I was on my way to the window on Monday morning. I found myself very irritated with a trap I had fallen into. I was looking at a week ahead with every evening booked. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The week loomed heavy. Nothing could be done to change the schedule. Nothing could be postponed or moved. Weeks like that irritate me.
Help came in two unique places. In the car my wife encouraged me to create more time off the following week. A suggestion I quickly dismissed. The second was a quote from Charles Swindoll. “When it comes to irritations, I’ve found it helps if I remember that I am not in charge of my day…God is.” Those two things led to two heart changes in me.
First, I surrendered my emotions about the week ahead. I would look for God in the irritations of my schedule. Second, I began to look at the following week and found holes. Things could be adjusted and moved, and time for renewal could be found.
Leaders constantly wrestle with their schedules. That morning I was being reminded that when things couldn’t be changed, surrendering it to God brings relief. But I was also reminded things are seldom as dismal, busy, and overwhelming as I think. I had quickly dismissed my wife’s suggestion of rescheduling my obligation the following week. With a little creative planning I was able to open up another day for rest, renewal, and recreation.
How’s your schedule?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Transplanting
I had to do some last week as I put in a new flowerbed. I had to take some irises from the side of my garage and move them to the front.
Day lilies behind the garage were thinned so that some could be planted out front. Black-eyed susan’s were divided. Mini-irises were uprooted and replanted.
Transplanting is risky! The act of digging them up and splitting them stresses both the mother plant and the transplants. Both show the stress for awhile. But most often with a little watering, and fertilizing, both thrive.
Leaders understand this. Our talents are often established in one place, one role and one objective. Often we have become comfortable in that role. We’re thriving in the sunshine of knowing we’re making a difference. Fulfilling a purpose. Multiplying where we are.
Suddenly a new objective, an avenue of ministry, a new program, or another need emerges. Is it possible to transplant some energy, some talent, some time to this new possibility?
Some would say, “ NO!”
Some would say, “I can’t.”
Some would say, “I’m totally needed in this endeavor.”
Some would say, “I’m too busy to do anything else.”
Real leaders know that it is possible to transplant some energy, some resources to those new objectives. And with care both will thrive.
Day lilies behind the garage were thinned so that some could be planted out front. Black-eyed susan’s were divided. Mini-irises were uprooted and replanted.
Transplanting is risky! The act of digging them up and splitting them stresses both the mother plant and the transplants. Both show the stress for awhile. But most often with a little watering, and fertilizing, both thrive.
Leaders understand this. Our talents are often established in one place, one role and one objective. Often we have become comfortable in that role. We’re thriving in the sunshine of knowing we’re making a difference. Fulfilling a purpose. Multiplying where we are.
Suddenly a new objective, an avenue of ministry, a new program, or another need emerges. Is it possible to transplant some energy, some talent, some time to this new possibility?
Some would say, “ NO!”
Some would say, “I can’t.”
Some would say, “I’m totally needed in this endeavor.”
Some would say, “I’m too busy to do anything else.”
Real leaders know that it is possible to transplant some energy, some resources to those new objectives. And with care both will thrive.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
TOP DRESSING
A while ago I had a tree come down in my yard. Yesterday I laid twelve bags of mulch completing the new landscaping. The new bed looks great. It has a three-inch layer of deep brown mulch.
I was very satisfied as I viewed the result. Anyone passing by would notice how well it looks. But the mulch is just a top dressing. It is everything else I did that will truly make the bed a great piece of landscaping.
overgrown ground cover was killed off
the tree stump was ground out
the ground was tilled
weed inhibitor was applied
6 day lilies, 7 bearded irises, 6 mini-irises, 2 azaleas, one mum, one black- eyed susan, one decorated grass, 18 crocus bulbs, 18 tulips, 18 daffodils had all been planted.
Right now the top dressing looks good, but the real work of creating a flower bed had already been done.
As a leader have you settled for top dressing an outward appearance of having it together? Are you doing the hard work that truly develops leadership in you?
Are you planting…
Are you tilling…
Are you fertilizing…
Are you weeding…
…in your life that you might be the leader that more than looks good on the surface?
I was very satisfied as I viewed the result. Anyone passing by would notice how well it looks. But the mulch is just a top dressing. It is everything else I did that will truly make the bed a great piece of landscaping.
overgrown ground cover was killed off
the tree stump was ground out
the ground was tilled
weed inhibitor was applied
6 day lilies, 7 bearded irises, 6 mini-irises, 2 azaleas, one mum, one black- eyed susan, one decorated grass, 18 crocus bulbs, 18 tulips, 18 daffodils had all been planted.
