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Archives for February 2013

Imitating our Leaders

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Just like an oak tree will grow from another oak tree, so will we imitate the behaviors of our leaders.  That will include the bad points as well as the good points.  As a leader, I have to be intentional about how I lead others.  I need to make sure that I concentrate on doing things the right way, so that the people I lead will follow suit.

There are a lot of different kinds of leadership styles.  Some leaders are quiet, others are very vocal.  Some leaders listen to the people they are leading, while others do not think they need input.  All of the different methods come down to two paths:  Effective Leadership and Non-Effective Leadership.  I want to strive to be the effective leader.

There is another side to the coin as well.  Leaders, no matter how effective they are, are human.  They make mistakes.  They do things that they wish they had not done.  As a person being led, I too need to be intentional in the way I do things.  When a leader of mine makes mistakes, it is my responsibility to learn from their mistakes.  I do not want to use the excuse that I was just acting like my leader does.  I have to be separate the good habits and bad habits of my leaders.  I need to take the bad habits of those that lead me and change them into good habits for the people who I lead.  It is definitely not the easiest thing to do, but it is essential in the growth of my leadership abilities.

 

What are some bad habits of a leader you follow that you have been able to change into good habits for the people who follow you?

Why You Should Not Be Afraid of Failure

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How does a high jumper know how high he can jump?  He keeps moving the bar up until he knocks it down.  Knocking that bar down is technically a failure.  He did not succeed in the goal he had of clearing that bar.

high jump

I have two boys.  They are 7 and 5.  I love them dearly, but they are not great basketball players.  My oldest, Brady (check out his website here) looks so awkward when he shoots it makes me laugh every time!  Now, I know he still have a lot to learn, but could I save him a lot of time and energy by telling him to stop playing now?  I hope you are thinking right about now that the logic I just typed is crazy.  Of course it is crazy.  You would never tell a child anything other than, “Keep practicing, you’ll get better!”

Why are you any different?  It is time to take some of your own advise.  Realize that the best were not the best when they started.  They kept practicing.  They got better everyday.  You will too.  There is nothing to fear in failure.  We have all been there, and hopefully will keep going there.  You will never know how great you can be until you raise that bar higher.

One way I try to ignore the fear of failure is to think what the worst case scenario would be.  Vocalize what the worst case is if you failed at what you are thinking about doing.  Will your family start hating you?  Will God disown you and turn His back on you?  Will you physically die?  The answer to all of those questions is most certainly no.  So, stop being afraid of a potential failure and ship it.

If you have never failed, you have never tried hard enough. (Tweet This)

What is something that you have failed at, that made you better?

The Lie of Perfection

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I am not perfect.  If you ask my wife, I may act like it sometimes.  In fact, even though I know it is absurd, I may think it sometimes.

welcome to perfection

The problem with believing the lie of perfection is that it breeds procrastination.  It causes me to delay putting the work out there that I know I need to be putting out there.  Those delays often turn into never shipping the work at all.

Here are a few points I remember when I am trying to ignore the lie of perfection:

  1. Nobody is perfect.  Nobody who has ever been on this earth (besides Jesus Himself) is perfect.  There is no reason to try to reach utter perfection because it is a destination that will not be reached.  I know some people will say that this is a dangerous mind-set to have, and it may not work for you.  For me, however, I find it a necessary ingredient to ship my work.
  2. The goal is not finished.  The other end of the perfect line is finished.  I have to be careful of just pushing so hard that all I want to do is get finished.  Pushing just to get finished makes me get sloppy.  I do not want to ship slop.
  3. Awesome is where I need to be.  Awesome is the point of the line where I strive to be.  I know that it not perfect, but I also realize it is not just finished.  It is awesome.  It is something that can be appreciated by the people I am shipping my work to.  It informs, inspires, and adds insight.  It is the best that I have, but it is not bogged down by trying to reach perfection.
  4. Do NOT over think, ship.  With everything above in mind I remind myself to not over think the revisions.  There are times when I can spend so much time tweaking that I end up spinning my wheels only to come back to the original.  When I find myself having to search for things to change, I just ship it.  There are very few things in this world that can not be touched up after shipping.  Chances are you will find out that the work you have already done is exactly what your audience is looking for.

Do not believe the lie of perfection.  Doors that are open have a lot more people walk through them than doors that are locked.

What does the lie of perfection do to you?