I read this in a Swindoll devotional book today.
David’s prayer as a leader, “Keep me from deliberate wrongs; help me to stop doing them. Only then can I be free of guilt and innocent of some great crime.” Ps 19:13
What a great prayer. David understood our capacity, your capacity, my capacity, to overthrow every good thing with one stupid act, one willful sojourn in sin.
What a great pattern of prayer for every leader!
Keep me; guard me from trashing it all.
Where I have failed in the past- free me not first of guilt, but from the act.
We will then know true innocence.
Pray it with me.
“Keep me from deliberate wrongs. Help me to stop doing them. Only then can I be free of guilt and innocent of some great crime.” Ps 19:13
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
Good Leaders Seek.....
Good leaders seek to be well prepared and try to head off problems before they arise. But sometimes no matter how well prepared, even good leaders end up dealing with a fire to put out.
This week we had to get both our children off to their perspective colleges. Being our daughter's first semester, we had been working through a long checklist of preparations, including the purchase of a used vehicle in good working order. In May we acquired a small sporty two-door in good mechanical and physical condition. We had our garage check it over and I was assured it had new tires and brakes before we made the purchase.
On Wednesday after we got her moved into the loft she was renting from a former administrative assistant of mine, my daughter and my son left in her car to meet some friends for dinner. My wife and I joined with the landlady for a short prayer of dedication for the coming year.
As we are praying the cell phone in my pocket was vibrating. Cutting short our intercession, I answered the phone. It was my son. The conversation went like this.
“What’s up?”
“The car’s on fire.”
“What do you mean the car’s on fire?”
“It’s on fire.”
“What, is it smoking?”
“No it’s burning.”
“How bad?”
“Pretty bad.”
“Is everybody okay?”
“Yeah, some guy’s putting it out.”
“Where are you? … Okay, we’re on our way.”
You can tell my son is very stoic. Not much fazes him. As my wife and I headed to the scene of the fire, I was laughing out loud. Why? Because I was being reminded once again of a leadership lesson I had learned long ago.
Leaders know that sometimes no matter how thorough the plan, no matter how well prepared you are for an event, sometimes ‘fires’ still occur. When those unexpected fires ignite all we can do is put out the flames, assess the damages, evaluate your resources and options, regroup and press on.
How well do you handle the fires?
This week we had to get both our children off to their perspective colleges. Being our daughter's first semester, we had been working through a long checklist of preparations, including the purchase of a used vehicle in good working order. In May we acquired a small sporty two-door in good mechanical and physical condition. We had our garage check it over and I was assured it had new tires and brakes before we made the purchase.
On Wednesday after we got her moved into the loft she was renting from a former administrative assistant of mine, my daughter and my son left in her car to meet some friends for dinner. My wife and I joined with the landlady for a short prayer of dedication for the coming year.
As we are praying the cell phone in my pocket was vibrating. Cutting short our intercession, I answered the phone. It was my son. The conversation went like this.
“What’s up?”
“The car’s on fire.”
“What do you mean the car’s on fire?”
“It’s on fire.”
“What, is it smoking?”
“No it’s burning.”
“How bad?”
“Pretty bad.”
“Is everybody okay?”
“Yeah, some guy’s putting it out.”
“Where are you? … Okay, we’re on our way.”
You can tell my son is very stoic. Not much fazes him. As my wife and I headed to the scene of the fire, I was laughing out loud. Why? Because I was being reminded once again of a leadership lesson I had learned long ago.
Leaders know that sometimes no matter how thorough the plan, no matter how well prepared you are for an event, sometimes ‘fires’ still occur. When those unexpected fires ignite all we can do is put out the flames, assess the damages, evaluate your resources and options, regroup and press on.
How well do you handle the fires?
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Slide
Ever been to one of those county fairs where they have the big slide on the runway. You know the one. It’s about three stories tall. You have to ride it on a burlap bag. It’s got two or three humps on it. It’s got parallel tracks so you can race your friends. And for $5 you can wait in line for an hour and enjoy the 3 seconds it takes to slide all the way to the bottom.
I’ve never seen a kid who didn’t want to ride the slide. Even parents who were suspect of the upkeep and safety of other carney row offerings like the ‘whirl and hurl’ and the ‘cereal spiller’ would let their kids ride the slide. Let’s face it, the three hump slide seemed tame next to the upside-down pirate ship.
