In the church consultant training I am working my through one of the first questions that gets asked is, "what is the purpose of this church?" The answers tell the consultants alot about the client (the church) they are working with.
As a coach that question, rephrased to, "what is your purpose?" becomes a powerful way to uncover and bring out alot of informaion that the client has within them. In coaching we try to help client to reach their full capapcity and achieve their own desired results. In order to do that we need to understand the purpose or the personal mission and vision that drives the person being coached.
There can be a number of things that motivate you. Motivation and purpose are not the same things. Consider what your true purpose is for your life, your family, and your career.
What are doing to live out that purpose?
How can you do better?
What are the roadblocks in the way?
Monday, September 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
What is expected...
Today - a thought to consider from Coach Wooden
"Without supervision and leadership and a disciplined effort by all, much of our united strength will be dissipated by pulling against ourselves. Let us not be victimized by a breakdown from within." (pre-season letter to the team, 1965)
A disciplined effort by all. Not by some, not by one, not by a chosen few but by all.
If you are working in a leadership team or on any team for that matter, disciplined effort is critical from everyone.
What are some of the things that you may not be as disciplined in as you should be?
How can you improve in this area?
What steps can you take for improvement?
Who on your team can hold you accountable?
"Without supervision and leadership and a disciplined effort by all, much of our united strength will be dissipated by pulling against ourselves. Let us not be victimized by a breakdown from within." (pre-season letter to the team, 1965)
A disciplined effort by all. Not by some, not by one, not by a chosen few but by all.
If you are working in a leadership team or on any team for that matter, disciplined effort is critical from everyone.
What are some of the things that you may not be as disciplined in as you should be?
How can you improve in this area?
What steps can you take for improvement?
Who on your team can hold you accountable?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Essential Lessons
I would not consider myself to be a sports fan really. I enjoy watching college sports more than professional and I enjoy watching local teams particularly the Toledo Mud Hens. Perhaps the most joy I get out of watching sports is watching the coaches and identifying their different styles. I think we would agree that there are some coaches that are only known for their coaching style not necessarily their win/loss record. Coach Bobby Knight comes to mind here.
One of my all time favorite coaches is John Wooden. Basketball is one of my favorite sports. I even played while in junior high and high school. Yes, it's hard to believe that some one who is vertically challenged like myself could dominate the court...but I was fast on my feet and that made a difference.
John Wooden is known for his leadership style and this leadership style became the foundation for his coaching style. A lifetime of learning, losing, and playing, combined with an attitude of humility and positive influence created this legend of a man. I recently picked up his book, The Essential Wooden, (like I needed another one of his books...) and started to flip back through all the leadership lessons printed within. I remembered the first Wooden leadership book that I received as a gift and how it still sits on my shelf. Filled with highlight marks, underlines in red ink, post-it marked pages, it reminds me of a style of leadership that I want to model and help others model as well.
In a time when it seems like we can't seem to get our act together and leaders from government to business continue to let us down I think it's a good reminder to us all that we all have the capacity within each of us to lead in our style. We all have the capacity to live, learn and make the most of the chances that have been given to us.
Perhaps with all that is going on in the world of business and government now is the time to take the essential lessons of leadership from humble servant leaders like John Wooden and put them into action in our own lives. Now is the time to discover the leader that is in each of us.
My recommendation - Put down the newspaper filled with all the things going wrong in our world, turn off the TV and stop listening and watching the pundits playing games with our government and read something that will inspire you to discover how you have within you all you need to be a leader in your own home, community and workplace.
If you don't know where to start...as Coach Wooden says, "You cannot change the past, and you can only influence the future by what you do today."
So start today to begin to unleash the capacity already in you to be a leader.
One of my all time favorite coaches is John Wooden. Basketball is one of my favorite sports. I even played while in junior high and high school. Yes, it's hard to believe that some one who is vertically challenged like myself could dominate the court...but I was fast on my feet and that made a difference.
John Wooden is known for his leadership style and this leadership style became the foundation for his coaching style. A lifetime of learning, losing, and playing, combined with an attitude of humility and positive influence created this legend of a man. I recently picked up his book, The Essential Wooden, (like I needed another one of his books...) and started to flip back through all the leadership lessons printed within. I remembered the first Wooden leadership book that I received as a gift and how it still sits on my shelf. Filled with highlight marks, underlines in red ink, post-it marked pages, it reminds me of a style of leadership that I want to model and help others model as well.
In a time when it seems like we can't seem to get our act together and leaders from government to business continue to let us down I think it's a good reminder to us all that we all have the capacity within each of us to lead in our style. We all have the capacity to live, learn and make the most of the chances that have been given to us.
Perhaps with all that is going on in the world of business and government now is the time to take the essential lessons of leadership from humble servant leaders like John Wooden and put them into action in our own lives. Now is the time to discover the leader that is in each of us.
My recommendation - Put down the newspaper filled with all the things going wrong in our world, turn off the TV and stop listening and watching the pundits playing games with our government and read something that will inspire you to discover how you have within you all you need to be a leader in your own home, community and workplace.
