.

There are other things you will need as well, but these are the three essentials. If you don't have these three things, it really doesn't matter what else you may have.  These things are CRUCIAL

The PLAN.

We can call this strategic planning. In one sense, the plan is your strategy. But in another sense, we use the word "strategic" as an adjective to emphasize the importance and the value of the plan.

I am not going to tell you how to do Strategic Planning in this post. I am going to recommend that if you struggle with plannning, then it will be INVALUABLE for you to get a decent book on strategic planning. There are many out there.

Here is a simple, accessible one for you. Bobb Biehl's MasterPlanning is a very nice, easy, but thorough book that will walk you step by step in making a plan.

If you want more details on this process, then get the book for Dummies. Again, well written, lots of practical guidance... just more of it.

I will say this about strategic planning.

It always involves real objectives and outcomes that are the indicators that your vision/mission is being achieved.

It always involves steps you take toward reaching any objective.

It always involves resources, activities, events, people, deadlines, obstacles, problems that give shape to the steps you must take.

We are always dealing with these things. It is just that so many of us do it in a haphazard, inconsistent, unthoughtful way. In other words, we all have a plan.

It is just a matter of - is it a good plan or a bad plan?

Realistic or unrealistic?

Wise or unwise?

Strategic or careless?

Thorough or incomplete.

I am currently working with a team of staff and ministry partners at LWCC to implement an overhaul of spiritual formation at our church. We are working on our strategic plan for this.

It was sobering to map out deadlines and see how much work was needed to be done and the TIME we had to get things done. If we had not done this, THERE IS NO WAY that we would be able to implement the really good things we want to do this fall.

If you want to read a great biblical story of a leader who had a strategic plan - read Nehemiah, especially the first six chapters to see how a great plan (filled with the power of the sovereign God) accomplished something so incredible that the surrounding people were amazed at what God had done.

So - do you have an actual plan on paper? Do you have anything written down that involves steps, goals, resources, time, people, and so on? When was the last time you actually used your plan?

Tomorrow - do you have the authority you need to work your plan?

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

 

 

Implement or Fail

 

It Doesn't Matter How Beautiful the Dream or Compelling the Goal if You Never Get There...

Implement and Get Results
or FAIL

 

Execution.
The art of execution.
Making it happen.
Pulling it off.
Launching the plan.
Getting it done.
Implementation.

Let me push you real hard today... maybe irritate you... but I am doing this because you are important, what you do matters, and God REQUIRES your faithfulness and fruitfulness about his purposes for your life.  So . . .

Good intentions, BHAGS, compelling visions, inspring dreams, noble missions... they are littered everywhere in the landscape of history. Things that were desired but which never happened.

I bet there is a lot of GREAT STUFF that is just not happening in your life.

If we had a ten minute conversation, I bet I could find out a number of GREAT INTENTIONS you have but there is no movement at all in those areas of interest.

I bet you have dreams that are about as far off today as they were a year ago.

It is not the dreamers we remember.

It is the achievers we remember.
The ones who had the dream and who turned the dream in to reality.
The ones who made it happen.

My problem is NEVER a lack of dream or vision. I have an endless supply of things I desire to see happen. These are (in most cases) really good things, needed things, important things.

My problem is almost always, a lack of good planning to get to where I want to go.

My problem is implementation and execution.

That is YOUR PROBLEM as well.

********* 

Now, absolutely, you need a dream and a worthy one that has been inspired by time with God. If you don't have one, get one. Pray, connect with God, look around the world at what is happening, probe your heart to see what stirs within.

If you are without a vision - you need one. 

If you are without a direction - you are just going to wander and meander through life.

If your desires are weak and you are slothful and negligent about your life - may the Spirit of God AWAKEN you and  impart FIRE in to your soul.
 

 **********

But this post is about implementation.

What did you do this week that was intentional and strategic and fruitful about reaching your dream?

What results did you have this week concerning your greatest interests?

What measure able outcomes did you achieve because of really smart work you did really well?

How is your little corner of the world better, happer, more beautiful, more blessed, more like God's will for it - because of what you did?

The goal in life is not just to put in time.
Not to be on cruise control.
Not just to get to the end and say "whew, I made it."

Life is precious. People are infinitely valuable. God's will for life on earth is to be our passion. Your labors matter. God is going to ask for an accounting of what you did with what he entrusted to you (Matthew 25, parable of the talents). 