I’ve ridden the slide. I’ve also watched a lot of people ride the slide. Funny thing about the slide. Every once in a while someone on the slide tries to stop midway. They brace their sneakers against the gun walls, and try to stop their descent. I don’t think they were scared of the slide; most were just trying to show off how cool they were on the slide. Few could ever halt their descent, but a few managed to slow themselves down.
Another funny thing about the slide, it always ended at the bottom. Once you got on it there was only one place you could end up. Down at the bottom.
Leaders know that there are alluring slides all around us. Some are moral slides, flirting with this coworker, viewing this website is no big deal, just a little diversion. Some are integrity slides. Fudge the data on this report so we look a little better. Twist the truth here so we avoid some consequences. Some are discipline slides. I really should study or prep for that meeting, but the Tribe is on. I can skip my workout today. Church involvement isn’t crucial every week, isn’t that important is it?
Little slides but every slide always ends up taking us down. Have you fallen pray to a slide or two? It’s too easy to end up on one time and time again with not much to show for it except a trip down.
Little slides can ruin a leader. Watch out for carney row.
I’ve never seen a kid who didn’t want to ride the slide. Even parents who were suspect of the upkeep and safety of other carney row offerings like the ‘whirl and hurl’ and the ‘cereal spiller’ would let their kids ride the slide. Let’s face it, the three hump slide seemed tame next to the upside-down pirate ship.
I’ve ridden the slide. I’ve also watched a lot of people ride the slide. Funny thing about the slide. Every once in a while someone on the slide tries to stop midway. They brace their sneakers against the gun walls, and try to stop their descent. I don’t think they were scared of the slide; most were just trying to show off how cool they were on the slide. Few could ever halt their descent, but a few managed to slow themselves down.
Another funny thing about the slide, it always ended at the bottom. Once you got on it there was only one place you could end up. Down at the bottom.
Leaders know that there are alluring slides all around us. Some are moral slides, flirting with this coworker, viewing this website is no big deal, just a little diversion. Some are integrity slides. Fudge the data on this report so we look a little better. Twist the truth here so we avoid some consequences. Some are discipline slides. I really should study or prep for that meeting, but the Tribe is on. I can skip my workout today. Church involvement isn’t crucial every week, isn’t that important is it?
Little slides but every slide always ends up taking us down. Have you fallen pray to a slide or two? It’s too easy to end up on one time and time again with not much to show for it except a trip down.
Little slides can ruin a leader. Watch out for carney row.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
The Lure of Carney Row
Every year in August the Chemung County Fair would arrive in Horseheads, NY. While we were not die-hard 4H’ers or Junior Jaycees, we would make our way to the Midway each year to take in the sights and the smells of the fair. Quite an alluring place a county fair. Little alleyways lined with booths to entice the passerby. It doesn’t matter how disciplined or self- controlled you were, something along “carney row” would beckon and call to you.
Name your pleasure. Deep fried waffles, corn dogs, Italian sausages, cotton candy, salt water taffy, caramel corn, elephant ears, French fries and vinegar. (It seems that the county fair is the only place people ever eat their fries with vinegar. I’ve never seen anyone in a restaurant or under the Golden Arches ask for vinegar for their fries.)
Turn the corner and a row of “Games of Skill” were lined up each with a hawker calling you to take a chance. There were wooden bottles, the baskets for the softball touch, the revolving spiral with the metal ring to be removed without touching the rod. Dart games, water pistol games, horse-racing tic-tac-toe games. Floating ducks. A penny toss, nickel toss and a quarter toss. (I never saw a dime toss. The price seemed to jump from a nickel to a quarter. Maybe dimes are just too light for effective carney tossing.)
Carneys were always willing to show you how easy it was to beat the game so that you felt like a fool if you didn’t play. Then if you did play and lost, which most of us did, you could walk away and feel like a loser for failing to win such an easy game. To make it worse there were always the few scattered lucky ones who actually won the five-foot orange gorilla or the dog larger than a twin-sized bed.
Around the next corner more of the same. Food rows and game rows. Food rows and game rows. All decorated and painted and at night they were lit up better than the average Christmas display. Everything about the displays was designed to lure us to spend some money on either a tasty delight or a game of chance.
I don’t know what people are looking for when they go to a county fair, but I’m pretty sure it is not an orange gorilla. I don’t think that anyone goes to a county fair and believes that the $6 Italian sausage they have to fight the flies for is a great bargain. I don’t think anyone actually finds what they are looking for at a county fair except maybe for those individuals showing and selling their goats and sheep and cows and pigs. I think most of us go the fair because it comes to town, and not having anything else to do one night, we just show up and discover we’re still a sucker for games of chance and an ove-rpriced sandwich.
