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Garry Brackett

BA - Fort Wayne Bible College
MAR - Trinity Evangelical Divinity
D.Min - Grace Theological Seminary
Birkman Certified Coach
John Maxwell Certified Team Member
Myers/Briggs Certified
FIRO-B Certified
TKI Certified
25 Years Executive Coaching

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Leadership In A Blizzard – Pt #3

Financial Insights During A Blizzard

Roadmap For Blizzard Leadership

One of the most loving and important things that you can do right now in this COVID journey is to CONSERVE CASH! We have all heard it said that cash is king. During this blizzard leadership condition without cash you do not have a missional purpose and you are not going to survive. Cash gives you options on how to support and develop people over time. If you don’t conserve now you will go out of business and not be able to help anyone inside or outside your organization.

Whatever was valuable yesterday but is not valuable today should be pruned as quickly as possible. This includes new hires. If you can’t commit financially and you are not sure what they are capable of, drop that plan immediately. All contracts should be negotiated. All outside contracted work should be brought in house as much as possible. 

The painful reality is that a combination of headcount, salary packages, and benefits will need to be made in order to survive as an organization. I personally know of leaders and pastors that are facing this reality even as I write this article. To those staff that remain your message and instructions to them should be that of “New Beginnings.” As of today, this is a new organization that will be moving in a new direction – the past is the past. To those who may be leaving, move quickly as possible while attempting redemptive support for those who leave in this economy.

Additionally, I would suggest that you, your executive team, and Board members become very finance centric. Maintain a cash surplus, know what that number is and fight for it. Maintain clear comprehension on the cash flow for the next 30-60-120 days is going to be. When deciding on what to spend – do not spend at all if possible. What you will learn from this action is that your decisions will become better and more in alignment with your missional purposes.

Keep all financial commitments if possible. At any point those commitments threaten the stability of the organization, then an immediate conversation should happen between all parties being impacted. Understand very clearly your needs and constraints and the needs and constraints of others. Use these occasions to forge empathy and courage. New solutions can be forged in this conversation context that will honor the original commitment.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Leadership In A Blizzard – Pt #2

You Are God’s Image-Bearer Called To Lead

Roadmap For Blizzard Leadership

So that we do not miss the obvious, as a Faith Leader and Entrepreneur I bear the image of God in the context of leadership. This COVID journey is part of our story, my story. Honestly you and I have been training for this moment for years and perhaps decades. Every morning that you rise, do so with thankfulness and gratitude that you get to use your gifts and talents for the purpose and cause of God’s people.

Your role is to safe-guard and protect your organization and/or church, not to preserve it. By preserve I am implying that the goal is to keep as much of the function, operations, team and funding models. Instead “protect” your organization by creating as much capacity as you can. This implies new funding models, operations, teams, that all help you fulfill your mission next month, quarter, year, and beyond. There are two schools of thought; change as little as possible or change as much as necessary so that your missional purpose can be advanced.

Make sure that you give GRACE to yourself first. It is likely that you and your leadership team are going to make mistakes in a blizzard season. I am sure that at this point of our COVID journey that you have under-estimated your interpretation of the facts. Give extra grace for those who are exploiting, making mistakes, doing the wrong things at the wrong times.

In a blizzard condition you are responsible for your response period. You can only make the wisest decision based upon what you know in the moment. Here are the most important things you must know; your identity in Christ, your organizations assets and mission, and the needs of the stakeholders. Simon Sinek’s leadership maxim is important at this point, “Leadership is not about being in charge, it is about caring for people in your charge!”

Andy Crouch states that because this season is a marathon conducted in sprints, you need habits and practices that sustain your reliance upon God and not yourself. Every day will bring new information and unforeseen challenges, and you’ll often be fighting through low reserves of physical and emotional energy. Yes, it is true your tank will be empty at multiple occasions in this blizzard. Do not panic! In the words of my Theology Professor Dr. Wes Gerig; do not doubt in the darkness what God has previously shown you in the light! In apparent seasons of God’s silence stay true to what God has already stated and performed in your life.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Am I Willing To Pay The Cost For My Dream?

