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SA Leadership Podcast Episode #018

Why Time Management Is An Oxymoron

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Today Matters – Today’s Thinking Gives Me An Advantage

Claude Bristol in his book, The Magic of Believing, wrote “thought is the original source of all wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries, inventions, and achievements”.

Harvey Firestone stated that capital isn’t so important. Experience isn’t so important. You can get both of these. What is important is ideas. If you have ideas he writes you have the main asset that you need. There isn’t any limit to what you can do with your business and your life.

James Allen, author of As A Man Thinketh stated, “All that a man achieves is the direct result of his thoughts.”

11 Thinking Skills

1.BIG PICTURE Thinking – this is the ability to see beyond yourself and your world – it is about a holistic perspective on life.

2.FOCUS Thinking – The ability to think with clarity on issues by removing distractions and mental clutter from your mind.

3.CREATIVE Thinking – Get out of the “BOX” of limitations and explore ideas and options.

4.REALISTIC Thinking – The ability to stand on a solid foundation of facts with clarity.

5.STRATEGIC Thinking – The ability to give direction for today that will increase your potential for tomorrow.

6.POSSIBILITY Thinking – The ability to unleash your enthusiasm in finding solutions for seemingly impossible problems.

7.REFLECTIVE Thinking – The ability to revisit your yesterday’s in order to gain a perspective upon your tomorrow’s.

8.QUESTION POPULAR Thinking – Reject the status quo in order to accomplish uncommon results.

9.SHARED Thinking – The ability to tap into others thoughts that helps you to think over your head to achieve compounding results.

10.UNSELFISH Thinking – Take other people on the journey of life with you that can assist in collaborative thinking.

11.BOTTOM LINE Thinking – The ability to think on results and maximize returns that allows you to reap the full potential of your thinking.

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

The Today Matters by John Maxwell

The complete show notes and slides are found on our YouTube Channel

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Premier Service – Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Verbs of Relevancy

Exposing Leadership Nakedness

Recently in an article from school principle, David McKenzie, imagesI was challenged by the use of action words that can describe leadership intentionality. Being intentional requires work. You work to change your schedule, spending habits, relationships, and work disciplines to accommodate and meet the challenges of goals that have been established. What is the cost if I elect not to intentionally work at being relevant? Well, let us say that the story of the “Emperor’s Clothes” comes to mind, our leadership nakedness is revealed! I would offer some action words – verbs to keep us relevant.

INVEST – As a leader you must invest in your personal growth! The place and the people that you lead can only grow as big as you are. You are the cap or the leadership lid! You must be able to see further, deeper, and faster. You must invest in yourself. What is your growth plan and budget for the next 12 months? Get serious! The journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step.

MEDITATE – Making mistakes many times indicates that you are engaging life beyond your skill set. Turn mistakes into assets by learning from them so as not to repeat them. This is accomplished through meditation. In a noisy world with so much bling and glitter begging for our attention, you must be intentional in establishing times to unplug from the noise, get alone with note pad and pen (the old fashion way) and journal your thoughts and next steps. Can you demonstrate in your calendar for the next seven days your time of meditation?

ABSORB – Maintain the attitude that everyone can teach you something even if it is what not to do. Teachability is humility in action. Allowing others to speak into your life increases the probability of future growth. No one knows it all! This week discipline yourself to learn from others and circumstances.

ACT – Knowledge is only useful if it is acted upon. Unactioned knowledge produces a pretense of being professional. This in turn leads to arrogance. Eric Hoffler’s book, The True Believer, suggest that too much confidence leads a person to believe they do not need to learn or act on their knowledge. We make time for what we value. Does your time management system reflect your values?

What verbs would you write down that are not listed? Leave a comment.

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SA Leadership Podcast Episode #017

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:19 — 19.5MB) | Embed

TODAY MATTERS – Today’s FAMILY Gives Me Strength!

The Jukes The Edwards
180 paupers 13 College Presidents
140 Criminals 65 Professors
60 Habitual Thieves 100 Lawyers
50 Prostitutes 30 Judges
66 Physicians
80 Public Office Holders – 3 Senators, 3 Mayors, 3 Governors, Controllers of US Treasury, Vice President

Why Does Family Matter? While you cannot do much about your ancestors, you certainly can do something about you descendants! Consider…

Family can be a safe haven in the storms of life.

