Category Archives: Cause & Effect

Posted on

Leadership Tune Up – Thinking

Thinking is a habit and like any other habit, it can be changed, it just takes effort and repetition – John Eliot

Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking, while you thinking in order to make your thinking better – Richard Paul

Get your journal notebook ready and write your reflections and insights to the following ten questions

  1. Why is it important for leaders to think in a clear, creative, critical manner?
  2. Am I thinking about my thinking while I am thinking?
  3. Do I see an opportunity to make my thinking better and clearer and cleaner?
  4. 5% of people think, 10% of people think they think, 85% of people would rather die than think (Thomas Edison). Which category fo you fall in?
  5. Once I come to a conclusion, how likely am I to change that conclusion even if the conclusion was based upon a bad idea or wrong information?
  6. Do I agree that focused thinking is tough mental work? Am I willing to do the tough mental work to become an effective leader?
  7. How can i enforce the habit of always thinking first about what is best for my Team?
  8. What is it important to be mindful of what we think and how we think?
  9. How does my emotional state impact my thinking process? How does my thinking process impact my emotional state?
  10. If I possess a negative perception of a Team Member, how does that impact our interaction and my decision-making process?

Posted on

Willpower

Authors Roy Baumeister and John Tierney

“Religious meditations often involve explicit and effortful regulation of attention…The mind wanders quite naturally, so bringing it back to focus narrowly on one’s breathing builds mental discipline. When neuroscientists observe people praying or meditating, they see strong brain activity in two parts of the brain that are also important for self-regulation and control of attention. Psychologists see an effect when they expose people to religious words subliminally, meaning that the words are flashed on a screen so quickly that the people aren’t consciously aware of what they’ve seen. People who are subliminally exposed to words like God or Bible become slower to recognize words associated with temptations like drugs or premarital sex. It looks as if people come to associate religion with tamping down these temptations says McCullough, who suggests that prayers and meditation rituals are a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control.”

I love this quote and the image that prayer can be an anaerobic workout for self control. The faith community has known this for years. We go to the gym to exercise our body and we sit in silence and solitude to meditate to build our mental and spiritual muscles.

Meditation and prayer is not just about communication and the Creator. One study found that three hours of meditation practice leads to improved focus and self-control in your daily life.

I have discovered these benefits years ago in my life personally. I start each day with a plan block of time that includes reading, prayer, and meditation. The focus and calmness of each day is noticeably improved.

TODAY is a good day to begin the discipline of prayer and meditation!

Posted on

Will Power

Authors Roy Baumeister and John Tierney

Tidy Up!

“Another simple old-fashioned way to boost your willpower is to expend a little of it on neatness. As we explained in chapter 7, people exert less self-control after seeing a messy desk than after seeing a clean desk, or when using a sloppy rather than a neat and well organized Web site. You may not care about whether your bed is made and your desk is clean, but these environmental cues subtly influence your brain and your behavior, making it ultimately less of a strain to maintain self-discipline. Order seems to be contagious.”

Now I ask you, “Is that amazing or what?’ The tidiness of our environment affects our willpower.

Does your desk need to be tidied up a bit?

did you make your bed this morning?

Is your house clean?

We may not be consciously aware of it, but research shows that environmental cues subtly influence our brain and our behavior. Let’s invest a bit of our willpower to clean up our environment so that our willpower can grow through an orderly environment.

Posted on

Willpower

Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney

“Now that we have surveyed the problems caused by lack of glucose, we can turn to solutions and to cheerier topics, like good meals and long naps. Here are some lessons and strategies for putting glucose to work for you: Feed the beast. By beast, we don’t mean Beelzebub. We mean the potential demon inside yhou or anyone spending time with you. Glucose depletion can turn the most charming companion into a monster. The old advise about eating a good breakfast applies all day long, particularly on days when you’re physically or mentally stressed. If you have a test, an important meeting or a vital project, don’t take it on without glucose. Don’t get into an argument with your boss four hours after lunch. Don’t thrash out serious problems with your partner just before dinner.”

Glucose is the key to willpower? Seriously!

The authors are suggesting that no glucose, no willpower. YES, they are suggesting that the quickest way to loose willpower is to let your glucose levels get low. Answer; eat nutritious meals before tackling difficult tasks or serious discussions. Foods like vegetables, cashews, fruits, fish, meat, – good fats.

You thought healthy eating was about being on a diet! Consider healthy eating being part of strong willpower in your life.

Posted on

Willpower

Rediscovering The Greatest Human Strength by Baumeister, Roy F., Tierney, John. Penguin Group 2011.

“The result, after dozens of experiments in Baumeister’s lab and hundreds elsewhere, is a new understanding of willpower and of the self. We want to tell you what’s been learned and about human behavior, and how you can use it to change yourself for the better. Acquiring self-control isn’t as magically simple as the techniques in modern self-help books, but neither does it have to be as grim as the Victorians made it our to be. Ultimately, self control lets us relax because it removes stress and enables you to conserve willpower for the important challenges. We’re confident that this book’s lessons can make your life not just more productive and fulfilling but also easier and happier.”

Baumeister is a leading researcher on self-control and Tierney is science writer for the New York Times. Together they write and improving willpower is the surest way to a better life.

Willpower is what gets us through. People with high willpower:

  • Get more done
  • Achieve greater success
  • Are above average in their abilities
  • Stand out from the crowd

We will explore this book over the next few posts. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts about your personal journey regarding will power.

Posted on

Trust Is The Foundation of Leadership

Trust Makes Leadership Possible

How does a leader build trust? By demonstrating competence, connection, and character. People will forgive an occasional mistake in execution if they can see that a leader is still growing. They will grant time to connect. But they will not tolerate character lapses.

