Archive for the ‘Leadership’ category
November 9, 2008
One of my hero’s is Kevin Kelly. Several moths ago I had the opportunity to meet him; it was a major highlight of my life. Kevin talked about the “1,000- True Fans” in an article. Basically, a true fan is someone who is a member of the tribe and cares deeply about you and your work. A true fan is the person who will choose to tell others about you, bring a friend to hear you.
In these days of Facebook and MySpace, the concept of a “friend” is increasingly gaining a cloud of vagueness. This is not so of true friends. If an artist has 1,000 true friends, he has enough to make a good living and help some others along the way. A true friend will not wait for the paperback. They want the hardback or first edition. The major key element that true fans bring is the added intercommunication with other fans. The true fans help to fan the words of the artist into a roar.
The takeaway hear is that you cannot allow yourself to become fixated on numbers. You do, however, want to seek to make and keep fans. A few of these precious true fans can change everything. They just need you to be brave enough to be You.
Categories: Awareness, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Leadership, Life, People
Tags: fans, friend, Kevin Kelly, true fan
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November 8, 2008
I’ve been reading a lot about Crowds. Who they are, and who they are not. The most intriguing aspect of the Crowd conversation is that nobody is discounting that the power leverage has shifted. The ball is owned by the Crowd, and the Crowd determines what the next step is.
The nagging thought that I keep getting is that if a Crowd is simply a large mass of people, the ability to direct, sell, teach, even listen to them is practically impossible. The other thing about Crowds is that they can gather in an instant, but they can also disperse just as quick.
I’ve been to a couple of meetings with “guys in the know” about the next step in church development and where religion plays a part in that development. In every instance there is a focus on the Crowd. A push to get the Crowd involved and bring the Crowd to some central event. The sad part about this is that in essence there is no difference from “marketing to a Crowd” to the old stand on the street corner with a bullhorn approach in terms of truly making a difference.
Sure you may get your church’s name in the paper, but who reads papers anymore? You may create a “buzz”, but then you fall into the same need to have a bigger buzz each time you meet. Most organizations do their best at sending loads of money out to the crowd. I suppose that is OK if your intention is to become just like most organizations – bland and interchangeable. I suppose it is OK if you just want to surf the same wave every other guru is asking people to surf.
It’s not OK if you want to be anything other than “most”. If you have any desire to be remarkable – in other words that someone would have reason to “remark” about you – you have to focus not on Crowds, but on Tribes. As Seth Godin says, “A crowd is a tribe without a leader. A crowd is a tribe without communication…Smart organizations assemble the tribe.”
Categories: Awareness, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Leadership, Life, People
Tags: church marketing, crowd, guru, People, tribe
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November 2, 2008
We have been sold a bill of goods. We’ve grown up believing that the world we live in is static and unmoving. We have been taught that the world that was defined in our history textbook is the same as the world we actually live in. All of these ideas are false – entirely false.
Maybe the textbook writers thought the world was stable and certain, but the army of advertisers who want us to purchase “new and improved” products at an epidemic rate know that they, the ad men, need the world to be a restless unstable place. They need you to change your toothpaste, and change your detergent and change your paper towels. They need you to change these things because they need to “sell” them to you. If you only bought Crest toothpaste, were happy with Crest toothpaste and never knew any reason why you should change from Crest to Aquafresh, the print and television media would suffer. And the ad guy would lose his job.
We have been trained to love the new and stylish item more than the old proven one. Think for yourself. The only emails and YouTube videos that get sent to you are the interesting ones – the provocative ones. No one forwards a boring video or email.
Today, change is the word of the hour. Change is what we want and change is what we “need”. Old and frugal do not get the attention of people. Instead, new and different and loud gain attention. As we embrace the concept that we all are leaders and not just leaders but “needed now” leaders, we have to notice that culture today demands a leader who will dare to make a lot of noise and disrupt the status quo. People want to be a part of a movement and people want change. None of those things are stable and certain.
In the Age of Change the only thing certain is that nothing is certain!
