It looks like Spring is finally winning the war over Winter here in NE Ohio. With spring comes new life and wonderful happenings like the blooming of flower and trees. Each spring we especially wait on a few things to happen and one of the is the sighting of the Golden Eagles that hang out in the woods behind our house. And so it happened yesterday, three Golden Eagles flying around, chasing each other and squawking at one another. What a splendid sight! What a magnificent creature we can learn from.
Eagles never sit around wondering what all the other eagles think or how the hawks feel about them. They don’t worry about stirring the nest. They understand who they are. You don’t see eagles on Dr. Phil or Oprah talking about their problems and issues. Eagles know that they’re eagles. They teach their eaglets to fly. They are confident; it’s built into their DNA. They are creatures of doing, not complaining or playing the blame game. It is amazing to read about or watch a documentary on how eagles train their eaglets.
There’s three things the eagle does with the eaglet. (more…)
How To Take God To Work With You
In the Bible it appears that God’s work brings him satisfaction. In the Genesis account of creation, God makes the heavens and the earth in six days. When all was said and done God stepped back and commented on it all. He basically said, "I did good work and I am proud of it!" This is the CSV version, (Calloway Substandard Version). How do I take this attitude that God has about work into a place that may be hard, callous, un-appreciating? Perhaps your workplace is a place that is a joy to be at and you need to be reminded of the blessing you have. Here are my suggestions. (more…)
Leadership Lessons From Phineas and Ferb
If you are unfamiliar with the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb, you are missing some great leadership material to use in your organization. The storyline of the show is that Phineas and Ferb are two brothers who are on a seemingly continuous summer vacation and each day brings a new opportunity. Before I continue, I have to give the disclaimer that I am familiar with this show because we have a four year old grandson who has attached himself to all episodes we can find on Netflix. While I don't have time to go into the entire plot of this show, it does beg to mention that both of these brothers have high IQ levels and build things that of course can only be done in cartoon land. For more information on the show please visit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_and_Ferb
What can we learn from these cartoon characters that has anything to do with leadership you might ask? I believe there is one great lesson that can be learned form these two enjoyable, good natured brothers. Follow along after the break.
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The Amateur Guide To Writing
Writing is one of those professions or hobbies that most people believe they can do and be good at. Most adults in America believe they have a book within them that needs to be written, but they just never have the time or inclination to do so. You know what? They are probably correct in part of that statement, they probably do have book inside them that could be written, but they might not be the best one to write it. Writing is one of those tricky professions that has in the traditional realm, gatekeepers who are called agents, editors, and publishers. If you are not willing to face rejection and lots of hard work to get your book out there traditionally, then you probably should keep to blogging where you are the only gatekeeper. You also may want to consider self-publishing or becoming your own independent publisher. While self-publishing and indie publishing is becoming more acceptable (that is a very good thing), there is still the need for writers to have the skills necessary to write well. This applies whether they are traditionally represented or go the self-publishing/indie route.
I will admit when it comes to writing, in my mind I am an amateur. Even though, I would be considered a professional writer due to the fact I have received money for writing, I still consider myself an amateur. My journey and story is not unlike yours. An aspiring writer who believes I have a story to share that can actually change someone’s life. My writing focuses on how a person can have vision and leadership in their life and actually put wheels on that vision to get it rolling to its destiny. In doing so, I have written three books, VisionalLife (out of print), Missionary Writing (eBook) and the last one, Uncluttered which is currently being represented by Alice Crider of WordServe Literary. The content of each book is similar, but the direction is much different. I have also written for print magazines, online magazines and blogs as well as a contributing author to another book.
All of this just kind of happened slowly over time and sometimes when I wasn’t looking for it to happen, it just did. I struggled with the questions, “If I write to help people, will anyone read what I have written and why should they?” And then the really big question we all ask ourselves, “Am I really a writer?” I have learned that I do not write to please other people, but to help other people. If my writing does not inspire or help other people, then I should not be putting it out there publicly.
Over the next few days I will be cover the topics below that I believe make for a great writer and for stories that need to be told. I hope you tune in and join me in becoming a better writer.
The Need For Inspiration
The Need For Passion
The Need For An Advocate
The Need For Tools
The Need For A Platform
By the way, the title of this blog post will be the title of a future book I will be writing.
Learning Leadership Multiplication From Great Leaders
I did not consider myself a leader when I was young nor did I have aspirations to be a leader, but I became a leader. Leadership is contagious. When you are around a great leader, you learn, you grow, and you want to become like that leader. You know when you are around a great leader as others seek to be around that leader as well. Hopefully you have had the opportunity to be mentored by someone like I am describing. That person could be your parent, a teacher, a pastor, or a supervisor, manager or executive at the company you work or have worked for.
There is a very simple but profound leadership principle that I am not sure who to give credit to, but goes like this, “I do, you watch. I do, you help. You do, I help. You do, I watch. You do, someone else watches.” I want to unpack that into three steps. Follow along below the image to learn how to recognize a great leader.
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On Monday I shared Five Ways to Build Balance Into Your Life and today I want to share the "How" in getting started to bringing balance into your life. Let's look at a couple of ways to lead a balanced life.
Five Ways To Build Balance Into Your Life
Remember as kid trying to walk across one of those beams in a playground at school or a park and doing your best to hold your balance? Or the image of an Olympic gymnast on the balance beam is probably etched in your mind. An object that is not naturally a part of the beam works to maintain balance from beginning to the end. Our lives are much like the kid on a beam in the playground or the Olympian on a balance beam. It takes lots of energy to balance and stay on the beam and not fall off. Thats how it is with life that is going on within and around you. How in the world do we do that on an consistent basis that doesn't literally wear us out?
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Simplify The Way You Live
When it comes to the simple life do you want to reorganize your life or do you want to revolutionize your life? If you want to reorganize your life any old hint column in the newspaper will do. But if you want to revolutionize your life Jesus Christ is the one who can do that. He is the way that happens.
When we want to simplify our lives we usually want to start on the outside and reorganize this or that. But Jesus doesn’t start there. He starts by revolutionizing our lives from the inside out, making a difference. He shows us how to do it in the real world that you and I live in today.
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How A Good Leader Organizes - Part 2
This is part two of How A Good Leader Organizes. In this post I highlight four other principles good leaders execute to be good organizers. Examine part one along with the list in this post and make a plan of action of how you as a leader will be more organized in 2014.
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How A Good Leader Organizes - Part 1
You may be the world’s number-one neat freak, but you can still have clutter in your life. Clutter comes in many forms and shapes that we sometimes do not recognize. We tend to think of clutter as stuff piled up on a desk, clothes accumulating in a closet, or the messy interior of your spouse’s car. Clutter can also come in the form of a crowded to-do list or a schedule packed with activities and meetings. A good leader organizes and removes unneeded clutter from the organization.
If you consider yourself a leader, you need to plan and implement how you will help others by organizing for positive impact in your organization. Get that? Organize for your organization. Take a minute and think on that one. We will focus on three areas of organization today and three more on Wednesday.
