Tag: Leadership

Malcolm Gladwell Being Awesome

This quote from David and Goliath (1/3 of the way through and it’s a lot fun, per usual) is about parenting but it has everything to do with leadership:

“A parent [leader] has to set limits. But that’s one of the most difficult things for [the wealthy], because they don’t know what to say when having the excuse of ‘We can’t afford it is gone.’ Parents [leaders] have to learn to switch from ‘No we can’t’ to ‘No we won’t.’ But ‘no we won’t’ is much harder.

‘No we won’t’…requires a conversation, and the honesty and skill to explain that what is possible is not always what is right. Yes, I can [do] that for you. But I choose not to. It’s not consistent with our values.

But that, of course, requires that you have a set of values, and you know how to articulate them, and you know how to make them plausible to your child [the people you lead].”

Wholehearted

What would it look like to get to the end of a busy season, a semester, a year…a life even, and have more and more to give than ever before?

Caleb is my go-to for leadership inspiration…the image of him as an 85-year-old man still rearing to go, still ready to fight, is awesome.

Throughout his whole story we read the mantra: “Caleb followed God wholeheartedly.”

I’ve blogged about Caleb before, but I am always convicted by his example. Never falling into bitterness or cynicism Caleb’s enthusiasm only grows and strengthens with time. He seems to have more and more to give.

I want to be like that. I want to be wholehearted.

To Remember

What do you do to remember?

Do you write stuff down, do you make something, do you take a picture (do you tweet that pic, do you instagram it, do you post it on facebook)?

In the book of Joshua, Joshua promises his people “the LORD will do amazing things among you” (3:5). As a leader, this is a bold statement. Joshua doesn’t say the LORD will do some cool things, or some interesting things…he says “amazing things“.

And He does. He stops a rushing river, allowing all His people to enter their promised land on dry ground.

Joshua immediately decides that they need to do something to remember this. So they make a pile of rocks.

Why?

Because we live in a world high on promises and low on delivery, and so it can become easy to be jaded or cynical when a leader says: expect something amazing.

Joshua doesn’t want them to forget.

You can’t argue with a pile of rocks.

Meditate On It

In Joshua 1 we discover a people in transition. The people of Israel mourn the loss of their fearless leader, Moses, and look to Joshua to take his place. All this before, finally, entering the land they had been promised hundreds of year prior. A land filled with enemies.

Joshua 1 is great for leaders in times of transitions. It’s a rah-rah speech, and the wonderful promise of God (“I will be with you”) is repeated at least three times.

Which is very encouraging for us at any time, but especially during times of challenge. Times when it feels like we are going into enemy land. This can feel like all the time in Boston.

The connecting thought, and really the central premise, of Joshua 1 is found in verse 8:

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

Sometimes I read Joshua 1 and think I have to work up some amazing courage and fearlessness.

No. Meditate on the word.

Don’t Go Back

Consider this:

They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” – Exodus 14:11-12

Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”  And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” – Numbers 14:3-4

During times of transition and uncertainty there is something within us that makes us want to go backwards. This is interesting, especially when you consider this:

  • Joshua Slocumb was a sailor in the late 19th century who was given a boat called “The Spray”. It was a run down boat that needed some love, so Joshua grabbed his axe, headed into the forest, cut down some trees and fashioned planks (by hand). He then rebuilt The Spray and sailed it around the world. By himself. He was 51 years old.
  • Sue Oldham decided it would be cool to swim to another country. So she conquered the English Channel, all 21 miles, in 16 hours. At the age of 64.
  • Bill Snyder was a good football coach who retired, got a stadium named after himself, and then came back several years later to have his most successful season in 2012. At 73. (I find this particularly encouraging since he is a college football coach).
  • Betty White, experiencing a career resurgence, hosted Saturday Night Live at the age of 88. It is, to date, the highest rated episode of SNL. She’s still going strong into her 90’s.

What is the point of all this? None of us is guaranteed a long life, but there is a really good chance you have not peaked yet. Your best years, your biggest adventure, your gnarliest risk might still be ahead of you.

Don’t go back Egypt now, it might be time to sail around the world!

I find this particularly helpful in my work with students, many of whom have been promised that college will be the best years of their lives. When college turns out to be the hardest years of their lives the reality can lead to frustration, to turmoil, and even depression. But that student might be years away from the pinnacle. They have plenty to look forward to.

Organizations can do the same thing. Remembering and reminiscing are important, but too often we become overly nostalgic about the “way it used to be.” Don’t go there! Your organization might be decades away from its heyday. And that’s ok.

Enjoy the moment. Celebrate where you’ve come from. But look forward to and anticipate the future because the best may still be to come!

A New Year

Heading into a new year I found this to be helpful:

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9