The family should be a place where great memories are made.

The family is where character is forged.

The family is the place where truth is revealed.

The family is a place where our most treasured relationships are forged.

A Family Philosophy – Here are 5 suggestions.

1.Commitment To God – Our faith should come first in our life. There is nothing of value beyond your faith.

2.Continual Growth – Reach your personal potential and assist your family in doing the same.

3.Common Experiences – Do life as a family and build as many positive memories as possible.

4.Confidence in God, Ourselves, and Others – Your belief determines the outcome of every thing you do in life. Manage wisely the correct relationships

5.Contributions in Life – Leave the world a better place than how you found it

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

The Today Matters by John Maxwell

The complete show notes and slides are found on our YouTube Channel

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Premier Service – Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Leaders Are Readers

The Science of Reading and Influence - 5 Reasons

The American “book-worm” is a rare breed these days. In the publication, The Atlantic, Read-a-Book-Day reports that   one quarter of Americans did not even crack open a book, fire up the Kindle, or push play on an audio book last year. James Allen once wrote that you cannot lead anyone past your own thinking. So the real issue at stake is not so much a “readership crisis” as it is a “leadership crisis.” I have been a committed reader for years averaging about 5000 words annually.

There is no guarantee, but readers tend to be leaders. There are good reasons for this reality.

  1. “Matthew Effect” – The Matthew Effect is taken from the gospel of Matthew in which there is discussion on the “rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer.” Stanovich,1986; Walberg & Tsai, 1983 applied this concept to academic learning. What they discovered was those who apply themselves to the mechanics of reading break through the “spelling to sound” barrier faster, thereby enhancing the reading ability in the long view of life. It can be safely stated that reading helps us master communication skills.
  2. Better Thinkers – Author Anne Cunningham writes that reading enhances one’s ability to decipher misinformation thereby enhancing judgement capabilities. When life squeezes us by time constraints, being able to make correct judgments is an essential skill that only reading will enhance its effectiveness.
  3. Relaxation – Dr. David Lewis writes that reading can reduce stress more efficiently than music or exercise. Reading stimulates creativity by means of an interaction of words and imagination. New ideas are born ad come alive within as we read. We forget momentarily the stress of the day as we immerse ourselves in a good book. 120404095153-kindle-reading-cafe-story-top
  4. People Skills – In a Psychology Today article people reported that reading offers an opportunity to learn skills vicariously through characters presented through reports or fiction. Television is stupid – it tells you what to think. Reading offers opportunities for original thought and how to think. Carol Clark reports that the neuro-connections made while reading may last for days as opposed to the instant gratification of televised media.
  5. Youthfulness – This reason does not have anything to do with the physical appearance of youthfulness so much as it focus upon intellectual capital as reported by Micahel Hyatt. Reading keeps the imagination alive and the heart young. Stop reading and start dying is more than a scar tactic. Investing in yourself by reading enhances your leadership capability. Age is not a disqualifier rather it is a prerequisite!
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SA Leadership Podcast Episode #016

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TODAY MATTERS – Today’s Health Gives Me Strength!

Making the right decisions early in life, then managing those decisions the rest of your life is the key to success!

Before we get to far into this discussion let’s take a brief time-out and have a heart-to-heart conversation. Health is a big subject that demands some honest answers.

  • Are you one of the thousands of Americans who ingest television 4 hours/day with your hand in a bag of potato chips while finishing off the Rocky-Road ice-cream?
  • When is the last time you thought about eating a healthy diet?
  • Are you presently doing anything to get your body in motion?
  • What limiting belief is hindering forward progress?

Consider these 3 truths…

1.Your health impacts you emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. You can get rid of a lot of things in your life, but you cannot get rid of your body – you are stuck with it. So take care of it!

2.Your health often determines quality as well as quantity of life. Zig Zigler stated once that you would not allow a million dollar race horse to smoke cigarettes, drink whisky, or stay out all night. Isn’t your life worth more than a million dollar race horse?