County fairs remind me of life. When I lack purpose, mission and drive, I’m easily distracted by the lights and temptation of so many things all around me. They seem compelling, alluring, desirable, a sure thing to satisfaction. But I’ve been to too many county fairs. Who needs a five- foot orange gorilla?
The Forgiver promised abundant life. It will be found in a relationship with Him that gives of worth, meaning and purpose not in the carney rows beckoning all around me.
Name your pleasure. Deep fried waffles, corn dogs, Italian sausages, cotton candy, salt water taffy, caramel corn, elephant ears, French fries and vinegar. (It seems that the county fair is the only place people ever eat their fries with vinegar. I’ve never seen anyone in a restaurant or under the Golden Arches ask for vinegar for their fries.)
Turn the corner and a row of “Games of Skill” were lined up each with a hawker calling you to take a chance. There were wooden bottles, the baskets for the softball touch, the revolving spiral with the metal ring to be removed without touching the rod. Dart games, water pistol games, horse-racing tic-tac-toe games. Floating ducks. A penny toss, nickel toss and a quarter toss. (I never saw a dime toss. The price seemed to jump from a nickel to a quarter. Maybe dimes are just too light for effective carney tossing.)
Carneys were always willing to show you how easy it was to beat the game so that you felt like a fool if you didn’t play. Then if you did play and lost, which most of us did, you could walk away and feel like a loser for failing to win such an easy game. To make it worse there were always the few scattered lucky ones who actually won the five-foot orange gorilla or the dog larger than a twin-sized bed.
Around the next corner more of the same. Food rows and game rows. Food rows and game rows. All decorated and painted and at night they were lit up better than the average Christmas display. Everything about the displays was designed to lure us to spend some money on either a tasty delight or a game of chance.
I don’t know what people are looking for when they go to a county fair, but I’m pretty sure it is not an orange gorilla. I don’t think that anyone goes to a county fair and believes that the $6 Italian sausage they have to fight the flies for is a great bargain. I don’t think anyone actually finds what they are looking for at a county fair except maybe for those individuals showing and selling their goats and sheep and cows and pigs. I think most of us go the fair because it comes to town, and not having anything else to do one night, we just show up and discover we’re still a sucker for games of chance and an ove-rpriced sandwich.
County fairs remind me of life. When I lack purpose, mission and drive, I’m easily distracted by the lights and temptation of so many things all around me. They seem compelling, alluring, desirable, a sure thing to satisfaction. But I’ve been to too many county fairs. Who needs a five- foot orange gorilla?
The Forgiver promised abundant life. It will be found in a relationship with Him that gives of worth, meaning and purpose not in the carney rows beckoning all around me.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Staying In The Game
I played basketball with old friends recently. It was a group of men with whom I had played basketball with for almost eleven years. It had been a year since I was on the court with them. We still knew each others moves, each others strengths and weaknesses. It was good to be on the court with them again. It was good to be in the game even though my 50-year-old knees were aching.
Staying in the game is a challenge as we age; muscles are weaker, reflexes and reactions are slower. We can still compete, but the days of one man shows are over. The days of taking over a game are behind me. When I play basketball today I realize how dependent I am on others to have a “good game.” At nearly 50 I understand and value my teammates more than I ever did when I was 25.
Leaders recognize the same thing as they age. Once they blazed like a brilliant flare, lighting the way with their drive and enthusiasm. No job was too big. No task was too difficult. No challenge could hold them back.
But as they age good leaders change. They understand the value of the team. They recognize that real success will be measured in how well the team functions. So they become more team-focused and less self-absorbed, self-motivated. They recognize that staying in the game becomes dependent on the team around them. Go team!
Staying in the game is a challenge as we age; muscles are weaker, reflexes and reactions are slower. We can still compete, but the days of one man shows are over. The days of taking over a game are behind me. When I play basketball today I realize how dependent I am on others to have a “good game.” At nearly 50 I understand and value my teammates more than I ever did when I was 25.
Leaders recognize the same thing as they age. Once they blazed like a brilliant flare, lighting the way with their drive and enthusiasm. No job was too big. No task was too difficult. No challenge could hold them back.
But as they age good leaders change. They understand the value of the team. They recognize that real success will be measured in how well the team functions. So they become more team-focused and less self-absorbed, self-motivated. They recognize that staying in the game becomes dependent on the team around them. Go team!
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