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An interesting op-ed headline appeared in The Chicago Tribune a few days ago. It read, “Govern like a leader, not a politician.” The author, Mike Lawrence, proposed that the current financial mess in Illinois would only be solved by politicians who had the courage to do unpopular things (raise taxes, I presume) rather than trying to please people.
Oh… leadership.
Ooh… politics.
Can they ever really coexist? [click to continue…]
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(The Law of the Nail, Part 2)
In the previous post I introduced you to The Law of the Nail. A corollary to the Law of the Hammer (“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”), the Law of the Nail says,
If you are a nail, and especially if you’ve been pounded a time or two, everything (and everybody) looks like a hammer.
That’s even true when you’re a light bulb, not a hammer. Just watch the video:
Everybody gets banged up by people or by life sooner or later. But sometimes we are faced with situations in which we must work with, lead, or love people who, in nail terminology, are really bent up.
Because you are on the same planet, much less in the same building or room, they don’t trust you. Doesn’t matter whether you have earned their mistrust or not. They perceive, speak, and reason through their woundedness. And as far as they’re concerned, you’re just another hammer, waiting for your chance to pound away at them.
So what do you do with these people? Make their fears come true? Write them off? Get offended? Ignore them?
I’d like to suggest that you have an opportunity to both get the job done (whatever “the job” is) and be an instrument of healing. Here are some ideas: [click to continue…]
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Often imitated, never duplicated.
It could alter traffic, change work schedules, and send us into bone-chilled terror. When we weren’t busting out laughing.
I’m talking about “The Look.”
Mama copped to it – even called it “The JoAnne Look.”
My most recent encounter with it came last October when we were sitting in the lobby of Providence Hospital waiting for my dad to get a test. Secluded in a waiting area, we could hear somebody on the other side setting up some sort of display by dragging eight-foot tables with an annoying racket. Especially annoying if you had a bad headache, as Mama did.
I could see it coming.
Those poor people had no idea.
Dear God, here comes The Look. [click to continue…]
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Laura Kate Wiley is finding her voice.
At 17 months, she’s off to a good start.
With safe surroundings and a fearless heart,
A free spirit and a supportive family,
She plays and rests and dreams and wants –
Sincerely believing that what she has to say actually matters.
She will need these things again and again,
As her world evolves and her voice is threatened.
Nobody can sing the songs meant for her alone.
Again and again, she will have to find her heart with clarity,
And express her mind with grace and courage.
So will you.
Find your voice.
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From a billboard in Ralls, Texas…
Okay, I get it. Dickens County (pop. 2,762) is hiring at the local correctional facility in Spur (pop. 1,088).
But is it just me?
Or is there sometimes more than one way to read an invitation?
Wanna join our family? Just keep drinking and driving, Otis. Or just knock your wife around or knock off that store.
We’re an equal opportunity… employer… with benefits. We offer three squares a day, with health and dental as needed. (Or we’ll at least get the local vet to pull that bad tooth.)
Communication. It’s a funny thing.
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If you want to tell me something you know,
But you can’t tell me everything you know,
Then tell me first what has cost you greatly.
Tell me what you’ve paid a high price to understand.
Until then, everything else is trivia.
A pitch.
A con, where the joke’s on you.
But when I understand the life message forged from your scars,
Or find the hill you’d choose to die on…
When I see the passion you practice,
Then I’ll gladly hear the message you preach.
In fact, I’ll listen to anything you have to say.
You’ll have my trust.
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I’m really glad you’re here.
I need to hang onto my fork.
I don’t trust you – you scare me.
May I take a picture of your really cute kid?
Thank you.
I’m not just being polite – I really like you.
Coca Cola
Hallelujah!
Amen!
I don’t want you to go.
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“What are you teaching them about?” my daughter asked – referring to our upcoming pastors and leaders training in Thailand.
“Leadership,” I said.
“Well, can I ask you something? Is there a way – I’m not sure how to say this – is there a way to ‘dumb down’ leadership training?”
My pause meant, “Keep going.”
“I have to train these fifth-and-sixth-grade leaders every day at FROG camp for about 30 minutes on being a leader, and I was wondering how I could explain biblical leadership on their level.”
I did a random brainstorm with her. Talked about David and Joshua and Paul and Jesus. Hurled out Bible passages like Joshua 1:1-9, 2 Timothy, 1 Peter 5:2-4, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. She said “thanks,” but I hung up with the feeling that I hadn’t “dumbed down” anything.
That got me to thinking later. I have a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. I’ve spent years studying theories and models, biblical principles and best practices. But none of them – none – involved fifth- or sixth-graders.
Maybe we have it backwards. Rather than presuming to teach 11-year-olds all about leading, maybe we should try to learn some things from them. [click to continue…]
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“What we have here,” said Cool Hand Luke, “is a failure to communicate.”
Sometimes the problem doesn’t lie in what we say, or even how we say it.
Sometimes the problem is in the noise surrounding the signal.
Sometimes we hide our message, hoping it blends in and doesn’t offend anybody.
Sometimes we have neglected the trust between the “sign” and the “driver,” and life has overgrown between us.
Nearly always, someone has recognized the problem, but decided that it’s not their job to fix it.
Communication isn’t just about the message. It’s also the clarity between sender and receiver.
(Photo credit: choralbari – taken while standing in the middle of a street)
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Interested in getting a head start on your firewood for next winter? I once heard of a unique way to drop a tree. It seems some villagers in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific have learned how to conquer the really big ones. If a tree is too large to be felled with an ax, the natives cut it down by yelling at it. (I’m not making this up. I read it in a book, so it must be true.) Just at dawn these woodsmen with special powers sneak up on a tree and suddenly scream at it at the top of their lungs. They do this every day for 30 days, and the tree dies and falls over. The theory is that yelling kills the spirit of the tree. According to the villagers, it always works.
Felling by yelling. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Crazy enough to be true.
I’ll have to admit, though, I’ve never seen it happen. I’ve never yelled at a tree (and I wouldn’t tell you if I had). Not for thirty days. Not for one day. Furthermore, I’ve never seen anyone else yell at a tree. So I can’t say by experience that hollering works on trees.
But it does work on kids. I have seen that happen.
Works on spouses, too.
Some people yell at their cars or their washing machine, and it doesn’t seem to do much good. But I’ve seen it drop a few pastors. And I’ve seen it kill the spirit of a friend or two as well. [click to continue…]
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