If you don't know where to start...as Coach Wooden says, "You cannot change the past, and you can only influence the future by what you do today."
So start today to begin to unleash the capacity already in you to be a leader.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Mentors – From Zero to Heroes….
In preparing for my Christian Coaching Training I received information regarding the follow up work that would be taking place after the initial training next week. In this information we are instructed to review a list of potential coaches that we could ask to be assigned as our mentor coach for the next few months of our training. Bios were provided and we are being asked to review them and decide next week who we might want to choose.
This exercise got me thinking about mentors. I have been blessed and honored to have some pretty cool mentors. I have also, somehow, gotten a hold of some pretty bad ones too. If you didn’t think it was possible to have a bad mentor believe me, you can. It has been a while since I have had a real mentor. Perhaps because of these previous bad experiences I never really pursued it and then when I did pursue “looking” for a mentor the people I picked turned out to be duds.
But now it seems mentors are coming out of the woodwork for me. I have a mentor for the church consulting work I am pursuing, I have a mentor for my school work, and now I will have a mentor for my coaching practice. I went from zero to three in less than three months!
At first I wasn’t too sure about the idea of adding more people into my life that would ask me questions and hold me accountable to do what I say I am going to do. I mean really, sometimes you think that those “people” just get in the way. They are always the ones that want to slow you down with the facts and reality of a situation when you would rather sail on down the road of life not being accountable and not worrying about facts and reality at all. Sure facts are important but do you really need to be reminded of them all the time?
The truth is that we do. All of us need to have these “people” (AKA mentors) in our lives. They prove to be a valuable resource for us when we need them the most and sometimes when we think we need them the least.
Mentors provide knowledge, wisdom, and the sharing of life experience that friends, family, co-workers and peers simply cannot. Mentors can come and go throughout your lifetime but the lessons that they teach remain with you forever.
One other key aspect of having a mentor is being a mentor. We all know that at some point in our lives we must give back. What better way than to share the knowledge, wisdom and lifetime of experience that you have gained than to be a mentor?
In closing I would like to add this. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes mentors, can be your heroes too. I would caution you though people make mistakes and even your mentors/heroes are not going to get it right all the time. So, unless you have a real dud for a mentor, cut them some slack to if they get it wrong and do not put too much pressure on them to be something that they are not.
I think I am pretty lucky right now…my mentors are fast becoming my heroes and I am pretty excited about that. Even as I squirm in the face of becoming more accountable I am fortunate to have these people in my life. I hope that someday soon I can return the favor.
Who are your mentors and heroes?
Are you becoming a mentor to someone else?
Should you be?
This exercise got me thinking about mentors. I have been blessed and honored to have some pretty cool mentors. I have also, somehow, gotten a hold of some pretty bad ones too. If you didn’t think it was possible to have a bad mentor believe me, you can. It has been a while since I have had a real mentor. Perhaps because of these previous bad experiences I never really pursued it and then when I did pursue “looking” for a mentor the people I picked turned out to be duds.
But now it seems mentors are coming out of the woodwork for me. I have a mentor for the church consulting work I am pursuing, I have a mentor for my school work, and now I will have a mentor for my coaching practice. I went from zero to three in less than three months!
At first I wasn’t too sure about the idea of adding more people into my life that would ask me questions and hold me accountable to do what I say I am going to do. I mean really, sometimes you think that those “people” just get in the way. They are always the ones that want to slow you down with the facts and reality of a situation when you would rather sail on down the road of life not being accountable and not worrying about facts and reality at all. Sure facts are important but do you really need to be reminded of them all the time?
The truth is that we do. All of us need to have these “people” (AKA mentors) in our lives. They prove to be a valuable resource for us when we need them the most and sometimes when we think we need them the least.
Mentors provide knowledge, wisdom, and the sharing of life experience that friends, family, co-workers and peers simply cannot. Mentors can come and go throughout your lifetime but the lessons that they teach remain with you forever.
One other key aspect of having a mentor is being a mentor. We all know that at some point in our lives we must give back. What better way than to share the knowledge, wisdom and lifetime of experience that you have gained than to be a mentor?
In closing I would like to add this. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes mentors, can be your heroes too. I would caution you though people make mistakes and even your mentors/heroes are not going to get it right all the time. So, unless you have a real dud for a mentor, cut them some slack to if they get it wrong and do not put too much pressure on them to be something that they are not.
I think I am pretty lucky right now…my mentors are fast becoming my heroes and I am pretty excited about that. Even as I squirm in the face of becoming more accountable I am fortunate to have these people in my life. I hope that someday soon I can return the favor.
Who are your mentors and heroes?
Are you becoming a mentor to someone else?
Should you be?
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
The rules are changing....
Business relationships are funny. Over the last month I have had some pretty unique things happen that have made me really start to reconsider some of my positions on business networking, referral relationships and building relationships among business peers.
