I love exploring Ted.com for exceptional videos. I don’t get to very often, but when I do, I find great stuff.
Here’s one you should consider watching. It’s about 17 minutes long, and honestly he rambles at times, but you’ll get some great wisdom and reminders from a great man. Here’s John Wooden on the subject “What is True Success?”
Do you agree with Wooden’s definition?
I was helping someone think strategically recently. We were looking at this person’s ministry, trying to design a system, which would allow for continual growth and improvement. The ministry has grown rapidly and the leader barely feels she can keep up with the current demands. She recognizes the need to delegate, grow new leaders, and spread out responsibility and ownership, but she can’t seem to get past the current demands of details to develop a plan to do so.
Have you ever been there?
While attempting to create a system with her, I think we may have gotten to the root of her problem (and one I’ve had many times personally). She looked at me with complete sincerity and said, “I just don’t have time to prepare…”
Have you ever thought that?
Do you see the problem with that statement? It’s a common misperception of all parts of life. We don’t feel we have time to do the required preparation to do the job right, so we continue in the mediocre success, while drowning in details. The reality, however, is that preparation time is often the most important part of the work. An inch of preparation is worth a mile of success.
It’s Monday. Take a few minutes to prepare. It will make the rest of the week much easier and more effective. (I hope even the most literal thinkers can realize this isn’t just a Monday morning principle….)
Have you learned the value of preparation? Share your methods of preparation to encourage others.
Read more about the value of preparation HERE and HERE and HERE.
What an amazing video for a corporation to make! One critical element of success in today’s market is honest and transparency. They are even asking for competition! This video from Honda is worth watching.
(I saw this video first at the People of the Second Chance site)
How are you handling your mistakes and failure?
If this is your struggle, I’ve written more about failure in these posts:
7 Ways To Recover After A Major Failure Or Mistake
5 Principles I Have Learned About Failure
Failure Can Lead to Success
Here is a principle that works in many areas of life. You’ll find it helpful in businesses, in organizations, in churches, in relationships and in your personal life. Here’s the principle:
Don’t confuse activity with success.
I once wrote that growth covers over a multitude of problems. (Read that post HERE.) I know many organizations and people that mistakenly believe for a time (before it catches up with them) that busyness means things are moving in the right direction. That may or may not be true, but long-term success always depends more on the quality of activity than on the quantity of activity. In the short-term, you can mask success with an abundance of action, but substandard performance will be discovered in time. (For more on this thought process, read my previous post, The Tortoise and the Hare Principle of Organizational Growth.)
If you want to ensure success, consider the goals and objectives trying to be attained, determine whether they are currently being achieved, and, depending on your findings, be willing to adjust activity accordingly to achieve better results.
Have you been guilty of being busy rather than being successful? In what areas of your life are you more likely to allow that to occur?
I spent most of my career in the business world. I was always extremely active and in leadership roles in church and other civic activities, but I earned my living in a for-profit environment. During those years, as an outsider looking in, I believed non-profits had so much to learn from the world of business.
Having spent the last 7 years in full-time ministry, I realize my perception wasn’t completely accurate. I still agree most churches and other non-profits can learn business principles from the corporate world, but now I realize the for-profit world can equally learn from the world of non-profits.
From my experience in the two worlds, here are a few examples where we can learn from each other:
Non-profits can learn from for-profits:
When it comes to making a profit and producing results, the for-profit world has mastered the task…or at least attempts to do so. Survival and success in this world depends on balancing everything from cash flow to employee performance results in an effort to show a profit to the bottom line.
For-profits can learn from non-profits:
In the non-profit world, the emphasis is on achieving the purpose of the organization. The focus of attention is not necessarily (actually not usually) on business principles as much as human principles. Success is determined more in accomplishing a mission than on realizing a financial gain. Non-profits advance people over profit.
I see a win/win situation when these two worlds collide. For-profits can be even more profitable when they invest in people and work towards the vision, even sometimes at the expense of immediate profits. Non-profits can continue their mission more effectively when they practice healthy business principles.
My questions is: How do we get these two worlds together more?
Are you currently in the non-profit or the for-profit world? Have you experienced both? Do you see other ways we can learn from each other?
Never recovering after a major personal mistake or failure is what keeps some people from ever accomplishing much in life. All of us make mistakes, but I am referring to the ones that cause major pain to yourself and those you love. Even this type of failure does not have to stop you from achieving your dreams and goals. A lot of bouncing back in life depends on your response and attitude after the fall.
Here are a few steps to help you get back on track after you have a major failure in life:
Apologize – If the error was your fault, then be humble enough to admit your mistake and ask forgiveness. Taking responsibility for your actions is never a bad thing to do. Spend some time with God and the people you injured seeking their forgiveness. God will grant it easily, others may not, but your job is not to control their response, but to offer a sincere apology.
Change directions – You can’t expect to recover if you keep repeating the same mistakes.
Build protection/accountability – Don’t be foolish enough to think it won’t happen again. It will unless you protect yourself. You have damaged your proprioceptors (Read this post) and depending on the size of the failure you may have to retrain yourself not to let the same mistake happen again.
Forgive yourself – Often the hardest thing to do is to let go of the guilt and move forward, but if God can forgiven you, why can’t you?
Stand strong – You will receive the same temptation again. You will have further opportunity to repeat the same mistakes. Do not allow circumstances to control your life. Find the power in Christ, yourself and others who believe in you to stay strong.