Categories: Context, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Leadership, People
Tags: certainty, change, culture
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November 1, 2008
There are many different groups of people who meet and know each other in various ways. These groups of people can be a formal business group or just a group of people who are interested in the same kind of books or art. There are times when we, as members of some of those groups, want to make something happen or get something done. More often than not, nothing is eventually what happens. Even though we have very good intentions, the end result is that everything stays the same.
Used to be, you needed to convene a committee to make a proposal to get something done, especially in business. Now things are different. The one thing that is needed to move your group toward being a movement is a leader. And there is no reason that leader shouldn’t be you. Yeah, you heard me right, you have everything it takes to be a leader.
You have an idea of something that, if done, would change the way the future of your group looked. You will not be able to push people where you think the group should go. You have to lead them where you know they want to go. People want change. Change is far more inviting than “same”. Change has risk, which is why they need you to lead them.
Having a leader helps people go where they want to go. As a leader you get to see your group begin to move and become a movement. Take up the challenge and take your group that is probably stuck somewhere and be the leader we all need to get things going.
Categories: Awareness, Belief, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Leadership, People, Starting, Vision
Tags: groups, Leadership, movement
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October 24, 2008
I just finished a new book by Seth Godin. Seth is one of my favorite authors. In just about every case, every book of his that I have purchased has been outstanding. Tribes takes the cake. This is one book you simply must at least give a glance over – I’m certain that you’ll buy it if you glance at it! You would think, at first, that the book would be about Tribes, or a “fable” about a tribe (fables are all the rage now in business writing). You may even think that perhaps Seth is interested in setting up his own tribe. You would be wrong.
Tribes is about you. Tribes is about your inner struggle to become “you”. The book incessantly makes you look at yourself and ask “Why are you not doing what you know you want to do?” Then, before you have a chance to bring up a reason, he’s already told you why the excuse you’re about to give isn’t good enough to warrant inaction.
I’ve begun reading it again and will probably read it several more times. I found myself reading a paragraph or page and then closing the book to think. Then I would read a little bit more and think some more. To say that this was a book whose timing was perfectly matched to my own individual circumstances would be an understatement. The great dividend of this book is that I would bet that I’m not the only person to have those thoughts.
If you have an idea in your mind and have found reasons not to pursue it, read Tribes and then go do it!
Categories: Books I'm Reading, Context, Goals, Influence, Leadership, Life, Starting, Vision
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October 18, 2008
Well, well, well. I had to digest and recuperate a little before I posted this. As you know, I am a fan of the SEC’s most scrutinized and hardened team – the Georgia Bulldogs. Some may have their opinions, but mine is firm “Glory, glory to Old Georgia!”. In a quirk of heavenly fate, I was allowed the esteemed pleasure of actually attending this game in person. It happened to be Homecoming, so it was even better.
This was my seat:
As for scrutiny of the game itself, the Dawgs could have played better, Stafford wasn’t on his A game, but that didn’t matter – Georgia shut the “Dore'” on Vandy and won. The other fact was that this was my first “live” Georgia game, so I was a little preoccupied looking…I mean gawking at everything. I truly felt like Moses at the Red Sea. The only difference was that I didn’t want it to part open for me, I just let it swallow me up.
There is something pristine and “right” about college football. Many have tried to define it and have left their readers poor for lack of words to explain the unexplainable. For me it has to go back to the essence of sport. These guys are competing for glory, not money. They are going out in the field to execute the plans and strategies of others. Mark Richt doesn’t play football, neither do the Defensive or Offensive Coordinators or their staff. It is the players themselves who go and put their all on the line, fighting for ten more yards.
In life, as leaders, we have to always understand that strategies and vision are great, but it is the people we lead who go out and seek to execute. Execution is the only way to win. On the field and in life, whatever stage of life, we must “Finish the Drill!”
Categories: Belief, Georgia Bulldogs, Leadership, Life, Me, Sports
Tags: Bulldogs, college football, Vanderbilt
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October 11, 2008
Well, tomorrow the staff will have an opportunity to share some of the ideas that they have for Lifepoint in 2009. For me, the idea of personal development is crucial. I can’t imagine being the point guy for personal development, but it is a concept that has connected with my very core. When I have talked with people over the past year, the one common thread has been a desire to understand their lives better and to make better decisions for it’s future.