What you "intended to do" means nothing.
What you actually did and accomplished means everything.

This is where the REAL LEADERS emerge and shine.

Tomorrow, some thoughts on "better implementation."

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

 

Results Matter

 

 Therefore . . .

 EVERYONE must ALWAYS
be interested in RESULTS.

Why do you do what you do? 
Because you want to see something happen as a result! 

What do you have a dream, a mision, a vision.?
Because you want to see things be different than they currently are!

Why bother to do anything and do it well?
Because of the possibility of getting somewhere, achieving something, of making a difference, of making a contribution... of getting RESULTS!

Why do I spend lengthy time in devotional pursuits?
Because I want certain things to happen in my relationship with God!

Why do I spend hours every week exercising?
Because I want (my objective, my intention, my desire) is to be healthy!

Why do I spend hours a week writing the Exercises for the work of LCI?
Because I want to help leaders and this material is really helpful for them!

Why do I go through the hassles and expense of international travel?
Because the leaders I most want to help are located at distant places!

Why am I investing time and energy in internet technology?
Because I want to find ways to more effectively (and inexpensively) reach lots of leaders!

Why does any leader do what they do?
Because they have a dream that matters and they want the dream to become a reality! 

And on it goes.

You and I are always RESULTS oriented. 

So was Jesus.

Read Philippians 2:5-11 to see what Jesus did.
Then read Hebrews 12:2 and Revelation 5:9 to see WHY Jesus did what he did. 
Jesus was RESULTS oriented.

So here are the QUESTIONS . . .

What RESULTS are you seeing these days?
What OUTCOMES are you achieving?
What is the FRUIT of your intentions and labors?

And if there isn't very much (FRUIT / RESULTS) - why not and what are you going to do about it? 

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

Three Necessary Ideas for "Start-Up" Leaders

 

So what are you doing today about

Taking Risks,
Building Alliances,
Breakout Opportunities?

 

Reid Hoffman in
The Start-Up of You
gives these three leadership ideas for being entrepreneurial leaders (and he believes that we all must be this kind of leader, both for our organizations and for our own careers).

 

Take intelligent and bold risks to accomplish something really great. Whatever your vision and mission is, whatever your passion - if it is worth having, then it is worth a full investment of your best energy. But, your best energy is not enough if you are not willing to be WISE and BOLD in risk taking. Great things do not happen for the timid and for those who hover around their comfort zone.

Work really hard to build a great network of alliances, partners, friends and resources. You need this because the really great visions and the truly bold risks always need more than what you can personally provide. You need help. So work hard to find the best connections, nurture those relationships, make them mutually beneficial, and use them well.

Position yourself for breakout opportunities. In fact, do more than position yourself. Actively seek the "breakout opportunity." It is increasingly rare that great opportunities come along and bump in to you. You have to go looking for them. What are you looking for these days? Where are you looking for it? What are you finding?

Personally, when I evaluated myself on each of these, I came away thinking I have a lot of work to do on each one. I did some journaling on "preliminary ideas" for each one and started getting excited.

Like every post... you can just read it, note the idea... and promptly forget it.  

Or you can wrestle with it and begin the work of integration and implementation.

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

Ready Aim Fire -- "Ain't" What It Use To Be!

 

A New Way of Thinking,
A New Way of Being in the World
(and it is hard) 

 

It use to be:  Ready -- Aim -- Fire.

Then we learned that life was changing too quickly to spend a lot of time aiming and so the suggestion became . . .

Ready -- Fire -- Aim.

This meant, do sufficient preparation, launch what it is you want to do and then once launched do the work of refining and redirecting in real time. This makes a lot of sense and this is something I've been doing for years. 

A great example is the LCI Exercises. I did some READY work, but FIRED it off with United World Mission long before it was complete. Ever since then, I've been doing on going work developing, writing, editing, refining.... in other words AIMING.

Now the suggestion being put forth is that all the rule have changed in our world of intense change. Now the suggestion from Reid Hoffman is:

Aim -- Fire -- Aim -- Fire -- Aim -- Fire 

The reason being the contant and intense pace of change and the staggering competition we all face. This is the normal way of life now. 

We may protest to the high heavens how much we don't want it.

We may complain all we want about how much we don't like it.