Right now the top dressing looks good, but the real work of creating a flower bed had already been done.
As a leader have you settled for top dressing an outward appearance of having it together? Are you doing the hard work that truly develops leadership in you?
Are you planting…
Are you tilling…
Are you fertilizing…
Are you weeding…
…in your life that you might be the leader that more than looks good on the surface?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
New Fonts or Software
I had to search for a font the other day. On a different computer, I had previously used a font entitled “The Aeroplane Flies High.” Having transferred the file to my new computer, the document would correctly open without installing the font. The process of looking for the font reminded me of a leadership principle.
Often when a person encounters a problem, the easy response would be to just do some surface thing to cover it up. People selling homes paint over the mildew in their basements. A person with out-of-control spending habits applies for a refinance. A church with a poor self image buys new carpeting. A business with declining sales creates a new ad campaign.
Leaders know that most problems are not so easily fixed. Covering them up, or looking for the quick fix, is like installing a new font. You may change how it looks but the content remains the same.
Fonts don’t change how my computer operates, software does. It changes how it operates, how it allocates its memory, how it organizes information, how it allows me to access and manipulate information. Leaders know that solving problems often entails real change. Real change occurs in the software, it occurs in how a person, a ministry, an organization operates.
What’s your approach to problems, surface answers? Or is it time for an update?
Often when a person encounters a problem, the easy response would be to just do some surface thing to cover it up. People selling homes paint over the mildew in their basements. A person with out-of-control spending habits applies for a refinance. A church with a poor self image buys new carpeting. A business with declining sales creates a new ad campaign.
Leaders know that most problems are not so easily fixed. Covering them up, or looking for the quick fix, is like installing a new font. You may change how it looks but the content remains the same.
Fonts don’t change how my computer operates, software does. It changes how it operates, how it allocates its memory, how it organizes information, how it allows me to access and manipulate information. Leaders know that solving problems often entails real change. Real change occurs in the software, it occurs in how a person, a ministry, an organization operates.
What’s your approach to problems, surface answers? Or is it time for an update?
Friday, October 5, 2007
Focus Factor
A deeply profound leadership truth emerged in devotional time this morning. I realized why I like fishing so much.
Okay, I know that doesn’t seem very significant, the profundity of it may be obscured. But it really was an eye-opening revelation.
Let me explain.
When I fish, all I do is fish. All I think about is fishing. I read the current in the water; I focus on picking up the bait. I think through the next cast, the next presentation. I’m focused on fishing.
But what hit me this morning, about why I like fishing was this: I really like fishing because of what I’m not thinking about. I’m not thinking about the church I lead, the staff I lead, the people, and the ministries I lead. You see one of the costs of leadership, one of the prices we pay, and one of the sacrifices we make is this: Leaders lose the right to think about just themselves. Leaders are constantly thinking about the organizations they lead, the people they lead, the ministries they lead. With leadership come increased responsibilities, and that increase in responsibilities call for a leader to think differently.
The impact of being a leader on how we think is not a bad thing. It’s just that, we cannot escape it. Leaders think for more than themselves.
We all need the moments of distraction but when The Day on The Bank of a Pond is done, the round of golf, the run of night, or whatever it is that you do to disengage, leaders pick up the responsibility to think for more than themselves.
Okay, I know that doesn’t seem very significant, the profundity of it may be obscured. But it really was an eye-opening revelation.
Let me explain.
When I fish, all I do is fish. All I think about is fishing. I read the current in the water; I focus on picking up the bait. I think through the next cast, the next presentation. I’m focused on fishing.
But what hit me this morning, about why I like fishing was this: I really like fishing because of what I’m not thinking about. I’m not thinking about the church I lead, the staff I lead, the people, and the ministries I lead. You see one of the costs of leadership, one of the prices we pay, and one of the sacrifices we make is this: Leaders lose the right to think about just themselves. Leaders are constantly thinking about the organizations they lead, the people they lead, the ministries they lead. With leadership come increased responsibilities, and that increase in responsibilities call for a leader to think differently.
The impact of being a leader on how we think is not a bad thing. It’s just that, we cannot escape it. Leaders think for more than themselves.
We all need the moments of distraction but when The Day on The Bank of a Pond is done, the round of golf, the run of night, or whatever it is that you do to disengage, leaders pick up the responsibility to think for more than themselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