In the past twelve months I have read more books than I have been able to post about. Most of those books have had to do with the idea of personal development. Now I’m not talking about Anthony Robbins – although he has made a good living doing his thing – I’m talking about the mechanics and psychological underpinnings of why we do the things we do. From Marcus Buckingham and his putting your strengths first approach, to Robert Torbert and his vision of action logics to Dee Hock and his view of chaordic organizations, I have read and digested and wanted to do something with the information. Now is the time.
In 2009, there will be many opportunities for people n the Middle Georgia area to come to events hosted by Lifepoint Church (that’s right, a church!) to help people in their personal development. From personal mission statements to strengths that will help you find the right job for you, Lifepoint will embark in a new era of facilitating personal growth for Middle Georgia and it’s citizens.
Needless to say, I can’t wait!
Categories: Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Leadership, Life, Lifepoint, Me, People, Starting, Strengths, Vision
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September 3, 2008
This month’s Night of Worship was marked by discussion and practice of Centering Prayer. We sang a then after a time of explanation, practiced five minutes of centering prayer. This is one of the aspects of spiritual disciplines that is sometimes difficult for people to understand. Somehow it seems less “sacred” to practice a discipline. We would rather heed Nike’s theme and “just do it”.
The problem with the “just do it” approach is that we tend to find ourselves quickly in over our heads and overwhelmed. The result of this overload is that we stop the discipline and go forward in our lives with a sense of failure about a particular practice. I cannot stress how important it is for us to understand that every aspect of our lives is a learning process. This includes those aspects we deem spiritual or not. As we practice we become more familiar and more able to share our experience and knowledge with others.
To become true disciples we must not just focus our attention on aquisition of knowledge and practice, but also on becoming teachers ourselves. To teach out of our experience is to give a part of ourselves to others. My favorite teachers taught from their hearts as well as their minds.
I’m learning how to develop time to be silent and open myself up to God. In that development, my desire is to help others along the way as we all seek to know more about what it means to be a Christ follower.
Categories: Belief, Centering Prayer, Leadership, Music
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September 2, 2008
Big Hairy Audacious Goal’s (BHAG’s) was introduced to the world by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in 1996. This was one concept included in their groundbreaking book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies.
The essence is that it is important to have incredibly outlandish goals in a corporation – and I would interject, in your own life. We can come up with doable goals, but when we go for the out-of-site big, huge ideas they are more likely to happen than the mediocre ones.
One reason for this, I think, is that the competition is smaller. In the land of mediocrety there are millions of people, but in the land of extreme success there are fewer who reside there. I’ve read that it is much easier to raise millions than it is to raise a few hundred thousand for the same reasons.
Take some time and think of some huge incredible goals for your life. One thing is for certain, if you never set out to do the impossible, you won’t even achieve the possible.
Categories: Awareness, Creativity, Goals, Influence, Leadership, Vision
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August 28, 2008
In Dee Hock’s, Birth of the Chaordic Age, an intriguing book, he mentions that:
“The most difficult part [of forming a chaordic organization] is to understand and get beyond the origin and nature of our current concepts of organizations; to set them aside in order to make space for new and different thoughts. Every mind is a room filled with archaic furniture. It must be moved about or cleared away before anything new can enter. This means ruthless confrontation of the many things we know that are no longer so.”
This is such a profound and illuminating idea. Even scripture, with the parables of Jesus, compares our bodies as temples and houses. Being aware that something needs to be done is the first step, but then the moving or removal of mental furniture begins the real process of transformation. As Dee says later, a purpose must be agreed upon to direct the renovation. This purpose, both personal and professionally, has incredible importance in the “next steps” we take. It’s not something we spend five minutes on and then move – instead it can take much longer. Like other things in life it also is not static. There will be times when it will need reevaluating as well. This process is ongoing without ever arriving at a destination, but the result is a life fully lived and, as Jesus said, “more abundant”.
Categories: Awareness, Belief, Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Goals, Influence, Leadership, Life
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christopherhildreth 