Set new goals – Dream again. Find new areas in which you can succeed. This may be one of the most important steps. Don’t skip it,
Don’t look back – Once you have sought and received forgiveness and built safeguards into your life, do not allow the past to control your destiny. Move forward with victory!
Are you allowing your past to control your future? Get moving towards a new day today!
If you want employees to ultimately accomplish the vision of the organization and actually take initiative and ownership in that vision, then leaders need to strive to…
…Stress results and not details…
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.
Previously I posted on the need for leaders to be willing to “give their vision away”. If ultimately what you want is the end goal accomplished, allow others to add their personal touch to their work, let them strive for excellence, dream their own dreams, and own their work. Then watch as they soar to accomplish your vision. It may not look exactly as you thought it would, but chances are it will actually look better than you imagined.
Leaders, do you stress more results or more details? If you are in a work environment, would you rather your boss stress details or results?
I have been writing this week about the need to plan as a church for the future. I shared yesterday about three questions our staff worked through at a recent staff retreat to brainstorm. You can read that post HERE. Another exercise we went through was the 20-60-20 Principle. (Some will say this is 10-90-10)
This can be a controversial principle, because it appears at first glance that an organization is strategizing to leave a group of people out of the equation, but really this strategy helps the entire organization be more successful, eventually improving things for everyone involved in the organization, even those in the last 20%. This principle assumes that in any organization:
20% of the people are on board with what the organization is doing and wants to see the organization reach its full potential. These people understand and believe in the vision and are usually willing to contribute to its success.
60% of the people are just along for the ride and can be pulled in either direction towards a positive or negative view of the organization. They can be new to the organization or they have never been challenged to get involved.
20% of the people tend to be negative, uninterested or just passing through. They typically will resist any changes and do not contribute to the overall success of the organization. They are complainers by nature in any environment in which they are a part.
The problem is that most organizations (especially churches) tend to cater to the last 20% in an attempt to make them happy or keep them quiet. The challenge and goal for any organization should be to spend energy and attention developing the top 20% so they will pull the 60% in their direction. With this approach the last 20%, those who are currently creating negative energy in the organization, will either join in the excitement or be forced to look for an organization they can fully support. Unfortunately, some of these people will leave if they do not get their way and will most likely join the same negative 20 % in another organization.
Is your church or organization concentrating most of its energy on people who really are never going to support the success of the organization?
I have heard this organizational story many times. Sadly it’s been true too many times with some of the organizations where I have worked (or led). Often leaders give up trying to make the team concept work and take on the projects themselves, because of this scenario:
This is a story of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
(From a poem by Charles Osgood)
Has that ever been the case in your organization? Do you have a great team that can brainstorm ideas that sound great when you talk about them, but no progress is ever made completing them? How can we be sure that projects get completed working in a team environment? As our staff size has increased and with our team concept, I observed some things that are necessary in order to make a project successful. Once the team reaches consensus on the project:
Define clearly what the project is and what will make it successful.This is a huge principle I am still learning, but a win is not defined equally. Make sure people understand what is expected of them.
Make sure everyone understands who is responsible for each task.
You can have the best people in the world, but the project will fall through the cracks if no one takes responsibility.
Provide accountability and feedback and monitor progress.
It is important, for some people more than others, that you ask questions along the way to make sure progress is being made. Some people will get stuck and not ask for help and the project stalls. Check in with the team or individual periodically.
Evaluate during and after the project and reassign responsibilities as necessary.
Sometimes a specific task is bigger than expected. Sometimes the assignment was not a good fit. Sometimes people drop the ball. If completing the project is important, don’t be afraid to shake up the team.
Learn from each project.
The more projects your team does together, the better they will get at completing them if you keep learning and implementing the needed changes for the next project.
What tips do you have to make sure a project is completed successfully?
In my personal ministry, sadly, I experience people more at their moments of failure than in their moments of success. As an optimist, I plan for success. I believe God desires success for His people. As a realist, I see failure all around me. I believe God allows failure and uses it to draw us closer to Him and to teach us valuable insights into our characters and into the character of God Himself. Failure has been a part of my life (a big part) and it is prevalent in the lives of the most of the successful people I know. Therefore, we must learn how to recover from failure.
Here are a few things to remember after and during your moments of failure.
· Take time to rest after your failure, but do not sit still for long. Idleness often leads to temptations and worry. (I almost used another cliché’ involving idleness and the devil, but decided not to.) Do something, even if it is volunteer work.
· Know that not everyone is talking about you, even if it may feel that everyone is.
· If people are talking about you, it will not last long until the new “failure of the month” comes along.
· Take some time to re-evaluate what led to your failure. Accept fault where appropriate and do not be too proud to say you made a mistake.
· Learn from your mistakes and build safeguards in your life to keep from repeating the same ones.
· Keep your mind and body healthy. Read, exercise, pray, and think. It is important to stay fresh for your next opportunity.
· Begin to dream new dreams and set new goals. (These goals can be the same goals you had before you failed if you are willing to take a risk on them again.)
· Make a decision in your heart to rise from your failure. Prove to those who thought you could not (or at least you thought that is what they were saying) that you can succeed. More than that prove it to you!
· Allow failure to make you stronger and better.
Mustard Seed Thoughts
