Crafting A Personal Vision Statement
Info Graphics have been gaining in popularity as a simple visual to help communicate ideas. I have created a info graphic that outlines visually how to write a personal vision statement.
Writing things down is so important in life. For us men, how many times has our wives given us a task that we have quickly forgotten about because we failed to actually write it on the honey-do list? Big mistake! Most people think they don’t need to write things down because they have a great memory or it isn’t that important in the first place. I have learned that writing things down makes things a lot easier in life, especially the things that are important to my wife.
I have had the opportunity to attend many conferences during my adult life, in both the business world and also as a pastor. Nearly every one I’ve attended has dealt with vision, goals, etc., and all have made it a point that one of the keys to knowing where you are going is to write out your life/church vision or mission statement. In May of 2004, I attended Ken Davis’s “Dynamic Communication Workshop” in Colorado. There, I met Cheryl Dick, the director of operations for Chick-fil-A restaurants. As we exchanged business cards, I was pleasantly surprised to see Chick-fil-A’s corporate purpose statement on their business cards: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” It didn’t impress me that much that the fast food chain had a purpose statement printed on their business cards, as this is rather common. What did impress me, though, was that they had the audacity to start their statement with their purpose, “to glorify God,” Followed by their vision, “to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”
The vision statement is what God wants you to do. What you are going to do next is work on the reasons for the vision to begin to take shape.
How To Revitalize Your Faith
In Revelation 3:2-3, Jesus speaks to the church in Sardis about this incredible gap between reputation and reality and He says here’s what you do. “Wake up! Strengthen what remains. Remember what you’ve received and heard. You obey it and repent. If you don’t wake up I'm going to come like a thief.”
How do you revitalize faith? How do you revitalize a relationship? How do you revitalize a sense of closeness with God? Jesus says here’s how you do it. And He walks them and us through it. He says, “Wake up.” (more…)
The Apple TextEdit App Icon - Crazy Ones
It is no secret that I am a Apple enthusiast. I thought about labeling myself as an Apple evangelist, but I don't go out and preach Mac to the masses. Apple has always been a company that focuses on creativity, which is not one of my stronger points, although I do see myself as a visionary thinker and leader. In Apple's cadre of applications that comes installed on a Mac is the program TextEdit. Text Edit is a simple text editor that can be used to type up basic notes and letters. I never paid much attention to the launch icon for this app, but noticed that there is writing on the icon, a note pad with a pen laid on top of the pad. The content of the writing is too small to be seen with the naked eye. I decided to find out what was written on the icon and the graphic above is my finding, a larger shot of the icon.
This is the copy from a commercial that Apple aired during the final episode of Seinfield and it was the only time it ever aired. I love the copy! You can be a "crazy one" that changes things. The copy describes what it means to be one of the "crazy ones, misfits, rebels and troublemakers." Read on to find out my thoughts about the content of this icon.
Influencers: Change Agents Of Life
A friend wrote a post several months ago on his blog with a question he posed, "Who has influenced your life ?" So after some thinking and deliberating I can't point to one specific person, but several people who had an influence on me. During my process of thinking through this, I did not specifically focus on people who influenced me in ministry, but in my life. I am not sure how other ministry leaders answered Tim's question, but I would assume that many people listed someone who is well known because of a book they read or a conference they attended. Some of the people I am going to list are popular and some are unknown to the world, but still influential in my life nonetheless. Who have been the influencers in your life? This list is not in any order of importance.
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Let’s be honest, everyone has different values they believe to be correct and true. What I am going to address is your core values – the things that define what we believe and hold dear to our hearts. These are the values that not only define what we believe, but also define who we are in the eyes of others. These values again, are vast in numbers and time and space does not allow for me to cover all of them. I do want to go over a few that I believe have a role in the crafting of your personal vision statement. (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.
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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