3.It is easier to maintain good health than to regain it. Stop being arrogant about your health!

Your health matters today not only for yourself but those you dare to love and cherish! Consider these 5 realities…

  • Have a purpose worth living for. Your life purpose will help you manage health decisions wisely because your purpose motivates longevity. It is hard to find motivation for the future when there is no hope in the present.
  • Do work you enjoy! Lilly Tomlin declared once that even if you win the rat race of life, you are still a rat! Why spend your life on something that makes you miserable and unfulfilled.
  • Find your pace and rhythm. Mickey Mantle stated once that if he had realized that he was going to live so long he would have taken better care of himself.
  • Accept your personal worth. Your acceptance of your self affects every aspect of human behavior. A positive self image is the best preparation for success.
  • LAUGH!

LINKS

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

The Today Matters by John Maxwell

The complete show notes and slides are found on our YouTube Channel

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Premier Service – Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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5 Hats You Must Wear To Stay Effective

One Size Does Not Fit All

Depending on who you are reading these days, you will come across the idea that you must reinvent yourself  every 36 months and your organization every 5 years. 7648411_sAgain that depends on who you are reading. Make no mistake CHANGE is the one comforting constant in our life. Because of that change, we must reinvent ourselves in order to influence our world. Influence is the essence of leadership. Here are 5 hats that must be worn for effective leadership.

  1. The Emotionally Intelligent Leader – EQ is the realization that your leadership strengths have accompanying weaknesses. Patrick Lencioni’s book The Advantage, is about why emotional health trumps everything in leadership. Intelligence is not the ultimate goal, emotional intelligence is a chief characteristic of effective leaders. As a leader you develop “learned behaviors” to compensate for your strengths. (Ie. learning to be an active listener).
  2. Becoming A Leader of Leaders – Growing things by yourself is not sustainable. Eventually things implode and your circle of influence shrinks. If your goal is to become a legacy leader for the long-haul of life. You must invest yourself in becoming a leader of leaders.
  3. The Healthy Leader – Everybody has issues. After a few years of leading, your issues will surface before others to view, there is NO escape! Your personal demons will either overtake you or you are going to overtake your personal demons – the choice is yours. You must keep yourself grounded in your present reality and avoid the “crazy-making” of everyone else’s stuff.
  4. The Life-Long Student Leader – “If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there.” “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every-time.” A graduate student asked Dr. Paul Feinberg once why he was working on his 3rd dissertation for his 3rd Ph.D.. Dr. Feinberg’s response was swift and confident, “I have committed myself to be a “life-learner.” The leader who wants to be a teacher without becoming a student first will never be a teacher worth following.  There is no point that anyone of us have arrived. We either continue the learning or choose to stop!
  5. The Change Agent Leader – Many leaders find it easy to change what someone else introduced, Few leaders find the courage to change what they introduced. Effective leaders must change what you introduced. You need to look those you are leading in the eye and declare; “For this season what we have been doing worked. However the season has changed and here is the new approach!”

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and start a dialogue. Like us on Facebook

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SA Leadership Podcast Episode #015

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:04 — 20.2MB) | Embed

TODAY MATTERS – Today’s Priorities Give Me Focus!

Why Priorities Matter

3 Key Insights:

1.Time is our most precious commodity

  • To know the value of one year ask a student who failed the final exam
  • To know the value of one month ask a mother of a premature baby
  • To know the value of one week ask the editor of a weekly publication
  • To know the value of one day ask the wage earner with six children
  • To know the value of one hour ask lovers who are waiting to meet
  • To know the value of one minute ask the person who missed the plane
  • To know the value of one second ask the person who survived an accident
  • To know the value of one millisecond ask the Olympic silver medalist

2.We cannot change time – only our priorities. You do not manage time!