CASE STUDY – King Solomon

Study Questions

After reading Proverbs 16:8-18 What are the leadership implications of the writer’s statement that it is better to be poor and righteous than rich and unjust?

What are the characteristics ascribed to kings in this passage of scripture? List as many as possible

Posted on

Leadership Navigation

Anyone Can Steer The Ship, It Takes A Leader To Chart The Course

Imagine leaving for a vacation with a destination in mind but no idea of how to get there. If the trip is short, you can probably guess and stumble your way from here to there. However, if the trip is unknown and the terrain is all new, you might stumble your way to the edge of the cliff. Great Leaders study the maps before embarking on any journey. They chart the course of travel. They have a clear image of the trip in their mind. They see the trip! Preparation is KEY!

The preparation begins with a look backwards to draw on past experiences and lessons learned from other trips taken. Lessons of success and failure are applied to the current trip being studied. Times of failure are loaded with insights on how to change future trips.

Evaluating the current conditions are the next step of preparation. Knowing your current location and conditions seems obvious, yet, it is often overlooked before embarking on a new journey. What is the current conditions of our Team, what resources are missing, what are the conditions surrounding this trip that could cause failure at the starting line?

Great Leaders will next, dig deep into themselves to study the journey of others who have attempted a similar path. they consult with other leaders and coaches. They strive to see reality with as much clarity as possible. You cannot minimize obstacles, or rationalize away challenges and still lead effectively. If you do not begin with your eyes wide open, you will get blindsided. Leaders who are good navigators can take their Teams just about anywhere.

CASE STUDY: Joshua 8:1-19, 28 (The Bible)

QUESTIONS

The nation of Israel first attempted to conquer AI failed because of one member that disobeyed God. How did this set back impact Joshua’s leadership?

How much of the strategy for conquering AI was given by God and how much was contributed by Joshua? Explain?

Posted on

Leadership Influence

Walk SLOWLY Through The Crowd

What is leadership? Many people believe it is position. If you watch closely the dynamics that occur between people in just about every aspect of daily life, you will see some people leading and others are following. The one thing you notice is that position and title have little to do with is really in charge. At times those who have the title often assume this gives them responsibility. Position has little to do with who is in charge. Those who often have no title feel they cannot lead because of this fact. Both groups are wrong!

True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from influence and that cannot be mandated. It must be earned. The only that title can buy is a little time – either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it.

Another misconception is that leading and managing are one in the same thing. The main difference the two is that leadership is about influencing people to follow, while management focuses on maintaining systems and processing. Systems and processes can only do so much. To move people in a new direction, you need influence.

What about entrepreneurs? Most people assume they are natural leaders.They so see needs and opportunities faster than the average person and they go after them. But some entrepreneurs are not good with people. They will many times partner with someone who has people skills to let them do all of the upfront people work.

In today’s society we tend to believe that expertise equals leadership. Again another misconception. Neither IQ or Education equals leadership.

Finally, anyone who out in front of the crowd is a leader. Again, another misconception that being first or ahead of the crowd is not the same as leading. Yes you need to be in the front, but intentional at the same time to see others following after you. Being a trendsetter is not the same as leading.

The old adage is true; “He who thinks he is leading, but no one is following, is only taking a walk. It is simple, if you cannot influence people they will not follow you. If people will not follow you, you are not a leader. No matter what others say remember that leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less.

CASE STUDY: Rahab’s Influence Joshua 2:1-24

Study Questions

  • What kind of leadership role do you think a prostitute like Rahab might have had in Jericho?
  • Why did the spies chose Rahab to help them? Why did thy trust her?
  • How were the spies influenced by her? How were Joshua and the nation of Israel influenced by her?
Posted on

Leadership Process

Leadership Develops Daily Not In A Day!

Question: Are leaders born or made? Perhaps the answer is both. All leaders are born with certain natural talents and gifts. Some are born with greater abilities. The ability to lead is really a collection of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved. So while not everyone can be a great leader, anyone can become a better leader. There are many facets of leadership: respect, experience, emotional strength, people skills, discipline, vision, momentum, timing. It is a complicated skill set.

Most people aspiring to become leaders overestimate the importance of events and underestimate the importance of process. We are in a microwave time period in which we desire to have everything instantly. We want the compounding effect of 50 years now. There are no successful day-traders or lottery winners in leadership development. What matters the most is what you do day by day over the long haul.

Notice the difference between an event and a process…..

An EventA Process
Encourages DecisionsEncourages Development
Motivates PeopleMatures People
Is A Calendar IssueIs a Culture Issue
Challenge PeopleChanges People
Is EasyIs Difficult

If you want to be a leader, the good news is that you can do it. Everyone has the potential, but it is not accomplished overnight. It requires perseverance. You absolutely cannot ignore the leadership law of process.

CASE STUDY: Joseph’s Growth As A Leader – Acts 7:9-19

Study Questions

  • How do you think Joseph felt when his brothers, referred to as the patriarchs in this first passage, sold him into slavery and he was taken in chains to Egypt.
  • For more than 2 decades, everywhere Joseph went he rose up in leadership. Why did God have Joseph go through this process? Why didn’t God elevate him immediately?
Posted on

The Sorites Paradox

Small Habits Make A Big Difference

There is an ancient Greek parable known as the Sorites Paradox, which talks about the effect of one small action can have when repeated enough times. Can one tiny change transform your life? If you constantly repeat micro-habits daily, you will come to see that tiny changes can make a big difference. The idea we miss is that small habits do not just add up, they compound!