Lost your edge?

It was my wife’s birthday and she wanted me to create a special dinner centering on a salad. So after a trip the store, I decided on a Surf & Turf salad with a champagne vinaigrette dressing.

As I was searing a NY strip in Cajun spices, I went to slice some tomatoes for the salad. My 5-inch chef’s knife was dull.

I was faced with a number of choices
 skip the tomato
 let someone slice them
 saw away at them
 mash them up

OR
I could get out my steel and put a new edge on my knife.

Sometimes every leader gets a little dull. He is faced in that moment with a number of choices.

 ignore the issue
 let someone else do it
 accept poor performance
 pretend it doesn’t matter
 make excuses

OR
Do what is necessary to sharpen the skill once again. Read a book, evaluate with others, refocus, refresh.

Lost your edge?

Leaders know when it’s time to hone their skills.

Marking Time

Just marking time.
Just counting the days.

It’s the attitude a high school graduate feels in his final weeks of school. Papers are done, tests are finished, and all that’s left is graduation.

Just counting the days until, “it”, the big day arrives.

That’s an okay attitude for a high school senior with only a few days until graduation. But would you hire someone with that attitude on life?

“I’m just marking time until payday, until the weekend. I’m just putting in the days until my next vacation. I’m just waiting on retirement.”

Followers of the Forgiver often fall prey to the same attitude. Often it occurs late in May as we look toward the summer. Sometimes we can find ourselves saying, “I’m just marking time until my summer break”, “When fall get’s here. . . “ , and “After vacation . .” It has become so easy for us just to mark the time during the summer.

The writer of Hebrews said, “Let us run the race set before us.” No marking time in a race. No “just coasting” until the finish. Nope. If you are in a race, you may pace yourself but you are running to win.

So one leader to another, on the edge of another summer season, run hard.

The race is on.

Distractions! Argh!

They may be the bane of my existence. I can be distracted by so many things. I go outside to mow the grass and I’m distracted by the stoop that needs painting. The screen door needs washing. Before I know it, I’m rushing and striving to accomplish everything. Mow, weed, fertilize, clean the garage, trim, fix the edger, repaint the concrete, replace the bricks, till the garden, make the fire-pit, trim the shrubs, and power-wash the siding.

Why did I ever decide to go outside to mow?

Right now all of those chores are on my maintenance list. Actually there is probably a lot more.

What’s the use? Every time I walk outside numerous items beckon for my attention. So what do I do? I tackle the mission critical things first. Grass has got to be mowed. The other things need attention, but the grass has got to be mowed! Then a little evaluation helps me make the next choices.

I’ve got another hour free, what can I accomplish in that hour that will have the biggest bang for the effort?

 Fix the edger and edge
 Paint the trim
 Build a fire pit

The edger won the day. But if we were having a BBQ it might have been the fire-pit. If we were having an open house, it would have been the trim.

Leaders understand this principle. What do they give their time to in a world where so many distractions call for their attention?

Mission Critical takes priority
– The A list is a smart evaluation of time, resources and circumstances that determine…
– The B list which is the “getting done” list, that leads to…
– The C list which is “when the time is right” list.

Good leaders succeed because they are good at their ABC’s.