  • Myers Barnes states that time management has nothing to do with the clock, but everything to do with organizing and controlling your participation in certain events that coordinate with the clock.
  • Chinese author Lin Yutang states that the wisdom of life consists of the elimination of nonessentials.
  • You can have anything that you want. You just cannot have everything that you want.
  • Time cannot be managed, you cannot save time, lose time, turn back the hands of time, or have more time tomorrow than today. Time is unemotional, uncontrolled, and unencumbered.
  • Since you cannot change time, you must instead change your approach to it.

3.Priorities help you chose wisely

  • The reason that most goals are not met is the we spend our time doing second things first (Robert J. McKain)
  • The Pareto Principle states that by focusing your attention on the top 20% of your priorities you would get an 80% return on your effort.
  • This should be a eureka moment! That being true, then it makes sense to focus on the top priorities of life and release the rest.
  • I read recently that the average American spends 4 hours/day watching the TV. Factor in the digital aspects of modern TV such as pointless emails, unimportant tasks, telemarketers, interruptions, candy crush game requests, and cat humping videos, 4 hours/day is easy.
  • If done over the course of life you will have wasted 13 years (that is 24/7/TV). If you take the minimum wage over that 13 years, that is over $800K lost income. If invested in conservative instruments that would amount to over $2 million lost income.
  • Get your priorities straightened out!

So the question is how do we do this? Here are three piercing questions that demand an answer.

1.What is required of me? You must begin here. What is required to be great spouse, employee, friend? Start with these requirements.

2.What gives me the greatest return? As you move through live you realize that some activities yield a higher return than others. Focus your time on the high-return activities.

3.What gives me the greatest reward? The reward only comes when you manage the first two questions properly. You do not get your cake ahead of the essentials of life.

Develop your strengths and not your weaknesses. People are not going to pay for average!

LINKS

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

The Today Matters by John Maxwell

The complete show notes and slides are found on our YouTube Channel

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Premier Service – Private message me for details on this customizable service.

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Good Money – Bad Money

The Theory of “Good Money/Bad Money” basically states that one currency drives the other currency out of the economy. This basic concept when applied to Professor Bhide’s “Origen & Evolution of New Business states that 93% of all companies replaced their beginning strategy dollar-gasp-460_1007200cbecause it was not viable and sustainable and replaced it with an emerging strategy that brought success. Another truth about this basic explanation is the competing issues of Growth versus Profit. Iridium, a failed $6 billion investment(sold for $25 million) into satellite phone technology and Honda a successful company illustrates what happens when growth and profits are either misaligned or aligned properly.

So what does all of this business talk teach us about leadership in 2015? Professor Christensen at Harvard writes extensively about how your family and close friends are going to be the most important sources of happiness in your life. However, you must be careful. When it seems that everything is going well, you might be lulled into believing that you can place your investment of these cherished relationships on the back burner. That would be a huge mistake! By the time that problems arise in these two relational arenas it is too late to repair the problem. Paradoxically speaking, the time when it is most important to invest in building strong families and close friendships is when it appears at the surface as if it’s not necessary.

Most people have a deliberate strategy of creating deep loved-filled relationships with members of our family and friends. In reality we invest in a strategy for our lives that we would never aspire to. We end up with shallow friendships with many but deep friendships with none.

Each of us can point to one or two friendships we’ve unintentionally neglected when life got busy. We want to believe that the bonds of friendship are strong enough to endure such neglect, but that is seldom the case, Our closest friends  will stay the course with us only so long before the choose to invest their time somewhere else. If they do – IT IS OUR LOSS!

Plant shade trees before they are needed!

 

 

 

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SA Leadership Podcast Episode #014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:41 — 35.9MB) | Embed

TODAY MATTERS – Why Time Management Is An Oxymoron!

Successful people make the right decisions early in life and manage them daily. That is why that time management is an oxymoron! If I am proactive I am preparing. If I am reactive then I am repairing.

John Cotter stated that people tend to accept their life instead of leading their life!

Today’s Attitude Gives Me Possibilities!

Why My Attitude Matters Today

My ATTITUDE at the outset of any project that I am about to under-take affects the outcome more than anything else.