Because of some really cool and awesome things going on in my professional as well as personal life I have been traveling more. My schedule fills up quickly with trips, meetings, seminars, school assignments and other life assignments that require my attention. Because I could foresee some of these things taking place earlier this year I made the decision to leave some networking groups and lessen my involvement in a few other groups that required more time and responsibility than I could give them. These groups made requirements of me that really didn’t help my business and made it almost impossible for me to pursue my personal mission and purpose for being on this planet. At the time I really didn’t feel any personal attachment to some of these groups. I did however remain in a couple of groups that I felt were based more on the relational ties I had with the individual members.
Recently, while traveling out of town, I received an email asking that I “resign” from one of these groups because I was not able to meet their attendance requirements. Apparently, I was letting down the entire group by not being there to support everyone else in their endeavors to improve themselves and their businesses. I was okay with the first part because to be honest – it was true, I had not been able to attend as I should have. But it was the last part that struck me as odd. I was not doing enough to support them. Uhmm….
I got to thinking, and reading, and listening. My inbox, text messages, facebook page and voicemail seemed to be filling up with the occasional message here and there from people wanting to know how things were going, where I was traveling to next and in general wishing me well and asking to get back together to “get caught up” as soon as I was back in town and had some free time. What I found most enlightening is that not one of these messages came from this group. The resignation email was the last communication I had from anyone in that group, so I must have really offended them by not supporting them enough. But that leads me to the question…how were they supporting me?
This got me thinking about how we build relationships with people and why we even involve ourselves in groups, organizations and professional networking clubs. This led me to the following questions…
What is our real purpose in becoming involved in groups and organizations?
Do we really need to be involved in multiple groups?
What is gained by the pressure that we put on ourselves to be “actively” involved in so many things?
How deep are the relationships that we are building when we are spending large amounts of time meeting requirements instead of really get to know each other?
I am becoming more and more critical of professional networking as it seems that it has become more and more centered on rules and requirements than on building relationships. It seems like we are desperately trying to participate just for the sake of saying “look at how good I am at being involved,” instead of building quality relationships with people that are genuinely interested in helping each other.
As things start to take shape in my coaching practice and this takes me in a new direction I am still going to be actively networking. I love meeting new people and talking with them about their mission and passion in life. But effective immediately I am throwing all the rules and requirements that I have learned about professional networking out the window and starting from scratch. The professional networking box is one that I don’t want to fit into any longer.
My only requirement now is that we be friends first, foremost and always. Oh yeah and I am requiring that you all get on Facebook and post to my wall every now and again and let me know how you are doing.
From this point forward – friendship and relationships are most important to me….I will let someone else worry about all the rules.
Because of some really cool and awesome things going on in my professional as well as personal life I have been traveling more. My schedule fills up quickly with trips, meetings, seminars, school assignments and other life assignments that require my attention. Because I could foresee some of these things taking place earlier this year I made the decision to leave some networking groups and lessen my involvement in a few other groups that required more time and responsibility than I could give them. These groups made requirements of me that really didn’t help my business and made it almost impossible for me to pursue my personal mission and purpose for being on this planet. At the time I really didn’t feel any personal attachment to some of these groups. I did however remain in a couple of groups that I felt were based more on the relational ties I had with the individual members.
Recently, while traveling out of town, I received an email asking that I “resign” from one of these groups because I was not able to meet their attendance requirements. Apparently, I was letting down the entire group by not being there to support everyone else in their endeavors to improve themselves and their businesses. I was okay with the first part because to be honest – it was true, I had not been able to attend as I should have. But it was the last part that struck me as odd. I was not doing enough to support them. Uhmm….
I got to thinking, and reading, and listening. My inbox, text messages, facebook page and voicemail seemed to be filling up with the occasional message here and there from people wanting to know how things were going, where I was traveling to next and in general wishing me well and asking to get back together to “get caught up” as soon as I was back in town and had some free time. What I found most enlightening is that not one of these messages came from this group. The resignation email was the last communication I had from anyone in that group, so I must have really offended them by not supporting them enough. But that leads me to the question…how were they supporting me?
This got me thinking about how we build relationships with people and why we even involve ourselves in groups, organizations and professional networking clubs. This led me to the following questions…
What is our real purpose in becoming involved in groups and organizations?
Do we really need to be involved in multiple groups?
What is gained by the pressure that we put on ourselves to be “actively” involved in so many things?
How deep are the relationships that we are building when we are spending large amounts of time meeting requirements instead of really get to know each other?
I am becoming more and more critical of professional networking as it seems that it has become more and more centered on rules and requirements than on building relationships. It seems like we are desperately trying to participate just for the sake of saying “look at how good I am at being involved,” instead of building quality relationships with people that are genuinely interested in helping each other.
As things start to take shape in my coaching practice and this takes me in a new direction I am still going to be actively networking. I love meeting new people and talking with them about their mission and passion in life. But effective immediately I am throwing all the rules and requirements that I have learned about professional networking out the window and starting from scratch. The professional networking box is one that I don’t want to fit into any longer.
My only requirement now is that we be friends first, foremost and always. Oh yeah and I am requiring that you all get on Facebook and post to my wall every now and again and let me know how you are doing.
From this point forward – friendship and relationships are most important to me….I will let someone else worry about all the rules.
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