LEARN IT

  • Always remember that Striving and Struggle precede Success – even in the dictionary
  • Dreams are personal and so are the sacrifices
  • Most people are unwilling to answer the cost question: Am I willing to pay the price for my dream
  • Every journey toward a dream is personal and so is the price that must be paid for it
  • At some point you have to shift from being a believer of the dream to a buyer of the dream. Dreams do not come true until someone pays for it

LIVE IT

  • The Dream is free, but the journey isn’t
  • The price for your dream must be paid sooner than you think – Dream believers are in abundance; dream buyers are rare
  • The price of your dream will be higher than you expected
  • The price must be paid more than once
  • It is possible to pay too much for the dream

LEAD IT

  • Pay the price of criticism from people who matter
  • Pay the price for overcoming your fears
  • Pay the price of hard work
  • It is hard to be 100% better than your competition, but I can be 1% better in 100 ways – Rich Melman

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Leadership In A Blizzard

Blizzard, Winter, or Ice-Age?

I remember clearly my thoughts at the moment of the Corona Virus shutdown in Mid-March 2020. I literally jumped from my recliner at the announcement that everything, but essential industry would remain open. Churches went dark overnight without a single question being raised. Now what do we do? I knew in an instant the COVID journey would be more than an interruption, rather, it would be a serious disruption! Now that we are in January 2021 and looking back I seriously under-estimated my original feeling and assumptions. We lived through and continue to live in a BLIZZARD!

Using the winter motif allow me to define some terms for better communication on how to lead in blizzard conditions. Here are three terms:

Blizzard: You can’t go out — zero visibility and hostile conditions. Need to shelter.

Winter: You can go out, but not for long. Wear protective clothing and check the forecast for storms. Need to survive.

Ice Age: Things don’t grow the way they used to — but we’re finding new ways to live and even to thrive. Need to adapt and rebuild.

In mid-March 2020 with the realization there would be shut-downs, the thought of survival immediately came to the fore-front of our thinking. Organizations, Schools, Churches, Travel, and Food Service all began to imagine what is it going to take to survive these blizzard-like conditions? By mid-April 2020 it was understood that 10% of organizations would be unaffected; 10% would see this time as an unprecedented opportunity; the remaining 80% realized their operating playbook and strategy does not translate during these blizzard social conditions.

Some of the most trusted faith leaders and content creators in mid-April last year stated three key steps to survive that are more true now in 2021 than when fist spoken.

  • Sustain your core mission in a time of scarcity
  • Prototype everything for a different reality and future
  • Compound the trust and reputation of your organization

Out of this foundation for Redemptive Leadership to be significant there are three questions that demand a response. These questions emerged 45 days after the shutdown in 2020 and they still demand a response in 2021.

  • Where do we have newly unlocked freedom to be creative?
  • Where are these newly possible opportunities to restore broken norms, flawed assumptions, hurting people, and inefficient channels?
  • Where can we as leaders and organizations take risks, even sacrificial ones, for the sake of others?[i]

[i] The Praxis Journal has been an invaluable resource during 2020. There content can be accessed at journal.praxislabs.org. I would especially draw your attention to Andy Crouch as a significant contributor to Praxis Journal.

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Have I Included Others In My Dream?

LEARN IT

  • It marks a big step in your development when you come to realize that other people can help you do a better job than you can do alone – Andrew Carnegie
  • You are going to work with other people, learn the art of Teamwork. Unless you are going to work in a vacuum!
  • Your dream should be a compelling vision you see in your heart that’s too big to accomplish without the help of other people

LIVE IT & LEAD IT

Develop your DREAM TEAM!

  • Dare to focus on your significance and not your success
  • Respond to others ideas with respect not contempt
  • Expect the best
  • Affirm others talents and abilities
  • Maximize learning and growth opportunities to improve the dream and the team
  • Take time to give honest feedback to the Team
  • Encourage others unconditionally so that everyone can persevere
  • Accept only excellence since mediocrity kills dreams
  • Make the most of your mistakes and failures

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Do I Have A Strategy To Reach My Dream?