It doesn't matter. This is the way things are.

Remember the old adage, survival of the fittest? That is at work here. The fittest who will survive (and maybe even thrive) are those who are comfortable with constant aiming and firing... and who learn to become ready in that way of living in the world.

What do you think?

What is your experience?

 

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

 

A Courage Follow-Up

 

Here is a brief follow-up from yesterday's post on courage.

Courage is not being foolhardy.

It is not bravado.

Nor is it being brash, rash and impulsive.

Nor is it being obstinate and stubborn.

These are courage "counterfeits" and leaders sometime mistake thse postures as courage. Sometimes, leaders fall into these patterns because they don't have courage and they try to cover up their lack of courage with these poor substitutes.

Courage is a firm, steadfast confidence in the rightness of a chosen course... despite the outcomes.

Jesus had the courage to go to the cross (willingly embraced death).

Peter and the other disciples faked courage, but it dissolved quickly and they abandoned Jesus.

The Apostle Paul had the courage to go to Rome (even when he anticipated death by doing so).

We need some discernment to make sure we are experiencing the real deal when it comes to being courageous.

 

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

 

Leadership Courage

 

The Apostle Knew
What He Was Talking About.

Been there and done that
and he knew how hard it was,
for himself and for us. 

Be on your guard.
Stand firm in the faith.
Be men of courage.
Be strong
1 Corinthians 16:13 

 

I don't want to be "too" hard in what I say, but here goes.

Courage is one of those qualities that leaders MUST HAVE.

If you can't take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.

Courage is one of those qualities that sets leaders apart from followers. It is not that the followers don't need courage as well. But leaders must have lots of courage. 

Leaders need courage:

*  to dream about new, possible futures

*  to dream about those futures in spite of the risks involved (and there is always risk involved)

*  to lead change initiatives (which will always evoke resistance)

*  to confront challenges and problems (which will be hard and come at a cost)

*  to make the hard decisions and to accept full responsibility (not as easy as you may think)

*  to live with the consequences and not be undone by those consequences

*  to go against the tide of public opinion and especially the critics and naysayers

*  to stay the course (wisely and not foolishly)

*  to change the plan when it is obvious that the chosen course is not the right one (admitting mistakes requires courage)

*  to step out in faith . . .

We can add many more reasons to this list, but what I've said is at least a good start.

But one more needs to be stressed. Kouzes and Posner say one of the main tasks of leadership is to ENCOURAGE THE HEART of others.

Encourage the Heart.

I like that.

To encourage the heart is to implant courage where there is none (or not enough). Not only do leaders need courage, but followers need it as well. Therefore, leaders need encough courage so they may leak it and inprint it on others around them.

May you be encouraged by the Lord.

May you be strengthed and sustained in your courage.

May you be an en-courager of those around you.

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

Effective and Efficient

 

Sometimes we have these, in my opinion, unhelpful dichotomies. Here is one of them.

Effectiveness vs. Efficiency.

Effectiveness is doing the right things.

Efficiency is doing thing right.

The axiom goes like this:

Managers are concerned with doing things right.

Leaders are concerned with doing the right thing.

We have too many managers and not enough leaders.

 

Why do I have to settle for this as an either/or? I would rather go the way of both/and.

I want to do the right things
and I want to do the right things right.

Who would be satisfied with doing the right things poorly?

Who would be satisfied with doing the wrong things well?

I suppose some are. But I am not satisfied with this and I doubt you are either.

Let's opt for the Both / And and be effective and efficient, doing the right things well. If we do, then we will be faithful and fruitful in our vocation.

It may be worth your time to sit down and ask about your activities and projects:

Am I doing the right things?

How well am I doing what I am doing?

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

Led by the Spirit

 

This image resonates for me. I recently used it on my Facebook Cover.

It is a group of people filled with the Spirit of God. 

It is the Spirit hovering, creatively, over followers of Christ.

It is the Spirit on the move and ready to move God's people further on the journey.

Some of the important work of leadership is creating space and time for groups of people to collectively discern the work of the Lord, to listen to the voice of the Lord, to experience the presence of the Lord . . . and then to respond as a people to the leading of God through the Spirit.

Spirit formed, taught, shaped, empowered, led communities of faith. This is the work of leadership. When was the last time you were intentional about gathering a team of people for this kind of discernment?

