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Monthly Archives

August 2009

This Too Shall Pass (The Best Is Yet To Come)

By Devotional, Encouragement, Faith, Fear

In his day Nebuchadnezzar was a king. He was a well-known King that brought havoc to the Israelites. He was a greatly feared and powerful leader. At his word nations and people’s could be destroyed (except where God intervened of course). As greatly as he struck people in fear and awe in his day, I am not too afraid of Nebuchadnezzar today. The fact is he is dead. No more. Gone. Out of sight. As big and bad as he was then, he is no longer a threat today.

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Protect Your Proprioceptors! (Guard Your Heart!)

By Culture, Encouragement

On July 5th I sprained my ankle. Since then I have had a hard time running, but perhaps worse it seems it is even more common for me now to twist the ankle again. A doctor told me it was because I had damaged my proprioceptor, which means I have a harder time maintaining balance and posture, so I almost have to retrain myself to run. In the meantime I miss the exercise I received from running, which is affecting my mood, my energy level and my general attitude.

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The Encouragement Of Personal Branding

By Business, Innovation, Leadership

One trend in organizations today that I am not sure existed even ten years ago is the freedom employees have to promote their personal identity on company time. Companies today seem to allow and actually encourage employees to brand themselves separate from the organization. Whether it is with a personal blog or through authoring a book, employees can have a larger personal following and name recognition than the top leadership of the organization and at times even greater than the organization. This is true in the corporate world and the church world.

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Leaving a Legacy

By Children, Encouragement, Family, Life Plan, Parenting

What is your legacy? There is an old song Christian artist Steve Green sang called “Find us Faithful”. A line in the song says, “When your children sift through all you’ve left behind, will the memories they uncover…?” I recall hearing that song when my boys were young and I was always convicted! I was concerned about the memories I would leave behind for my boys.

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Dear Nate (Letter to a Son)

By Children, Family

Nate (formerly known as Nathaniel), you have been a soul mate since you were very little. We are so much alike that it scares me for you sometimes. Yesterday was the longest ride of my life after dropping you off at college. This past week has been an emotional roller coaster. I am so excited that your dream of being at Moody has come true, but the thought of not seeing you everyday is overwhelming to me. You kept telling me “thanks for everything” the last few days. Son, if only you knew how much value you add to my life in so many ways. No thanks are necessary.

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What to do if employees don’t respond?

By Business, Innovation, Leadership, Organizational Leadership

This is a great question. I would encourage you to survey your employees to make sure you have the environment you think you have. If this is not realistic, perhaps you could bring in an outside perspective, such as a consultant or a friend who knows your organization well and understands these principles. Once you have done that, ask these questions about the employees who refuse to take initiative:

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Stress Results and Not Details

By Business, Innovation, Leadership, Vision

That is a hard concept for many leaders. They own their vision. They have in their mind what they want to achieve. They have pre-determined exactly what a win looks like. They can almost detail it out in their heads. Therefore, if a leader is not careful he or she begins to stress the details of that vision as opposed to stressing and rewarding people for results achieved.

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Does Your Organization Produce Innovative Leaders or Managed Followers?

By Business, Innovation, Leadership, Organizational Leadership

A friend of mine called recently to discuss his business. He wants his employees to assume more ownership for their work and take more initiative on their own, without having to be asked to do something. He wants to lead an organization that produces innovative leaders, not a bunch of managed followers. Knowing a little about his workplace, I asked him an important question. “Have you created an environment conducive to produce the kind of employees you say you want?”

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