LEARN IT

  • We need to look for ways to be an active force in our own lives
  • Begin designing a life of substance and truly begin to live out your dreams – Les Brown
  • Develop a strategy to reach your dreams – If you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there
  • There is no magic power in having a dream. You can’t just wait for it. You have to work for it

LIVE IT

  • Understand your current position – Where am I presently on the road toward accomplishment?
  • Understand your future position – Where do I want to be? You cannot begin to achieve your best unless you set some aim in life?
  • Define all of the all of the choices to be made between where you are and where you are going. Learn the art of “bit size pieces” of accomplishment
  • Daily work toward your dreams – Persistence is the name of any game you seek to win

LEAD IT

  • Successful Generals make plans to fit circumstances but do not try to create circumstances to fit plans – George Patton
  • However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results
  • Remove all nonessentials – Do you understand the cost of your dream? In order to go where you are being called you must leave something behind
  • Embrace all of your challenges. It has been said those who lose visualize the penalties of failure and those who win visualize the rewards of success

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Does My Dream Compel Me To Follow It

LEARN IT

  • If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you – Steve Jobs
  • The Passion question – Does my dream compel me to follow it?
  • Passion is a critical element for anyone who wants to achieve a dream.
  • Passion is the starting point for all achievement

LIVE IT

  • Passion pulls us up enabling us to overcome adversity
  • Passion pushes us out – giving us initiative
  • Passion positions us to have the greatest odds for success
  • Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful – Albert Schweitzer

LEAD IT

  • Where are you between these two points on the passion scale
    • I would rather have a root canal without anesthesia or
    • My passion is so hot that it sets other people on fire
  • Consider your natural temperament
  • Keep your eyes on what is most important to you
  • Overcome the fear of being different from others
  • Resist the apathy that comes with aging

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Am I Depending On Factors Within My Control To Accomplish My Dream

LEARN IT

  • Reality is the enemy of fantasies but not of dreams – Rudy Ruettiger
  • Dreams by definition are not supposed to start with reality
  • Is a dream worth pursuing if it has no chance? NO!

LIVE IT

  • If you are depending on luck, then all I can say is “Lots of Luck!”
  • If your dream depends on luck you are in trouble.
  • If your dream depends entirely on luck you are living in Fantasyland
  • Shallow men believe in luck – strong men believe in cause and effect – Emerson
  • Ann Landers once stated that Rose-colored glasses do not come in bifocals. Nobody wants to read the small print in dreams

LEAD IT

  • Building on your strengths activates the Law of Least Effort
  • Building on your strengths enables consistently good results
  • Building on your strengths gives you the highest return

If your habits do not line up with your dream then you need to change your habits or get a new dream

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Do You Clearly See Your Dreams

LEARN IT

  • Peter Marshall stated, give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for
  • Michael Hyatt stated if you have a clear vision, you will eventually attract the right strategy. If you don’t have a clear vision, no strategy will save you 
  • Ben Stein suggests the indispensable first step to getting the things that you want out of life is to decide what you want out of life

LIVE IT

  • Do you clearly see your dream?
  • A clear and compelling dream has rescued many organizations
  • Dreams have given meaning and significance to many individuals
  • Significance only comes when the dreams is crystal clear
  • If your dream is not defined – do not pursue it

LEAD IT

  • A clear dream doesn’t become clear without effort
  • A clear dream affirms your purpose
  • A clear dream determines your priorities
  • A clear dream gives direction and motivation to the team
  • Followers will not give their best to something they do not understand
  • Nobody becomes motivated by something they kind of sort of believe in

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Is My Dream Really My Dream

LEARN IT

  • T.S. Eliot stated; Whatever you think be sure it what you think; Whatever you want be sure that it is what you want; Whatever you feel make sure it is what you feel
  • You cannot achieve a dream that you do not own
  • When the dream is right for the person and the person is right for the dream, the two cannot be separated from each other

LIVE IT

Stop offering excuses!

  • Excuse #1 – Dreams don’t come true for ordinary people
  • Excuse #2 – If the dream isn’t big enough it’s not worth pursuing
  • Excuse #3 – Now is not the right time to pursue my dream
  • Peral Buck states the young do not have enough to be prudent and therefore they attempt the impossible and achieve it

LEAD IT

  • Be willing to bet on yourself – you will never succeed if you do not believe in yourself
  • Lead your life instead of just accepting it and calling it fate
  • Love what you do and do what you love
  • Don’t compare yourself and your dream to others
  • Believe in your vision for the future even when others don’t understand you

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Keynote Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com