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

What If?

 

 

Great Questions

The way to envision the future.

 

Okay, it is Tuesday morning. By Wednesday you are in your routine (or rut) plowing on to the end of the week. Maybe you are feeling a bit lethargic already... or hopefully - restless.

Here is a simple leadership exercise. I think it will energize you.

Get out a piece of paper. Write in big words across the top of the page:

What If?
************* 

Now, start praying and listening, dreaming and writing . . . and see where you go.

Try to write at least ten such scenarios. Don't be afraid to be wildly creative and to go far outside the box. Don't avoid "sacred cows" (that is the untouchable things because this is how we have always done them).

I have a friend who is great at What If questioning. And he changes things a lot by pushing the limits with this way of thinking. Almost always, those changes are for the better. (Actually, as I stop and think about it, I have a lot of friends who are good at this. Which is why they are leaders and which is why they are making a difference.)

Go ahead, give it a try.

Better yet, get a few friends together and do it together.

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

Lifting Others Up

 

The Essence
of Great Leadership

It always involves making others
around you - better!

 

Here is a pretty good definition of leadership. I changed the gender to make it inclusive.

Leadership is the lifting of a person's vision to higher sights,

the raising of his or her performance to a higher standard,

the building of their personality beyond its normal limitations.

(Peter Drucker, Management, 463)

I love this because it is so developmental. It is empowering of others, not coercing. It is resourcing them to be all they can be.

While there is more to leadership than this, you can't have great leadership without it.

So, today:

whose vision will you lift higher?
whose performance will you enhance?
whose inner world will you set free?

And if you aren't doing this, when will you start?

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

The Future: Predicting It or "Creating" It?

 

 

The Future

What you can and can't do about it.

 

This idea has been around for some time. I don't know whether Peter Drucker was the first to say this, but he certainly made it popular.

"You cannot predict the future,
but you can create it"
(Drucker).

I like to read the "futurists" who try to predict the future. Sometimes they do a decent job, looking at current trends and extrapolating what these trends may look like if carried forth into the future.

But the thing to note is that the future MAY look like this IF trends continue. So often the trends are not continued and so the future does not look like what was predicted.

Here is where strategic planning comes in. Through the highly intentional work of being wisely strategic, you can, step by step, move into a desired future. Through strategic implementation of your ideas, you can build a future.

Even the best strategic planning is no guarantee of reaching the desired future, for things happen that affect all our developmental planning. But this way is far more likely to actually bring about what you desire to see.

I am currently in the midst of a rather big writing project - the five volumes of The Exercises, a spiritual formation curriculum/process for leaders. A friend asked when I thought this project would be done. I found myself predicting out a few months. But I hesitated, knowing that the planning work needed is still not in place. So my prediction was "iffy."

When this planning is prayerful and dependent on God, seeking to hear His voice and follow His leading, willing to make adjustments as you discern they are needed, the preferred future begins to emerge.

If you haven't read Nehemiah lately, read the first six or seven chapters and see masterful strategic planning in action by this biblical leader. Then, a future that no one was predicting, actually emerged.

This is the work of leadership.

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

Ethos...

 

Culture Without Character

When organizational atmosphere is weightless

Ethos.

Leaders use that word a lot. Usually to refer to the atmosphere or the culture or the "character" of an organization. But in most cases, the word character really doesn't have anything moral or ethical about it. It is more the "flavor or feel or way" that is characteristic of an organization.

The word ethos has the same root as the word ETHIC.

Ethos is character of a culture and ethos is ethic.

Kind of interesting that today, for most of us ethos as culture is apart from and without ethos as ethic/character.

When an atmosphere/ethos is without ethic/ethos . . . well, we can use the same language that T.S. Eliot used - it becomes "hollow."

The ancient Hebrews would have said it becomes "weightless" or insubstantial or without substance.

The work of leadership is to create an organizational ethos that is weighty, substantial, ethical. Whether a family or a nation - this is the essential work of leadership. If we miss this, then any other bottom line that we pursue, is elusive.

And to build a culture that is weighty, substantial and ethical . . . a leader must have that within them, for leaders can only leak and imprint on the external world what is inside them.

Today is a good day to think about the "weightiness, substance, ethic" that is within you and then ... on how you are imprinting those around you from the substance of your own heart.

 

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