Sigmund Freud the father of modern psychotherapy was considered to be a genius in his time. Yet he was a pessimist, skeptic, and battled depression. He started using cocaine at 28 years of age with a belief that happiness was difficult to obtain and therefore needed additional means to achieve it. He wrote: “We are threatened with suffering from three directions; from our body which is doomed to decay; from our world which rages against us with merciless forces; and our relationships with mankind which is the most painful.”

Take responsibility For Your Attitude

Purpose today that you are going to change your “Bad Attitude” areas. The first step is to change your thinking about yourself. Start becoming the person you desire to be, not the present current version of yourself.

Walt Emerson stated that what lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Your attitude has a compounding affect. I choose to not feel sorry for people with bad attitudes – it is a choice that you can change!

LINKS

Shepherds Advantage Leadership Podcast is now on iTunes – SUBSCRIBE

The Today Matters by John Maxwell

The complete show notes and slides are found on our YouTube Channel

FREE GIFT – “The Art of Balancing Candor With Care” – Click on the icon at the bottom of the page

Executive Coaching Premier Service – Private message me for details on this customizable service

Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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Becoming an Emotionally Healthy Leader – 4 Tips

Statistics on Pastors’ Emotional Health, Family, and Morality stress1
It’s particularly disturbing to see how much pastors are struggling with emotional pain, family problems, loving well, and moral failures:

70% say they have a lower self-esteem now than when they entered ministry
70% constantly fight depression
50% feel so discouraged that they would leave their ministry if they could, but can’t find another job
80% believe their pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families and 33% said it was an outright hazard
80% of ministry spouses feel left out and unappreciated in their church
77% feel they do not have a good marriage
41% display anger problems in marriage (reported by the spouse)
38% are divorced or divorcing
50% admit to using pornography and 37% report inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church

Statistics on Pastors’ Lack of Soul Care and Training
But ministry stress alone does not explain why pastors burnout emotionally or blow out morally. Other statistics suggest that many pastors struggle with “professionalizing” their spiritual lives and failing to care for their own souls under God:

70% do not have someone they consider a close friend
50% do not meet regularly with an accountability person or group
72% only study the Bible when preparing for sermons or lessons
21% spend less than 15 minutes a day in prayer — the average is 39 minutes per day
16% are “very satisfied” with their prayer life, 47% are “somewhat satisfied”, and 37% are either “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” (spending more time in quiet prayer or listening to God versus making requests was correlated with higher satisfaction)
44% of pastors do not take a regular day off
31% do not exercise at all, while 37% exercise at least three or four days a week as recommended
90% say they have not received adequate training to meet the demands of ministry
85% have never taken a Sabbatical

The stats speak for themselves. We can either embrace the reality in our own life or curse the reality. Here are 4 tips to emotional health for Spiritual Leaders.

  1. SLOW DOWN for SABBATH – The core issue is not whether you are working 60-70 hours/week. The issue is the Sabbath is being broken and disrespected. Sabbath keeping is not working around the home as opposed to working at church. Sabbath means stopping to rest! It is also a time to contemplate God’s leading and working in you and through you.
  2. PAY ATTENTION to YOUR TRIGGERS – Robert Hogan, Industrial Psychologist states that two-thirds of leaders will be fired, demoted, or generally fail. The reason is that they are not paying attention to the hidden triggers that lay outside of their awareness. There are certain dysfunctional tendencies that manifest themselves when stress builds in our life. Healthy leaders are aware of their short-coming and know how to manage them when they start to surface. Manage them well, everyone around you will be glad that you did!
  3. Happy couple embracing and laughing on the beachLEAD OUT of YOUR MARRIAGE – Contemporary expectations for marriage of Christian leaders go something like this: “Be sure your marriage and family are strong/stable/solid so that you can build your church.” This is different from leading out of the fullness of life and joy in your marriage that it spills over over into other people’s lives as well. Lead from the context of your marriage vows meaning; if you are married you cannot lead like you are single! The health of your church is related to the health of your marriage!
  4. EMBRACE LIMITS – God does not give you the talents of leaders you may admire. So don’t act like you do – be original and true to yourself just the way God made you! Be honest with your inner-self. Be careful for the hidden roots of shame and failure because you are not like others or are performing according to others expectations.

Leave a comment. What would you add to this list?